Tsarevich Kandarpaketu, the son of Tsar Chintamani, sees a stranger in a dream and falls in love with her passionately. Together with his friend Macaranda, he goes in search of her. One night, finding himself in the vicinity of the Vindhya Mountains, he accidentally overhears a conversation between two birds. One of them, the lane, reproaches the other, his beloved parrot, for a long time and expresses suspicion that he was cheating on her with another lane, with which he now returned to the forest. As a justification, the parrot says that he traveled to the city of Pataliputra, where King Sringarashekhara, wishing to marry his daughter Vasavadatta, arranged for her svayamvara - a wedding ceremony of choosing a bridegroom for the bride. Many royal seekers gathered at Svayamvara, but Vasavadatta rejected them all. The fact is that on the eve of Svayamvara, she also saw in a dream a beautiful prince, whom she immediately fell in love with and only decided to marry him. Upon learning that this prince’s name is Kandarpacket, she sent his home lane Tamalik on his wanted list. Wanting to help Tamalika in her difficult task, a parrot flew with her to the Vindhya mountains. Having heard the parrot’s story, Kandarpaketu intervenes in the conversation of the birds, gets acquainted with Tamalika, and she sends him the verbal message of Vasavadatta, in which the princess asks him to see her as soon as possible. Kandarpaketu and Makaranda head to Pataliputra and enter the palace of Vasavadatta. There they learn that King Sringarashekhara, disregarding the daughter’s desire, will certainly want to pass her off as the king of air spirits - Vidyadharas. Then Kandarpaketu decides to flee with Vasavadatta, and the magic horse of Manojiva transfers them from Pataliputra back to the Vindhya Mountains, where the lovers spend the night.

Waking up at dawn, Kandarpaketu, to his horror, discovers that Vasavadatta has disappeared. After a long fruitless search, Kandarpaketu comes to the shore of the ocean and desperately wants to rush into its waters. At the last moment, a divine voice keeps him from suicide, promising him a quick meeting with his beloved. For several months, Kandarpaketu wanders through the coastal forests, supporting life with only fruits and roots, until one day at the beginning of autumn, he comes across a stone statue similar to his beloved. In amorous anguish, Kandarpaketu touches a statue with his hand, and it becomes a living Vasavadatta.

For questioning, Kandarpaketu Vasavadatta says that on the morning of their separation she went to collect the fruits of the trees for food. Having plunged into the forest, she unexpectedly met the camped army, and its leader chased after it. But then another army appeared - the Highlanders of the Kirates, and his leader, too, herds to pursue Vasavadatta. Both military leaders, and after them their warriors, for the sake of possessing Vasavadatta entered the battle and completely exterminated each other. However, even during the battle, they mercilessly devastated the hermitage’s nearby monastery, and the holy head of this monastery, believing Vasavadatta to be the culprit of what happened, cursed her, turning him into a stone statue. The term of the curse was to end - as it actually happened - when the future husband of the princess touched the statues.

After a long-awaited and happy meeting, Kandarpacket and Vasavadatta are sent to the capital of the kingdom, Kandarpacket. There Makaranda is already waiting for them, and both the king-father, Chintamani and Shringarashekhara, solemnly celebrate the wedding of their son and daughter, who are now forever rid of all anxieties and calamities.