The Truth About The Beauty  

There were once two brothers by the name of Sanjay and Vijay. Both the brothers were devoted to one another. One day while strolling through a garden, the two brothers came across a beautiful young maiden. Both the brothers followed her and managed to find her house. But when they entered the house, an old woman came out and Sanjay the elder brother asked, “Where is that young lady?”

The old woman replied that if they wanted to meet her again, they must come to the garden at the same time the next day. On the way, Sanjay said, “I think I am in love with that girl. Tomorrow I will ask her to marry me.”

Vijay was also in love with her but he kept quiet for the sake of his elder brother.

The next day Sanjay met the girl and asked her to marry him. The girl replied, “Please see another part of me before you make up your mind.”

Then she wiped some makeup from her face. She no longer looked beautiful. Sanjay was so upset that he went away without saying anything else. He narrated his tale to his younger brother. But Vijay said, “I was not attracted by her beauty. I am more in love with the inner qualities. I think I detected in her.”

Vijay went to meet the girl and asked her to marry him. The girl rubbed off some of her makeup and showed Vijay her not so pretty self.

But Vijay refused to be disappointed. “My love for you is not based on your looks. I love your inner being,” he said.

A day was fixed and they were married. But to Vijay’s surprise, she continued to look beautiful after her makeup was washed off. She said, “Actually this is my real face. What I showed your brother and you were just tricks I played to find your true reason to marry me. I am now happy to have a husband who loves me as a person and not just as an object of beauty.”

Sanjay was so angry that he decided to kill his brother so that he could have his wife. But Vijay beheaded him before Sanjay could harm him. The soldiers arrested him and took him to the king.

Betal asked. “Tell me 0 King Vikram, would the king find Vijay guilty?”

King Vikram said, “Surely the king would not find Vijay guilty. Sanjay had only loved her beauty. But Vijay was not bothered about physical beauty. Sanjay had decided to kill his own brother for the sake of his sinful lust. So Vijay was fully justified to protect himself by killing his treacherous brother."

Betal was delighted with King Vikram’s answer. But he would not stay on as the king had broken his silence. He left to fly back to the banyan tree with King Vikram close behind.