HOW PRAJAPUR WAS SAVED- A Good Story
Once upon a time there was a land named Prajapur.
"Praja" means the common man.
The land was so named because it had no king. The people of the land elected a Council. The Council governed the land.
Across the river was the king- dom of Vishal. It was ruled by a good king named Mahagupta who appreciated the way the people of Prajapur governed themselves. In fact, he assured the People's Council of Prajapur that it need not spend money on an army. Vishal will never attack them. If there was any attack on Prajapur by any other kingdom, Vishal would defend Prajapur.
The people of Prajapur were happy. Instead of maintaining an army, they spent their resources on building schools and temples and digging lakes and laying parks. Prajapur prospered far better than any other kingdom of the time.
Unfortunately King Maha- gupta died all on a sudden. His younger brother Shobhagupta occupied the throne. Shobha- gupta was opposite of Maha- gupta in nature. Almost the first act of his as the king was to mobilise the army of Vishal. He was envious of the prosperous Prajapur. How can a land exist without a king? Prajapur must have a king! That king must be himself! In other words, Pra- japur must become a district of Vishal.
Prajapur had some well- wishers among the people of Vishal. They alerted the Council of Prajapur. The Council sum- moned all the village chiefs and discussed the issue. How to save their land without an army? It had been a mistake on their part to go without an army.
Among the village chiefs was a young man named Tej. "We may not have an army," he said, "but we have patriots. We the young men would defend our land. Even if we had an army, it was likely that the army would be defeated by Vishal which is a much bigger land. But who can defeat us?"
His statement no doubt brought hope to many, but the elders in the Council were scep- tic. "How can some untrained youths face a powerful army?" they wondered.
Tej, however, went out to mobilise the youths. "I don't want many young men. Just fifty would do," he said. There were more than fifty young men ready to die for Prajapur. Tej told them his plan for defending Prajapur. Between Prajapur and Vishal flowed the great river Narmada. There was a bridge over the river. No more than two men could walk on the bridge side by side. Tej taught some of his comrades how to remain hidden under the bridge, hanging on to the pillars. They practised this for many days. Meanwhile some of them went over to Vishal and kept a close watch on its army.
At last came the day when the army of Vishal began to march towards Prajapur. But as the soldiers began crossing the bridge, they fell one after another. Shobhagupta who stood on the bank of the river could not understand what hap- pened to his soldiers. When he understood the problem, he - asked his soldiers to cross the river by boats.
But the young men of Prajapur rained arrows on the invaders. They were so swift that some of the boats were full of dead bodies even when they had crossed only half the breadth of the river.
Shobhagupta fumed with anger. "Come what may, proceed by the bridge. Even if a hundred would fall dead, the others should make a dash for the other shore over their dead bodies."
Tej understood the gravity of the situation. "We must destroy the bridge right now!" he called out to his comrades.
He and half a dozen of his trusted lieutenants rushed onto the bridge and started hacking it. From the other side Shobha- gupta sent his soldiers to kill the group. Even when the soldiers were seen coming with raised swords, Tej and his comrades went on with their work. The soldiers had just reached them when the bridge collapsed. All on the bridge, including Tej, fell in the river.
"Drag that fellow into the boat. I want him alive!" Shobha- gupta commanded some of his men, pointing his finger at Tej who was swimming. Shobhagup- ta's men captured him and took him to their king.
It was already evening. The king was sitting near a fire when Tej was produced before him.
The king surveyed him angrily and said, "What a dreamer you are, young man! You believe that you will be able to defend Pra- japur against us!"
"Well, we have defended it!" said Tej.
"You have defended it for today or for a few days. But what can you do with your puny arrows when I will arrange for large boats with huge shields and cross the river?" demanded the king.
"We will still fight and defend our land," said Tej.
"I will burn you and your friends alive. What then?" asked the king.
"We will not fear being burnt alive!" answered Tej.
"What a vain boasting! Have you ever tasted fire?" asked the king, laughing.
Suddenly, with a jerk, Tej snapped the rope with which his hands were tied. He sat down near the king and extended his left hand into the fire. The king could not bear to keep looking at the scene. He caught hold of his hand and removed it from the fire. But the king could not but appreciate the courage and sta- mina of Tej. He sat speechless for a moment. Then he said, "Young man, I respect you. For your sake, I will take my hands off my plan for conquering Prajapur!'.
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