It was a dark, moonless night. Only occasional flashes of lightning lit up the sombre scene and caused an eerie dance of jerky and frightening shadows in the cremation ground. Occasionally the silence was broken by the unearthly howling of jackals and laughter of evil spirits. But nothing could daunt the intrepid King Vikram. Once again, he made his way to the ancient gnarled tree where the corpse was hanging. A skull crunched under his feet and a screeching ghost rose from the dust in shuddering frenzy.
Unperturbed, he climbed the tree and brought down the corpse. Slinging it astride his shoulder, he had just begun his return journey when the vampire that possessed the corpse said, "O King! Braving all the adversities, you’re engrossed in the pursuit of your goal. But have you given a
thought to why you are failing repeatedly? I cannot but admire your dogged determination, which persists in the face of so many obstacles. But, at the same time, I pity you for your foolishness! Sometimes I wonder whether you are taking all this trouble for your own sake, or for the happiness of others. You know, at times only a thin line separates selfishness from service, so that it is difficult to distinguish between the two. To illustrate this, let me tell you the story of Kamal." The vampire then began its narration:
In the village of Kondapura lived Purushottam, who had two sons -Sekhar and Kamal. Purushottam was a kind-hearted soul, whose helpful and unselfish nature endeared him to the villagers. His elder son, Sekhar was cast in the same mould. But the younger son, Kamal, was selfish to the core. Purushottam tried his best tochange him, but to no avail.
Soon Purushottam fell ill. Realising that he might not live much longer, he called Kamal to his bedside and advised him, "Son, this village is not the right place for you. I shall tell you a way by which you can live in comfort. If you go deep into the forest adjoining our village, you will come to a hill. Exactly halfway up the hill is a dark cave. A hermit named Anand lives there. Meet him -he will help you."
