Seat of Justice
Hundreds of years ago there was a king called Chandra who ruled over Sahapur. He was very particular about rendering full justice to his people, but, he realized that it was very difficult to get the truth out of the culprits of the crime. So, one day he asked his teacher: "My Master, What methods should I adopt in order to get the truth out of people, so that, a proper judgement could be rendered to all?" "It would be best to pray for the grace of the Goddess of justice," advised the Guru. Accordingly, King Chandra did penance for several years. One day, the deity appeared before him and said: "I'm pleased with your penance and devotion. What boon can you want from me, O Chandra?" "Grant me a special seat of justice, standing on which no one can ever tell a lie. And, if anyone tells a lie, she or he shall fall unconscious for a while," asked the king. "That is not right, my boy. The Almighty has given you intelligence and wisdom. You must apply them to know the truth," said the goddess. But the king insisted on having an easy way to knowing the truth. "Let it be so," said the deity and vanished. There materialized beside the king a beautiful golden seat and the king had it carried to his court. Soon word spread around about the magic seat of Justice and people from all over the kingdom came to have a look at it.
There were of course a few who had suspected its power but were soon convinced when they got proofs of it. The king felt very proud and self-confident. He told his minister one day, "Thanks to this Seat of Justice, I'll be always right in my decisions. History shall remember me as the greatest and the wisest king!" The minister replied, "I am aware of the greatness of this gift from the Goddess. Yet, I'm not sure if a man won't be able to find some way to cheat us!" "How dare you insult my faith in the Seat of Justice? If you can, prove to me that one can tell a lie standing on it and not be caught! I give you a week's time. If you fail, you'll have to pay with your head for your doubts," said the king, twisting his stout mustaches. That very afternoon, the minister disguised himself as a yogi and settled himself near the house of Vicheta, a renowned beauty of the kingdom. She was so proud of her beauty that she thought herself to be more beautiful than the nymphs! She even talked about it to everyone around, for she was indeed a great chatterer too. And the minister had decided to teach her also a lesson and peel of some of her self pride. As he sat there, people flocked to him. Soon they found out what a strange power the yogi had. You give him a coin and he will return you two coins! Overnight he became popular in the area. On the night of the fourth day, Vicheta too came to the yogi, bringing with her all her gold ornaments and jewelry. She had calculated that by offering all her wealth, she would become doubly rich. She was clever and shrewd too, apart from being a beautiful chatterer!
The yogi received the gifts and told Vicheta to meet him the next morning. Being cautious, she posted a few guards to keep watch over the yogi through the night. The next morning, when she returned to the yogi and asked for her gold ornaments, the yogi replied, "What ornaments? You haven't given me anything!" Vicheta was shocked at first and then, bursting with anger, created a big scene. Soon it was decided that the yogi should be taken to the king's court. At the court, King Chandra heard the case and then asked the yogi to stand on the seat of justice and to declare his innocence. The yogi asked Vicheta to hold his stick and then standing up on the seat, declared: "I do not have even a single gram of Vicheta's wealth." So saying, he got off the seat. Vicheta became furious at this outrageous lie and she stood upon the Seat of Justice and shouted at the yogi saying, "You liar! How do you deny that my gold and jewelry are with you?" Hardly had she completed the sentence when she fell on the ground, unconscious. Everyone in the court laughed at Vicheta and the king waited for Vicheta to regain consciousness.
After a few minutes, Vicheta became conscious and she stood up, crying at her misfortune. At that moment, the yogi took off his disguise and the king saw with great surprise that he was his own minister. Puzzled, he asked him, "why all this drama?" "My King! I have proved to you that one can cheat the Seat of Justice in which you had blind faith," said the minister with a twinkle in his eyes. "How?" asked the king. The wealth that was given to me by Vicheta is hidden in that stick which I handed over to her before climbing on the Seat. So, when I declared that I did not possess her wealth, I was not telling a lie and yet it was not the truth. But, Vicheta, not knowing that she held her wealth in her own hands, told the truth, and yet it was a lie!" The king sat speechlessly. "So my King! man is extremely cunning. He can often give a convenient twist to the truth. So, do not have such blind faith in the Seat of Justice." The king was now enlightened. He understood why the goddess herself was reluctant to grant him what he wanted and thanked his minister.
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