Then the delighted hosts of goblins uttered shouts of applause on every side, and the Vetála said to the king from inside the corpse, “King, the sovereignty of the Vidyádharas, which this mendicant was aiming at, shall fall to your lot after you have finished the enjoyment of your earthly sway. Since I have given you much annoyance, choose whatever boon you desire.” When the Vetála said this, the king said to him, “Since you are pleased with me, every boon that I could desire is obtained; nevertheless, as your words cannot be uttered in vain, I crave this boon of you:—may these first twenty-four questions and answers, charming with their various tales, and this conclusion, the twenty-fifth of the series, be all famous and honoured on the earth!” When the king made this request to the Vetála, the latter replied, “So be it! and now listen, king; I am going to mention a peculiar excellence which it shall possess. This string of tales, consisting of the twenty-four first, and this final concluding tale, shall become, under the title of the Twenty-five Tales of a Vampire, famous and honoured on the earth, as conducing to prosperity! Whosoever shall read respectfully even a śloka of it, or whosoever shall hear it read, even they two shall immediately be freed from their curse. And Yakshas, and Vetálas, and Kushmáṇḍas, and witches, and Rákshasas, and other creatures of the kind shall have no power where this shall be recited.” When the Vetála had said this, he left that human corpse, and went by his supernatural deluding power to the habitation he desired.

Then Śiva, being pleased, appeared, accompanied by all the gods, to that king, visibly manifest, and said to him, as he bowed before him; “Bravo! my son, for that thou hast to-day slain this hypocritical ascetic, who was so ardently in love with the imperial sovereignty over the Vidyádharas! I originally created thee out of a portion of myself, as Vikramáditya, in order that thou mightest destroy the Asuras, that had become incarnate in the form of Mlechchhas. And now thou hast again been created by me as a heroic king of the name of Trivikramasena, in order that thou mightest overcome an audacious evildoer. So thou shalt bring under thy sway the earth with the islands and the realms below, and shalt soon become supreme ruler over the Vidyádharas. And after thou hast long enjoyed heavenly pleasures, thou shalt become melancholy, and shalt of thy own will abandon them, and shalt at last without fail be united with me. Now receive from me this sword named Invincible, by means of which thou shalt duly obtain all this.” When the god Śiva had said this to the king, he gave him that splendid sword, and disappeared after he had been worshipped by him with devout speeches and flowers. Then king Trivikramasena, seeing that the whole business was finished, and as the night had come to an end, entered his own city Pratishṭhána. There he was honoured by his rejoicing subjects, who in course of time came to hear of his exploits during the night, and he spent the whole of that day in bathing, giving gifts, in worshipping Śiva, in dancing, singing, music, and other enjoyments of the kind. And in a few days that king, by the power of the sword of Śiva, came to enjoy the earth, that was cleared of all enemies, together with the islands and the lower regions; and then by the appointment of Śiva he obtained the high imperial sovereignty over the Vidyádharas, and after enjoying it long, at last became united with the blessed one, so attaining all his ends.

(Here ends the Vetálapanchavinśati.)

When Mṛigánkadatta, as he was going to Ujjayiní to win his beloved, had heard, on the way, from his minister Vikramakeśarin, this account of his adventures since he had been separated from him, that prince rejoiced, as he had in course of time found some of his ministers, who were separated from him by the curse of Párávatáksha, and as he augured therefrom success in all that he had in hand.

Note.

Properly speaking, there are 24 instead of 25 stories in this version of the Vetála Panchavinśati. The same appears to be the case with the redaction ascribed to Śivadása, according to Oesterley, and with the Tamul version. The 24th tale in Oesterley’s translation is simply a repetition of the 22nd.

Notes in this chapter

Note 1 · I read with the MS. in the Sanskrit College lipta for klipta, and púrṇa for púrva.Note 2 · See Addendum to Fasciculus IV, being a note on Vol. I, p. 306.Note 3 · The Sanskrit College MS. reads nishkampam̱. But perhaps we ought to read nishkampa, “O fearless one.” Satyam̱ must be used adverbially. Kula Note 4 · I read netraiśeha for netre cha with the Sanskrit College MS.Note 5 · Perhaps páṭitát would give a better sense.Note 6 · The story is here taken up from page 232.Note 7 · The Sanskrit College MS. reads sa kṛitártham̱.Note 8 · So in Melusine, p. 447, the hero of the tale “La Montagne Noire” rides on the back of a crow, to whom he has to give flesh, as often as he s Note 9 · The Sanskrit College MS. reads kopita for mánada i. e., “Since I was separated from you by the curse of the enraged Nága.”Note 10 · When6 that minister Vikramakeśarin, meeting in the way the successful7 prince Mṛigánkadatta, after he had been long separated from him by a Note 11 · Honour to the vanquisher of obstacles,1 round whose knees, when he is dancing at night, there winds a garland of stars, which appears as if