King Vikramaditya caught Baital before he could hang upside down on the peepal tree. Putting the dead body on his shoulder, he walked towards the crematory. On the way, Baital remarked, “Vikram, it is for the first time that you have caught me even before I could be in my abode. It seems that you will taste success soon. Now, as the road is too long, you had better listen to the story I am going to tell you.” So, Baital began his story as follows:
There was a town named Baikunthpur. A Brahmin by the name of Nandhasan lived there. He was sad because he had no children. One day, he felt very depressed. He said to himself, ‘I really do not know what grave sin I have committed as God has not blessed me with a child.’ But it seemed that God had heard his prayers. Nandhasan was soon blessed with a son. He was thrilled and thanked God.
The Brahmin named the child Vishal Datta. With passing time, Vishal Datta grew up. The Brahmin brought him up in a traditional way. He received good education. By the age of fourteen years, he had mastered the Vedas and the Upanishads. All was going well when something awful happened. Vishal Datta fell seriously ill. None of the physicians could cure him, and finally, he died. Nandhasan was totally shaken. He was so shocked that he was on the verge of going mad. He threw himself on his son’s bier and wept bitterly. He sat there for hours.
Finally, it was time to take the body for cremation. So, a sad Nandhasan along with other people took the Vishal Datta to the crematory. Near the crematory under a tree, a very old sage was sitting in meditation. He got disturbed by the wailing of the people and looked in that direction.
The sage saw the dead body of the boy. He went near it. The sage was tempted to enter the lifeless body of the young boy. At this point, he at first wept bitterly and then laughed aloud. Then, the sage discarded his old body and entered the dead body of the young boy. The boy was alive. The people were surprised as well as happy to see a dead Vishal Datta rising to life again. None knew that it was the sage.
Here Baital ended his story and said, “Vikram, tell me why the sage wept at first and laughed later.” King Vikramaditya replied, “The sage wept because he was leaving his old body. He laughed because he was thrilled to get a young body.” Baital said, “You are right, Vikram. But I warned you not to speak which you forgot. So, I will fly away.” Saying so, Baital flew away and Vikramaditya followed him in anger at having been duped again.
