As King Vikramaditya was walking towards his kingdom with the corpse, Baital asked Vikramaditya, “What is it in a man that makes him higher than the others?” King Vikramaditya did not reply. Baital spoke again, “Listen to my story related to this and answer my question. If you do not, I will break your head

Baital continued, “Tell me which hand was entitled to receive the paternal oblations. If you do not answer my question knowingly, I will split your head into pieces.” Vikramaditya replied, “The one who brings up a child has the right to become a father. Nobody becomes a father by just giving birth to a child.

Then, he questioned the second hand, “Who does this hand belong to?” “It is your father’s hand,” replied the hand. “Whose is the third hand?” the young man asked confusedly. “It is your father’s hand,” the third hand replied. Now, the young man was more confused. He asked bewildered, after hearing the two hands, each

Days passed into years. The baby grew into a handsome boy. But one day, Leelavati passed away. At that time, the boy was only eight years old. His father looked after him. The boy grew into a handsome youth. But his father also passed away. He was left all alone. He looked after his father’s

Leelavati, in the meanwhile, fell in love with the thief. She confessed her love for him. Soon, they got married. The thief gave Leelavati all that he had stolen. After some time, Leelavati became pregnant. The thief went to some other city to steal. Time passed by but he did not return. When he did

Leelavati woke up immediately. She saw the young man standing in a corner. He seemed to be nervous. Leelavati asked him, “Who are you? What are you doing in my room? Are you a thief?” The young man replied, “Yes, I am a thief.” Leelavati asked, “What do you want from my house?” The thief

King Vikramaditya pulled down the corpse, put it on his shoulder and set out for his kingdom. After some time, Baital who as usual could not keep quiet, spoke to King Vikramaditya, “Remain quiet if you want to. But I will tell you a story to make the journey short and comfortable. And I expect

Vikramaditya forgot all about not speaking and replied, “The thief’s merit is the highest.” Baital asked, “But why is that so?” Vikramaditya replied, “The husband stopped loving her as soon as she told him about the other man. Gurudatta let go off her due to fear of punishment from the King. But the thief had

The thief saw Chandrasena’s sad face. He asked her, “What is the matter? Why are you so sad?” Chandrasena told him everything that had transpired between her and Gurudatta. The thief praised her for keeping her word of meeting him. He wished her luck and let her go without taking her jewels. When Chandrasena reached

Chandrasena replied, “Please believe me. This is the word of a woman who comes from a respectable family.” The thief took her word and said, “You can go but keep your word. I will be waiting for you.” A thankful Chandrasena rushed off to meet Gurudatta. When Gurudatta saw her, he could not believe his

Gurudatta was very happy after reading the letter. Shortly afterwards, Chandrasena got married to Jaikaran. On the wedding night, she told her husband about Gurudatta. She told him of her promise to him. Jaikaran felt happy that his wife had told him the truth. He gave her his permission to go and see Gurudatta. So,

In the temple, he chanced to see a very beautiful lady. He fell in love with her there and then. Many days passed by but still his love for the lady did not diminish. One day, he asked his servant to find out all he could about the lady. A few days later, the servant