Raja Kumar Bahadur alias Gyan Shankar Rai has been a total abstainer all his life, never touching a drop of alcohol, and keeping away from women and all known vices all his life. Then one day he sees a young woman named Saudamani, and instantly falls in love with her. He finds out about her background, and virtually buys her, and brings her to his palatial home. This is when he takes to drinking, and wooing her, and renaming her Madhuri, but refrains from marrying her. Years later, he sees another beautiful woman, about half his age, named Sumita, meets with her parents, pays off their debts, and marries her in the bargain.