"White "Harishchandra" King Harishchandra was the son of Trisanku about whom we have read earlier. Pious, charitable, honest and devout are the Harishchandra rules wisely and his kingdom was a happy one. Indra, the God of the skies, could not suppress his feelings of envy and jealousy at Harishchandra's blissful state. "Steep him in misfortunes! Let us see if this king stands by truth, duty and commitment or proves himself a fake! Indra told Dage Vishwamitra! Sage Vishwamitra agreed to help Indra in this plot. By the powers vested in him, Vishwamitra appeared in Harishchandra's dreams and asked him for his entire Kingdom. "Take it, holy sage! Harishchandra saw himself commit. The next morning, what Harishchandra dismissed as a dream, proved to be true when Vishwamitra arrived at the courts demanding the kingdom. "You have committed in your dreams last night, so give it to me! said Vishwamitra authoritatively. Harishchandra bound by his promise, even though in a dream, promptly handed Vishwamitra his entire kingdom! He himself retired to Kashi. This was the only place that was not included in the kingdom. But Vishwamitra still wanted more. "You as a king claim to be charitable? If you are true to your words, give me charity! demanded the sage. By the look of things, Harishchandra just had his wife and child, now that he had lost everything else. Unflinchingly, Harishchandra sold his wife and child to a Brahmin and handed the proceeds the sage! "Wah! Is this all! Ha! the sage scoffed refusing to accept the meager offering. Harishchandra was left with only one option. That was to sell himself. He sold himself to someone who cremated bodies and gave the money to the sage as charity. Even though he was a king, Harishchandra did his job well as an undertaker. One day, his queen who now worked as a maid with a Brahmin household, discovered her son dead. (to be continued) ©Sanjoy Khuman "