The Loyalty of Viravara

A whole family gives everything for the king. Of them all, who was the bravest?

A warrior in the king's service loses his son, his daughter, his wife, and finally himself in a single night, all to keep the king alive. The king, who watched it in secret, cannot bear to be worth so much and raises the sword against himself. Of everyone in the tale, who was the bravest? You judge first, then the king does.

The Burning Ground

The corpse hung in its tree, and the king climbed for it once more. He had stopped counting the trips. He tied the body fast, settled it on his shoulder, and walked into the dark. Behind his ear the Vetala, warm and talkative, began again.

Viravara's Watch

A warrior named Viravara came to the court of King Sudraka and asked to enter his service. He asked an enormous wage, so large the ministers laughed. But the king watched the man's bearing and paid it in full.

What Viravara did with that wealth was strange. He kept only a little to feed his family, gave the rest away to the poor and to the temples, and every single night, in every weather, he stood guard at the king's door and never once failed.

One night the king heard a woman weeping somewhere beyond the palace wall, and sent Viravara to find her. He found a woman of unearthly beauty, weeping: she was the goddess of the king's own fortune, and she wept because the king would die in three days.

"Is there no way to save him?" Viravara asked.

"One," she said. "Let a father offer his own son before the goddess Chandi, freely, and the king will live a hundred years." And she was gone.

The king had followed in secret, and heard every word.

Viravara went home and told his wife and his son what he had heard. The boy did not hesitate. "To give my life so the king may live is the finest thing I could do with it," he said. "Take me."

At the temple, the son gave himself to the goddess. His young sister, seeing her brother fall, died on the spot of pure grief. Their mother, Dharmavati, having lost both her children in a breath, walked into the funeral fire after them.