Whom will the Princess Marry?

Whom will the Princess Marry?

Vikram yet again brought Betal down and another narration began… King of Ujjain Veerdev and queen Padma had a beautiful daughter named Anantrati. She had gone for pilgrimage with her friends, guards and soldiers. On her way she donated many things to the needy and poor. One day while she was travelling, a weaver came and gifted her sari. When Anantrati asked him the cost of the sari, he refused the money and gifted it to her. Anantrati liked the sari very much and expressed her wish to see more of his work so the weaver invited her to his house. Anantrati went to his house and when she saw the other saris that he had woven; she was very much impressed and expressed her desire to learn the art of weaving from him. Anantrati then further moved on and met another man. A pigeon was resting on his shoulders. That man told Anantrati not to go further as two tigers were sitting under a tree further ahead. When Anantrati asked how he knew about it, he said that the pigeon told him and that he understood the language of birds and the beasts and also conversed with them in their language. He then asked the princess if she would like to talk to the pigeon and asked her to hold the pigeon.

Then he told her how the sparrow was complaining about her egg being stolen and how the female weaver bird complained about the male bird going away from him. And also told her how he got them back together. Anantrati was highly impressed by him and asked him if he would teach her the language of birds and beasts. She invited him to her palace to teach her that language but he refused saying that he could not leave his bird friends and come. The princess then told him that one day she would come to him and learn the language. After this, princess Anantrati and her associates moved ahead. The weather was turning bad. Anantrati too was not feeling good and realized that she had fever. They went to a Vaidya (doctor of Ayurvedic medicine) who treated Anantrati and she got better within two hours. She went around in his dispensary where she met three patients, one who was injured by the lion; second one who had goiter and the third one, whose backbone was broken. All three were treated by the Vaid and recovered. All of them had praises for the Vaid. Anantrati was very much impressed with the Vaid. She expressed her wish to stay back and serve humanity along with the Vaid. After this, Anantrati and her group moved ahead.

While they were passing through a jungle, the Princess’s leg was trapped in a rope and she hung upside down a tree. Her friends cried for help and luckily a brave man came, killed the snake that was on the tree with his axe and threw a rope on the tree. Anantrati caught hold of the rope and went on to another tree. She then jumped from the tree in the arms of the man and thus was saved. Anantrati was very much impressed with the courage and presence of mind of the man. She thanked him for his intelligence and courage. Anantrati returned home. Her parents were very happy to see her but at the same time they wanted her to get married. Anantrati told her parents that she did not want to get married to a royal man but a common man because a common man is more courageous, sincere, intelligent, witty, wise and dedicated. She realized this when she met such kinds of people. So, the King made an announcement for her Swayamvar (choice of her husband made by a princess in public) wherein bachelors from the middleclass families were invited. The brave man who had saved Anantrati’s life, the Vaid, the man who knew the language of birds and the weaver, all of them heard the announcement. All four attended the Swayamvar. King Veerdev asked Anantrati to put the nuptial garland on to the bridegroom of her choice.

Betaal then stopped and asked Vikram as to who out of these four men should Anantrati choose as her husband. He once more forced Vikram to answer or else he would kill him. Vikram replied that Anantrati was very clever, the weaver was very rich but Anantrati herself is a princess and does not need money, it was no point marrying a person who could understand the languages of birds as he was good as an entertainer but entertainment wouldn’t last for a life time. Similarly the Vaid was definitely an asset to humanity and his services were essential for the society but when it came to making a selection between him and a brave man, the princess would surely opt for the brave man, the King did not have any son and hence a brave and valorous son-in-law only could protect the kingdom and so Anantrati would marry the last man who saved her life. Just as Vikram had said, Anantrati married the courageous man. Betaal was very happy with Vikram’s answer but as per his condition, as vikram opened his mouth, betaal flew away.