King Vikramaditya, in his pursuit to fulfill his promise to the sage, returned once more to the old peepal tree where Betal was hanging upside down after escaping from Vikram’s shoulders. Vikram, annoyed with Betal’s repeated escapes, pulled the corpse onto his shoulder and began walking towards the cremation ground of the capital of his kingdom.
On the way, Betal spoke, “Vikram, you won’t give up so easily, which I admire from the bottom of my heart. So, to ease your burden, let me narrate another brilliant story to you. Listen carefully and don’t interrupt me in between.”
Betal began narrating the story:
Long ago, in a beautiful place called Pushkar in Rajputana, there was a king named Dharmaveer who desired to marry the most attractive and good-looking girl in his kingdom. To fulfill his desire, he made a clarion call to the masses of his kingdom, asking to be informed by the parents of marriageable girls who wanted their daughters to get married.
Fortunately for King Dharmaveer, a rich merchant named Jai Singh lived in his kingdom, who had a daughter of matchless beauty. Her name was Parvathi. When Parvathi reached marriageable age, Jai Singh approached the king and expressed his wish to marry off his daughter to a suitable groom. King Dharmaveer said, “Tomorrow, two of my trusted and worthy servants will visit your house to see whether your daughter is capable of being my wife. If she is, then I will marry her. Otherwise, you can marry your daughter to any of my ministers you think is suitable for her.”
The next day, the king asked his two servants to meet Parvathi at her house. Both servants were very experienced and wise in judging a person’s character and beauty. When they first met Parvathi, they found her to be extremely beautiful. During their conversation with Parvathi, they discovered that she was strong-willed and independent. They felt that she might dominate the king and influence his decisions, which could make him unfit to rule the kingdom. As a result, when the servants reached the palace, they advised the king not to marry her. So, the king gave Jai Singh permission to choose any of his ministers to marry his daughter.
A few days later, Parvathi was married to one of the king’s loyal ministers named Bhim Chand. On that day, after the marriage ceremony, a wedding reception was organized, which was attended by King Dharmaveer himself. When the king saw Parvathi with her husband Bhim Chand for the first time, he was wonderstruck by her charm and beauty.
When King Dharmaveer returned to his palace, he was extremely angry and furious with his servants for wrongly describing Parvathi. In his rage, he sentenced both of his servants to death.
Betal ended the story and asked King Vikramaditya, “Do you think King Dharmaveer was justified in putting the servants to death?”
Dear Readers, do you think King Dharmaveer was right in putting his two loyal servants to death? Use your wise judgment before reading Vikramaditya’s reply.
King Vikram said, “The two servants were innocent. Their loyalty towards the king led them to make such a judgment and decision about Parvathi. They only did what was right for the kingdom, as they were more concerned with their king’s future than his desire for a beautiful and charming woman. So, King Dharmaveer was wrong to punish the two loyal servants by putting them to death.”
“Vikram, your analysis is top-notch. Now, I will have to leave since you couldn’t remain silent, ” said Betal.
Saying so, Betal flew away from the king’s shoulder, while King Vikram went back to fetch him again.
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