Once there lived a merchant named Sagardatta. Sagardatta had
a young admirable son.
One day Sagardatta's son bought an expensive book which had
only one verse written - 'You get what you are destined to receive'.
When Sagardatta saw the book he was enraged and asked his son
to leave the house -'You bought a book with single verse at this price. Does it
make any economic sense to you? How will you manage the business with such way
of thinking? Leave my house right away!'
Sagardatta's son did not argue with his father and left the
house with his book. He started traveling aimlessly and learned the verse
thoroughly.
One day the merchant's son reached a village. He started
living there and came to be known as 'You get only what you are destined for'.
Days passed by. One day there was a grand celebration in the
town. It was attended by people and royal members from various places. There
the princess of the kingdom saw a charming prince and fell in love with him.
She wrote a message and asked her attendants to give it to the prince. But the
attendant gave the message to the merchant's son.
The message read, 'O charming prince! I have fallen in love
with. Come to my castle tonight'. The merchant's son was elated reading the
message. He went to see the princess.
He entered the princess's room quietly in the middle of
night. It was dark inside and the princess thought it was the prince who she
had intended her message to. Mistakenly, she entertained the merchant son in
every way and said, 'I am deeply in love with and will marry only you. Now tell
me what is in your mind?'
The merchant's son replied, 'You get only what you are
destined for'.
The princess was taken aback. She suspected something was
wrong and lightened the room. She saw that it was not the prince; she got very
angry and embarrassed. The infuriated princess asked the merchant’s son to
leave the immediately.
The merchant son was hurt and left. He went to a nearby
temple and fell asleep there. But the watchman who guarded the place told the
young man, ‘It is not a safe place to spend night. My home is nearby - you can
go and sleep there’.
The young man went to the watchman’s house. The watchman had a
daughter who was immodest. She was waiting for her lover in her father’s
absence. The young man entered her room and she mistook him for her lover in
darkness. She asked him to exchange garland in front of the principal deity and
thus they were now bonded. The young man said, 'You get only what you are
destined for'. When the watchman’ daughter heard this, she realized her mistake
of marrying the wrong man. She wailed and cursed him. He was insulted and once
again thrown out.
Next day, the young man saw a marriage procession and
followed it. Suddenly a wild elephant came towards the procession. There was a
big hue and cry, while the bride stood stuck in middle of nowhere. When the
young man saw her, he fearlessly jabbed a big nail in elephant’s foot. The
elephant feared further attacked and ran away.
The groom and the wedding guests came out to proceed with the
ceremony, but the bride refused to marry the groom; saying, ‘when my life was
in danger, none of you including the man I am supposed to marry came to rescue
me except this man. I vow to marry and serve only him’.
The groom’s relatives were snubbed and questioned the girl’s
ethics. The matter worsened and some people took the message to the king. The
king and his family came to the atrium to resolve the issue. When the
watchman's daughter heard about the dispute, she got interested and went to the
atrium.
When king asked the young man to explain the matter, he
simply said, 'You get only what you are destined for'. Hearing this, the
princess and the watchman's daughter blushed. Seeing them, the king demanded to
know the truth.
The princess confessed that she made love with young man,
mistaking him for the prince, while the watchman's daughter confessed of
marrying him. They were not regretful and retained that it was what they were
destined for.
The bride, who was listening, now came forward and said,
‘King! I am destined to marry this young man. No one should stop me from it’.
The king consulted his council of ministers and arranged for
a grand wedding ceremony. The young man was married to the princess, the bride
and watchman's daughter. The king gave him large portion of his land besides
gold and clothes. He declared the young man the heir to his throne. He send out
a message to his father and family about his grand marriage. Soon, he built a
palace and asked his parents to live with him. They lived happily thereafter.
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