Vedhalam sollum kadhaigal

As requested by Thala, here comes the first attempt at translating Vedhalam stories 😊 This is probably one of the most famous of all the stories narrated by the vedhalam. 

Undeterred king Vikram, carries the vedhalam back from the tree towards the place, where the evil priest is awaiting the delivery. The vedhalam begins its trick of story telling to make Vikram break his silence, the bet being the usual – if he doesn’t reply correctly or remain silent despite knowing the right answer his head will explode and if he does speak out the vedhalam will fly back to its tree. Despite that loss-loss situation, Vikram was determined to beat the devil at its own game. And so the story begun – 

Long long ago, there was a village called “Dhaaraalapattinam” – literally meaning a place of plenty. Like the proverbial roads of Utopia, the roads were actually paved with gold and prosperity was the first, middle and last name of everyone in that village. Every house had a huge thinnai (place of rest in front of the house) for visitors from neighboring places. The villagers of Dhaaraalapattinam were adamantly good hosts and competed with each other in treating their guests royally. 

On a typically hot summer day, came 3 young brahmin priests to that village. They were immediately struck with awe by its splendor and the positivity on the air. Their own village, having suffering from drought for several seasons, they were actually scouting for a place to settle. When they were resting on the thinnai of a palatial house, like every other house on the street, the owner who was venturing out, noted the trio sleeping on the entrance. He panicked and immediately woke them up, offering them better facilities inside his house. He fed them to their heart content and ensured they had the best of privileges. The trio shared their story with the house lord, that they were blood brothers and how each of them were experts on one type of vedas.

“But aren’t there 4 vedas” queried he house lord

“Yes, kind sir. I am good at Rig veda, the middle brother has mastered Yajur veda and the younger one is an exponent on Sama veda. Atharvana veda is one common area where all 3 of us are good at, but it being something of a lesser kind, mostly related to tantric and occult, we don’t claim it as a higher qualification to proclaim”

“Do you know or do any other work?”

“No sir. We’ve devoted our life to learning and practicing vedas. Can we ask you something”

“Sure. You are guests. You can ask anything. You are like gods for us”

“Actually feel bit ashamed of asking this, but how is your place so prosperous and fertile. Every water body is brimming even on this hot summer and greenery seems to be painted across the village. And how come all of you are so generous to strangers without any fear of robbery or deceit”

“Hahahaha…you guys said you are learned pundits!!! Can’t you figure this out? Where good deeds and good thoughts are abundant and positivity reigns supreme, people don’t sigh but smile. In most of the places, people who are bogged down and end up in doing bad things, often sigh. That hot air accumulates and blows away any rain bearing cloud which naturally results in famine leading to more poverty and hence more crime. Having good thoughts and doing good things irrespective of your situation is the root for any and all prosperity”

The brother trio were amazed by the simplicity with which the man explained such a complex scenario.

“Are you guys leaving anywhere or will you be able to stay today evening?”

“Why are you asking sir?” enquired the eldest brother

“Today we’ve a dance program. The dancer is none other than Maya the most beautiful maiden on all worlds”

Had it been anyone or anywhere else the brothers would’ve argued on that hyperbole. Having already seen the place and its prosperous nature, they were tempted to validate the beauty and agreed to stay for the night. Soon the sun set and darkness begin to envelope the village. Like diamonds shining on bright sunlight, there were earthen lamps and pandhams that were lit all over the streets. Amidst all those shine, out came the danseuse, who outshone every other brightness around her. Needless to say all three brothers were smitten by her beauty and it was lust at first sight for all of them.

Immediately after the show they made a beeline to the dancer’s house. The eldest reached there first and immediately introduced himself to the father of the dancer.

“Dear sir, I am a learned pundit from a nearby village who happened to pass by your place. I just witnessed your daughter’s dance performance and I am not ashamed to proclaim my love for her beauty. I beg you to get us married and I promise to take care of her all my living years like a queen”

Maya, the dancer’s father, said something in his ear in secret. The pundit was stunned for a minute and left that place in a rush.

Ditto happened with other three brothers as well. After sometime the brothers came back to the dancer’s house and all three of them said they abide by the vow requested by the father and asked him to marry his daughter to them. The father was taken aback. Hearing the commotion and argument between the brothers as to who will marry Maya, a huge crowd gathered in front of the house. 

Everyone started questioning the father what is that condition and why he can’t be open about it. Embarrassed and left without any option, the father finally said the conditions of the vow.

Since his daughter was the most beautiful woman across all worlds, suitors are competing for her hand. But after a while this beauty will wither and they may shun her for someone else. So his vow was, whoever wants to marry his daughter shouldn’t touch her or think of her or any woman post marriage. 

The crowd started mocking Maya that her dad has made her an auction piece. Unable to bear the shame, Maya commits suicide by hanging herself. Shocked beyond belief and engulfed with grief, the brothers were guilt ridden with sadness. After the cremation, the first brother decided to sacrifice his life lying on the bed of her ashes. The second brother collected her bones to perform her final rituals in River Ganga, while the third one renounced materialistic life and became a monk. On his way across, the third brother meets a guru and asks him to take him as his disciple. After hearing the reason why he became a monk, the guru teaches him a mantra that would make dead people come alive, but the bones had to be intact for that. He learns the mantra by heart and rushes to the second brother, just in time before he throws away the bones in the river. Together they go the crematorium where the body was burnt to find the other brother lying on the bed of ashes. After the mantra is chanted, Maya does comes alive. Looking at her beauty, again the brothers start quarrelling as to who should marry her.

The Vedhalam stopped the story at this point and enquired Vikram to give the correct answer.

Let us see who can give the right justification 😊 will post the right response on the comments section.