Singhasan Battisi
| Original title | Simhasana Dvatrimsika |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Language | Sanskrit |
| Genre | Fantasy |
Singhasan Battisi is a collection of Indian folk tales. The title literally means "thirty-two (tales) of the throne". In the frame story, the 11th century king Bhoja discovers the throne of the legendary ancient king Vikramaditya (also known as Bikramjit). The throne has 32 statues, who are actually apsaras that had been turned into stone due to a curse. Each of the apsaras tells Bhoja a story about the life and adventures of Vikramaditya, in order to convince him that he is not deserving of Vikramaditya's throne.
The original collection, written in Sanskrit, was known as Siṃhāsana Dvātriṃśikā. Other titles for the collection include Dvātriṃśat Puttalikā ("Thirty-two Statue Stories"), Vikrāmaditya Simhāsana Dvātriṃśika ("Thirty-two Tales of the Throne of Vikramaditya"), and Vikrama Charita ("Deeds or Adventures of Vikrama"). In modern vernaculars, the collection is known as Singhastan Battisi; other transliterations of the title include Sinhasan Battisi and Simhasan Battisi.
A group of village kids gets into a dispute while playing. They decide that somebody will have to act as a judge and solve the dispute. One of the kids sits on a small mound nearby, and solves the dispute so well that both the parties accept his judgement and praise him. Subsequently, other people wishing to resolve their disputes also approach the boy. Each time, he sits on the mound, and comes up with a judgement that is widely praised. Gradually, the boy's reputation as a judge grows, and reaches Bhoja, the local ruler.
King Bhoja gets interested in knowing what makes the boy a superior judge. He learns that the boy is able to pass the best judgement only when he sits on the small mound. Bhoja's soldiers dig the mound to find a throne. The throne is identified as that of the ancient king Vikramaditya, who was well-known and respected for being just. Bhoja's advisers tell him that he will also be able to pass the best judgements, once he sits on the throne.
The throne is supported by 32 statues of apsaras. When Bhoja sits on the throne, one of the statues comes to life, and explains to the king that simply sitting on the throne will not make him a great judge: there are other qualities that he lacks. The apsara tells him one story related to one quality that a good judge must possess and flies away. In the same manner, one after another, the apsaras tell a story related to a quality and fly away. Bhoja realizes that he does not possess the qualities that would make one eligible to sit on the throne. Some of these qualities are selflessness, complete honesty, lack of bias or favouritism and a true urge to give justice.
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