up board class 10 English supplementary reader chapter 2||the judgment s vikramaditya

Chapter 2

 THE JUDGEMENT-SEAT OF
VIKRAMADITYASister Nivedita (1867-1911)

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ABOUT the Author

Sister Nivedita (actual name Margaret Elizabeth Nobel) was born on 28th October 1867 and was a
Scots-Irish social worker, author, teacher and a disciple of Swami Vivekananda. She met Swamiji in
1898 and was given this name by Swamiji 4 himself. In Now, 1898, she opened a girls school in
Baybazaar area of Calcutta. She died on Oct 13, 1911, in Darjeeling

Summary of the Lesson

This lesson is about great king Vikramaditya who was famous for his justice and wisdom. After his
death, his palace and his fortress got ruined and buried under the earth. Several years later, some
boys found a green mound that looked like a judge's seat. One of them sat on it. Suddenly he became
grave, serious and witty. He began to give correct judgements. The king of Ujjain, on hearing this
got the place dugout. He took that seat to his hall of justice. He tried to sit on it many times but the
angels supporting the seat warned him that he was not worthy to sit over it. At last, the last angel
disappeared with the seat over his head and the judgement seat of Vikramaditya disappeared from

the earth forever.

1 We are all familiar with the name of Vikramaditya. His reign has been a landmark in the history of

our country. The 'Vikram Samvat' owes its origin to him. Although his name is so famous, it is

strange that we hardly know anything definite about his life. There is one thing Certain about him,

however, he loved justice and learning. He gave perfect justice to his people and gathered learned

men about him in his court. It is said that he was the greatest judge in

history.

Vikramaditya he was never deceived. Nor did he ever punish the wrong man. The guilty trembled
when they came before him for they knew that his eyes would look straight into their

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and those who came to him with difficult problems were always satisfied by the way

ed them. And so, in India after him whenever any judge pronounced his judgement wit great skill,
it was said of him: "Ah! he must have sat on the judgement-seat of Vikramaditya."

has anyone ever seen the judgement seat of Vikramaditya? Perhaps not; because the seat does
not exist any more. I am going to tell you how it disappeared from. After the death of Vikramaditya,
the people of Ujjain, in due course of time, forgot him. His palace and his fortress were ruined.
The heaped-up ruins, having been covered with grass, dust and trees, were turned into a pasture
-land for feeding the cattle. The village-people used to send their cows out to these pastures to graze
n the morning the cattle would go in the care of shepherd-boys and would not return till late in the
evening. When it was time to return, a shepherd-boy would call out from the edge of the pasture,
and all the cattle along with their cowherds would gather round him, and together they would turn
homewards from.

[2] Such was the life of the shepherd-boys in the villages about Ujjain. There were many of them,
and in the long days on the pastures, they had plenty of time for fun. One day they found a playground.
And, how delightful it was! The ground under the trees was rough and uneven: Here and there the
ends of a great stone peeped out, and in the middle, there was a green mound, which looked very
much like a judge's seat.

At least one of the boys thought so and seated himself on it. "I say, boys, "he cried, "I'll be the judge,
and you can bring all your cases before me, and we will have trials." Then he straightened his face
and became very grave to act the part of a judge.

Others saw the fun at once, and whispering among themselves quickly picked up some quarrel and
appeared before him. Each group stated their case, one saying that a certain field was theirs, another
saying that it was not, and so on. They all wanted him to settle the dispute.

But now, all of a sudden, a strange thing made itself felt. The boy who appeared so common before
he sat down on the mound, looked so different now. He had become grave and serious, and his tone
and manner were so strange and impressive that the rest of the boys were a little frightened. Still,
they thought it was fun, and once again they put up a fresh case before him, are once more he gave his judgement. And this went on for hours and hours together, he sitting on the judge's seat; listening to complaints and pronouncing sentences with the same gravity was time to return. And then he jumped down from his place and was just like any ou cowherd.

From then onwards, so famous did this cowherd become that all the complicated disputes were put
before him. And always the same thing happened. The spirit of knowledge and justice

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would come to him and he would show them the truth. But when he came down from his seat, he would
be no different from the other boys.

Gradually, this news spread throughout the countryside. Grown-up men and women from all the villages
would bring their disputes in the court of the cowherd boy. And always they received a judgement that
both sides understood, and so went away satisfied.

(3) Now the King, who lived far away from Ujjain, heard this story. "Well," he said, "that hoy must have
definitely sat on the judgement-seat of Vikramaditya." The King's guess was correct, as the ruins about
the meadows were once Vikramaditya's palace. "If just sitting on the mound brings wisdom and justice
to the shepherd-boy," he thought, "let us dig deep and find the judgement-seat. I, too, shall sit on it and
hear all the cases. Then the spirit of Vikramaditya will descend upon me as well, and I shall always be a
just king."

So, with spades and shovels, the grassy knoll where the boys played was overturned. The boy who had
been the self-made judge was sorrowful; he felt that something very dear to him was being taken away.

(A last the labourers came on to something. They uncovered it and found a slab of black marble,
supported on the hands and wings of twenty-five stone-angels. Surely it was the

judgement-seat of Vikramaditya. ! With great rejoicing, it was brought to the city and placed in the hall of
justice. The King ordered his people to observe three days' prayer, fasting and announced that on the
fourth day he would ascend the throne publicly.

At last, the great morning came, and crowds assembled to see the King take his seat. Walking through
the long hall, came the judges and priests of the kingdom, followed by the | King. Then, as they reached
the seat of judgement, they parted into two rows, the King walked up in the middle, bowed his head in
reverence and went straight to marble slab. When the king was about to sit on the throne, one of
the angels began to speak, "Stop," it said, "do you think that You are worthy to sit on the
judgement-seat of Vikramaditya? Have you never desired to rule over kingdoms that were
not your own?" For a while, the King could not think of an answer. He knew his life was
unjust. After a long silence, he spoke. "No", he said, "I am not worthy." "GO Men and
fast and pray for three days," said the angel, "so that you may purify yourself and be

worthy to sit on the throne. "With these words, it spread its wings and flew away.

(4) The King prepared himself—with prayer and with fasting—to come again and sit on
the judgement-seat of Vikramaditya. But this time again the same thing happened. Another

-angel asked him if he had never desired to possess the riches of others. The King admitted
le had done so, and, therefore, he was not worthy to sit on the judgement-seat.

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 In this way, whenever the king tried to occupy the throne, he was questioned by an angel,
and he had to withdraw. This went on till only one angel was left supporting the marble-slab.
The King went near the throne with great confidence, for he felt sure of being allowed to take
his place that day.

But as he came near the seat, the last angel spoke, "Are you, then, perfectly pure in heart,
0 King? Is your heart as pure as that of a little child? If so, you are indeed worthy to sit on this

seat."

..."No", said the king very slowly, "No, I am not worthy. "And at these words the angel flew up
into the sky, bearing the slab upon his head.

- This was how the judgement-seat of Vikramaditya disappeared from the earth forever.