In the middle of the ocean there was an island called Ratnakuta. The king of Ratnakuta was Ratnadhipathi.
Ratnadhipathi had a very strange wish. He wanted to rule every single one of his neighbouring kingdom and marry the daughters of the kingdoms conquered by him, and make these women as his queens.
Ratnadhipathi performed severe penance to Lord Vishnu, the God of Preservation for this.
Ratnadhipathi’s penance was so powerful that within a very short time, Lord Vishnu appeared in Ratnadhipathi’s dream. “There is a white elephant called Svetarasmi in the kingdom of Kalinga.” Lord Vishnu smiled at Ratnadhipathi. “I shall ask the elephant to fly through the air and come to become your vehicle. Once you ride to any battlefield on Svetarasmi, you will never know any defeat.”
Once Ratnadhipathi woke up from his dream, he found that a white elephant was indeed outside his palace.
Afterwards no matter whom Ratnadhipathi fought in the battlefield, the other king was defeated.
Ratnadhipathi married the daughters of the kingdom after winning it over and soon Ratnadhipathi had eighty thousand queens in his harem at Ratnakuta.
Once, the king was on a ride on his elephant. The king and his elephant had visited many islands and in one such island something bad had happened.
An eagle swooped out of nowhere and the bird pecked Svetarasmi’s head.
The bird flew away, but the troubles of the king had just started.
No sooner had the bird pecked the elephant, Svetarasmi fell senseless to the ground.
No matter what anyone did, the elephant would not get up and no one knew what was wrong with the elephant or how it could be cured.
Adapted from the Kathasarith Sagara
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