THE CURSE OF BRAHMA (31 page)

Vasudev looked like he wanted to say something but Ugrasena stopped him. This was something he had to do himself, or Airawat would not agree. ‘Airawat, Prince Kansa needs to be away for some time.’

‘He…uh, he has some things he needs to work out in his mind, and he has asked to be left alone till that happens. Much as I love my son, I respect his need to be away till he is comfortable coming back and taking his rightful position at Madhuvan as the Crown Prince. But this danger from the asura assassins that we have spoken about cannot wait till my son returns. Therefore, I have asked Vasudev, the prince of Bateshwar to lead the task force for both Bateshwar and Madhuvan until Kansa comes back. In the interim, I am sending a confidential message for Prince Kansa today itself, informing him about the danger and asking him if he would like to return to lead the Madhuvan task force. If he comes back now, you will work under his command at Madhuvan while Prince Vasudev will take care of the danger in his own country at Bateshwar. Do you understand?’

Ugrasena’s last words carried the full command and authority of his position and were not lost on Airawat. He bowed to his king and nodded.

‘Good then, you will start working with Vasudev on building the task force for Madhuvan. If Kansa comes back, you will be under his command, or else you will report directly to Vasudev. Meanwhile, Vasudev will travel to Bateshwar immediately and share the plan with his father, King Surasena. Whether he stays there to lead the task force at Bateshwar or returns here to lead the Madhuvan task force too, will depend on Kansa’s decision to return. The maharishi will be leaving tomorrow to travel to all the border kingdoms.’

Ugrasena stood up to indicate that the meeting was over, at least as far as Airawat was concerned. Airawat bowed low to his king, and nodded respectfully to Vasudev. He went over to Narada and touched his feet to seek the blessings of the venerable sage, before exiting the king’s chambers.

Vasudev looked at Ugrasena, ‘I need to meet Devki before I leave. She won’t be pleased that I have to return to Bateshwar so soon, but I will explain it to her. If all goes well, Kansa should be here soon. Else, I will return after starting the task force in Bateshwar. In case I have to be here, Sini Yadav is more than capable to handle the team at Bateshwar.’

Ugrasena nodded. ‘Let me know how things go, Vasudev. Tell Devki I am sorry for taking so much of the time that you meant to spend with her. But she will have you all to herself after the marriage in a few months, anyway.’

Vasudev grinned at the king’s subtle joke, and seeking the blessings of both Narada and Ugrasena, he, too, left the chamber in search of Devki.

Narada and Ugrasena were left alone. Narada held the old king by his shoulder. ‘I know you have Kansa’s interests in your heart Ugrasena. But put pressure on him to return. He shouldn’t feel left out that you have asked Vasudev to lead the Madhuvan task force too.’

Ugrasena shook his head. ‘He won’t feel that way. He loves Vasudev as a brother. And Vasudev is going to lead the task force only if Kansa does not return. But I know he will return. I am going to request him as his father to come back to save his country from this danger. He won’t refuse me.’

Maharishi Narada was quiet. His capabilities were not as advanced as that of a brahmarishi, but he was still able to pick up parts of what would happen in the future from the energy flowing through the universe. And whatever little he was able to read of the future, he knew one thing for certain—Kansa would not return to lead the task force.

he Dark Lord paced the room. Every pore of his being exuded a state of severe agitation. Bhargava sat quietly watching him, with a concerned look on his customarily placid face. It was unusual for his friend to show signs of being extremely disturbed. He knew that Amartya was consumed with pain and impotent rage, but he seldom allowed his feelings to be observed by anyone.
Something big must have happened for him to be so visibly agitated
, mused Bhargava. He badly wanted to know what, but he knew better than to disturb his friend, when he was in one of these moods. He waited patiently.

‘They know. They know everything!’ Amartya shouted in frustrated rage.

The explosion of anger was so sudden and uncharacteristic that Bhargava positively leaped out of his seat. ‘What’s wrong, Amartya?’ he asked in concern. ‘I have never seen you express your anger this way.’

The Dark Lord clenched his teeth. ‘Don’t call me by that name. Amartya Kalyanesu is dead! I am just a shell of my past self.’

Bhargava gave him a sad smile. ‘It’s not that easy to shake off our past, Amartya. And definitely not something that a man of your abilities should do.’ He gazed at the broken man standing in front of him. ‘You are still a brahmarishi, my friend. And nothing that happened to you or will ever happen to you can change that truth. But forget all that for now. What’s bothering you?’

The Dark Lord met Bhargava’s gaze, who was compelled to look away. ‘They know what we are planning. Narada has told Ugrasena the truth behind the asura assassins entering Mrityulok. There is a leak in your camp, Bhargava.’

‘Impossible!’ Bhargava exclaimed in shock. ‘That cannot be. The only people who knew about the plan apart from you and me are all part of the asura council. The others who know the plan are the assassins who have been sent to Mrityulok. All of them are mercenaries and are aware that they stand to earn a great deal of wealth if they help the plan succeed. None of them could have betrayed us.’

‘It is obviously not impossible, Bhargava, since it has already come to pass. Someone has to have told Narada what we are planning.’

Bhargava grew silent. He knew Amartya was right. Someone had told Narada about the plan. But the question was who? Who in Pataal Lok would have risked the wrath of the Dark Lord? And to what purpose? Then a thought struck him and his face shone with excitement.

‘Amartya, you have the power of tapping into the universal energy that allows you to read whatever happened in the past or will possible happen in the future. Can’t you use that to find out who the traitor is?’

Amartya Kalyanesu suppressed his impatience. ‘Do you think I have not tried that already?’

Bhargava stared at his friend. Amartya was uncharacteristically short-tempered with him today. He had never shown signs of impatience with him before this.
He must be really troubled
, he thought.

‘So what happened?’ he asked. ‘What did you find out?’

‘Nothing!’ Amartya Kalyanesu sighed in exasperation. ‘Someone has created a protective shield over the traitor. Someone who knew I could use my powers of cosmic telepathy to find out who betrayed us.’

‘But can’t you breach the shield?’ Bhargava queried.

Amartya shook his head, ‘No. The shield is made up of potent Brahman energy. It protects the thoughts of the person being shielded in a way that no one except the person who has created the shield can breach it.’

‘Who could have the power to do this?’ Bhargava wondered aloud.

‘Only a maharishi, a brahmarishi or one of the three supreme gods could have created such a shield,’ Amartya replied quietly. Since Narada knows about our plans, it is most likely he who created the shield around the traitor before speaking to him.’

‘So there is no way we can find out who the person is?’ Bhargava asked with grave concern.

‘It’s unlikely,’ replied Amartya quietly.

Both of them were silent for a while. ‘What do we do now?’ Bhargava asked gravely.

Amartya spoke and his voice was deathly calm. There was no sign of the agitation and anger that had been there just a few moments before.

‘The fact that they know our plan will definitely go against us,’ he said, then paused. He seemed to weigh his words before continuing. ‘But they still don’t know the details. Our assassins are spread out all over their land. By the time they warn the kingdoms they think will listen to them, we will send in more assassins through kingdoms like Magadha and Madhuvan…especially Madhuvan.’

‘Why Madhuvan?’ Bhargava quizzed him.

‘Madhuvan has the largest border with Pataal Lok. Even if they mount the strongest security around their borders, we will still be able to send in more assassins through their kingdom than through any other land.’

‘Hmm,’ Bhargava said thoughtfully. ‘But won’t Ugrasena set up measures against such a plan? And don’t forget his son Kansa is a powerful and intrepid warrior.’

‘Kansa will not oppose us, Bhargava. The asura blood of his birth father runs within him. And the demonic tendencies of his birth legacy were activated when he was almost killed by my trio of assassins during the attack on his sister.’

Bhargava looked confused. ‘I don’t understand. What do you mean?’ he asked.

‘Kansa has within him the blood of a mortal and a demon. His mortal side comes from his mother, Padmavati, and the demonic part is inherited from his birth father, who seduced his mother. Since Kansa spent his entire life with mortals, his demonic side never got a chance to exert itself. And truth be told, his mortal side has been so dominant that it would have been impossible for his other half to have ever come up on its own.’

‘Then…’ Bhargava started to interrupt but was stopped by Amartya.

‘During the attack on his sister, Kansa was fatally wounded by two of my assassins, a bonara and a pisaca. He was in a precarious state when the Madhuvan soldiers carried him back to his palace. The royal vaid there tried his best to save Kansa but by then it was impossible for anyone to have salvaged his life. His mortal half was not strong enough to fight the grievous wounds he had received. A normal mortal would have died at this point. But Kansa is different. When his mortal side gave up, his demonic half, which had lain dormant in his system for so long, took over automatically. His body started to produce more of the demonic life cells, and it was this that eventually saved his life.’

Amartya paused to scratch the burnt part of his face. It always itched more when he allowed his emotions to get the better of him, even temporarily. ‘In time, as the demon cells inside his system start replicating themselves, whatever little of the mortal is left within him will disappear. His demonic side will take over completely.’

Bhargava tried to assimilate this new information. ‘How long will it take…for his demonic side to take control, I mean?’

‘It might take days, or it could be months before it happens,’ Amartya replied. ‘Kansa is an unusually noble man, and in spite of the demon cells growing within him, his intrinsic goodness will fight against the latent evil struggling to erupt inside him. The only thing that can possibly accelerate his complete transformation into a demon will be if he faces some severe trauma during this period.’

‘What kind of trauma?’ Bhargava probed.

‘Anything. Any major emotional or psychological upheaval in his life could push him over to the dark side completely and irrevocably.’

‘And if and when that happens, how would he change?’ Bhargava asked.

‘He will go completely insane and unpredictable. Remember he is not a pure demon. Someone who is raised as a demon may not have any qualms of doing what they have to do, no matter how evil they may have to become. In Kansa’s case, while his conscious behaviour may eventually mirror a demon’s, his mortal side will always keep surfacing to confuse him. Over a period of time, he will become a paranoid schizophrenic. And this could make him more dangerous and evil than any other demon would otherwise be.’

Bhargava was quiet. He was a man of principles and had never hurt anyone in his life without cause. He had the greatest respect for people like Kansa. It pained him to know what lay in store for the noble prince but there was nothing he or anyone could do now. What had to be done would be done. The destruction of Kansa, if necessary, would need to be tolerated for the greater good. But there was something else that had been bothering him for many weeks and he needed to know the answer to it now.

‘Amartya,’ he looked at his friend. ‘Why is it necessary to kill Devki? What has she done to us?’

Amartya returned Bhargava’s gaze with equanimity. He had an inscrutable expression on his face. ‘Nothing!’ he said softly. ‘She has done nothing to us…yet.’