He was careful not to say ‘fraud Neelkanth’.
‘Yes,’ answered Parvateshwar.
‘But why would he allow you to leave?’
‘I don’t know if he will. But I know I cannot leave without his permission.’
Bhrigu spoke carefully. ‘Uhhh, Lord Parvateshwar, I don’t think that you realise the gravity of the situation. If you tell the Neelkanth that you are going to lead his enemies, he will kill you.’
‘No, he won’t. But, if he chooses to do so, then that will be my fate.’
‘My apologies for sounding rude, but this is foolhardy.’
‘No, it’s not. This is what a devotee does if he chooses to leave his Lord.’
‘But...’
‘Lord Bhrigu, this sounds peculiar to you because you haven’t met Lord Shiva. His companions don’t follow him out of fear. They do so because he is the most inspiring presence in their lives. My fate has put me in a position where I am being forced to oppose him. It’s breaking my heart. I need his blessings and his permission to give me the strength to do what I have to do.’
Bhrigu’s slow nod revealed a glimpse of grudging respect. ‘The Neelkanth must be a special man to inspire such loyalty.’
‘He is not just a special man, Maharishiji. He is a living God.’
Chapter 16
Secrets Revealed
‘I think we’ve achieved what we came here for,’ said Sati.
Gopal, Sati and Shiva had retired to their chambers in Surapadman’s palace. As a mark of goodwill, Surapadman had persuaded them to stay on for a few days and allow him to ready a few weapons for Shiva’s army.
‘Yes, I agree,’ said Gopal. ‘Surapadman’s offer of weapons, though token in nature, is symbolic of his having allied with us.’
‘Not one other person from the Magadhan court has visited us though,’ said Shiva. ‘I hope that King Mahendra doesn’t prevail upon Surapadman to do something unwise.’
‘Do you think he may prevent our ships from passing through to Ayodhya?’ asked Gopal.
‘I can’t be sure,’ said Shiva. ‘It’s most likely he will cooperate, but it depends on how his father reacts.’
‘Let’s hope for the best,’ said Sati.
‘What about my proclamation, Panditji?’
‘It will be ready and distributed in a few weeks from now,’ said Gopal. ‘Vasudev pandits from across the country will give us constant updates as to the reaction of the people as well as the nobility.’
‘But what if the Vasudev pandits are discovered?’
‘No, they won’t. The royals may know that the Vasudev tribe has allied with the Neelkanth, but they will never know the identity of the Vasudevs within their kingdoms.’
Shiva let out a long-drawn breath. ‘And so it shall begin.’
Bhagirath arrived in Kashi late in the evening and proceeded directly to the palace. On reaching there, he was informed that Shiva had gone to Magadh to explore an alliance with Surapadman. Bhagirath, therefore, met Ganesh and Kartik to share his news with them.
‘The Ayodhyans seem to have a back-up plan,’ said Bhagirath. ‘They expect Magadh to block their ships from carrying their soldiers onwards up the Ganga and towards Meluha. Hence, they intend to cut through the forests and have their army move north-west, right up to Dharmakhet. From there, they can cross the Ganga and then use the newly-built road to march to Meluha.’
‘That’s logical,’ said Ganesh. ‘But it will be slow. It will be many months before they can cut through the dense forests and reach Meluha. The war may actually be over by that time.’
Bhagirath agreed. ‘True.’
Ganesh leaned forward. ‘But I can see that there is more.’
Bhagirath could hardly contain himself. ‘I know the identity of the one who leads our enemies.’
‘Maharishi Bhrigu?’ suggested Kartik.
Bhagirath was amazed. ‘How did you know?’
‘Baba’s friends, the Vasudevs, told us,’ answered Ganesh.
Bhagirath had heard stories about the legendary Vasudevs. ‘Do the Vasudevs really exist?’
‘Yes they do, brave Prince,’ said Kartik.
Bhagirath smiled. ‘With friends like them, Lord Shiva doesn’t need followers like me!’
Ganesh laughed. ‘He could not have known when he agreed to your suggestion, that the Vasudevs would reveal the identity of the main conspirator.’
‘Of course,’ said Bhagirath. ‘But at least we now know about their back-up plan of marching through the impenetrable forests to the north-west of Ayodhya.’
‘Yes, that is useful information, Bhagirath,’ said Ganesh.
Kartik suddenly sat up. ‘Prince Bhagirath, did you meet Maharishi Bhrigu personally?’
‘Yes.’
Kartik looked at Ganesh with concern.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked Bhagirath.
‘Did he look into your eyes while speaking with you, Bhagirath?’ asked Ganesh.
‘Where else would he be looking if he was talking to me?’
Kartik looked up at the ceiling. ‘Lord Ram, be merciful.’
‘What happened?’ asked a confused Bhagirath.
‘We’ve been told that Lord Bhrigu can read your mind by looking into your eyes,’ said Kartik.
‘What? That’s impossible!’
‘He’s a Saptrishi Uttradhikari, Bhagirath,’ said Ganesh. ‘Very few things are impossible for him. If he was distinctly looking into your eyes, chances are he has read your conscious thoughts. So he may have some very sensitive information about our plans.’
‘Good Lord!’ whispered Bhagirath.
‘I want you to carefully recall what you were thinking about while speaking with Lord Bhrigu,’ said Ganesh.
‘I spoke about...’
Kartik interrupted Bhagirath. ‘It doesn’t matter what you spoke. What matters is what you thought.’
Bhagirath closed his eyes and tried to remember. ‘I thought that my imbecile father could not have been the true leader of the conspiracy.’
‘That’s no secret,’ said Ganesh. ‘What else did you think about?’
‘I remember a feeling of dread when I realised that Lord Bhrigu is the true leader.’
‘I would have ideally not let him know your fears,’ said Kartik. ‘But this too cannot harm us.’
‘I recall thinking that Lord Shiva had sent me to Ayodhya to discover the identity of the true leader.’
‘Again,’ said Ganesh, ‘this is not very harmful information for an enemy to have.’
Bhagirath continued. ‘I thought about being attacked by the joint Meluha-Ayodhya ships at Panchavati and how we repelled the attack.’
Ganesh cursed under his breath.
Bhagirath looked at Ganesh apologetically. ‘So Maharishi Bhrigu knows about the Panchavati defences... I’m so sorry, Ganesh.’
Kartik patted Bhagirath reassuringly on his arm. ‘You did not intend this to happen, Prince Bhagirath. Was there anything else?’
‘Oh, Lord Rudra!’ whispered Bhagirath.
Ganesh’s eyes narrowed. ‘What?’
‘I thought about Parvateshwar wanting to defect to Meluha,’ said Bhagirath.
Ganesh stopped breathing while Kartik held his head. ‘What now, dada?’
‘Get mausi here, Kartik,’ said Ganesh, asking his brother to fetch the Queen of the Nagas, Kali. ‘We know what we have to do, but baba’s wrath will be terrible. Mausi can stand up to him. We need to know if she agrees with us.’
Kartik immediately left the room.
A shocked Bhagirath stared at Ganesh. ‘I hope you are not thinking what I fear.’
‘Do we have a choice, Bhagirath? Maharishi Bhrigu will try and contact Parvateshwar at the first opportunity and whisk him away.’
‘Ganesh, Parvateshwar is my sister’s husband. We cannot kill him!’
Ganesh raised his hands in exasperation. ‘Kill him? What are you talking about, Bhagirath?’
Bhagirath remained silent.
>
‘I only want to arrest General Parvateshwar so that he cannot escape.’
Bhagirath was about to say something when Ganesh interrupted him.
‘We have no choice. If Parvateshwar goes over to their side, it would be disastrous for us. He is a brilliant strategist.’
Bhagirath sighed. ‘I am not contradicting you. What needs to be done has got to be done. But we cannot kill him. I will not be responsible for making my sister a widow.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of killing a man like Parvateshwar. But we’ve got to arrest him. For all we know, Maharishi Bhrigu may already be attempting to make contact with him.’
A moonless night hung over an eerily quiet Assi Ghat in Kashi. The normally busy Port of Eighty did receive a small number of ships at night, but the darkness had kept away even the few brave captains who attempted night dockings.
A silent and pensive Parvateshwar was walking back from the ghat. He had just dropped a shrouded Bhrigu to a waiting rowboat which would take him to a ship anchored in the middle of the river. Bhrigu intended to stop at Prayag for a short while and then proceed to Meluha.
‘General Parvateshwar!’
Parvateshwar looked up to see Kali. The flickering light from the torches revealed that she was accompanied by Ganesh, Kartik and about fifty soldiers. Parvateshwar smiled.
‘You’ve brought fifty soldiers to down one man?’ asked Parvateshwar, his hand resting on his sword hilt. ‘You think too highly of me, Queen Kali.’
‘Were you planning to escape, General?’ asked Kali.
The soldiers rapidly surrounded Parvateshwar, making escape impossible.
Parvateshwar was about to answer when he saw a familiar figure next to Kartik.
‘Bhagirath?’
‘Yes,’ answered Bhagirath. ‘This is a sad day for me.’
‘I’m sure it is,’ said Parvateshwar sarcastically, before turning to Kali. ‘So what do you plan on doing, Queen Kali? Kill me straight away or wait till the Lord Neelkanth returns?’
‘So you admit that you are a traitor,’ said Kali.
‘I admit to nothing since you haven’t asked anything.’
‘I did ask you if you were attempting an escape.’
‘If that were the case, I wouldn’t be walking away from the Assi Ghat, Your Highness.’
‘Have you met Maharishi Bhrigu?’ asked Ganesh.
Parvateshwar never lied. ‘Yes.’
Kali sucked in a sharp breath, reaching for her sword.
‘Mausi,’ said Ganesh, pleading with the Naga queen to keep her temper in check. ‘Where is the Maharishi, General?’
‘He’s back on a boat,’ said Parvateshwar, ‘probably on his way to Meluha.’
‘You know what comes next, don’t you?’ asked Kali.
‘Do I get a soldier’s death?’ asked Parvateshwar. ‘Will you all attack me one by one so I have the pleasure of killing a few of you? Or will you just pounce on me like a pack of cowardly hyenas?’
‘Nobody is getting killed, General,’ said Ganesh. ‘We Nagas have a justice system. Your treachery will be proven in court and then you will be punished.’
‘No Naga is going to judge me,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘I recognise only two courts: the one sanctioned by the laws of Meluha and the other of the Lord Neelkanth.’
‘Then you shall receive justice from the Neelkanth when he returns,’ said Kali, before turning towards the soldiers. ‘Arrest the General.’
Parvateshwar didn’t argue. He stretched out his hands as he looked at the crestfallen face of the man handcuffing him. It was Nandi.
Shiva, Sati and Gopal were dining in the Neelkanth’s chamber at Magadh.
‘The captain of the ship met me in the evening,’ said Sati. ‘All the weapons have been loaded. We can sail for Kashi tomorrow morning.’
‘Good,’ said Shiva. ‘We can begin our campaign within a few weeks.’
Gopal had anticipated this. ‘I have already sent a message to the pandit of the Narsimha temple in Magadh. He will relay it to King Chandraketu, who will then set sail with an armada and await further instructions at the port of Vaishali.’
‘Bhagirath, Ganesh and Kartik will travel with them to Ayodhya,’ said Shiva. ‘Ganesh will lead the Eastern Command.’
‘A wise choice,’ said Gopal.
‘The Western Army, comprising the Vasudevs, the Nagas and those Brangas who have been assigned to the Nagas, will attack Meluha under my command. We will set sail along with Kali and Parvateshwar within a week of reaching Kashi.’
‘I have already sent a message to Ujjain,’ said Gopal. ‘The army has marched out with dismantled sections of our ships which will be reassembled on the Narmada. We will sail together to the Western Sea and farther up the coast, to Lothal.’
‘What about your war elephants, Panditji?’ asked Sati. ‘How will they reach Meluha?’
‘Our elephant corps will set out from Ujjain through the jungles, and meet us at Lothal,’ answered Gopal.
‘Gopalji, can the Narsimha temple pandit send out a message to Suparna in Panchavati as well?’ asked Shiva. ‘Kali has appointed her the commander of the Naga army in her absence. They should join us at the Narmada.’
‘I shall do that, Neelkanth,’ said Gopal.
Chapter 17
Honour Imprisoned
An underground chamber beneath the royal palace had been converted into a temporary prison for General Parvateshwar. Though the public prisons of peaceful Kashi were humane, it would have been a slight to a man of Parvateshwar’s stature to be imprisoned along with common criminals. The spacious chamber, though luxuriously appointed, was windowless. Not taking any chances, Parvateshwar’s hands and legs had been securely shackled. While a platoon of crack Naga troops guarded the sole exit, two senior officers watched over Parvateshwar at all times. Nandi and Parshuram kept first watch.
‘My apologies, General,’ said Parshuram.
Parvateshwar smiled. ‘You don’t need to apologise, Parshuram. You are following orders. That is your duty.’
Nandi sat opposite Parvateshwar, but kept his face averted.
‘Are you angry with me, Major Nandi?’ asked Parvateshwar.
‘What right do I have to be angry with you, General?’
‘If there’s something about me that’s troubling you, then you have every right to be angry. Lord Ram had asked us to “always be true to ourselves”.’
Nandi remained silent.
Parvateshwar smiled ruefully and then looked away.
Nandi gathered the courage to speak. ‘Are you being true to yourself, General?’
‘Yes, I am.’
‘Forgive me, but you are not. You’re betraying your living God.’
With visible effort, Parvateshwar kept his temper in check. ‘It is only the very unfortunate who must choose between their god and their swadharma.’
‘Are you saying that your personal dharma is leading you away from Good?’
‘I’m saying no such thing, Major Nandi. But my duty towards Meluha is most important to me.’
‘Rebelling against your God is treason.’
‘Some may hold that rebelling against your country is a greater treason.’
‘I disagree. Of course, Meluha is important to me, I would readily die for it. But I wouldn’t fight my living God for the sake of Meluha. That would be completely wrong.’
‘I’m not saying that you’re wrong, Major Nandi.’
‘Then you admit to being wrong yourself.’
‘I didn’t say that either.’
‘How can that be, General?’ asked Nandi. ‘We’re talking about polar opposites. One of us has got to be wrong.’
Parvateshwar smiled. ‘It is such a staunch Suryavanshi belief: the opposite of truth has to be untruth.’
Nandi remained silent.
‘But Anandmayi has taught me something profound,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘There is your truth and there is my truth. As for the universal truth, it does not exist.’
&nbs
p; ‘The universal truth does exist, though it has always been an enigma to human beings,’ smiled Parshuram. ‘And it will continue to remain an enigma for as long as we are bound to this mortal body.’
Anandmayi stormed into Bhagirath’s chambers in the Kashi palace, brushing the guard aside.
‘What the hell have you done?’ she shouted.
Bhagirath immediately rose and walked towards his sister. ‘Anandmayi, we had no choice...’
‘Dammit! He is my husband! How dare you?’
‘Anandmayi, it is very likely he will share our plans with...’
‘Don’t you know Parvateshwar? Do you think he will ever do anything unethical? He used to walk away whenever you spoke about the Lord Neelkanth’s directives. He’s not aware of any of your “confidential” military plans!’
‘You’re right. I’m sorry.’
‘Then why is he under arrest?’
‘Anandmayi, it wasn’t my decision...’
‘That’s rubbish! Why is he under arrest?’
‘He might escape if...’
‘Do you think he couldn’t have escaped had he wanted to? He is waiting to meet the Lord Neelkanth. Only then will he leave for Meluha.’
‘That’s what he said but...’
‘But? What the hell do you mean “but”? Do you think Parvateshwar can lie? Do you think he is even capable of lying?’
‘No.’
‘If he has said that he will not leave till Lord Shiva returns, then believe me he’s not going anywhere!’
Bhagirath remained silent.
Anandmayi stepped up to her brother. ‘Are you planning to assassinate him?’
‘No, Anandmayi!’ cried a shocked Bhagirath. ‘How can you even think I would do such a thing?’
‘Don’t pull this injured act on me, Bhagirath. If anything were to happen to my husband, even an accident, you know that the Lord Neelkanth’s anger will be terrible. You and your allies may discount me, but you are scared of him. Remember his rage before you do something stupid.’
‘Anandmayi, we are not...’
‘The Lord Neelkanth will be back in a week. Until then, I’m going to keep a constant vigil outside the chamber where you have imprisoned him. If anyone wants to harm him, he will have to contend with me first.’