As the wedding ceremony is underway, he is told about cows being stolen in the village

Illustration/Devdutt Pattanaik

The story of Veer Tejaji comes from Rajasthan and is over a thousand years old. While travelling one day, he saw two snakes burning in a fire. He pulled them out. But instead of being grateful, the serpent pair—naga and nagini—were angry. They said they had extinguished their karmic burden, and they were about to attain moksha by self-immolation. By rescuing them, Tejaji had trapped them in the wheel of rebirths once again. Furious, they wish to punish him with a lethal bite. Tejaji accepts responsibility for this mishap, but requests the snakes to wait for a few days. He has duties to complete. He promises to come back—a warrior’s word.

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The duty he has to complete is his marriage. As the wedding........

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