WHO WAS KING VIKRAMADITYA?

 WHO WAS KING VIKRAMADITYA?

There have been at least four Vikramaditya in history. 

Chandragupta II Vikramaditya had 'nine gems' in his court. They were –

1. Kalidas, 2. Dhanwantari, 3. Kshapanak, 4. Amar Simha, 5. Shanku, 6. Ghatkarpar, 7. Varahmihir, 8. Vararuchi and 9. Vaital Bhatt.

The name 'Vaital Bhatt', one of the nine gems of Chandragupta II Vikramaditya, has nothing to do with Betal 'The Vampire' of 'Vaital Panchavimshati'; because 'Bar Kaha' had been written a few centuries before Christ and 'Vaital Bhatt' was born a few centuries after Christ. Similarly, the Vikramaditya of 'Vaital Panchavimshati' does not have to do anything with Chandragupta II Vikramaditya. But a logical conclusion can be drawn that those who assumed the title of 'Vikramaditya' did it only to give recognition to their success and emulate his greatness by suffixing 'Vikramaditya' to their names. This means that these kings were greatly impressed by him, and this also means that King Vikramaditya, who has been depicted as a hero in Vikram and Betal, was born much earlier and has nothing to do with Chandragupta II Vikramaditya, who was the son of Samudragupta. But even though his historicity cannot be established, he remains a historical figure in a work of fiction.

'Katha Sarit Sagar' is a famous book in the Sanskrit language written by 'Somdeva'. In fact, it would be more correct to say that it was rewritten by 'Somdeva' from the book 'Vrihad Katha', which was a translation of the book 'Bar Kaha'. 'Bar Kaha' was written by 'Gunadhya' in Paishachi Prakrit language. 'Gunadhya' was a minister at the court of King Satvahan of Andhra dynasty around the period 495 B.C. It is said of 'Gunadhya' that he composed seven lakh couplets in a period of seven years and named it 'Bar Kaha'. First this book was translated into Sanskrit language by King Durvineet as 'Vrihad Katha'; but unfortunately neither 'Bar Kaha' nor Vrihad Katha' is available now.

'Somadeva' who was contemporary of King Awant of Kashmir (1029-1064 AD), rewrote 'Vrihad Katha' in the Sanskrit language and named it 'Katha Sarit Sagar', which consists of 21,388 couplets. 'Vaital Panchavimshati' or 'Betal Pachchisi' and 'Vaital Panchavimshati or 'Betal Pachchisi' and 'Simhasan Dwatrinshika' or 'Simhasan Battisi' are parts of 'Katha Sarit Sagar'. In 'Betal Pachchisi' the poet has made Betal tell twenty-five meaningful stories to King Vikramaditya and in 'Simhasan Battisi', the poet has used the thirty-two puppets to give a detailed introduction of King Vikramaditya one by one.

Then much later, as the stories in 'Katha Sarit Sagar' aroused interest and curiosity in the minds of people, Mohammad Shah, a Mughal Emperor, got it translated into Braj language by 'Sorath', a poet at the court of Sawai Raja Jai Singh. Next, it was Captain Mart who got it made more comprehensible and intelligible by Tarinicharan Mishra and introduced it in the schools of Bengal during the British period in India.

This book consists of twenty-five stories told by Vaital to King Vikramaditya. But who was King Vikramaditya and what place he held in the history of India is a matter of debate. There is no historical evidence; there is nothing that can establish the historicity of King Vikramaditya mentioned in the book Vaital Panchavimshati. But it seems he played an important role in the historical process, because, as is evident from the history of ancient India, there had been about twelve Vikramadityas and each one embraced this title after having achieved some kind of great success as a title of honour. Even Chandragupta II Vikramaditya, who ruled from 375 AD to 415 AD, assumed this title only after having conquered Gujarat and Kathiawad which was indeed a great success.

Some anecdotalists have made available a little of anecdotal material which will, we are sure, make interesting reading. Thus goes the story-

There was a shepherd lad in a village. He used to take his sheep out for grazing, and some other village boys would also accompany him. After having shepherded his sheep towards a pasture, he used to start playing with his friends. And every day, while playing, he would go and sit on a mound of earth and call himself a king. His friends, too, enjoyed this game and posing themselves to be his subjects, they would come with their grievances, which were, of course, not real, and the shepherd lad would pronounce his judgment like a just king. Gradually, the villagers too came to know about his great sense of justice. Whenever there was a problem among them and they could not solve and settle the matter, they would come to the shepherd lad, and this boy would go and sit on that particular mound of earth, listen to both the parties patiently and pronounce his judgement; and both the parties would go back satisfied.

It took no time for the story to spread like wildfire and the then ruling king Raja Bhoja Dev also came to know about it. He called the boy at his court and tried to test his sense of justice, but to his astonishment, he found him to be a most ordinary boy.

"I have heard a lot about your sense of justice, but now I find you are a most ordinary boy," said Raja Bhoj Dev.

To this, the shepherd lad said, "Sir, I have never had education and am indeed a very ordinary boy. But sir, there is a mound of earth in the hilly region in the north-west province of your kingdom. When I sit on that mound, sense of justice starts flowing automatically from above; I begin to feel that I am a great king."

Raja Bhoj Dev sensed some meaning in what the shepherd lad said. He asked him to lead him to the mound of earth. After reaching there Raja Bhoj Dev made the boy sit on the mound and posed a very complicated problem before him. This was a case to which he himself had given several hearings in his court and had not yet been able to solve it, owing to its complicatedness. But to his utter bewilderment, the boy, after giving a patient hearing, solved the case as if it was a very simple one.