The Judgement Seat of Vikramaditya

by Sister Nivedita
About the Story
The story brings out the importance of innocence,
purity and charity. It takes us back to the pages of
history of King Vikramaditya who became the king of
Malwa in the year 57 B.C.
The story tells us about the upright life of the great
king Vikramaditya. Vikramaditya was one of the
greatest judges in Indian history. People in his
kingdom almost worshipped him. He never punished
an innocent man and guilty trembled before him. He
always listened to the voice of his conscience which
he considered the voice of God.
 Cont...
The story begins with a chance
discovery of a mound by shepherds.
One of the shepherds happen to sit
on the judgement seat of
Vikramaditya. His behaviour
changed and he started pronouncing
judgement to the cases concocted
by other boys. The mythical
judgement seat of Vikramaditya was
unearthed under this mound. It was
a slab of black marble supported on
the hands by twenty five stone
angels with outspread wings. The
king of Ujjain brought it to his court
and wished to sit on it. However, he
was questioned by the stone angels
and was asked to purify his will. He
could not sit on the seat.
Theme of the story
The story ends with the
statement of the last stone angel
who flew away with the
judgement seat. The twenty fifth
stone angel explains the mystery
that only one who was pure in
heart, like a little child, could be
perfectly just. A child is said to be
a symbol of God. His heart is
always pure and conscience
clear. A child is far away from
selfishness and betrayal. That
was why the shepherd boy could
sit where no king in the world
might come, on the judgement
seat of Vikramaditya.