King Vikramaditya took down the corpse and hanging it on his shoulder began walking. Baital, as usual, could not keep quiet. So, he started his story as follows:
There was a kingdom called Gandhar. Its King was a law-abiding man. One of the laws was that it was illegal for a man to get involved with a married woman. A merchant named Gurudatta was looking for a bride.
One day, he went to the temple and chanced to see a very beautiful lady. He fell in love with her there and then. He asked his servant to find out all he could about the lady. A few days later, the servant reported that the lady’s name was Chandrasena. But Chandrasena was already engaged to a man named Jaikaran. Gurudatta felt dejected after hearing this.
One day, he received a letter from Chandrasena. She wrote that she was very impressed to know of Gurudatta’s love for her. She promised him that she would, under any circumstance, come to him after some time.
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. Jaikaran felt happy that his wife had told him the truth. He gave her his permission to go to Gurudatta.
So, Chandrasena went to see Gurudatta immediately. It was quite dark. As she made her way, a man stopped her. The man told her that he was a thief. He asked her to give him all her ornaments. Chandrasena got frightened for a moment but then regained her courage. She requested the thief to let her go. She told him her story and promised that she would give him all her jewels after she had returned.
Chandrasena said, “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 eyes. He asked, “Why have you come here at this time of the night?” Chandrasena replied, “Do you not remember that I had told you that I would meet you?” Gurudatta asked, “Does your husband know?” Chandrasena nodded her head in the affirmative. Gurudatta said, “I will have nothing to do with another man’s wife. Anyway, it is a crime in this kingdom to have anything to do with another man’s wife.”
A disappointed Chandrasena turned and walked back towards her home. On the way, she met the thief who was waiting for her. 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 home, she told her husband everything. But her husband became angry. He did not show any affection for Chandrasena. He said, “Neither a king nor a minister, nor a wife, or a person’s hair, or even his nails look well out of their places. A woman’s beauty remains in being loyal to her husband.”
Baital ended his tale and then asked King Vikramaditya, “Vikram! Tell me who holds the highest merit of the three. If you do not answer my question correctly, I shall break your head into pieces.”
Vikramaditya forgot all about not speaking and replied, “The thief’s merit is the highest.” Baital asked, “But why is that so?”
King 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 no such reason; still, he let her go. The thief did not harm Chandrasena nor did he rob her. He could have taken all of Chandrasena’s jewels if he wished to. But he did not do so. So, his merit was the greatest.”
Baital laughed and said, “Vikram, you are indeed a judicious king. But as usual, you have spoken and I am departing from you.” Thus, Baital flew away from Vikramaditya’s shoulder with the King following him.
