Read the previous part here…
Now, I have a question for you. Was Buddhiśarīra guilty of the death of Saṅgrāmavardhana and his wife, or was it VajraMukuta, or Padmāvatī? Tell me, o wise king. Remember, if you know the answer, and don’t tell me the truth, your head will burst into a hundred pieces!
इत्य् उक्तवन्तं वेतालं विजानञ् शापभीतितः ।
स त्रिविक्रमसेनस् तम् एवं प्रत्यब्रवीन् नृपः ॥ १२,८.१८९ ॥
योगेश्वर किम् अज्ञेयम् एतन् नैषां हि पातकम् ।
त्रयाणाम् अपि राज्ञस् तु पापं कर्णोत्पलस्य तत् ॥ १२,८.१९० ॥
वेतालो ऽप्य् आह राज्ञः किं ते हि तत्कारिणस् त्रयः ।
काकाः किम् अपराध्यन्ति हंसैर् जग्धेषु शालिषु ॥ १२,८.१९१ ॥
राजा ततो ऽब्रवीच् चैनं न दुष्यन्ति त्रयो ऽपि ते ।
मन्त्रिसूनोर् हि तत् तावत् प्रभुकार्यम् अपातकम् ॥ १२,८.१९२ ॥
पद्मावतीराजपुत्रौ तौ हि कामशराग्निना ।
संतप्ताव् अविचारार्हाव् अदोषौ स्वार्थम् उद्यतौ ॥ १२,८.१९३ ॥
कर्णोत्पलस् तु राजा स नीतिशास्त्रेष्व् अशिक्षितः ।
चरैः प्रजास्व् अनन्विष्यंस् तत्त्वशुद्धिं निजास्व् अपि ॥ १२,८.१९४ ॥
अजानन् धूर्तचरितानीङ्गिताद्यविचक्षणः ।
तथा तन् निर्विचारं यच् चक्रे तेन स पापभाक् ॥ १२,८.१९५ ॥
इत्य् आकर्ण्य विमुक्तमौनम् उदिते सम्यङ् नृपेणोत्तरे
स्कन्धात् तस्य स दार्ढ्यम् आकलयितुं मायाबलात् तत्क्षणम् ।
वेतालो नृकलेवरान्तरगतः क्वाप्य् अप्रतर्क्यो ययौ
निःकम्पः स च भूपतिः पुनर् अमुं प्राप्तुं व्यधान् निश्चयम् ॥ १२,८.१९६ ॥
When the Vetāla said this, King Vikram, who was intelligent enough to know the truth, replied” Oh revered yogi, what is there in the world that you do not know? Yet I will answer you….”
None of the three persons that you mentioned are to be blamed. King Karṇotpala alone is at fault, and has committed this sin.
The Vetāla replied “But why the king? What did he do? Buddhiśarīra, VajraMukuta and Padmāvatī were all more involved in this whole matter, the king came at the end of it. Are the crows at fault, if the swans eat up all the rice?”
King Vikram replied “Those three did not commit any crime. Buddhiśarīra was merely furthering his master’s interests, so he is not at fault. VajraMukuta and Padmāvatī were drowned in love, and so had no discretion nor any other objective but to further their own selfish ends. But the king, he was well versed in the administrative sciences….”
“He should have conducted a detailed investigation. Instead, he was ignorant of the happenings in his own kingdom, he failed to see through the elaborate scheme of Buddhiśarīra.”
“His emotions clouded his judgement, resulting in him misinterpreting the situation and unjustly punishing Padmāvatī. And so he alone is to blame for the death of her parents, which was brought about as a result of his indiscretion.”
When the Vetāla heard this, he laughed loudly and said “You are right, o king. You are absolutely right. King Karṇotpala alone was to blame. But, King Vikram, you spoke, and I had told you not to speak…And so I am free!” Saying this, the Vetāla flew back to where he had come from, with the king in hot pursuit…
द्वितियो वतेालः
The second story
Who is fit to marry Mandāravati?
ततो ऽत्र पुन आनेतुं तं वेतालम् अगान् नृपः ।
स त्रिविक्रमसेनस् तच् छिंशपापादपान्तिकम् ॥ १२,९.१ ॥
प्राप्तो ऽत्र वीक्षते यावच् चितालोकवशान् निशि ।
तावद् ददर्श तं भूमौ कूजन्तं पतितं शवम् ॥ १२,९.२ ॥
अथ तं मृतदेहस्थं वेतालं स महीपतिः ।
आरोप्य स्कन्धम् आनेतुं तूष्णीं प्रववृते जवात् ॥ १२,९.३ ॥
ततः स्कन्धात् स वेतालो भूयस् तं नृपम् अब्रवीत् ।
राजन् महत्य् अनुचिते क्लेशे ऽस्मिन् पतितो भवान् ॥ १२,९.४ ॥
अतस् तव विनोदाय खतयामि खतां शृणु ।
अस्त्य् अग्रहारः कालिन्दीकूले ब्रह्मस्थलाभिधः ॥ १२,९.५ ॥
King Vikram went back to the banyan tree near the cremation ground, to fetch the Baitāl. When he reached, he found the corpse lying on the ground, groaning. King Vikram lifted the corpse, put it across his shoulders, and sent out once again to complete his task.
The Baitāl started to speak, once again.
O King, you have taken on a very troublesome and tiresome task! So let me tell you a tale, to amuse you…
to be continued…