Vagabond Multilingual Journal Spring 2014 | Page 17

The Story of Bhoja
In a previous time, there was a prince by the name of Bhoja. He was a great warrior. He
thought that all matters of state were to be solved through battle. To him, what was the use of
pretty words and intellect? Those were used by Brahmans and poets. He was Kshatriya born,
and his nature was fighting. Words do not protect a kingdom; but his weapons and valor
would be able to.
One time, he heard the news about a great enemy. Those enemies had a great army of terrible
demons. They burned everything on their path. The citizens feared the demon army and
they said to their king, “oh, king! We tremble from fear! How will you protect us from the
demons, who burn everything in their path, and who place fear in our hearts?” The old king
just laughed. He responded to them, “My son Bhoja is a great warrior. Enough of this fear. He
will protect you with his mighty weapons, strength, and courage.” The prince assented and he
agreed to fight.
Then a sage-poet came to the king’s assembly and said, “Hey prince! Do not fight them! You
will not be able to kill those demons because they are immortal by magic. No man is able to
kill them, no weapon can hurt them. What would be the use of fighting? No, no. Only cunning
and words will protect us from the demons.”
The sage-poet having spoken so, Bhoja then laughed and said, “What can words and intelligence
do that power and might cannot do? My army and I will go and we will win,” he told him. The
sage-poet just replied, “We’ll see,”
Thus, the prince along with his army went towards the demon army. But even though the
prince tried his best he was not able to kill the demons. Bhoja fought, cursed, and howled
loudly but he could not destroy them. When Bhoja grew weary and his army was cut in half,
he fled quickly. The demons followed slowly.
When Bhoja went to the king’s assembly hall, he implored the sage-poet, “Oh poet! Oh sage!
Truly the demons are immortal. What should I do? The demons will destroy the kingdom!”
“Hey prince! You don’t remember my words? I said before that only words and intellect will
save the kingdom, not fighting. You did not listen, he said angrily.
“Oh sir, please forgive me. Again I ask you, what should I do?!” The sage-poet said, “The
immortality of the demons is due to a great exchange. Their immortality is both a blessing and
a curse. Previously, even though they were hideous, the demons were friendly. However, all
beings trembled from fear in the demons’ presence. They always hurled harsh words at them.
All of those words were cruel. With time, the demons became angry and so they performed
some magic in retaliation. Whevever enemies spoke verbally abused them, they grew in power
and became unkillable. Then they slayed their enemies. Again I say to you, as long as they hear
cruel words, they will continue to be un-killable.”

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