The Vetāla understood that he had finally puzzled the king, and so he laughed to himself, and thought…
“The king does not know this answer! If he did, he would surely tell me, since my curse is very powerful.”
“I should stop deceiving this valorous king now, and deceive that evil person in the guise of the yogi. I am pleased with the king’s efforts, and will let him have the Siddhi of this task for himself and the overall benefit of this world…”
इत्य् आलोच्य स वेतालो नृपं तम् अवदत् तदा ।
राजन् कृष्णनिशाघोरे स्मशाने ऽस्मिन् गतागतैः ॥ १२,३१.६५ ॥
एतैः क्लिष्टः सुखार्हस् त्वं न विकल्पश् च कोऽपि ते ।
तद् आश्चर्येण धैर्येण तुष्टो ऽहम् अमुना तव ॥ १२,३१.६६ ॥
शवम् एतं नयेदानीं निर्गच्छाम्य् अमुतो ह्य् अहम् ।
इदं तु शृणु यद् वच्मि हितं तव कुरुष्व च ॥ १२,३१.६७ ॥
आनीतम् एतद् भवता यस्यार्थे नृकलेवरम् ।
कुभिक्षुः सो ऽद्य माम् अस्मिन् समाहूयार्चयिष्यति ॥ १२,३१.६८ ॥
उपहारीचिकीर्षुश् च त्वाम् एव स शठस् ततः ।
भूमौ प्रणामम् अष्टाभिर् अङ्गैः कुर्व् इति वक्ष्यति ॥ १२,३१.६९ ॥
त्वं प्राग् दर्शय तावन् मे करिष्ये ऽहं तथैव तत् ।
इति सो ऽपि महाराज वक्तव्यः श्रमणस् त्वया ॥ १२,३१.७० ॥
ततो निपत्य भूतौ स प्रणामं यावद् एव ते ।
दर्शयिष्यति तावत् त्वं छिन्द्यास् तस्यासिना शिरः ॥ १२,३१.७१ ॥
ततो विद्याधरैश्वर्यसिद्धिर् या तस्य वाञ्छिता ।
तां त्वं प्राप्स्यसि भुङ्क्ष्वेमं भुवं तदुपहारतः ॥ १२,३१.७२ ॥
अन्यथा तु स भिक्षुस् त्वाम् उपहारीकरिष्यति ।
एतदर्थं कृतो विघ्नस् तवात्रेयच् चिरं मया ॥ १२,३१.७३ ॥
तत् सिद्धिर् अस्तु ते गच्छेत्य् उक्त्वा तस्यांसपृष्ठगात् ।
निर्गत्य स ययौ तस्माद् वेतालः प्रेतकायतः ॥ १२,३१.७४ ॥
अथ स नरपतिस् तं प्रीतवेतालवाक्याच्
छ्रमणम् अहितम् एव क्षान्तिशीलं विचिन्त्य ।
वटविटपितलं तत् तस्य पार्श्वं प्रतस्थे
मृतपुरुषशरीरं तद् गृहीत्वा प्रहृष्टः ॥ १२,३१.७५ ॥
The Vetāla reflected thus, and then addressed the king…
“Oh King! You have been physically exhausted by walking up and down this cemetery twenty four times, in this terrible black night, yet you seem happy, and not the least disturbed.”
“I am pleased by your courage and determination!”
“And so you can now carry this body to the person who has asked for it, because I will not occupy it anymore. And listen to my advice very carefully…”
“That person, who gave you this task, is a wicked man in the guise of a yogi. He has asked you to fetch this corpse so that he can then summon me to occupy the body, and then start his black magic.”
“Once he goes through the preliminaries, he will ask you to prostrate on the ground – the ashtānga-namaskarā – where eight limbs touch the ground. He will do this with the intention of killing you when you prostrate yourself thus, and by killing you, he will reach the culmination of his evil magic.”
“This will make him more powerful than anyone else in this world, and he will then be invincible.”
“So, when he asks you to perform the ashtānga-namaskarā, you should reply – “I don’t know this method. Please demonstrate it for me, and I will then do it.”
“He will then prostrate on the ground to show you the correct method of the namaskarā, and that is when you should cut off his head with your sword.”
“The sovereignty of the Vidyādharas, which that man desires, will then be yours. You will then rule the earth for years and years to come.”
“If you don’t do this, he will kill you and obtain his desired goal…It was to delay this that I continued to tell you stories and hold you back, but the right time has now come. Go, and be victorious!”
The Vetāla then departed, and the corpse become limp once again.
King Vikram now knew what he had to do. He understood that ShāntiShila was his enemy, and he had planned to kill him all along. Pleased with the Vetāla’s advice, he bowed to him, and then started to walk towards the tree where the evil yogi awaited him…
to be continued…