Lore of the Land: Storytelling traditions of India [S.S. Col.] by Ramachandran Nalini

Author:Ramachandran, Nalini [Ramachandran, Nalini]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Short Stories, Fiction, Folklore, Legends, India
ISBN: 9789387326217
Publisher: Puffin Books
Published: 2017-11-10T00:00:00+00:00

Knowledge and Wisdom

When Vikramaditya was making yet another attempt to carry the corpse to the sage, Betaal began telling him a tale about the sons of a Brahmin.

There was once a Brahmin who had four sons, not one of whom was intelligent. In the hope that knowledge would change them, he sent them to a learned guru. The guru taught them all he knew, including the art of recreating life. The four sons were now ready to return home.

On their way, as they passed through a dense forest, they chanced upon some bones. The brothers decided to test their skills. Their father would be proud to hear about it later, they thought. So the eldest brother assembled all the bones to give the dead being its true form. The second brother used his magic to add flesh to the bone structure. With his powers, the third recreated skin and hair to make the being look exactly like it used to. In front of the four brothers now stood a lifeless lion. The youngest brother then chanted some mystical mantras to breathe life into the animal. No sooner had the lion returned to life, than it pounced upon the four young men, killing them instantly.

Betaal ended the tale there and asked Vikramaditya which of the four brothers was the most foolish. The king didn’t want to speak, but not answering meant death. So he told Betaal that the brothers had knowledge, but that they didn’t have the wisdom to understand when not to use it. While all four were equally stupid, the youngest was the most unwise, because no sensible human would make a dead lion come alive.

Thrilled that Vikramaditya had once again given the right answer, Betaal flew back to the tamarind tree and hung upside down, its wicked cackle filling the eerie night.

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