King Vikramaditya once again found himself standing in front of the peepal tree, where Betal hung upside down from one of its branches. He pulled the corpse onto his shoulders and headed towards the cremation ground of his kingdom’s capital.
Mid-way, Betal spoke, “Vikram, I have never seen a man with such dogged tenacity like you. This is why you are so successful as a king in fulfilling any task. Here is a new story to lighten your mood.”
Betal began narrating the story:
Once, there was the Kingdom of Kushan, which was ruled by the brave King Kanishka. He had a minister named Mathara. One fine day, King Kanishka and his minister Mathara visited a Buddhist temple situated on the outskirts of the capital, Purushapura, in the nearby forest. King Kanishka decided to spend some time in the temple while Mathara went to a pool in the temple’s vicinity to wash himself. In the meantime, Princess Dakshamitra of the Saka Dynasty visited the temple with her companions. The moment King Kanishka and Princess Dakshamitra set their eyes on each other, they fell in love. In the coming days, they started to meet often without informing their respective parents.
One day, as it happened, King Nahapana of the Saka Dynasty received a marriage proposal for his daughter Dakshamitra from a neighboring kingdom. King Nahapana readily agreed to the proposal, as this matrimonial alliance would enhance the prestige of his kingdom. When Princess Dakshamitra returned to the palace, she was in for a rude shock as her father, King Nahapana, broke the news of arranging her marriage to Prince Rishabhadatta of the neighboring kingdom.
Unaware of this latest development, King Kanishka received a message from Princess Dakshamitra’s maid about her marriage being arranged by her father. King Kanishka immediately summoned his minister Mathara to find a way to avert this crisis. Mathara, being a clever man, patiently listened and devised a plan.
The next day, they left for the capital of the Saka Kingdom, Ujjain. Both King Kanishka and Mathara were in disguise to avoid drawing attention to themselves. With the help of his network, King Kanishka arranged a meeting with Princess Dakshamitra. According to Mathara’s plan, the princess was to visit the Buddhist temple the next day, adorned with jewelry and alone. As planned, she set out for the temple wearing her jewelry, but on the way, Mathara, disguised as a robber, looted her of all her jewels and fled away. Princess Dakshamitra continued to the temple in shock and narrated the incident to King Kanishka, who advised her to remain calm and not mention it to anyone in the palace, especially her father.
Meanwhile, Mathara, who had met with several jewelers, gathered information about the greediest jeweler in the capital. He sold Princess Dakshamitra’s looted jewelry to this jeweler at a significantly lower rate. Mathara knew that the subtle royal markings on the jewelry would be enough to bring the jeweler before the king’s court. When the jeweler attempted to sell the royal jewelry to a customer, the customer refused, recognizing the royal markings. Fearing punishment from King Nahapana for concealing the jewelry, the customer went to the king and informed him about the royal jewels in the possession of the local jeweler.
The jeweler was immediately arrested and presented before the king.
King Nahapana asked, ” From where did you get this royal jewelry?”
The jeweler replied, “Your Majesty, I got this jewelry from a stranger who visited our capital, Ujjain, for the first time.”
“Did you not see the royal markings on that jewelry?” King Nahapana asked.
The jeweler said, “Yes, Your Majesty, I did see those royal markings, but I got greedy as that stranger was selling the jewelry for much lower price. Forgive me for my mistake; I will not repeat this mistake again.”
Then the king asked his royal guards to bring the jewelry to him. King Nahapana examined the jewelry and quickly realized it belonged to the princess. Princess Dakshamitra was summoned, and being a virtuous and kind lady, she admitted to the king that the jewelry was hers. She recounted how she was robbed on her way to meet her lover on that fateful day. King Nahapana was so angry that he banished her from his kingdom forever.
King Kanishka waited for Princess Dakshamitra at the outskirts of her kingdom and took her to his. On the way, he disclosed the entire plan, explaining how they had acted it out. King Kanishka said, “Your father would not have entertained my marriage proposal, as he had already committed to Prince Rishabhadatta.” Princess Dakshamitra was overjoyed that he loved her so much. Soon, King Kanishka and Princess Dakshamitra were married and lived happily ever after.
Betal ended his story and posed a question, “Vikram, who is responsible for the plight of Princess Dakshamitra? You cannot remain silent if you know the answer; otherwise, your head will be split into several pieces. Speak up, King Vikramaditya!”
Dear Readers, before you read Vikram’s answer, take a moment to consider this question: Who do you believe is responsible for the plight of Princess Dakshamitra?
Vikram replied, “King Kanishka was not responsible for Princess Dakshamitra’s plight. He loved her, and it was his duty to win her hand in marriage. Mathara is also not at fault; he acted out of loyalty, and a true friend would have done the same for his best friend. The real culprit is her father, King Nahapana. He should have considered his daughter’s feelings regarding the marriage proposal, but instead, he made the decision out of arrogance and pride. Therefore, King Nahapana should be held responsible for the plight of Princess Dakshamitra.”
“You are absolutely correct,” said Betal, “but you spoke, and you know what’s coming now.”
With that, Betal flew away into the sky, while King Vikramaditya chased him back to the peepal tree.
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