The Best Of Vikram Betal

Adapted from the Vetālapañcaviṃśati, Sanskrit tales about Vikramāditya Sākārī, King of Ujjain.

The stories of Vikram and Betal, originally written in Sanskrit, have been an integral part of the Indian fairy tales for many centuries. Legend has it that King Vikramaditya (Vikram), the Emperor of Ujjain promises a monk to bring Betal, the vampire as a favour promised to him. The condition is that the King should bring the vampire with complete silence otherwise the vampire will fly back with corpse to the tree. As soon as Vikram attempts to fetch the corpse, the vampire starts to narrate a story. And at the end of every story, it compels King Vikram to answer his question, thus breaking his silence. The collection of Vikram and Betal stories bring before the young readers some of the most amazing tales ending with a moral. Hope the children will enjoy reading them.

‘If you know the answer and do not respond, your head will shatter into pieces!’ In a land of glorious kings, bloodthirsty demons and talking spirits, was born the lore of Vikram and the Vetal. After a series of mysterious events, King Vikramaditya carries the vetal, a witty ghost, on a long journey through death's playground. The vetal narrates the most fascinating tales and asks the most puzzling riddles, leaving Vikram completely stumped. Deepa Agarwal's beautiful translation brings age-old wisdom alive through the vetal's wondrous stories that are bound to confound and captivate readers even today.

Age old stories of Vikram and Vetal. The tales are retold in a short story/novel way.

The Baital-Pachisi, or Twenty-five Tales of a Baital is the history of a huge Bat, Vampire, or Evil Spirit which inhabited and animated dead bodies. It is an old, and thoroughly Hindu, Legend composed in Sanskrit, and 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. The story turns chiefly on a great king named Vikram, the King Arthur of the East, who in pursuance of his promise to a Jogi or Magician, brings to him the Baital (Vampire), who is hanging on a tree. It is an old Hindu folk tale that was translated by Sir Richard R. Burton from the original Sanskrit.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1871.