The Clan of Bhargava (Part 3)

19. A Lesson in Karma

"I am ready to apologize. I made a mistake." Vichitra quickly changed the tone. Everyone laughed.

Surely, the black cat was extremely cute looking but don't forget that the soul is basically a daitya that tried to take over Vaikuntha. Dad probably knew him well. For some reason, I think he must have known the daitya's plan but just let himself be amused if he could actually do that.

A mischievous smile appeared on my father's face. That typical look said that he was up to some scheming. It was going to shake the very base of Vichitra's life. He let go Vichitra.

The cat was quick to climb back on my shoulder.

The Yamadutas arrived at the Gurukul's borders. A circular vimana was brought along to take me off to Yamaloka. I went up with them.

Yamadutas almost looked like rakshasas. Dark red skin, almost bony appearance, twisted horns with some incantations carved on them, claws like fingers. They held a scythe and a noose. Almost an odd mix of Lucifer and Grim reaper in a dhoti. Almost like how western people design demons of hell.

The vimana took off.

"Hiii..." I greeted them.

"Thank you."

I gave a confused look. "uummm... Hi isn't generally replied with thank you. You reply with a hello or a Hi."

"No. I was saying thank you for making a conversation but I'd like to stay out of it. We don't speak to the living."

"Wow... really friendly."

"We don't need to be friendly. We need to do our job."

"But who says you cannot be friendly?"

"Our job is to grab souls and keep them from hovering around the earth. So, not practically an inviting friendship type of job."

The vimana picked up speed and the turbulence became high as it travelled dimensions. From the land of living to the land of the dead. It was like travelling in an opposite stream of an extremely fast river. The turbulence finally stopped and the vimana floated on a river.

The river was a beautiful looking river with filth here and there. It was extremely long stretching into the horizon where I couldn't see. The width was around a thousand kms. A rather long stretch.

"Who is polluting a pretty river like this?" I asked the yamaduta. He looked at me.

"Aren't you Sri Hari's child?"

"Yes. What does that have to do with the river being polluted?"

"This is Vaitarni River. The major river flows through Naraka and Yamaloka. Depending on the person, the river appears to them so. Pious people look at the river and see a crystal clear and beautiful river. Sinful people see it as a river of blood with man-eating crocodiles and piranhas. The dead have to cross the river by swimming. Only Yamadutas and other devansha on specific duty are given boats to cross the river."

Words didn't exist in my mouth anymore. Why did I see the river with filth?

"You stand in a morally grey area if this looks like a beautiful river being polluted. This river is a representation of an individual's life. As their life has been, so the river seems." He explained. He pointed to thousands of souls at the bank of the river. "Look."

Some of them joined hands repeated the name of Shiva, Devi, Krishna or Narayana and crossed it. It almost seemed like they crossed it without any problem at all. Almost like they walked through a large pool of water. Some even touched the waters and poured over themselves like they didn't see the pollution in the water at all.