King Vikramaditya once again went to the Shishapa tree. He took down the corpse in which Vethala dwelt and placed it upon his shoulder. He set out through the cremation ground. As the king walked on in silence, Vethala said, “O King, listen to another story.”

In former times, the city of Ujjayini was ruled by a king named Dharmadhwaja. He had three beautiful queens named Indulekha, Taravali, and Mrigankavati. The king had conquered his enemies and ruled his kingdom in peace.

One year, when the Vasanta Utsava, the festival of spring, arrived, the king went with his queens to enjoy the royal gardens. Flowering creepers covered the garden, and the songs of cuckoos could be heard from one grove to another. Dharmadhwaja wandered there with his queens, enjoying the season like Indra among the celestials.

While they were in the garden, a tender mango leaf slipped from the hair of Queen Indulekha and fell against her ear. The touch was so much for her delicate skin that it wounded her. Crying, “Ah! Ah!” she fainted at once. The king and his attendants sprinkled her with cool water and fanned her gently until she slowly regained consciousness.

Dharmadhwaja took Indulekha back to the palace and called physicians to attend to her. They treated the wound with suitable remedies. Later that night, when he saw that she was better, he went with his second queen, Taravali, to the Chandra-prasada, the moon-palace. There they rested as the evening deepened and the moon rose into the sky.

As Taravali lay asleep, the cool rays of the moon fell upon her body. She suddenly awoke, crying, “I am burning! I am burning!” Dharmadhwaja rose in alarm and looked at her. Blisters had appeared wherever the moonlight had touched her skin.

“What has happened to you?” the king asked. Taravali replied, “My lord, the rays of the moon have done this to me.” Seeing her pain, Dharmadhwaja immediately called the attendants. They prepared a cool bed of lotus leaves for her and gently applied sandal paste to her skin.

Meanwhile, the third queen, Mrigankavati, heard what had happened to Indulekha and Taravali. She left her own palace and started toward their chambers. As she walked along the way, she heard the distant sound of a pestle pounding paddy at a threshing floor far away. The moment the sound reached her ears, she cried, “Ah! I am hurt!” and sat down on the path, holding her hands in pain.

Her attendants hurried to her and took her back to her palace. When they examined her hands, they found blisters upon them, though nothing had touched her. The attendants quickly went to Dharmadhwaja and told him what had happened. The king came at once and asked Mrigankavati about her pain.

Showing him her hands, she said, “My lord, I heard the sound of paddy being pounded somewhere far away. The moment I heard the pestle striking, these blisters appeared upon my hands. Nothing touched me. The sound alone caused this pain.”

Dharmadhwaja had sandal paste and other cooling remedies applied to her hands.

When the Vethala had finished the story, he asked, “O King, tell me which of these three queens was the most delicate. Indulekha was wounded by the touch of a tender mango leaf. Taravali was blistered by the rays of the moon. But Mrigankavati suffered merely from hearing the sound of a pestle pounding grain far away. Which of the three was the most delicate?”

Vikramaditya replied, “Mrigankavati, the third queen, was the most delicate. Indulekha was wounded by touch, Taravali by moonlight, but nothing touched Mrigankavati.

“She merely heard the sound of a pestle from far away, yet blisters appeared upon her hands. Her suffering came through hearing alone, without any touch. Therefore, of the three queens, Mrigankavati was the most delicate.”

Hearing Vikramaditya’s answer, the Vethala slipped from the king’s shoulder and, by his magical power, returned to the Shishapa tree. Vikramaditya went after him once again.