Real Offender

King Vikramaditya reached the peepal tree in the forest. Pulling down the corpse and placing it on his shoulder, he started off as before in silence.

Betal said, Vikram ! your pace has slowed down and you are staggering too. Why don't you rest ?" But Vikram did not respond to it so Betal began his new story as follows:

"Once in the city of Chudapur lived a Brahman whose name was Chudavat. He had a son, named Hariswami who resembled of Kamadeva - God of Love. In due course of time, Hariswami grew up to be as wise and learned as his father. Chudavat decided to get his son married as soon as possible. But he died before Hariswami could be married off.

Shortly after Chudavat's death, Harisami was married to a very beautiful girl. Both the husband and the wife loved each other dearly. They were passing their days happily without any worry at all.

One day, the couple went for a holy dip into the Ganga. As ill luck would have it, Hariswami's wife was drowned in the river.

Separated by death from his beloved wife, Hariswami was so disappointed that he left home and went into the forest. Even there, he could not find any peace. Feeling restless, he wandered from one place to another.

In the end, Hariswami reached Kanchanpur where Vasudeva, an old friend of his father, lived. Vasudeva asked him to stay with him. Vasudeva asked his wife to prepare rice-porridge in milk for the guest.

Soon the porridge was served for Hariswami, but he did not eat it. He took the container full of porridge out into the garden and put it under a tree. Then sitting near it, he got lost in deep reflections.

Just near the tree, there lived a snake in a hole. Attracted by the flavor of milk, the snake came out of its hole. Sucking all the milk out of the porridge and vomiting poison into what was left behind, the snake reentered its hole.

Hariswami, unaware of what had happened, took the container in his hands and ate up the porridge. The poison showed its effect. Hariswami lost no time to realize that the porridge contained some poisonous element in it. He shouted, "You have given me poison in the porridge. Why have you done so?"

Vasudeva felt upset. Soon he saw that the body of his guest was turning blue. Before he could do anything, Hariswami breathed his last.

Vasudeva came to his wife and scolded her saying, "What have you done, O wretched women ? You poisoned the porridge and killed a Brahman."

Having been blamed for Harriswami's murder, though innocent, she jumped into a well and ended her life.

Having told this story, Betal said to Vikramaditya, "Was Vasudeva responsible, or not, for the death of his wife? Should he not be punished for this crime? What punishment did he deserve? Or alternatively, should the blame for the death of Vasudeva's wife be laid on Hariswami? Did he not falsely accuse her of poisoning the porridge and thus abetted her to commit suicide. Let me know your answers immediately."

Vikramaditya replied, "Betal ! Vasudeva was not responsible for his wife's death, he was not an offender.

"Why? He scolded his wife beyond the proper limit and compelled her to commit suicide, " said Betal.

"But, Vasudeva did not know that the snake has poisoned the porridge. He was misled by his guest's shouts as anybody else would have been," argued Vikramaditya.

"Do you think, then, that the snake was the offender?" asked Betal.

"To vomit poison, is no offense for a snake. It is just its nature. Don't you know this, Betal?" argued Vikramaditya.

"Hariswami himself was responsible for his own death. He must not have kept the container of porridge uncovered under the tree. Even then, he too was not the offender," replied Vikramaditya.

"Hariswami had gone mad because of his wife's sudden untimely death. And, he, who is insane, does not posses any sense of discretion. That is why he cannot be styled as an offender," said Vikramaditya.

"Right you are. But you are forgetful of the fact that I shall be free to leave you if you spoke. So, good-bye,
O King of Kings!" said Betal and flew away.
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