Vetāla 22: The Four Brāhman Brothers who resuscitated the Lion

Click the link to jump directly to the english translation of the twenty-second Vetāla. This page only contains the notes.

In the Hindi version^[1] (No. 21) we find that the four brothers are all the despair of their unhappy father. The eldest was a gambler; the second, a wencher; the third, a fornicator; the fourth, an atheist.

One day he began to say to his sons:

“Whoever is a gambler, Fortune enters not his house.”

The eldest son was troubled in mind at this.

Again the father said:

“It is written in the ‘Rājñīti’ that

‘Cutting off a gambler’s nose and ears, drive him out of the country, that he may thus prove an example to others. And though a gambler’s wife and children are in the house, do not consider them to be so, since it is not known when they will be lost. And those who are fascinated by the allurements of courtesans are storing grief for themselves; and, being in the power of harlots, give up their property, and at last commit theft.’

And it has also been said that

‘The wise keep aloof from women who can fascinate a man in a second; and the unwise, forming an affection for her, forfeit their truthfulness, good disposition, good name, their way of life and mode of thought, their vows and their religion. And to such the advice of their spiritual preceptors comes amiss.’

And it is also said:

‘He who has lost all sense of shame, fears not to disgrace another.’

And it is a proverb that:

‘A wild cat who devours its own young ones is not likely to let a rat escape.’”

He continued:

“Those who have not read science in their boyhood, and in youth, agitated by love, have remained in the pride of youth, in their old age feel regret, and are burned up by the fire of avarice.”

The brothers repent of their evil ways, and set out for another city, where they acquire great learning. On their way home they meet a Kañjar, who, having tied in a bundle the skin and bones of a tiger which he had found dead, is about to depart. They think that here is a chance to put their learning to a test, and accordingly do so. The rest follows as in Somadeva.

In the Tamil version^[2] (No. 15) the brothers chance to be travelling together on business, and, in return for kindness to an ascetic, are given the power of raising the dead to life. They come across a dead tiger, and experiment as in our text.

We are not surprised to find the lion changed into a tiger, as the former is scarce in India and appears little in Hindu fiction.^[3]

We have in this story merely a variety of the “Resuscitation” motif already discussed in the notes on Vetāla 2 (Vol. VI, p. 262 et seq.). It is closely allied to the “Joint Efforts” motif (Vetāla 5, Vol. VI, p. 273 et seq.), but this is not always the case, as the resuscitation may be achieved by a single individual. Thus in the Bahār-i-Dānish^[4] we read, in the “History of the Prince of Futtun and the Princess Mherbanou,” of a venerable sage who was met by the prince and his wonder-working companions, as they were journeying in search of the princess. His locks were white, and he was bent in stature like a violet. He was sitting at the foot of a tree putting together the separated skeleton of a cow, on which he poured water. Immediately on sprinkling the water, the various blood vessels and members reunited, and the flesh and skin reappeared on the decayed frame.... By command of the Almighty Lord of Power, one of whose peculiar properties is to raise the dead, life revisited the animal, and instantly standing up, she began to low. The truth of the sacred text (“All things live by water”) was exemplified.

The story as given in Benfey’s Pantschatantra (vol. ii, p. 332) is somewhat different. Here we have four brothers, of whom three possess all knowledge, but only one possesses common sense.

The first brother joins together the bones of the lion, the second covers them with skin, flesh and blood, the third is about to give the animal life, when the brother who possesses common sense says:

“If you raise him to life he will kill us all.”

Finding that the third brother will not desist from his intention, he climbs up a tree, and so saves his life, while his three brothers are torn to pieces.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Barker, op. cit., p. 333 et seq.

[2]:

Babington, op. cit., pp. 67, 68.

[3]:

See Ocean, Vol. I, p.67n^l. Tawney, by mistake, wrote “Tiger” instead of “Lion” in the heading to the story (Vol. II, p. 348).

[4]:

Scott’s translation, vol. ii, pp. 290, 291.