THE CURSE OF BRAHMA (2 page)

The Dark Lord took off his hood when he was certain that his followers had gone. He rubbed one side of what should have been his face. There were only the tattered shreds of burnt skin that had still not healed in the past two hundred years of agony
. Brahma, you shall pay for this, and so shall every deva in Swarglok
, he vowed to himself.
I will have my revenge when your treasured Mrityulok is mine. And when that is done, I shall transform every mortal there one by one into the Demon that you made me. I will raise an army of Demons from Mrityulok, and together with my trusted soldiers in Pataal Lok, the Demons will take over your precious Swarglok
.

His laughter echoed through the cavernous room. But there was more anguish in it than there was joy.

ing Devak lay prostrate on the ground. He had collapsed immediately on hearing of his wife’s death while trying to give birth to their second child. The royal vaid had intended to personally convey the news of the queen’s demise to the hapless king, but before he could do that in his patent sensitive manner, the news had travelled through the royal corridors in the form of Devak’s first born—the three-year-old Princess Devki. One look at the stricken face of his daughter had told him what a million words from the Royal Vaid might not have communicated. He knew the queen was dead. She was gone forever.

Devak was not a warrior king with a heart of stone. His nature was more poetic and he was loved by his people not because of his conquests on the battlefield, but because of his impeccable administration and the care he showed for all his subjects. His three treasures were his wife, his daughter and his poetry; the first being the greatest. With his wife gone, he knew he would not be able to bring himself to do justice to the other two. This was the first thing that struck his desolate soul as he regained consciousness and found himself lying on his bed.

I have to meet Ugrasena
, was all he could think of as the hours passed.

The messenger raced to Ugrasena’s court carrying the urgent message from his younger brother. After two days of relentless riding, and going without food and water to conserve time, the messenger reached Madhuvan and was ushered into Ugrasena’s private chambers.

King Ugrasena took one look at the messenger and mouthed a command to one of his attendants, ‘Get the man some water, in the name of Vishnu!’

As the attendant moved to do his regent’s bidding, Ugrasena nodded kindly to the man standing in front of him, half dead with exhaustion. ‘Messenger, take a seat and catch your breath. Then tell me what news my brother sends for me.’

The messenger bowed his head in respect, but kept standing. ‘Your Majesty, King Devak sends you his greetings and requests that you read this letter in my presence and give me an answer that I can return with.’

If Ugrasena was taken aback by the messenger’s request, he hid it well. He extended his right hand to take the scroll and broke open the royal seal himself. His face grew grim as he read the two words scrawled in his brother’s hand:
Come immediately
.

He looked at the messenger. ‘I shall be leaving for Haripur at once,’ he said softly.

Then as an afterthought, he added, ‘You should spend the night here and get some rest. Leave tomorrow.’ The messenger shook his head apologetically. ‘Forgive me Your Majesty, but my king awaits my return with your answer. I can have no rest till I have completed what he has commanded me to.’

Ugrasena looked at the messenger with admiration. He knew there was a high possibility that the messenger might not survive the trip back in his current state. He had clearly not slept in the past two days and would not get any rest during the two days’ ride back to Devak’s kingdom. If he had some food and water, there might just be some chance of his making it back alive.

‘Messenger, you shall eat and have some water before you leave. That is a command!’

The man bowed yet again in respect. ‘Your Majesty, I cannot eat, nor drink, nor rest till I have carried back your answer to my Master. With your permission, I would like to leave now.’

Ugrasena looked long and hard at the messenger. The King of Madhuvan was accustomed to having his commands followed. But in this case, the messenger’s loyalty towards his brother warmed his heart. ‘What’s your name messenger?’ he asked gently.

‘Airawat, Your Majesty,’ the messenger replied respectfully, with just the mildest signs of impatience at the delay.

Ugrasena took the messenger by his right shoulder and looking into his eyes said, ‘Go then Airawat, and do your master’s bidding. Devak is indeed fortunate to have men like you in his kingdom.’

As the messenger left, Ugrasena asked for his first born and favourite son, Kansa, to be summoned to his chambers. He didn’t know what had happened at Devak’s court that had made his brother call him like this. Protocol had prevented him from asking the messenger. If Devak had wanted him to know the reason, he would have commanded the messenger to let him know. But he hadn’t. Whatever the reason for his brother’s urgent request, Ugrasena knew he would feel more comfortable if his valiant son, Kansa accompanied him on the journey.

‘My brother!’ Ugrasena embraced Devak as he entered his bed chamber. He was shocked to see his younger brother’s condition. If he had met Devak anywhere else, he may not have even recognized him. The king of Haripur had aged twenty years in less than five days. The once-large frame was now gaunt, and the eyes that used to twinkle with laughter had nothing but the shine of fresh tears in them. Ugrasena’s son Kansa had accompanied his father to his uncle’s palace and he stood respectfully in a corner while Devak poured his heart out to Ugrasena. Ugrasena listened as Devak told him that he no longer had any desire to live. That he would retreat to the forest where he would go into meditation and give up his mortal body, so he could be united with his wife in the afterworld.

Ugrasena was shocked at Devak’s plans. ‘It is too premature for you to take Samadhi, Devak,’ he said in a shaken voice. ‘You have much to complete before you depart from this world,’ he continued. Devak shook his head. Now at the brink of death, he was more determined than he had ever been during his lifetime. ‘Think of Devki,’ Ugrasena pleaded, his tone ridden with agony over his brother’s decision.

‘I am doing this for Devki,’ snapped Devak in pain and frustration. ‘I can no longer be a father to her. I am already a dead man! Can’t you see it? How can a dead man give love to anyone? If she stays with me, she will neither have the love of a father, nor any other family close to her. With you, she will have your love and a large family of brothers and sisters. She will be happy.’

Devak’s breathing was laboured. He looked at his brother and a tacit agreement was reached between them. Ugrasena nodded as Devak clasped his hands in relief. ‘I knew you would not fail me Ugrasena.’

Ugrasena and Kansa stood waiting for Devki in Devak’s inner chambers. Devak sat on a diwan. He had asked his late wife’s chief personal attendant to fetch the child and pack whatever clothes and play things she may want to take with her to her Uncle Ugrasena’s palace. Her best friend, Mandki, daughter of one of the former attendants of Devki’s mother, would also accompany her as her companion and playmate. Mandki no longer had a family, and it would be easy for her to move with the princess. Devak turned to look around as he heard the familiar soft tread of his daughter’s footsteps, accompanied by two other, slightly heavier ones. Devki entered the room, followed closely by Mandki and an attendant. Devak extended his arm towards his daughter and beckoned to her. She approached him timidly and held his middle finger with her small hands, as if willing him to let her stay with him. Devak bent down to kiss his daughter and for the fraction of an instant, his resolve seemed to weaken as he stared into her doleful eyes. But then the thought of trying to wake up each day without his beloved wife by his side came unbidden to him, and strengthened his purpose yet again. He held his daughter’s gaze and said softly, ‘Go with Uncle Ugrasena; he is your father now. His sons will be your brothers henceforth, and his daughters, your sisters.’

Devki looked at Devak and Ugrasena, from one to the other, knowing she had to go, but not wanting to. She was still clinging to the hope that this was all a prank and Devak would stoop down any moment to take her in his arms like he used to, before her mother died. But Devak did not bend down to lift her. Nor did he offer any further expression of love. His face was set in stone. It was as if he had already entered a state of samadhi and couldn’t wait to relinquish his eternal soul from his temporal body.

Devki stood rooted at the same spot, unable to move or feel anything. Tears rolled down her eyes, and she unsuccessfully tried to blink them away. In the next instant, she was lifted gently off her feet and for one joyous moment she thought her father had had a change of heart. She looked into the eyes of the person holding her and instead of her father’s lined face, saw the youthful and loving smile of her cousin, Kansa. ‘Don’t worry little one,’ Kansa murmured gently into her ear. ‘You are my sister now, and no one,’ shall harm you while I live.’ Devki looked into the eyes of her cousin and felt a strange sense of security in his arms. She leaned her head against Kansa’s mighty chest and closed her eyes.