King Vikramaditya once again returned to the tree. He took down the corpse in which Vethala dwelt and placed it upon his shoulder. Without fear, he began his journey through the cremation ground. As the king walked on in silence, Vethala spoke to him. “O King, you are brave and steadfast. Since you persist in this difficult task, listen to another tale while we travel.”

Long ago, there was a city named Kusumapura, ruled by a king named Dharanivaraha. Within his kingdom lay a settlement of Brahmins called Brahmasthala. There lived a Brahmin named Vishnusvamin, learned in the Vedas, together with his wife. In time, four sons were born to them, and the boys grew under their parents’ care and studied the Vedas.

After the sons had passed their childhood, Vishnusvamin died, and his wife soon followed him. Left without their parents, the four brothers found themselves alone among relatives who gradually took possession of their property. With nothing left to support them, they spoke among themselves and decided to leave. “Let us go to Yagnasthala, where our maternal grandfather lived. Perhaps we may find shelter among our mother’s people.”

So they left their home and, living upon alms along the way, reached Yagnasthala after many days. Their maternal grandfather had already died, but their mother’s brothers received them into their house. At first, the young men were given food and shelter, and they continued their study of the Vedas. As time passed, however, their poverty made them unwelcome, and their uncles began to neglect even their food, clothing, and other necessities.

The brothers endured this treatment for some time. One day, the eldest, deeply troubled by their condition, wandered alone until he came to a cremation ground. There he saw the body of a dead man lying upon the earth, all its limbs at rest. In his misery, he found himself envying the dead. “Fortunate is this man,” he thought. “His burden of sorrow is over.”

Unable to bear his own life, the eldest brother fastened a rope to the branch of a tree and tried to hang himself. He lost consciousness, but before he could die, the rope broke and he fell to the ground. When he opened his eyes again, he found a compassionate stranger beside him, fanning him with the edge of his garment. The stranger saw his distress and spoke gently to him.

“Friend, you are not an ignorant man. Why then do you surrender yourself to grief? Joy arises from good deeds and suffering from evil ones; these are their sources. If suffering has come upon you, turn yourself toward worthy deeds. Why bring upon yourself the further wrong of destroying your own life?”

Having spoken thus, the stranger consoled him and went away. The eldest brother returned to his brothers and told them everything that had happened. “Now I see,” he said, “that when destiny stands against a man, he may not even die when he wishes. I shall therefore go to some sacred place and spend what remains of my life in austerity.”

His younger brothers would not agree. “Brother, why should poverty alone drive a learned man to despair? Wealth passes away like a cloud of autumn, and no man can be certain that fortune will remain with him. Rather than grieve because it has left us, let us acquire some extraordinary accomplishment by our own effort.” He asked what accomplishment they should seek.

After considering the matter together, the four brothers decided to travel through different lands and acquire powerful arts. They chose a place where they would meet again and then separated, each going in a different direction. A long time passed before the four returned to the appointed place. When they were together again, they began to tell one another what each had learned.

The first brother said, “I have mastered an art by which, if I find even a single piece of an animal’s bone, I can cover it with the flesh belonging to that creature.” The second said, “When flesh has been formed upon the bone, I can produce the proper skin and hair.” The third said, “When flesh, skin, and hair are present, I can form all the limbs and complete the creature’s body.” The fourth then said, “And when the body has been completely formed, I possess the art of giving it life.”

To test the powers they had acquired, the brothers went together into a forest. There they found a piece of bone lying upon the ground. None of them knew what creature the bone had belonged to, but they decided to use it. The first brother took up the bone and exercised his power.

Flesh appeared upon the bone. The second brother used his own art, covering it with the skin and hair proper to the animal. Then the third completed the body, giving it all its limbs. Before them now lay the body of a great lion, with a thick shaggy mane, terrible teeth and powerful paws armed with hooked claws.

The creature lacked only life. The fourth brother looked upon the completed lion and exercised his art. At once, the lion came to life and rose before them. It sprang upon the very men who had made it, killed all four on the spot, and then disappeared into the forest.

When he had finished the tale, Vethala said, “O King, answer me this. Of these four brothers, which one was guilty of bringing about the lion that killed them all? If you know the answer and yet remain silent, your head shall split into a hundred pieces. But if you speak, I shall leave your shoulder and return to the Shishapa tree.”

Vikramaditya broke his silence and replied, “The guilt belongs to the fourth brother, who gave the lion life. The first brothers exercised their arts. By the time his turn came, the creature stood complete before him, and he could plainly see that it was a lion.

“Even then, he gave it life. Therefore, the fault belongs to him.”

As soon as Vikramaditya had spoken, Vethala slipped from his shoulder and, by his magical power, returned to the tree from which he had been taken. Vikramaditya did not hesitate. He turned back through the cremation ground and went once more to bring him down.