The Oath of The Vayuputras (57 page)
Shiva remained stoic, not quite convinced by the Mithra’s words.
‘You had every reason to turn away after arriving in Meluha for the first time. You were in a strange new land. Peculiar people, who were evidently so much more advanced than you, insisted on looking upon you as a god. You were tasked with a mission, the enormity of which would have intimidated practically anyone in the world. I’m sure that at the time, you didn’t even think you could succeed. And yet, you didn’t run away. You stood up and accepted a responsibility that was thrust upon you. That decision was the turning point in your journey against Evil, which had nothing to do with the twists and blessings of fate.’
Shiva looked at Gopal, whose demeanour suggested he was in full agreement with the Mithra.
‘You are giving me too much credit, Lord Mithra,’ said Shiva.
‘I am not,’ said the Mithra. ‘You are on course to fulfil
my
mission, without having taken any help from me. But I will not allow you to do that. You must give me the privilege of offering some help. Otherwise, how will I face the Ahura Mazda and Lord Rudra when I meet with them?’
Shiva smiled.
The Mithra looked directly into Shiva’s eyes. ‘But there are some things I must be sure of. What do you plan to do with the
daivi astra
?’
‘I plan to use it to threaten...’ Shiva stopped speaking as the Mithra raised his hand.
‘I’ve seen enough,’ said the Mithra.
Shiva frowned.
‘Thoughts move faster than the tongue, great Neelkanth. I know you will not use these terrible weapons of destruction. I can also see that the reason you will not do so is not just because of the Vayuputra ban but because you believe that these weapons are too horrifying to ever be used.’
‘I do believe that.’
‘But I cannot give you the
Brahmastra
.’
This was unexpected. Shiva had thought the discussion had been going his way.
‘I cannot give you the
Brahmastra
because it is too uncontrollable. It destroys anything and everything. Most importantly, its effect spreads out in circles. The worst destruction is in the epicentre, where everything living is instantly incinerated into thin air. While there is less destruction in the outer circles, the damage is still significantly widespread in the vicinity. So even if those outside the primary impact zone are not immediately killed, they suffer from the immense radiation unleashed by the
astra
. With Lord Bhrigu on the other side, he is sure to bet that you are using the weapon only as a threat, because you would not want to hurt your own army, which would most certainly be in the zone of radiation exposure.’
‘So what is the way forward?’
‘The
Pashupatiastra
. It is a weapon designed by Lord Rudra. It has all the power of the
Brahmastra
, but with much greater control. Its destruction is concentrated in the inner circle. Life outside this zone is not impacted at all. In fact, with the
Pashupatiastra
, you can even focus the effect in only one direction, leaving everyone else in the other directions safe. If you threaten to use this weapon, Lord Bhrigu will know that you can destroy Devagiri without endangering your people or the adjoining areas. Then the threat will be credible.’
This made sense. Shiva agreed.
‘But you cannot actually use the weapon, Neelkanth,’ reiterated the Mithra. ‘It will poison the area for centuries. The devastation is unimaginable.’
‘I give you my word, Lord Mithra,’ said Shiva. ‘I will never use these weapons.’
The Mithra smiled. ‘Then I have no problems in offering the
Pashupatiastra
to you. I will give the orders immediately.’
Shiva raised his chin as a faint smile played on his lips. ‘I think you had already made your decision about this, even before you met me, uncle.’
The Mithra laughed softly. ‘I am just Mithra. But you didn’t expect it to be so easy, right?’
‘No, I didn’t.’
‘I have heard stories about you, especially about the way you have fought your battles. You have behaved in an exemplary manner until now. Even when you could have gained by doing something wrong, you refrained from doing so. You didn’t fall prey to the logic of doing a small wrong for the sake of the greater good; of the ends justifying the means. That takes moral courage. So yes, I had already made up my mind. But I wanted to see you in any case. You will be remembered as the greatest man of our age; generations will look up to you as their God. How could I not want to meet you?’
‘I am no God, Lord Mithra,’ said an embarrassed Shiva.
‘Wasn’t it you who had said
“Har Har Mahadev”?
That
all of us are gods
?’
Shiva laughed. ‘You’ve got me there.’
‘We don’t become gods because we think we are gods,’ said the Mithra. ‘That is only a sign of ego. We become gods when we realise that a part of the universal divinity lives within us; when we understand our role in this great world and when we strive to fulfil that role. There is nobody striving harder than you, Lord Neelkanth. That makes you a God. And remember, gods don’t fail. You cannot fail. Remember what your duty is. You have to take Evil out of the equation. You shouldn’t destroy all traces of the Somras, for it may become Good in times to come, when it might be required once again. You have to keep the knowledge of the Somras alive. You will also have to create a tribe which will manage the Somras till it is required once again. Once all this is done, your mission will be over.’
‘I will not fail, Lord Mithra,’ said Shiva. ‘I promise.’
‘I know you will succeed,’ smiled the Mithra, before turning to Gopal. ‘Great Chief Vasudev, once the Neelkanth creates his own tribe, the Vayuputras will not remain in charge of fighting Evil anymore. It will be the task of the Neelkanth’s tribe. Our relationship with the Vasudevs will become like one between distant relatives rather than the one which has entailed a joint duty towards a common cause.’
‘Your relationship with the Vasudevs and with my country will exist forever, Lord Mithra,’ said Gopal. ‘You have helped us in our hour of need. I’m sure that, in turn, we will help Pariha if it ever needs us.’
‘Thank you,’ said the Mithra.
The Mithra called the entire city to the town centre the following morning. Shiva and Gopal stood next to him as he addressed the crowd.
‘My fellow Vayuputras, I’m sure your minds are teeming with many questions and doubts. But this is not the time for that; this is the time for action. We trusted a man who had worked closely with us; we trusted him with our knowledge. But he betrayed us. Lord Bhrigu broke the laws of Lord Rudra. Lord Gopal, the chief of the Vasudevs and the representative of Lord Ram, has come here demanding justice. But, in this moment, it is not just about retribution for what Lord Bhrigu has done. It’s also about justice for India, justice to Lord Rudra’s principles. There is a purpose that we all serve, Parihans; it is beyond laws; it is one that was defined by Lord Rudra himself.’
Pointing at Shiva, the Mithra continued. ‘Behold this man. He may not be a Vayuputra. But he does bear the blue throat. He may not be a Parihan, but he fights like one, with honour and integrity. We may not have recognised him, but the Vasudevs consider him the Neelkanth. He may not have lived amongst us, but he respects and idolises Lord Rudra as much as we do. Above all, he is fighting for Lord Rudra’s cause.’
The Vayuputras listened with rapt attention.
‘Yes, he is not a Vayuputra, and yet he is one of us. I am supporting him in his battle against Evil. And so shall you.’
Many amongst the Vayuputras were swayed by the Mithra’s words. Those who weren’t, were nevertheless aware that it was within the Mithra’s legal rights to choose whom to support within India. So, while their reasons to do so may have differed, all the Vayuputras fell in line with the Mithra’s decision.
Shiva and Gopal received a large crate the following evening. An entire Parihan cavalry platoon had been arranged to transport this incredibly heavy trunk safely back to the sea. Never having seen the material of the
Pashupatiastra
, Shiva assumed from the size of the trunk that they were carrying a huge quantity; probably enough to threaten an entire city. He was therefore amazed by Gopal’s clarification that they were carrying only a handful of the
Pashupatiastra
material.
‘Are you serious?’
‘Yes, Lord Neelkanth,’ said Gopal. ‘Just a handful is enough to destroy entire cities. The trunk has massive insulation, made of lead and wet clay, besides the leaves of imported bilva trees. Together, these will protect us from exposure to the
Pashupatiastra
radiation.’
‘By the Holy Lake,’ said Shiva. ‘The more I learn about the
daivi astras,
the more I’m convinced that they are the weapons of the demons.’
‘They are, my friend. That’s why Lord Rudra called them evil and banned their use. That is also why we will not use the
Pashupatiastra
. We’ll only threaten to use it. But to make it a credible threat to the Meluhans, we will actually have to set up the weapon outside Devagiri.’
‘Do you know how to do that?’
‘No, I don’t. Most of the Vayuputras are not privy to that knowledge either; only a select few are authorised to be in the know. There is a combination of engineering construction, mantras and other preparations that we would have to follow in order to set up this weapon. We would have to do this properly so as to convey a credible threat to Lord Bhrigu, since he does know how the
Pashupatiastra
is prepared for use. Lord Mithra and his people will commence our training from tomorrow morning.’
Parvateshwar moved his attention away from those sitting with him and cast a look outside the window of the Karachapa governor’s residence. They were on the
dwitiya
or second platform of the city, and from this height, Parvateshwar had a clear view of the Western Sea, which stretched far into the horizon.
‘The sea is the only way we have,’ said Parvateshwar.
Bhrigu and Dilipa turned towards Parvateshwar. Dilipa’s Ayodhyan army had finally arrived in Meluha, many months after the Battle of Devagiri. They had sailed on to Karachapa to join Parvateshwar’s Suryavanshi forces.
‘But General, isn’t that the entire idea behind coming to Karachapa?’ asked Dilipa. ‘To attack Lothal by sea? What’s new about that idea?’
‘I’m not talking about attacking the city, Your Highness.’
While there were now four hundred thousand troops based in Karachapa under the command of Parvateshwar, he knew that it was not really enough to defeat a well-entrenched force of two hundred and fifty thousand in the well-designed citadel of Lothal. And despite all attempts at provocation, Sati had resolutely refused to step out of Lothal, thus giving Parvateshwar no opportunity to bring his numerical superiority into play in an open battlefield. The war had, for all practical purposes, ground to a stalemate.
‘Please explain, General,’ said Bhrigu, hoping the Meluhan army chief had come up with some brilliant idea to end the stalemate. ‘What is your plan?’
‘I think we should send forth a fleet towards the Narmada River, making sure that these ships are visible.’
Dilipa frowned. ‘Have your spies discovered the route that Lord Shiva took?’
The Meluhans were aware that Shiva and Gopal had sailed to the Narmada, but they had lost track of them thereafter. They assumed that the duo may have used the Narmada route to steal into Panchavati or Ujjain. To what purpose, was still a mystery to the Meluhans.
‘No,’ answered Parvateshwar.
‘Then what’s the point of making our ships sail out in that direction? The Neelkanth’s scouts and spies will surely get to know that our ships are sailing to the Narmada. We’ll lose the element of surprise.’
‘That is precisely what I want,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘We don’t want to hide.’
‘By the great Lord Brahma!’ exclaimed an impressed Bhrigu. ‘General Parvateshwar, have you discovered the Narmada route to Panchavati?’
‘No, My Lord.’
‘Then I don’t understand... Oh right...’ Bhrigu stopped mid-sentence as he finally understood what Parvateshwar had in mind.