It was a long time ago. Once upon a time there lived a great king named Vikramaditya. His fame spread all over the world. At his court, everyone was equal - both the prince and the beggar. He tirelessly cared for the welfare of the people under his control. Dressed in simple clothes, he secretly wandered throughout the kingdom and observed the life of ordinary people with all their joys and sorrows. The reign of Vikramaditya, a just and merciful king, aroused the envy of even Indra. Indra came to Bhagavan - the Almighty - and began to complain:
- Bhagavan! Vikramaditya is a hypocrite. He misleads people: he says that he wants the best for them more than anyone else.
- You are wrong, Indra! “There is no such righteous king in the whole world as Vikramaditya,” answered Bhagavan.
“Then, Bhagavan, give him a test.”
Bhagavan agreed. He took the form of a master sculptor and came to Vikramaditya's court. He began to show the king his statues: Shiva and Parvati, Kriyatna, the god Vishnu reclining on a many-headed snake - and they were one more beautiful than the other. They conquered the statues of Vikramaditya - he had never seen anything like them before. He bought every single one without haggling. At the end, the sculptor took a shiny iron figurine out of his knapsack, showed it to the king and said:
- Maharaj! Do yourself a favor and buy this work of mine.
And that figurine was of the god Shani - Saturn, whose evil eye is known to everyone. As soon as they brought her into the palace, all the luxury of the decoration crumbled to dust. Shani's rage fell on the statues of Shiva and Parvati, Vishnu and other gods and smashed them into pieces. Hot clouds of sand rose over the country, scorched gardens, burned crops in the fields, and dried up ponds and wells. The royal army rebelled and went over to the enemy. The country where gold seemed to fall from the sky turned into a desert.
The queen was alarmed.
“Is it possible for us to stay here any longer, my lord?” – she asked the king. “We’d better go to my father’s house.” At least there will be no worry about daily bread.
“You go to your parents,” Vikramaditya answered her with a sad smile. - And with what face will I cross their threshold now? It's better for me to stay here and trust in the Almighty. Whoever is honored at home is honored everywhere. Rather than earn bread through dishonor, it is better to die of hunger.
The queen was upset and said:
- Maharaj! Where you are, there is a place for me. How can I leave you and go alone? But we can’t live here either.
“It’s true,” said Vikramaditya. - Let's go from here to foreign lands. We will earn our own bread.
“Okay,” agreed the queen. “We’ll leave here quietly tonight.”
On a dark night, the king and queen set off on their journey. No one saw them off, no one said a kind word after them. They walked and walked until their legs refused to carry them. They see a hut standing by the road. They plucked up courage, walked up to the door, and knocked. A grumbling sound was heard behind the door, and the old woman opened it. He asks them unkindly:
- Well? What do you want? And I can't sleep peacefully at night
They will.
The queen timidly says:
- Mother, we are in big trouble. Let us spend the night. We'll leave at dawn.
What does the old woman care about the worries of the king and queen! She shouted at them:
- Should I let you in all night? Look, important guests! Go your own way. This is not a caravanserai for you.
She answered and locked the door. The king and queen were dumbfounded. Involuntarily, they had to go to bed on an empty stomach right under the tree. Their insides were cramping from hunger, and they were constantly shivering from the cold. They huddled together in a ball, tucked their knees to their stomachs and somehow trudged around until the morning, and at dawn they trudged on. They walked like this day after day and came to a big city. A seven-story royal palace was built in that city. A lot of local and foreign people worked there. So the king and queen hired themselves out to carry lime and bricks. They sweated blood all day long and for that they received their piece of stale bread.
Bhagavan saw Vikramaditypa's distress and felt sorry for him. He said to Indra:
- Enough, Indra! The test is over.
But it seemed to Indra that this was not enough. He objected:
- Bhagavan! What kind of test is this? Give him something heavier.
Bhagavan was saddened by Indra's heartlessness, but he wanted to show him the greatness of a man animated by faith. In the guise of a brahmana, he appeared at the door of the hut where Vikramaditya lived and began to tearfully pray:
- I am a poor brahmin. Tomorrow is my daughter’s wedding, but there is not a grain in the house - there is nothing to welcome the guests with. I had to go begging. Give me at least something. Bhagawan will reward you a hundredfold.
What was there to say to Vikramaditya?
“I would be glad to give it to you, sir,” he replied. - Yes, that would be possible. If you accept my work, I am ready to serve you.
And the queen stood nearby and heard it all. Her eyes were blurred with tears. For the first time, it happened that the petitioner left their door empty-handed. She couldn't stand it. She came out to the king and said:
- Wait! We are not beggars. Here, take my necklace. We lost everything, but the necklace remained for the brahmana's daughter.
– You received this necklace from your mother. Keep it! - Vikramaditya exclaimed.
The queen smiled in response:
“I kept my mother’s gift until today, and now I myself give it to my named daughter.”
The brahman closed his eyes from the shine of diamonds and gems. The queen's generosity amazed him. But he did not find the spirit not to accept the gift and took away the necklace, blessing the queen.
The twelfth year had ended since the king and queen began to carry lime and bricks, and they were still in poverty. From working, their hands were covered with calluses, their legs were eaten away with ulcers, their bodies were emaciated. One day they were working as always, and one mason recognized them, but he didn’t show it - he didn’t want to disturb the king in vain.
- Brother! he asked. - Did you hear, what's the matter?
- Which? Vikramaditya asked. He said:
– Fifty Kos from here there is one kingdom. The king there buys their merits from people. If you have done a good deed in life, go there and sell it. I'm telling you the truth - you will earn big money at once.
Vikramaditya sighed and said:
- Brother, this is not for me. If happiness was destined for me, why would fate deprive me of all the riches that I owned at home? Okay, that's a thing of the past. What's the use of talking about it?
The mason realized that stirring up the past would only be tormenting the king in vain. He plucked up courage and said:
– You still listen to me. Pick an hour and definitely go there.
“Okay, I’ll think about it,” answered the king.
The mason left, and the thought of trying to sell his merits sank into Vikramaditya’s soul. In the evening, when they began to go to bed, he could not resist and told everything to the queen. The queen was delighted and began to persuade him:
- O king! I have never seen such virtues as yours in anyone in the world. Be sure to go and sell your merits. The heart senses that our destiny will change. Twelve years have passed, so surely the dark days will not end? After all, we are people too.
The queen got up at first light, gathered Vikramaditya into a bundle of food for the road, and he set off. On the way he met a leper. The unfortunate man's body was covered with purulent wounds and exuded a stench. A swarm of flies hovered around the leper, and he did not have time to drive them away from his wounds. No matter how disgusting the man was, Vikramaditya felt compassion for him. He approached the leper, washed his wounds and bandaged them with scraps from his own dhoti. Driving the annoying flies away from the sufferer, he said to him with pity:
- Brother, how hard it is for you! The leper replied:
- It’s hard, but that’s the problem. I'm ready to stretch my legs out of hunger. Don't you have at least a crumb to eat?
Vikramaditya had four cakes in his bundle. “Well,” he thought, “let me share with him like a brother.” He began to feed the leper. Two cakes did not satisfy him, so Vikramaditya fed him his share. The leper ate his fill and thanked him for a long time.
Vikramaditya went further hungry, but his good deed gave him strength, and his legs seemed to carry him. He forgot about hunger. He walked like this and suddenly felt something soft in his bundle. Then he remembered that his wife had placed a handful of flour on his way. He gathered some brushwood, lit a fire and baked a couple of cakes on the coals. As soon as he brought the cake to his mouth, a dog ran up, stood in front of him and wagged its tail. Vikramaditya threw a cake to her too. The dog is hungry, swallowed it in one breath and again looks at Vikramadityo as if it had not eaten. Vikramaditya gave her the second cake. The dog ran away. And the king rejoiced. He drank some cold water and it seemed to him that he was full. And he went further.
He walked and walked and came to his goal. The gatekeeper took him straight to the king. The king handed the box to Vikramaditya and said:
- Now remember your merits and look in the mirror that is in this box - it will show you everything.
Vikramaditya began to remember the temples, monasteries and monasteries that he had built, began to remember how he received ascetics and holy elders with honor, but he saw nothing in the mirror. Vikramaditya was ashamed and said to the king:
- O king! I made a big mistake, I shouldn't have come here. I have no merit in life. Allow me to leave.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” the king told him. - Now I will show you your merits.
At these words, the king opened the box and again handed it to Vikramaditya. And Vikramaditya was amazed at what he saw. And he saw himself - how he helped the leper and how his eyes shone with peace and happiness. And I also saw myself - how he feeds the dog. And then Vikramaditya saw his queen - how she gave a precious necklace to a beggar Brahmin. The king also saw all this and bought their merits from people. He came down from his throne, bowed at Vikramaditya’s feet and said:
“I see that I was not born and lived my life in vain, since I had the chance to see such a generous person as you.” For these three merits of yours, I am ready to give you my entire kingdom.
King Vikramaditya seemed to wake up from a long sleep. The veil of delusion fell from his eyes. He realized that wealth, power, and all the blessings of life are worth nothing in comparison with one good deed. And he decided that it would be better for him to live the rest of his life in poverty, but not to sell his merits. No matter how much the king begged him, Vikramaditya firmly stood his ground. What he came with is what he left with.
He returned to his queen and saw that his former entourage had gathered around her. They saw Vikramaditya and began to beg him to come down to them and again sit on the throne in his kingdom. They persuaded him for a long time, finally Vikramaditya agreed and, to the joy of all his subjects, returned with the queen to his palace. And again the gardens bloomed, the fields turned green, the ponds and wells were filled with water. The army returned and obediently served its ruler.
The king of the gods, Indra, himself lamented what he had done.
“Truly,” he admitted to Bhagavan, “there is no righteous man in the world who can compare with Vikramaditya.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru