Baital Pachisi or Vetala Panchvimshati (Sanskrit: वेतालपञ्चविंशति, "Twenty five tales of Baital"), also known as Vikram and The Vampire, is a collection of tales and legends from India. It was originally written in Sanskrit. It was translated into English by Sir Richard Burton. Like Arabian Nights, also translated by Burton, it is a set of tales, within a frame story.
According to Isabel Burton, the Baital Pachisi "is the germ which culminated in the Arabian Nights, and which inspired the "Golden Ass" of Apuleius, Boccacio's "Decamerone," the "Pentamerone," and all that class of facetious fictitious literature".[1].
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Plot
Attributed to 8th-century Sanskrit sage Bhavabhuti, the legendary King Vikram, identified as Vikramāditya (c. 1st century BC), promises a vamachara (a tantric sorcerer) that he will capture a vetala (or Baital), a vampire spirit who hangs from a tree and inhabits and animates dead bodies.
King Vikram faces many difficulties in bringing the vetala to the tantric. Each time Vikram tries to capture the vetala, it tells a story that ends with a riddle. If Vikram cannot answer the question correctly, the vampire consents to remain in captivity. If the king answers the question correctly, the vampire would escape and return to his tree. In some variations, the king is required to speak if he knows the answer, else his head will burst. In other versions, the king is unable to hold his tongue if he knows the answer, due to his ego. Regardless of the reason, he knows the answer to every question; therefore the cycle of catching and releasing the vampire continues twenty-four times.
On the twenty-fifth attempt, the vetala tells the story of a father and a son in the after-math of a devastating war. They find the queen and the princess alive in the chaos, and decide the take them home. In due time, the son marries the queen and the father marries the princess. Eventually, the son and the queen have a son, and the father and the princess have a daughter. The vetala asks what the relation between the two newborn children is. The question stumps Vikram. Satisfied, the vetala allows himself to be taken to the tantric.
The vetala reveals the sorcerer's plan to sacrifice Vikram, beheading him as he bowed in front of the goddess. The Sorcerer could then gain control over the vetala. The vampire suggests that the king asks the tantric how to perform his obeisance, then take advantage of that moment to behead the sorcerer himself. Vikramāditya does exactly as told by vetala and he is blessed by Lord Indra. The vetala offers the king a boon, whereupon Vikram requests that the tantric's life be restored and that the vetala would come to the king's aid when needed.
Variation
A variation of this story replaces the vetal with a minor celestial who, in exchange for his own life, reveals the plot by two tradesmen (replacing the sorcerer) to assassinate Vikram and advises Vikram to trick them into positions of vulnerability as described above. Having killed them, Vikram is offered a reward by the goddess, who grants him two spirits loyal to Her as his servants.
In Other Media
The story made a popular serial in year 1988 by name Vikram aur Betaal starring Arun Govil as Vikram and SajjanKumar as the Vetala by Sagar Films (Pvt. Ltd.). It was aired on Doordarshan the public television broadcaster of India. Also, a remake of the same serial was made with the name 'Kahaniyaan Vikram aur Betaal Ki' is currently running on Indian Satellite channel 'Colors', being made by the new generation of Sagar Films (Pvt. Ltd.). Another vampire called Vetaal and his spellbook Paddu were found by a boy called Vikram "Vicky" Sharma in the TV series Vicky & Vetaal.
A popular children's periodical, Chandamama, features a serial story known as New Tales of Vikram and Betal for many years. As the title suggests, keeping the original premise of the story intact, new stories are told by Betal to King Vikram.
References
Further reading
- Baital Pachisi: Twenty Five Ghost Stories, Captain W. Hollings, Varanasi:
Pilgrims Publishing , 2006, ISBN: 8177691163, ISBN 9788177691160
External links
- Translated by Sir Richard R. Burton (also available at World Wide School Library)
- Harvard-Kyoto transliteration [1]
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