An interlude to Sunset

The part where Divinity enters - Krishna

Krishna had never seen the youngest Kunti putra to be at ease in the palace of Hastinapur. For generations now, the palace of Hastinapur was being nourished by the tears of those who dwelt there and the repugnant aura had seeped into the very foundation of the structure.  It had been years since there had been simple and pure joy in the kingdom and the palace had become a dark and gloomy place. No amount of sunlit or fresh air could remove that despondency. Krishna knew that the end was nowhere in sight. The place of Hastinapur would require and seek many more tears, before any seed of peace could take root here and many of those would belong to his friends; the land would have its due before peace prevailed. Krishna could feel tears stinging the back of his eyes at the thought.

Cradled in his contemplations, Krishna had reached Arjun's chambers and found Nakul and Sahadeva working on their medicine, their faces portraying equal amounts of determination and futility and they were taking turns to look out of the window. Gurudev Dronacharya was sitting next to Arjun, in middle of an energy transference. There were not many who could do it competently and without causing harm to themself or to the recipient. The transference could either cause a surcharge of energy or generate too little to serve.

Arjun... Krishna finally looked at his friend and though he knew all, it still caught him unawares. Parth looked nothing like his vibrant self and lying unconscious on the bed he could have been mistaken for a corpse. The wound on his chest was extremely inflamed. The wound was covering most of the exposed area of the chest and it looked like it was festering. What clothes remained on Arjun's body and the blankets, were intermittently speckled with blood splatters. Most of the windows were closed for reasons which Krishna could not fathom, and this had made the room more stifling. That, along with the smell of the medicines and the sight of his beloved friend lying supine, turned Krishna's stomach. Without sparing a greeting for anyone, he entered the chamber and directly made his way to the largest window, flinging it open. The cool breeze of the distant Ganga swamped in and Krishna drew in a deep breath.

It was this sound of opening the window that alerted the others to his presence and the very next moment Krishna felt two pair of hands on his feet.  Nakul and Sahadeva had come over and prostrated themselves; Krishna wasted no time in pulling them back to their feet.  The way they fell on Krishna and wrapped him in a tight embrace, was far removed from their normal behaviour.

Gone were the shy and laid back prince Sahadeva and the confident Prince Nakul and all that remained were two young men with too much on their shoulders and even more on their mind. Krishna wrapped his arms around them both, forming a cocoon, and the youngest Pandava princes broke down yet again. Krishna absorbed their grief as much as he could and transmitted what healing was possible. It was a fair few moments before the Princes calmed down.

Wiping away at the tears on his face, Nakul said, "We are ecstatic to see you, Vasudev. Forgive us for our lack of manners... for our..."

Krishna shook his head and made an annoyed sound. "Don't start. It is certainly not the occasion to employ formality and nor do you need to, just for my sake." After squeezing the twins' shoulders comfortingly, he moved towards the bed and greeted Guru Dronacharya. "Pranipat Guru Drone."

"Pranipat Vasudev." The Acharya nodded. He vacated his spot on Arjun's bed and indicated the same to Krishna. "Arjun needs you more," he said.

And finally, Krishna made his way to his friend, trying to bolster himself and to gather his courage. He opened the large window which was just above Arjun's  bed and sat down next to him.

Krishna prided himself on staying aloof and maintaining a compassionate but detached overview of situations but it was only when he saw a water drop fall on Arjun's forehead and realized that it was his tears, that Krishna felt humbled. He had not achieved detachment to the extent he had believed, at least when it came to Parth.