Vikram Betal - The Transposed Heads

Dadi: "Guddu, here's one of the strangest riddles from the Vetala. Two best friends. One woman they both love. Two deaths. And when they come back to life, their heads are on the wrong bodies!"

Guddu: "Their heads got swapped? How did that happen?"

Dadi: "Let me tell you. Rajshekhar and Aviroop were such close friends that strangers often thought they were brothers. They did everything together, shared everything - until they both fell in love with the same woman."

Guddu: "That must have created problems!"

Dadi: "Not at first. Aviroop had secretly loved a beautiful girl named Ranjabati for a long time. But when Rajshekhar saw her, he too fell hopelessly in love. And here's the twist - Aviroop chose to help his friend instead of pursuing his own heart."

Guddu: "That's very selfless!"

Dadi: "Aviroop even convinced Rajshekhar's parents to accept the marriage, though Ranjabati came from a lower caste. The wedding happened, everyone was happy."

Guddu: "So far so good. Where does the head-swapping come in?"

Dadi: "Before the marriage, Rajshekhar had made a desperate promise. He had prayed at the temple of Goddess Durga, vowing to offer his own head if she blessed him with Ranjabati as his wife."

Guddu: "Oh no. And she became his wife."

Dadi: "Yes. On a full moon night, Rajshekhar remembered his promise. He went to the temple, thanked the Goddess for answering his prayers, and cut off his own head with his sword."

Guddu: "He actually did it?"

Dadi: "A man of his word, beta. When Rajshekhar didn't return home, worried Ranjabati sent Aviroop to find him. Aviroop discovered his best friend dead in the temple."

Guddu: "That must have been devastating."

Dadi: "Aviroop's grief was overwhelming. But then a terrible thought struck him - what would people say? "Aviroop killed his friend to steal his beautiful wife!" The suspicion would destroy his honor."

Guddu: "So what did he do?"

Dadi: "He prayed to the Goddess that he didn't want to live under such suspicion. Then he too cut off his head."

Guddu: "Both friends dead!"

Dadi: "When neither man returned, Ranjabati went searching herself. Finding both bodies in the temple, she decided to end her own life too. But before she could, the Goddess appeared in a blaze of light!"

Guddu: "Did the Goddess save them?"

Dadi: "She was pleased with the sacrifices of such devoted men. She told Ranjabati: "Place their heads back on their bodies, and they will live again.""

Guddu: "That's wonderful!"

Dadi: "Except... in her excitement, in her desperate haste to bring them back, Ranjabati made a mistake. She put Aviroop's head on Rajshekhar's body, and Rajshekhar's head on Aviroop's body!"

Guddu: "Oh! Now the riddle makes sense! Who is her real husband?"

Dadi: "Exactly what the Vetala asked King Vikram."

Guddu: "That's so hard! Is your husband your husband's head or your husband's body?"

Dadi: "Think about it, beta. What makes a person who they are?"

Guddu: "Their thoughts? Their memories? Their personality?"

Dadi: "And where do those live?"

Guddu: "In the brain! In the head!"

Dadi: "That was Vikram's answer too. He said Ranjabati should take the body with Rajshekhar's head, because the head holds a person's identity, character, and personality. The head makes the man."

Guddu: "But Dadi, the body does things too! The body hugged her, held her hand, walked beside her."

Dadi: "True! Some versions of this story have been debated for centuries. Is identity in the mind or in the flesh that has lived experiences?"

Guddu: "What do you think, Dadi?"

Dadi: "I think if I woke up in a different body but kept my memories, my love for you, my beliefs - I would still be me. But if my body walked around with someone else's mind, that wouldn't be your Dadi anymore, would it?"

Guddu: "No, it would be someone else wearing your face."

Dadi: "And that's why Vikram's answer has lasted - because most people feel that our essence lives in our minds. But the riddle forces us to think about what really makes us who we are. That's its power."