An exultant roar went up in the court at this announcement. They had beaten back open military assaults from the Chandravanshis before. But until this day, the Meluhans had found no answer to the dreaded terrorist strikes. For the terrorists usually launched surprise attacks on non-military locations and fled before the Suryavanshi soldiers could arrive.
Raising his hand to quieten the crowd, Daksha continued, ‘We beat them back because the time for truth to triumph has finally arrived! We beat them back because we were led by Father Manu’s messenger! We beat them back because our time for justice has come!’
The murmurs grew louder. Had the Neelkanth finally arrived? Everyone had heard the rumours. But nobody believed them. There had been too many false declarations in the past.
Daksha raised his hand. He waited for just enough time for the anticipation to build up. And then jubilantly bellowed, ‘Yes! The rumours are true. Our saviour has come! The Neelkanth has come!’
Shiva winced at being put on display on the royal platform with his cravat removed. The Meluhan elite thronged around him, their varying statements buzzing in Shiva’s ears.
‘We had heard the rumours, my Lord. But we never believed them to be true.’
‘We have nothing to fear anymore, my Lord. The days of evil are numbered!’
‘Where are you from, my Lord?’
‘Mount Kailash? Where is that, my Lord? I would like to take a pilgrimage there.’
Answering these repeated questions and being confronted by the blind faith of these people disturbed Shiva. The moment he had a chance, he requested Daksha for permission to leave the court.
A few hours later, Shiva sat in the quiet comfort of his chamber, considering what had happened at the court. The cravat was back around his neck.
‘By the Holy Lake, can I really deliver these people from their troubles?’
‘What did you say, my Lord?’ asked Nandi, who was sitting patiently at a distance.
‘The faith of your people makes me anxious,’ said Shiva, loud enough for Nandi to hear. ‘If there was a one-on-one battie, I could take on any enemy to protect your people. But I am no leader. And I am certainly not a “destroyer of evil”.’
‘I am sure that you can lead us to victory against anyone, my Lord. You beat them back on the road to Devagiri.’
‘That wasn’t a genuine victory,’ said Shiva dismissively. ‘They were a small platoon, aiming to kidnap and not to kill. If we face a well organised and large army, whose aim is to kill, the situation may be very different. If you ask me, it appears that Meluha is against some formidable and ruthless enemies. Your country doesn’t need faith in just one man. That is not the answer. Your people need to adapt to the changing times. Maybe you are too innocent in your way of life to actually take on such a cold-blooded enemy. A new system is needed. I am not some god who will magically solve your problems.’
‘You are right, my Lord,’ said Nandi, with all the conviction of a simple, lucky man not troubled by too many thoughts. ‘A new system is required, and I obviously don’t know what this new system should be. But I do understand one thing. More than a thousand years back, we faced a similar situation and Lord Ram came and taught us a better way. I am sure that, similarly, you will lead us to a superior path.’
‘I am no Lord Ram, Nandi!’
How can this fool even compare me to Lord Ram, the Maryada Purushottam, the Ideal Man?
‘You are better than Lord Ram, my Lord,’ said Nandi.
‘Stop this nonsense, Nandi! What have I done to even be compared with Lord Ram? Let alone be considered better?’
‘But you will do deeds that will place you above him, my Lord.’ ‘Just shut up!’
The preparations for Shiva’s tour of the empire were in full swing. Shiva, however, still found time for Sati’s dance lessons every afternoon. They were developing a quiet friendship. But Shiva agonised over the fact that while she showed respect, there was no softening of emotions in her or expression of feelings.
In the meantime, Shiva’s tribe had been summoned to Devagiri, where they were given comfortable accommodation and jobs. Bhadra, however, was not to stay with the Gunas. He had instead been assigned to accompany the Neelkanth on his voyage.
‘Veerbhadra! When the hell did you get this name?’ Shiva asked Bhadra, meeting him for the first time since his departure from Kashmir.
‘Stupid reason actually,’ smiled Bhadra, whose slight hump had disappeared completely, thanks to the magical Somras. ‘On the journey here, I saved the caravan leader from a tiger attack. He gave me the tide for a brave man before my name.’
‘You fought a tiger single-handed?’ asked Shiva, clearly impressed.
Bhadra nodded feeling awkward.
‘Well, then you really deserve to be called Veerbhadra!’
‘Yeah right!’ smiled Bhadra, suddenly turning serious. ‘The crazy label of “destroyer of evil”... Are you okay with this? You are not giving in to these pleas just because of your past, are you?’
‘I am going with the flow right now, my friend. Something tells me that despite all my misgivings, I can actually help these people. These Meluhans are completely mad, no doubt. And I certainly can’t do ALL that they expect of me. But I do feel that if I can make a difference, however small, I can reconcile with my past.’
‘If you are sure, then so am I. I will follow you anywhere.’
‘Don’t follow. Walk beside me!’
Veerbhadra laughed and embraced his friend. ‘I missed you Shiva.’
‘I missed you too.’
‘Let’s meet in the garden in the afternoon. I’ve got a great batch of marijuana.’
‘It’s a deal!’
Brahaspati too had sought permission to travel with Shiva. He explained that a Mesopotamian ship carrying some rare chemicals, essential for a critical experiment, was to dock at the port city of Karachapa soon. His team had to check and obtain those materials anyway. It would be a good idea to do this while travelling with Shiva. Daksha said that he had no problems with Brahaspati joining the tour if the Lord was okay with it. Shiva agreed enthusiastically to the suggestion.
Three weeks after the court announcement about the Neelkanth, the day finally dawned for Shiva’s tour of the empire. On the morning of the day itself, Daksha walked into Shiva’s chambers.
‘You could have summoned me, your Highness,’ said Shiva with a namaste. ‘You did not need to come here.’
‘It is my pleasure to come to your chambers, my Lord,’ smiled Daksha, returning Shiva’s greeting with a low bow. ‘I thought I would introduce the physician who would be travelling with your entourage. She arrived from Kashmir last night.’
Daksha moved aside to let his escort show the doctor into the room.
‘Ayurvati!’ exclaimed Shiva, his face lit up in a brilliant smile. ‘It’s so good to see you again!’
‘The pleasure is all mine, my Lord,’ beamed Ayurvati, as she bent down to touch Shiva’s feet.
Shiva immediately moved back to neatly side-step Ayurvati. ‘I have told you before, Ayurvati,’ said Shiva. ‘You are a giver of life. Please don’t embarrass me by touching my feet.’
‘And you are the Neelkanth, my Lord. The destroyer of evil,’ said Ayurvati with devotion. ‘How can you deny me the privilege of being blessed by you?’
Shiva shook his head in despair and let Ayurvati touch his feet. He gently touched her head and blessed her.
A few hours later, Shiva, Sati, Parvateshwar, Brahaspati, Ayurvati, Krittika, Nandi and Veerbhadra set off. Accompanying them was a brigade of fifteen hundred soldiers, twenty-five handmaidens and fifty support staff for their security and comfort. They planned to travel by road till the city of Kotdwaar on the Beas river. From there, they would use boats to travel to the port city of Karachapa. Then they would move due east to the city of Lothal. Finally, they would move north by road to the inland delta of the Saraswati and then by boats back to Devagiri.
CHAPTER 12
; Journey through Meluha
‘Who was Manu?’ asked Shiva. ‘I have heard of him often, referred to as “the Father”.’
The caravan had been travelling for a few days on the broad road from Devagiri to Kotdwaar. The central part consisted of a row of seven carriages identical to the ones used during the trip to Mandar. Five of them were empty. Shiva, Sati, Brahaspati and Krittika travelled in the second carriage. Parvateshwar was in the fifth, along with Ayurvati and his key brigadiers. The general’s presence meant every rule had to be adhered to strictly. Hence Nandi, whose rank did not allow him to travel in the carriage, was riding a horse with the rest of the cavalry. Veerbhadra had been inducted as a soldier in Nandi’s platoon. Led by their respective captains, the brigade were in standard forward, rear and side defence formations around the caravan.
Both Brahaspati and Sati started answering Shiva simultaneously.
‘Lord Manu was the...’
They both stopped talking.
‘After you please, Brahaspatiji,’ said Sati.
‘No, no,’ said Brahaspati with a warm smile. ‘Why don’t you tell him the story?’
He knew whose voice the Neelkanth would prefer.
‘Of course not, Brahaspatiji. How can I supersede you? It would be completely improper.’
‘Will somebody answer me or are you two going to keep up this elaborate protocol forever?’ asked Shiva.
‘Alright, alright,’ laughed Brahaspati. ‘Don’t turn blue all over now.’
‘That is hilarious Brahaspati,’ smiled Shiva. ‘Keep this up and you might actually get someone to laugh in a hundred years.’
As Brahaspati and Shiva chortled, Sati was astounded at the inappropriate manner in which the conversation was going on. But if the revered chief scientist seemed comfortable, she would not say anything. And in any case, how could she reprimand Shiva? Her code of honour forbade it. He had saved her life. Twice.
‘Well, you are right about Lord Manu being the Father,’ said Brahaspati. ‘He is considered the progenitor of our civilisation by all the people of India.’
‘Including Swadweepans?’ asked Shiva incredulously.
‘Yes, we believe so. In any case, Lord Manu lived more than eight and a half thousand years before the present day. He was apparently a prince from south India. A land way beyond the Narmada river, where the earth ends and the great ocean begins. That land is the Sangamtamil.’
‘Sangamtamil?’
‘Yes. Sangamtamil was then the richest and most powerful country in the world. Lord Manu’s family, the Pandyas, had ruled that land for many generations. However, from the records left by Lord Manu, we know that by his time the kings had lost their old code of honour. Having fallen on corrupt ways, they spent their days in the pleasures of their fabulous wealth rather than being focused on their duties and their spiritual life. Then a terrible calamity occurred. The seas rose and destroyed their entire civilisation.’
‘My God!’ exclaimed Shiva.
‘Lord Manu knew that this day would come and had in fact prepared for it. He believed it was the decadence his old country had fallen into that had incurred the wrath of the gods. Wanting to escape the calamity, he led a band of his followers to the northern, higher lands in a fleet of ships. He established his first camp at a place called Mehragarh deep in the western mountains of present day Meluha. Wanting to establish a moral and just society, he gave up his princely robes and became a priest. In fact the term for priests in India, pandit, is a derivation of Lord Manu’s family name — Pandya.’
‘Interesting. So how did Lord Manu’s litde band grow into the formidable India we see today?’
‘The years immediately following their arrival at Mehragarh were harsh on them. With each year’s monsoon, the flooding and sea tides would become stronger. But after many years and with the force of Lord Manu’s prayers, the anger of the gods abated and the waters stopped advancing. The sea, however, never receded to its original levels.’
‘This means that somewhere in the deep south, the sea still covers the ancient Sangamtamil cities?’
‘We believe so,’ answered Brahaspati. ‘Once the sea stopped advancing, Lord Manu and his men came down the mountains. They were shocked to see that the minor stream of Indus had become a massive river. Many other rivulets across northern India too had swollen and six great rivers had emerged — Indus, Saraswati, Yamuna, Ganga, Sarayu and Brahmaputra. Lord Manu said the rivers started flowing because the temperatures of our land rose with the wrath of the gods. With the rise in temperatures, huge channels of ice or glaciers frozen high in the Himalayas had started melting, creating the rivers.’
‘Hmm...’
‘Villages, and later cities, grew on the banks of these rivers. Thus our land of the seven rivers, Sapt-Sindhu, was born out of the destruction of the Sangamtamil.’
‘Seven? But you mentioned the creation of six rivers in North India.’
‘Yes, that’s true. The seventh river already existed. It is the Narmada and it became our southern border. Lord Manu strictly forbade his descendants to go south of the Narmada. And if they did so, they could never return. This is a law that we believe even the Chandravanshis adhere to.’
‘So what are Lord Manu’s other laws?’
‘There are numerous laws actually. They are all listed in an extensive treatise called the Manusmriti. Would you be interested in listening to the entire text?’
‘Tempting,’ smiled Shiva. ‘But I think I’ll pass.’
‘With your permission, my Lords, perhaps we can further discuss Lord Manu’s guidance of our society over lunch,’ suggested Krittika.
At a short distance from the road on which the Neelkanth’s caravan travelled, a small band of about forty men trudged silently along the Beas. One in two men of the platoon carried a small coracle on his head. It was typical of this region. The locals made small and light boats made of bamboo, cane and rope, portable enough to be carried by a single man on his head. Each boat could ferry two people with relative safety and speed. At the head of the platoon was a young man with a proud battle scar adorning his face, his head crowned with a brown turban. A little ahead of him walked a hooded figure. With his head bowed, his eyes scrunched, he took slow methodical steps, his mind lost in unfathomable thoughts. His breathing was hard. He brought his hand up languidly to rub his masked forehead. There was a leather bracelet on his right wrist with the serpent Aum symbol embroidered on it.
‘Vishwadyumna,’ said the hooded figure. ‘We will enter the river from here. Whenever we come close to populated areas, we will move away from the river to avoid detection. We have to reach Karachapa within two months.’
‘Karachapa, my Lord?’ asked Vishwadyumna surprised. ‘I was under the impression that we were to have a secret audience with the Queen outside Lothal.’
‘No,’ answered the hooded figure. We will meet her outside Karachapa.’
‘Yes, my Lord,’ answered Vishwadyumna, as he looked back in the direction of the road to Kotdwaar. He knew that his Lord would have dearly liked to make one more attempt to kidnap the princess. He also knew that it was foolhardy to endeavour to do so considering the strength of the force accompanying the caravan. In any case, they were behind schedule for their main mission. They had to meet the Queen urgently.
Turning towards one of his soldiers, Vishwadyumna ordered, ‘Sriktaa, place your coracle in the river and give me your oar. I will row the Lord through this part of the journey’
Sriktaa immediately did as instructed. Vishwadyumna and the hooded figure were the first of the platoon to enter the river. Vishwadyumna had already started rowing as his men started placing their boats into the waters. At a distance further down the river, the hooded figure saw two women lounging carelessly on a boat. One of the women was sloppily splashing water from the side of the boat on to her friend who was making a hopeless attempt to avoid getting wet. Their childish game caused their boat to sway dangerously from side to side. The hooded figure saw that t
he women had not detected a crocodile that had entered the river from the opposite bank. Having spied what must have looked like an appetising meal, the crocodile was swimming swiftly towards the women’s boat.
‘Look behind you!’ shouted the hooded figure to the women, as he motioned to Vishwadyumna to row rapidly in their direction.
The women could not hear him from the distance. What they did see, however, was two men were rowing towards them. They could see one of them was almost a giant covered from head to toe in a strange robe, his face covered with a mask. This man was making frantic gestures. Behind the duo were a large number of soldiers swiftly pushing their boats on to the river. That was all the warning the women needed. Thinking that the men were coming towards them with evil intent, the women put all their effort behind the oar and started hastily rowing away from the hooded figure’s boat. Into the path of the crocodile.
‘No!’ shouted the hooded figure.
He grabbed the oar from Vishwadyumna, using his powerful arms to row rapidly. He was shortening the distance between them and the women. But not fast enough. The crocodile closed in on the women’s boat and diving underwater charged at the craft, rocking it with its massive body. The tiny vessel tilted and capsized, throwing the women into the Beas.
Screams of terror rent the air as the women fought to stay afloat. The crocodile had moved too far ahead in its dash. Turning around, it swam towards the struggling women. The delay of those crucial seconds proved fateful for the women. The rescue boat arrived between the crocodile and them. Turning towards Vishwadyumna, the hooded figure ordered, ‘Save the women.’
Before Vishwadyumna could react, he had flung his robe aside and dived into the river. With his knife held tight between his teeth, he swam towards the advancing crocodile. Vishwadyumna pulled one of the women into the boat. She had already lost consciousness. Turning to the other woman, he reassured, ‘I am coming back soon.’