How Betaal Bagged Vikram

Eons ago, there lived a sculptor by the name Mahashilp in Ujjain who ran a school for sculptors on the banks of the river Kshipra. Mahashilp, because of his skillful work, became the official sculptor of the Chandragupta-2 king. It was this king, according to legend, went on to become the famous Vikramaditya. Who was betaal nobody knew? These are times when history is getting rewritten, and there is no harm in filling the gap in history about who and how Betaal came to join the famous Vikramaditya?

Ujjain is one of the ancient cities in India today. Even the greatest of Epic Mahabharata has a description of Ujjain as the capital of Avanti Kingdom. History tells us that Ashoka the Great resided here during 304 B.C.E to 232 B.C.E. Chandragupta-2 of the Gupta dynasty made Ujjain the capital city during his rule. Let us transport ourselves to Ujjain and take a river cruise to the school of sculptors.

It was post monsoon; the river was flush with the gushing water. So clean one could see schools of fish. Here and there, there were white froths of whirlpool. The bank of the river was verdant with trees and a whole of vegetation filled with different colors of flowers. If you were to do a cruise early in the morning, you could hear all types of bird calls. Just about an hour of a pleasant journey leads to the school. One copper coin would be the rental for the boat. Typically it was low caste boatman who would take up such occupation. As you reach the school, you could already hear the sound of chisels striking the stone. Indeed the work begins here at sunrise. One could see numerous student already at work. One for eye of the detail could note that students have been allotted various locations within the school, depending on the hours of experience and skill they have acquired.

The students got provided with dormitory accommodation of the same comfort level. For morning ablutions, all in the school made use of the nearby forest and the river to wash up. Vikramaditya did not have time to make his kingdom open defecation free at that time. Food got cooked in the community kitchen and was usually a gruel made of cereal, seasonal fruits, and milk for breakfast. Lunch was rice, bread made out of wheat, seasonal vegetables, pulses and lentils. Once a week a biryani type of rice cooked with meat and flavored with herbs and spices got served. On festive occasions, students got to enjoy some rice-based kheer.

Aditya was one of the senior students and liked by Mahashilp for his skill. But of late, lots of tension had arisen between the guru and the disciple. The reason was Damini, the apsara like a daughter of the guru. Even the Raja Rishi, like Vishwamitra, was known to have succumbed to a guile of beautiful damsel. What could poor Aditya do with his hormones cruising through his veins at his young age of 21 and the fact that Damini also reciprocated her adoration for him. When she made a sweet dish for her father, she would make an extra portion for Aditya. Damini was a motherless child, and her father had brought her up, providing the love of mother to the extent he could do. She had great respect for her father and would not dare go against his words.

Mahashilp was a proud man, and he thought the world of himself. He beat his rivals from across the kingdom to earn the title Mahashilp. Especially at the school, his word was the law. He got well provided for by the king and commanded a lot of respect from the general populace.

Knowing this, both Damini and Aditya were discreet in their romantic relationship. When the guru took a long nap in the afternoon, they could get time. But yet again, other students were observant, and one whisper to the guru would mean Aditya gets thrown out from the school. It was through eye contact, discreet gestures, and sometimes helping in the daily jobs, apart from sculpting, they both got some time for each other.

Aditya loved to do sculpting of figures of women. The moment he closed his eyes, he could see Damini in his consciousness. Somehow it seemed uncanny to Aditya that Guru only asks him to sculpt animals. Damini would pose for her father, and he would do sculpting of figures of women. Aditya also felt that he could do better sculpting of figures of women, and perhaps that was also the reason why Guru would not allow him.

It so happened that the call for Mahashilp had come from the King asking him to accompany to a place where the king wanted to establish a memorial of sorts. The captain of the army who brought the order fell in love with Damini at first sight. He had made up his mind to tell Mahaship at an appropriate time. When the news got revealed, both Aditya and Damini were delighted. Mahashilp called for Aditya and especially hinted at leaving Damini alone. Likewise, he had told Damini not to interact with Aditya and behave herself.

Promises were meant to get broken. Both Aditya and Damini did that. In the raging hormonal mood, they engaged in a physical relationship. Of course, this did not go unobserved in the school. For every piece of stone in the school had ears and eyes. Hell broke loose when Mahashilp returned. He raged against both his daughter and Aditya. They both fell at his feet and asked for forgiveness, but that did not work at all. Guru expelled Aditya from the school in his anger. Thinking that his guru would calm down and forgive him once the anger subsided, Aditya left the school with a heavy heart for his village. Damini feared for him, and also wondered what would be the consequence for her. She missed her first period, and the second and started morning sickness. Mahashilp was not unobservant, and when he asked her pointed blank, she told him she got pregnant. He arranged for the vaid to come and treat her and unknown to Damini had instructed the vaid to abort the fetus.

It was just a few days before that the captain in the army had asked for Damini’s hand. Guru had told him he would inform as he wanted to discuss the matter with a few elders. When the captain returned, Guru had said to him that Damini was infatuated with Aditya, and he should dispose of Aditya. Damini being just eighteen and very young, would forget Aditya gradually. Captain assured him that he would take care of Aditya and inform him once the job gets done.

The Captain called for a chandala and assigned the job. Being of the lowest community and dealing with skins and hides of animals, they cannot afford to disobey even ordinary citizens leave alone the Captain of the Gupta army. The plan was that he would go to Aditya’s village and inform that Guru asked him to come back to the school. Enroute on the river, he should kill him and dispose of the body.

Aditya, in the meantime, had reached his village and told his mother of his love for Damini. He confessed the fact they had a relationship and now expelled by Damini’s father, who was also his guru. His mother was horrified, for she knew that Mahashilp was an arrogant man and feared for Aditya’s safety. But Aditya consoled her and said nothing to worry since Aditya was also his best-skilled pupil at the school.

It was two months later that chandala appeared in the village, informing that Guru had called Aditya back. Aditya’s mother warned the chandala to take good care and hoped he was not up to some mischief. Chandala shivered upon hearing this and consoled himself. If he listened to this mother, the Captain would finish him anyway.

On the way back, Chandala killed Aditya by hacking his head and threw him on to the river and informed the captain. In a reverse travesty of justice, the body got washed up on the banks near the School. Damini, when she came to fetch the water, saw the body, and recognized that it was Aditya’s screamed and fell unconscious.

The murder got reported to the Police. In those times, crimes got taken rather seriously, and at once, the Captain rushed to the School to start investigation and left a message for his supervisor. Upon reaching the School, the captain accompanied some students to the crime scene.

Supratik, the Chief of Police and Internal Security at Ujjain, walked rapidly to the riverside, just as the body was being fished out. The officer supervising the operation turned around and saluted his commander immediately. Supratik had rushed to the School as soon as he got the message of the captain lest a scandal break forth and that too in the Mahashilp’s school. The students confirmed that the body was that of Aditya. Supratik ordered the captain to begin an investigation and consider it a high priority.

Captain contacted the chandala immediately and cursed him for his foolish job and ordered him to confess the crime with an assurance that his family would get taken care of. He told chandala what he should say in his confession. That Aditya tried to molest Damini at the school, and he had witnessed it. Aditya got expelled for this reason. As chandala was in love with Damini, he took recourse to this extreme step.

At the king’s court, chandala confessed to his crime as he had no other option. None would ever believe the truth that Captain had ordered him to kill Aditya. Aditya’s mother was there, and she refused to accept the story and said as much to the king. She asked for Damini to be brought but got told that Damini was in a state of shock and cannot be a witness in this situation. Damini never recovered. Her father, Mahashilp, seeing her in that condition, became depressed and stopped sculpting. The school got shut down a few months later. The captain lost his limbs in a war that followed during a conquest.

Vikramaditya though he had a great sense of justice, didn’t extend the same to chandala community. The tradition of lack of justice to Dalits and Scheduled caste continues even today in the ancient country. So, he ordered for chandala’s beheading. Aditya’s mother cursed the king and said Aditya’s spirit would taunt him from then onwards and fell down dead. That was how the betaal came to taunt Vikramaditya by telling puzzling stories and asking for a suitable resolution.