Jain Folk Tale – Soul Swapping Sovereign – {Ep.262}

Today’s episode is a Jain Folk Tale about a King who has several out of body experiences including living as an Elephant, a Deer, a Parrot. Can he save himself from his evil minister’s conspiracy?

Namaskar and welcome to “Stories From India”. This is a podcast that will take you on a journey through the rich mythology, folklore and history of the Indian subcontinent. I am Narada Muni, the celestial storyteller and the original “time lord”. With my ability to travel through space and time, I can bring you fascinating stories from the past, the present, and the future. From the epic tales of the Mahabharata and Ramayana to the folktales of the Panchatantra to stories of Akbar-Birbal and Tenali Raman, I have a story for every occasion.

The purpose of the stories is neither to pass judgment nor to indoctrinate. My goal is only to share these stories with people who may not have heard them before and to make them more entertaining for those who have.

Today’s Story

In this episode, we’re doing a Jain folk tale. Let’s jump in.

Raja Bhola, not to be confused with Raja Bhoja, was the ruler of an ancient Indian kingdom. Bhola just means innocent or gullible. And that sums up this Raja’s personality in one word. He was easily manipulated by his evil minister, Dhoorth, who was always looking for sneaky ways to depose him. But the minister was just as unsuccessful as Wile E. Coyote or Elmer Fudd in catching the roadrunner or Bugs Bunny. Another analogy might be Tantry the Mantri from Tinkle comics. Especially because just like with Tantry the Mantri, the King placed complete trust in his Minister. Where that analogy fails is that Tantry does become King at one point. Whereas Dhoorth, so far at least, hadn’t had any such luck.

But hey that didn’t stop him trying! He was constantly trying to find nefarious ways to get his boss out of the throne and into the soup. Nights and Weekends included. And the day this story starts was no exception at all. With all the time for plotting, I don’t know where Dhoorth was finding time to actually run things. Or maybe he wasn’t and Bhola didn’t care. It’s not like Bhola could just fire his minister and expect a minister who could administer. Because the vacated post would have to be filled by Nepotism. And in Dhoorth’s case the Nepo baby here was a literal baby.

Today, Bhola was excited, because it was Farmer’s market Friday! Unlike a 21st century farmers’ market, this was the Ancient Indian Kingdom version. Which meant the market came to the King’s doorstep.

“This is our top of the line model. A Jaguar X-Colt-70.” the farmer announced with no attempt to conceal his pride.

“It’s not a Jaguar, it’s a horse,” corrected Dhoorth.

The farmer didn’t bother to explain that all his horses had different kinds of names, purely as a marketing tactic. Instead he launched a counter-attack. “But is it? Sure it looks like a horse right now, because we’ve forced it to halt in one place. Most people say that when these horses are running, they just look like a blur. He’s got the power of three hundred horses! No seriously, he was rated at 300hp. And he can go 0 to 60 in 3 seconds.”

Silently, he thanked goodness for the lack of standardized metrics, and carried on “have you seen such a perfect aerodynamic shape? And the beautiful chestnut coat, completely natural, glossier than spray paint! And the latest-feature, he has run-flat hooves reinforced with top of the line iron. Delivers maximum performance in all weather, and all kinds of terrain. Best economy in his weight class – 100 kilometers per gathri. Lifetime warranty, and for a limited time you can get a 12 month free service contract. Terms and conditions apply. Grass not included. Each sold separately.”

With a pitch like that, the King couldn’t resist. You might say, wild horses couldn’t drag him away from a horse like that. And that is what Dhoorth had been counting on, when he arranged for this farmer to bring this wild horse here.

Bhola looked at Dhoorth for approval. He didn’t get it. 

“Dhoorth, why the long face?” The King asked 

Dhoorth explained that the royal horse tester was ill.

“Nonsense!” replied the King. “I’m an accomplished equestrian. I will take him for a test drive myself! And I won’t hear any more objections from you!”

Dhoorth gave in, quite reluctantly, while still internally celebrating that the King had behaved exactly as the Minister had predicted. Some clever use of reverse psychology there, even if he said so himself.

He sat on the horse and gave us his evaluation. “Comfortable saddle. The reins feel smooth to the touch, nice feedback from the horse. I really like this cup holder too. Hey, you there – get me a stanley cup full of mango lassi” the King instructed an attendant. But the horse, perhaps fearing that the King was about to spill lassi on his back, decided not to wait. He bolted from the scene. The farmer had been correct. The horse had enormous horse-power, and the acceleration was fantastic. The only thing was, the brakes didn’t seem to work. The horse didn’t react to all of the King’s attempts to get it to stop. It went straight out of the Kingdom and into a dark forest. Can’t blame the horse here really. It was a wild horse that was trying to get back to the wild open spaces, instead of being stuck in a concrete jungle.

After a few hours of operating at top speed, the horse finally broke down. There was a sputter and a choke and a gasp. And then just like that, the horse collapsed. There wasn’t a grass station around. And if the problem was something else – like overheating – there was nothing the King could do about it.

The best he could do was to wander around in this dark forest and look for some way of getting back to his Kingdom. Bhola thought how right his minister had been in trying to dissuade him from riding this horse by himself. Poor chap must be worried, wondering what happened to the King.

Said minister was not worried. He was celebrating. Still privately. Because there was policy of waiting at least 7 days before a missing King was presumed dead. As the King hadn’t married yet and had no children, the minister would likely be asked to step up to the throne.

For now, he was celebrating by diving around in the King’s treasury – Scrooge McDuck style!

Back in the forest, Bhola wandered around stumbling in the dark, until he saw a light in the distance. He scrambled through bushes and tripped over more than a few tree roots, and finally reached the light. To his luck, it was the hut of a Rishi. And not just a run-of-the-mill rishi, but a rishi who knew Bhola. He had visited a few years ago, and gotten some food, and some gifts out of the King. And the rishi was more than happy to reciprocate. The King was famished, and the Rishi served him all kinds of delicious food.

To be more accurate, a richly-dressed princess in the Rishi’s home served the King all kinds of delicious food. Naturally the King wondered who this elegant lady was, and why she was here doing domestic work, and most importantly, was she an eligible bachelorette? The King was looking, you know.

The Rishi explained that the Princess was Nivriti. And yes, Nivriti was unmarried. Her father was a King of the demi-gods somewhere. He didn’t know where, but it didn’t matter. Due to a complicated situation, Nivriti’s father had left her in the Rishi’s care, and disappeared. Truth be told, he would be happy if Bhola married Nivriti. The Rishi didn’t have too much money. But there was just one catch. Nivriti’s father had made the Rishi promise that Nivriti’s husband would have the ability to transfer his soul to another body. 

“You mean like Agent Smith in the Matrix?” asked Bhola. The Rishi wasn’t much of a Hollywood fan, and he didn’t know what Bhola was talking about given this was centuries before movies were invented. But the idea was that he should be able to depart a body and enter another, while retaining his memory, his mental abilities, emotions and such.

Bhola confessed that he didn’t have that ability, but he did spot a loophole in the promise. Nivriti’s father had asked for Nivriti’s husband to have a special ability. But the fact that he used the word “husband” and not “prospective groom” or “fiance” clearly meant that it wasn’t a condition for the marriage itself. As long as Bhola at some nebulous point in the future learned the ability, everything would be okay. 

You see Bhola, wasn’t all that innocent after all. Just gullible when it came to his minister.

The Rishi had to admit that Bhola’s argument made complete sense. He never thought of that, or he wouldn’t have rejected the previous 5 kings who had stumbled in here and asked to marry Nivriti.

Bhola and Nivriti were wed the very next day. The Rishi officiated, and blessed the couple. And just in time, because the Rishi knew of a caravan that was passing this way headed to Bhola’s kingdom. The new couple joined it and quite soon reached Bhola’s kingdom again.

Not a moment too soon, because Dhoorth had been getting ready to tearfully accept the heavy crown of responsibility. Of course he had to put on an act worthy of a filmfare award when the Raja returned unexpectedly. What was worse, Dhoorth had one look at Nivriti and his resolve became stronger. He decided that eliminating Bhola, getting money and power were now just secondary. His main desire was to become married to Nivriti. She became his new primary target.

Though Bhola had the option of indefinitely delaying the deadline to learn the ability that his father in law had prescribed, he decided to be a gentleman and to make an honest attempt at learning this skill. But he didn’t know where to learn this skill. The person he confided in was of course Dhoorth.

The Minister saw his opportunity. And though a terrible conspirator with consistent failures, he had some things going for him. One of those was that he had an incredibly complex network of spies and informants. He reeled them in, and asked about where a person could learn the ability to transfer their souls from one body to another.

Most of his network knew nothing about it. But one informant had heard a story about a Rishi who could teach people this remarkable ability. The rumor was that he wasn’t teaching anyone though.

That didn’t matter. Dhoorth took this info to the King asap. And he suggested that he accompany the King too, on the long journey to this mysterious Yoda-like Rishi, if you want a Star Wars analogy.

The King would have preferred Dhoorth to stay back and administer the kingdom, but Dhoorth convinced him that the Minister for Advertising was the one who should be left in charge. That’s why it was called AdMinistering. Somehow that logic convinced Bhola.

Well the two of them made the long trek to Gyaani. That was the name of the Rishi they hoped to learn from. They got there, overcoming wild animals, mosquitoes, swamps, and more than enough souvenir salesmen who tried to convince them to buy trinkets.

When they finally got to the cave where Gyaani lived, they found the Rishi deep in meditation. Bhola knew exactly how to behave. He had excelled in all the Rishi interaction courses in Royal University. The right thing to do here was to join in. So Bhola folded his hands, closed his eyes and began meditating as well. Dhoorth followed suit.

It took a long time, but Gyaani opened his eyes and was pleased with his visitors. Joining in meditation had boosted his own prayers. He thanked them and asked them if there was anything he could do for them. Anything except teaching them the skill to transfer their soul to another body.

It took a bit of haggling, but finally Gyaani agreed to teach them both, especially after Bhola promised a 10 year support program for Gyaani’s school, and bonus grains with every donation to all of Gyaani’s followers. 

Bhola and Dhoorth were both very quick to learn the skill. It was just one word – that made it very easy! They thanked the Rishi and went on their way.

Within minutes of departing from Gyaani’s cave they came across a dead elephant.

“This is elephantastic! It’s a chance to try out my new skill” Bhola said. He instructed Dhoorth to guard his body, and quickly transferred his soul to the elephant. The dead elephant rose and trumpeted cheerfully as Bhola’s body lay there motionless. It worked! Now he was truly worthy of being Nivriti’s husband.

Dhoorth was suddenly jubilant as well. This had been very easy! It was going to work! Now he was truly worthy of becoming Nivriti’s husband. 

Swiftly, he uttered the magic word and rushed into Bhola’s body. He didn’t wait for Bhola in the elephant’s body to react. Dhoorth, in Bhola’s body, quickly drew his sword and attacked Dhoorth’s own motionless body. And for good measure he burned it. Dhoorth had no sentimental attachment to his former body. He didn’t care. As long as he got to be with Nivriti, got to be King – this was perfect. Almost. There was one fly in the ointment. Or rather, instead of a fly, I mean the elephant. 

Bhola in the Elephant’s body was shocked by what he was witnessing. Never in a million years would he have imagined that Dhootrth would do this to him. And I guess to himself. Since from Dhoorth’s perspective he was really eliminating Dhoorth’s body. 

Maybe it was his Elephant temperament, but Bhola was mad now. Driven by rage, he rushed towards his own body, totally intending to crush himself. Or rather Dhoorth in his own body. Or at least grab him with his trunk and give him a good squeeze. 

But there was a problem. His large lumbering size meant that the human was much more nimble. He swiftly escaped, got on Dhoorth’s horse and rushed away from the scene. What could Bhola do? He looked at his own horse. The horse looked back. A horse is faster than an elephant. But an elephant riding on a horse cannot hope to be faster than an elephant. Bhola lumbered back in the direction of his kingdom, taking down a few trees in the process.

Dhoorth in Bhola’s body rode into the Kingdom, straight into the palace. He barked out two orders to the attendants who came to receive him. First and most urgently, they needed to erect a massive statue in Dhoorth’s honor. The poor minister had passed away when defending his King from a wild elephant. And secondly, that very same wild elephant was headed for the kingdom right now! So the attendants were to alert his generals and ask them to assemble the army. Also to get him his armor. The King was going along too, just to make sure they found the right elephant. No one wanted to make a mistake and kill the wrong pachyderm, you know.

And no, he hadn’t time right now to talk to Nivriti even though she rushed into the room. “I’ll see you later after I’ve taken care of a particularly big problem. Take care …. um… er…  my  superplum”

He rushed out, leaving Nivriti scratching her head, trying to understand what was happening here.

Dhoorth, in the King’s body and his army had no trouble finding their target. The elephant’s size  made it easier. Bhola looked at his army and at Dhoorth in his, Bhola’s, body and realized what was going to happen here. He turned around and ran.

“After him,” screamed the King. The general was puzzled. “Hey the mad elephant which doesn’t look all that mad by the way, is going away. He’s no longer a threat”

“Fools,” screamed  the King. “After him, that’s an order,”

An order is an order. So they all chased the elephant. Again, being on horses, they had the advantage of speed. They quickly caught up and began attacking the elephant with their sharp pointy spears. The Elephant could probably have trampled all the horses. But Bhola couldn’t bring himself to attack his own people. The ones who thought they were fighting for him.

The only outcome to this was that the army had to succeed. The elephant had to die. But not Bhola. Because as luck would have it, he spotted a dead deer nearby. Quickly, he transferred his soul to the deer and the elephant fell down lifeless. The deer was quite fast, faster than horses. Why hadn’t he thought of this before when he was trying to get back to his kingdom quickly. But the deer was not as fast as the arrows that the archers were firing at him now.

You might wonder why the army began attacking the deer? It made no sense. Bhola had ordered them to attack the elephant, and they had done that, and apparently killed it as well. 

Why was their King shouting at them with even more urgency, trying to get them to attack the deer? But an order was an order, so they chased after it.

The archers fired so many arrows at the deer, and hurt it. The gasping deer just made it over bush and spotted….. a dead parrot.

Another quick transfer of souls and Bhola was soaring in the air. Dhoorth meanwhile, in the King’s body, saw the parrot fly away but gave up. The bird was quickly out of sight, and there was no hope of catching up now. They all returned to the palace.

The next few days were the adjustment period for Dhoorth. He had to learn Bhola’s ways. But Nivriti was far too clever. She was suspicious. She sent for the army general and had a talk with him. She heard her husband’s obsession first with killing an elephant, then a deer. And then the general told her about the way he was wistfully looking at a parrot that was flying away from the scene of the deer killing.

Nivriti was smart enough to put two and two together. Her husband and Dhoorth had gone away in search of a way to enter other bodies at will, and only one person had come back. Yes, he had the appearance of her husband. But he wasn’t her husband. The absence of familiarity – he called her sugarplum. Not once since returning had he called her the secret name that they shared. Besides since being back, he had switched to being left-handed just like Dhoorth, and loved eating ice-cream before dinner, just like Dhoorth, as Bhola once told her. And the most telling, he had signed one of the letters as Dhoorth. He claimed it was a pen name he sometimes used and he used it this time accidentally, but that did not fool Nivriti at all. In retrospect at least. 

One other smart thing Nivriti had done the moment she entered this Kingdom was to establish her own network of spies and informants. She dispatched them in every direction asking to look for a parrot. It had to have something unusual about it.

She admitted it was a wild hope that Bhola wouldn’t have already transferred his soul out of the parrot, but it was worth a shot.

It took a few days, but finally one of Nivriti’s maids came in with something behind her back. She had a fantastic story to narrate. She had just been walking in the bird market – you know that market where all these hunters sell live birds they’ve captured? And there one of the parrots got pretty excited when he spotted the maid. He flapped his wings hard and screeched out a plea. Could the maid please buy him? She was a palace maid wasn’t she? She was Nivriti’s, oops, he meant the Queen’s maid, wasn’t she?

Well of course the maid bought the parrot. Though the seller charged a crazy premium because this was a pre-trained bird – it could talk perfectly!

And here he is, the maid added and brought out Bhola from behind her back.

Bhola and Nivriti had a tearful reunion. With Nivriti it was tears of joy, with Bhola, it was tears of pain because Nivriti didn’t know the proper way to hold a parrot without hurting it.

Unfortunately for them, Dhoorth stormed in. It had been a good idea to have his spies keep an eye on Nivriti, ever since the signature on the letter incident. He recognized the parrot as the same one that had flown away. Storming towards the Queen, he snatched the parrot out of her hands and twisted its neck, killing it almost instantly. Dhoorth heaved a big sigh of relief. Bhola was finally out of the way. Nivriti was crying now. She said she had paid a lot of money for this pet bird, and how dare he kill it. He must bring it back to life, or she would leave him forever!

“I can’t bring it back to life dear,” Dhoorth tried explaining.

Nivriti pointed out that he could. That’s the new skill he had acquired. Just for a few minutes, long enough for her to say goodbyes to this poor little parrot that she had come to love so much, despite possessing it for less than 5 minutes.

“Alright,” said Dhoorth and gave in. He said the magic word – Abracadabra, and instantly transferred his soul into the parrot, leaving behind Bhola’s body lifeless.

“Now,” screamed Nivriti. And just like that Bhola’s lifeless body came back to life! It was Bhola. Remember what I said about Dhoorth twisting the parrot’s neck and killing it almost instantly? Well the key word there is almost. Right before the parrot lost its life, Bhola transferred his soul to a dead fly he saw lying on the windowsill nearby. Only Nivriti seemed to have noticed that the fly she had swatted earlier was suddenly on the move, and she had understood what she must do.

So, when Dhoorth went into the parrot’s body, Bhola jumped out of the fly and into his own body.

Now, grabbing the parrot, he didn’t do what Dhoorth had done to him. Instead he instructed the maid to blindfold and lock this parrot away where he could do no further harm.

So that’s that. Bhola returned to normal, though he wished he had to adjust initially. His own body felt a little alien to him. Sort of like wearing second-hand clothes, which was a terribly uncomfortable thought for a person of royalty.

That’s all for now

Some notes on the show

There are some elements from this folk tale that we have encountered before. A Horse that bolts to faraway Kingdoms, a Parrot that gives wise advice to a hunter who captures it. And who helps depose an evil villain who is trying to replace the nice guy and marry the Princess/Queen. Specifically check out Episode 189 for the Bengali Folk Tale that has many of these elements.

That’s all for now. 

Next Time

In the next episode, we’ll go back to the Ramayana as many of you have requested. We’ll cover the final battle between Ravana and Rama.

Feedback

Thank you all for the comments on Social Media and on Spotify’s Q&A! I can’t directly reply to the questions there, but I’ll address them here on this show.

Kaira, thank you for the comments and the honest feedback.

Thank you Jenn, Libby, Aarush, Tectron, Taal, Madhu Kumar, VK.

Tectron, Kaira, Aniv – you’re getting your wish. We’re doing the Ramayana next week.

Devilskin – Krishna and Balaram – sure. I’ve added it to my list and I hope to get to it in a few weeks.

Aarush – I have a Tenali Raman story queued up, but it may be a few weeks before we get to it.

Taal – I do intend to go back to both the Mahabharata and the Singhasan Battisi – thank you for your patience.

VK – I have a story about Shiva in the Mahabharata that will come up soon.

Libby – I will do a Buddha story as well. Probably one of the Jataka tales that features him.

If you have any other comments or suggestions or if there are particular stories you’d like to hear, please do let me know by leaving a comment or a review on the site sfipodcast.com, or reply to the questions on Spotify Q&A. You can also find me on Instagram and Facebook. You can listen to the show on all podcast apps, and that now includes Youtube. If you want to send me an email it’s stories.from.india.podcast@gmail.com.

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A big thank you to each of you for your continued support and your feedback.

The music is from Purple Planet.

Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time!