Reward for Bravery

Anangapal, the Prince of
Assam, was a renowned war-
rior. He and his elite guards
always travelled in a body.
Every day they held competi-
tions to test one another's skill
with various kinds of weaponry.
Sometimes the tournaments
were followed by bouts of
feasting.

One night Anangapal resting
on his forearm looked ,around
at the company and asked,
" Tell me, is there a princess
worthy of becoming my bride?
She must be beautiful with
qualities of heart and mind.
Does anyone know of such a
maiden?"

The courtiers looked at one
another and scratched their
heads not knowing what to
reply. At last, Parakrama, a
young man, spoke up. " Sir,
the King of Manipur has two
daughters. The elder girl
whose name is Lilavathi, is also
well versed in the martial arts.
She rides, shoots, and hunts
extremely well. The younger
daughter is named Mohana.
She is a comely girl who excels
* in such arts as dance and song.
I believe she is worthy of be-
coming your bride."

Anangapal clapped his hand
in joy and said, " Good, let us
invade Manipur and bring away
the Princess Mohana."

Parakrama said, " Sire, for
this little task you don't need
an army. Let me go with one
other warrior and 1*11 accom-
plish this task very easily. I
was a courtier there once!"

As Parakrama was also a
very doughty fighter, Anangapal
did not doubt that he would
carry out the task entrusted to
him. So he permitted Parak-




rama to go to Manipur and
sent one of his bodyguards
with him.

Parakrama went straight to
the king's court and boldly
said to the king, V Sire, I have
come on behalf of my sovereign
Lord, Anangapal. He wishes
to marry your daughter,
Mohana."

At these words the king of
Manipur bounded from his
throne and shouted, " What
crazy talk is this? How dare you
ask for the hand of the younger
daughter while Liiavathi re-
mains as yet unwed? Guards,
arrest this impudent fellow."

At once Parakrama leaped
on the throne and holding the



king by the throat drew his
sharp poniard from his waist
and made a motion as if to
sever his jugular veins. Then
he said between his teeth, " Call
your guards off or you die,"

The king who was in truth a
coward cowered before Parak-
rama and pleaded for his life.
Then after obtaining an assu-
rance that Mohana would be
married to Anangapal, Parak-
rama released him. Later the
king saw his daughter off with
Parakrama's retinue and heaved
a sigh of relief.

Parakrama travelling swiftly
reached the outskirts of Mani-
pur and decided to rest in an
inn on the roadside. Just then
he heard the sound of fast
galloping horses and detecting
some danger in that, drew his
sword and held it ready in
his hand.

A horseman galloped out of
the dusk and drew rein in front
of Parakrama. Then leaping
down from the horse rushed at
the latter with flashing sword.
But Parakrama leaped aside
nimbly, and as the other stumb-
led past swung his sword in an
arc and slashed at the head of
the attacker. He. only suc-
ceeded in knocking off the
enemy's headgear which dis-



closed long tresses bound up
loosely. The attacker was a
maiden. Parakrama stood asto-
nished and the maiden said,
"Parakrama, will you war
against women?"

Parakrama asked, " And why
has the Princess Lilavathi come
in pursuit of us?"

The Princess replied, " How
can my sister marry when I am
not married? Therefore you
must marry me."

Now Parakrama had not ex-
pected this, so he said humbly,
" Am I that fortunate?"

When the Princess gladly
agreed to marry him, his joy
knew no bounds. They pro-
posed to marry after reaching
Assam.

But Anangapal did not
approve of the match between
Lilavathi and one of his guards.
He felt it was beneath his dig-
nity to acknowledge Parakrama
as his relative. When he ex-



pressed his disapproval, Parak-
rama said, " I did nothing.
She offered to marry me."

Lilavathi vexed at this said,
" Very well. I'll marry the one
who is a better warrior than
Parakrama. Let us hold a
tournament."

So a test was arranged. In
the courtyard of the royal
palace, a sword was stuck in the
ground with its tip pointing up-
wards. Then Parakrama took
his bow and with a well flighted
shaft cleft the sword in two
equal parts. Lilavathi holding
up the pieces asked whether
anyone could do better. All the
warriors tried and failed. So
finally, Anangapal had to agree
willy-nilly to the marriage of
Lilavathi with Parakrama. But
sensing Anangapal's resent-
ment towards him, Parakrama
left for Manipur, where in
course of time, he was crowned
king.