A world bereft of you: The final Krishna-Arjun journey

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟚 : 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕛𝕠𝕦𝕣𝕟𝕖𝕪 𝕥𝕠 𝔻𝕨𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕜𝕒

Later that day, Arjun thought he had dealt with the news better than Madhav would have expected. The--for lack of a more apt word--betrayal was Madhav's; the Yadava women were faultless and would be in grave danger with no one to protect them.

So he stood up without further ado and declared he would set off with Daruka.

Yudhishthir offered to send Bheem or one of the twins along with him.

"Madhav sent Daruka with the explicit instruction that only I was to go to Dwaraka, jyesht," said Arjun shortly. Possibly it was the rudest tone he had ever taken with his elder brother.

"All right," said Yudhishthir gently. "No one will be able to harm Dwaraka's women with you and your Gandiva protecting them, anyway."

Subhadra and Draupadi spoke up in unison that they wished to be present to console the women who had just lost their family and friends, particularly Krishna's wives Rukmini and Satyabhama.

"I will take them to Indraprastha," said Arjun. "You can go there directly to welcome them."

Subhadra nodded, but Draupadi, as was expected of her, opened her mouth to protest. Arjun walked out before she could do so, barking after him, "Come on, Daruka."

The ground was still heaving alarmingly.

Would he never be able to walk straight again?

***

Being on horseback on the way to Dwaraka was better. Since he was not directly in contact with the ground, he could ignore its uneven movements. He could simply keep a hold on his horse's reins, admittedly much harder than normal, and trust it to take him to his destination.

That meant, however, that he was able to observe the world around him properly for the first time since the earth had first tilted on its axis.

Everything was changed.

***

First he noticed the colours. Or the lack of them.

The surroundings were so dull; where was all the colour in the world?

The sky was a hazy blue. It was not the cerulean blue he used to associate with the sky. The same sky under which he and Madhav had lain for hours and hours on scorching summer afternoons, lazily sipping mango juice, nudging each other with their toes to get the other to bring a fresh bottle when they had exhausted the existing one, Madhav winning the squabble simply because he was Madhav and people in general and Arjun in particular always failed to refuse him anything. He had always suspected Madhav used his magic on him.

The grass was tinged with gray, lined with brown, so unlike the bright yellow-green abundance of spring afternoons, swaying with the breeze left behind by him and Madhav racing on horseback, each vying to get their collection of fruits to the pregnant Subhadra first, visible on the distant horizon. Those were the contests Madhav let him win (while making sure Arjun was aware he was letting him win). Doing so, he declared, would make the child grow up as devoted to his mother as his father.

The river gurgling alongside them was black instead of the perfect mix of clear blue and clear green, gleaming against his eyes underwater, suffusing Madhav's dipped ankles the same colour as Arjun propelled himself forwards to grab them and bring his friend underwater with a splash. Having grown up in a forest, swimming was one thing Arjun believed he did better than Madhav, who, of course, had never admitted that, smug as always.

The sun was colourless. He could look at it directly and his eyes were not blinded; it was no longer the brightest of whites, like a million diamonds jammed in front of his vision, which could be hidden by nothing other than Madhav's Sudharshan Chakra to fake a sundown. To save his life. 

Madhav and his superpowers.

'I shall not be able to cast my eyes, for a single moment, on the earth bereft of Arjun,' Madhav had said the previous night to Jayadrath's death.

How, then, had he presumed to leave Arjun on the earth bereft of him?

He was, really, too arrogant at times.

Arjun would never forgive Madhav for taking with him all the colour from his world.

***

Then he noticed his inability to distinguish which season it was. His head told him winter was supposed to be receding with the arrival of spring. But...

This was not winter, for the cold wind against his cheeks did not refresh. Instead, it wearied him. With Madhav around, springing about in the thinnest covering of clothes, the cold had never been wearying.

This was not spring, for where was its hope? Spring brought good news and newborn dreams, like him and Madhav planning the palace of illusions of Indraprastha with Maya.

This was not summer without the anticipation of Madhav turning up out of the blue with the proposal of a new expedition every other day.

This was not monsoon without Madhav's unfailing comments fifty times a day along the lines of, 'Parth, your father is angry. What have you done to anger him so?'

This was not autumn without Madhav collecting orange leaves and pulling anyone who passed, particularly Arjun and Draupadi, down on the ground and burying them with his spoils.

This was, possibly, a mix of the worst of each season--the harsh unforgiving winter, the recession of spring, taking with it all hope and aspiration, the barren summer that made plants wilt, the gloom of relentless monsoon floods, the destruction of life with autumn.

Arjun would never forgive Madhav for ruining the good of each season and leaving behind only the ugly.

***

Then he noticed the distortion of the elements.

The Earth under him was tilted; the Water flowing alongside was sluggish; the Air all around was suffocating; the Fire crackling prodded at by a group of villagers lacked its vigour.

Arjun could not take his eyes away from the tame column of fire. 

How different everything was from what had burnt down the Khandava forest--vengeful fire devouring down trees and serpents, rain pouring down in torrents with equal vengeance to defeat it, the air chilling and scorching by turn, as Arjun stood shoulder to shoulder with Madhav, fighting the King of Gods. Arjun's first victory with Madhav at his side. A condition that was eventually to become inevitable to him. No victory of his was complete without Madhav at his side.

Arjun would never forgive Madhav for embittering every memory that once made him smile.

***

Arjun would never forgive Madhav at all.

***

Daruka's announcement that they had reached relieved Arjun, for he finally had something to focus upon apart from all that was wrong with the world.

No sooner had they alighted than Satyabhama came running at them. Her face was crumpled with tears.

"Arjun!" she sobbed. "You are just in time, Arjun--"

Fear swooped in Arjun's stomach.

"Has there been an attack?" he asked fearfully.

"No," wailed Satyabhama. "Jiji is preparing to end her life on the pyre." 

Arjun's blood ran cold at the idea of his beloved bhabi Rukmini, Madhav's first and possibly dearest wife, committing an act such as that.

"Nothing I say will make a difference. Come and stop her, Arjun--make her listen to you. Pull her back and restrain her."

Madhav had wanted him to protect the womenfolk of Dwaraka. Had he known of this? Irrespectively, the foremost two women of Dwaraka whose life Arjun would kill to save were his sisters-in-law, Rukmini and Satyabhama.

"I will not let her enter that pyre," said Arjun quietly. "Where is she?"