Music for the Chapter: The Shimmer of Sindhu by AR Rahman
Anna and Kama stopped suddenly as we were following the crowd. The two looked at each other in surprise.
"This has to be Alaknanda." Anna commented.
I felt the energy of Kaal Bhairava. The energy was powerful was the ominous feel of death which was enough to say that someone had summoned him.
We then started to follow the direction from where we felt the energy signal. Anna started running fast. Everyone began catching up with him but I was the one left behind. Anna, Kama, Angad, and Omkara, all of them were faster than me. I kept crashing into people.
"I'm so sorry..." I apologized as I kept up.
Stupid inhuman abilities they had. How fair was it to leave me behind like this?
As they kept up ahead, I saw Nandini. The girl was dressed in such exquisite clothing that I would have thought it was her wedding. Gulping down a glass of something she crashed the glass away.
"What were you expecting, Nandini? The girl was never someone you can have. Both of you were completely different. On two very opposite ends. Either you abandon this here and go to her or stay here and abandon her. You can't have both." Another girl commented. The girl was pregnant.
"Why, Di? Why? Why should I have to choose? Why can't I have both?"
"Because, you fool, she will never be happy if you force her. You're talking about Narayana. You're asking her to abandon Narayana. You'd be foolish to believe anyone would ever leave behind Narayana for anything that is limited to one lifetime. Only a fool would choose something that lasts only one lifetime when they have an option to make Narayana theirs." The girl commented.
"You're saying that?"
"Just because we're on the opposing side doesn't mean we can deny the truth, Nandini. If I wasn't bound to the family, I would have left everyone to own Vishnu. She is his own blood and flesh. Why would anyone who has the life of freedom choose a life filled with shackles? The story isn't just Alaknanda, Nandini. The story has always been Vishnu and that soul. Someone who has lived in the light of his love for so many lifetimes and experienced that freedom from everything. Why would someone like that choose anything else in this lifetime? You want to ask the girl who has always lived in the light to be satisfied with the moonlight. You don't expect flowers to survive just on moonlight. At least not most flowers. She has the morning's beautiful sun within her grasp then why would she live in darkness, captured in shackles. If the love which you call beautiful doesn't give you eternal happiness, then it is just a shackle."
What is happening?
"All she had to do was stay. I would have done anything for her. Doesn't matter. I think they will find her and bring her back. Virat has already gone himself to look for her. She couldn't be gone far out of Patala. Virat will find her. Before she reaches Shukracharya, Virat will get to her."
I quickly shot off to look for Anna. I couldn't let Virat get hold of my sister again. No. Not this time.
"Anna.." I got to him. "Adi isn't here. Adi has already left Patala. She's gone looking for Shukracharya."
"But I feel Kaal Bhairava," Anna explained.
"So, do I but I just heard Nandini say that Virat has gone out of Patala looking for Adi. Outside Patala, Shukracharya is waiting for her. So, we should go look for Shukracharya."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Hundred percent."
We all quickly left the fort. When we got out of the fort, I spotted Bali with Mama's form which stayed with Mahabali. Mama was fighting the soldiers who were trying to attack Bali. They weren't anything more than little rabbits before the tiger.
Bali spotted Anna. He turned his car towards us. "Get in." He opened the door. We got in and the car took off.
"Where is Adi?" I jumped to the important question.
"She just left. I'll get you out of here through the portal in Sutala. What are you doing here?"
"We came to find Devraj. Where is he?"
"Adi already left with him."
"Alaknanda left with Devraj?"
"Yes. She went to rescue Indra and got him out of Patala. I let them borrow the Vimana I had."
"You're joking, right? Aren't people going to notice a large vimana?? You know the rules, Bali. You cannot just like that expose all this to humans." Omkara exclaimed. "This is literally against the law."
"I don't give a shit about Indra's laws. I had to get my niece out of here and I did so. Halfway through, I'm quite sure, it is going to have a crash landing. That girl has zero training in handling vimanas. Indra can probably get it to fly off. So, I let her get away."
"Why didn't you go with her?" Anna asked.
"Sastha, I was asked to rule Sutala by Narayana. I am not abandoning my dharma. I'm safe here in Patala. Nothing can happen to me."
The car door opened and Mama sat in the car. He dusted off a bit of dirt on his cargo pants and cleaned the blood off his combat shoes.
"How was it? A little too hot?" Bali asked about the reaction. Mama laughed.
"Bali, you literally had the bride runoff from her wedding. Obviously, the reaction is hot."
Bali laughed. "It had been long since I messed with anyone. Not to mention. I never had the opportunity to sharpen my knives."
Mama threw him a look. Angad and Omkara laughed at how Bali simply shrugged his shoulders at the look.
"Devi Diti isn't going to cool down with you involving yourself."
"If she finds out. She never saw me involved in it. When she finds out, we'll cross that bridge. In the end, I always have you. The worst scenario I'll just call up Sri."
"Oh, you have contact with maa??" Kama suddenly asked.
"Well, I do have her contact in case I need to reach her." Bali said, he gave a side look to Mama, "I also offered someone to help them but they didn't want to make the effort."
"For my sake, Bali, stop," Mama exclaimed. "I'll do it when I have to. We don't have to really hoard me with stuff. I have many things to take care of already. My child was kidnapped by the enemy, Swarga was under attack, Virat was getting a little too out of control. I wasn't going to spend time away when I am needed here. When things settle down a bit, I'll look into it."
We got to Sutala and he helped us get back to earth through the portal. We reached up a forest.
"Dandakaranya." Kama recognized. I wouldn't have imagined the place where all the rakshasas resided and ate up any humans who came there, disturbed the yagya and tapasya by all the Rishis.
"Shukracharya's masterpiece." Anna agreed.
"This was Shukracharya's place??"
"It was in a way one of largest herb plantations. Earth's fertile soil was the only place where the herbs grew really well and had the best species. The place was already cursed by him once due to the King's stupidity. So, Shukracharya used the place as his herb plantations. No one would come here noting how the rakshasas were employed here. Ravana later took over it. But no one except Shukracharya knew that this was his own laboratory and experiment plantation. Only he knew where the herbs were planted and where the laboratories were kept. No one even knew their existence. So, when Khara and Dushana came over to this place, they destroyed the majority of the plantations. If they hadn't today this place would have the kind of herbs that could have been wonderful in the world of medicine. The Vanaras later found some remains of the laboratories. Hanuman had found so many scrolls about the laboratories and the things Shukracharya was making. He closed them down before anyone could misuse them. It was Shukracharya's masterpiece. The pinnacle of his ability." Anna explained.
"All that was lost just like that? Didn't he feel angry at the rakshasas who destroyed the plantations?"
"Shukracharya then left for tapasya for a long time until he was met with Bhisma again."
I could imagine how much of his years of work were destroyed by the rakshasas because of their ignorance.
"Shukracharya is truly one of the greatest gems of intellectuals. No wonder Alaknanda had been able to even capture Indra with her maya. The large scale of maya she has used wouldn't have been possible to reach if it wasn't for Shukracharya. No doubt, Maharishi Vashista is a great teacher. He had trained greatest of kshatriyas to stand before others but it took Lakshmana and Rama to match Indrajeet's ability. Indrajeet had learned his tamasi and mastered it under Shukracharya's guidance. Such was his ability that Meghnada had earned the title Indrajeet. Indrajeet's ability wasn't natural but Alaknanda's ability was natural. Shukracharya has the experience in tackling those issues and not be captured in that maya himself."
Soon enough, we found a large Vimana, that almost crashed. Devraj and Adi were standing before Shukracharya.
"Adi!!" I exclaimed.
Shukracharya's eyes met Anna. The first thing he did was pull Adi behind him.
"If this his great plan then go tell him that he isn't getting to her until I'm alive." Shukracharya told Anna.
"If you have deduced my presence as to being his order then what is the use of obstructing it?" Anna asked.
"I'll present myself before him. Tell him that. So, whatever happened, he and I take it up. There is no need to touch her."
"Shukracharya, she is his daughter. You cannot keep her away from her own father. Some day she has to reach him."
"Someday, sure. Now? No."
Anna moved ahead but Shukracharya warned him with just one hand. His staff holding up in a warning.
"You and I both know that neither I nor amma wishes to harm her. Why would a father wish to harm his own child?"
"Oh, I know well about him. There is no child, no wife, no love, no sister, no brother, no brother-in-law before his dharma. He wouldn't blink twice before chopping off the head to follow his dharma. If killing her is the dharma he has decided on, then tell him to come to face me before he harms my niece."
Anna laughed. "Shukracharya, your niece is his daughter. What is dharma in killing your own child? My mother doesn't ever kill anyone until it is the last resort. Even before the final war, he gives the other person a chance to surrender. You don't think he will offer her the same?"
Anna dropped all the weapons he carried and went ahead empty-handed. "Trust me. No one is going to kill her there. Why would Shesha agree to something like that? The same Shesha almost caused a storm because Swarga refused to help Alaknanda. That Shesha will agree to let Alaknanda be killed just like that?"
After a moment, Shukracharya took a deep breath and moved away. I ran up towards her and stopped right before her.
"Psss... Sona..." The childish voice interrupted my sleep. I turned around to find a seven-year-old, blanket over her from head to toe and more trailing behind her, peaking through the door. The mickey mouse blanket wrapped around her.
"Adi, what are you doing here this late at night?" I asked her, half sleepy.
"There are monsters under my bed and I'm kind of scared."
"There are no monsters under your bed, Adi. You're just imagining stuff. You're just thinking too much about the basilisk from Harry Potter Movie. That is just a story. It isn't real."
"But I'm kind of scared..." She said. "And I know that they won't ever get to me when you're there. I'll be safe with you."
"Okay, come." I moved slightly to make some space for her. She quickly came up to my bed and curled up next to me. I put my arm around her. She held on to my shirt.
"You're a silly child. All the morning you try to save me from people and at night you're curling up and hiding behind me from imaginary monsters that don't exist."
"People aren't scary. I can deal with people. But I'm kind of scared of monsters and I know that you're the bravest person. You're the one who loves me more than the moon. So, I know you will always save me from the monsters."
I looked at my sister fall asleep like she hadn't ever seen that large basilisk and the elf.
I remember a seven-year-old, scared of sleeping alone after watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. She couldn't sleep alone for two weeks and slept curling up next to me. I had to hold her to help her sleep. Dobby was a nice guy but his appearance scared the seven-year-old Adya.
I looked at the girl before me. The girl who had always believed in me to always save her from monsters was stuck with them for more than eleven months. For 11 months, I believed her to be dead.
"Adi..."
She quickly wrapped her arms around me. She shook slightly and held on tightly to my shirt. I held on to her so she wouldn't fall down from how exhausted she was. She was exhausted with all she had gone through.
"It is alright, dumbo. I'm right here. No one will hurt you anymore." I kissed her head. I rubbed her shoulder. "You've been brave. So much braver than me."
She held on to me really tight.
"Aww..." Kama quickly engulfed us in a hug.
"Madana..." Anna pulled him away.
"What? I also want hugs."
"They're having a moment..." Anna pinched the bridge of his nose. That made Adi break into laughter.
"Anna." She smiled at him. He just put his hand on her head and gave her a loving smile.
"I'm glad to see that you are safe and sound, aniyathi." He told her.
"Adi, this is Kama. Kama, this is Adi." I introduced the siblings.
"I am extremely happy to meet you but why are you in wedding attire?" Kama asked.
"Oh, she just wanted to try and see how she looks in a bridal attire..." Shukracharya commented with such sarcasm that everyone started laughing.
"Wait... you were the one getting married? Then why was Nandini talking about you and her?"
"Well, Devi Diti thought that it would be a smarter idea to marry me off to Nandini because she's the only one I would end up killing. She used him as a scrapegoat to have me follow her order." She pointed to a little boy.
"Why are you holding a cat?" Angad asked Devraj. That was the first time I noticed the little boy and Devraj standing with a cat. The cat was a black cat, slender like an Oriental shorthair cat but large as a Savannah cat.
"Well, because it is such a fashion statement to have a black cat." The cat spoke. I jumped back a bit. Adi laughed.
"This is Salem."
"I already told you. I am not Salem. My name is Vichitra." The cat complained.
"How cute!!!" Kama tried to touch the cat and it scratched him. "Oww... bad kitty."
"Oh, yeah? Wanna blame that on your daddy dearest?" The cat complained.
"To be honest, that is your own fault that you were stupid enough to think you can simply take over Vaikuntha when he has gone to battle," Adi commented.
"The cat tried to take over Vaikuntha?" I asked in disbelief.
"No, he was an asura who tried to take over Vaikuntha. A rather ambitious project if you ask me but kind of went to the dogs when it happened that Maharishi Durvasa had come there hoping to visit dad." Adi explained.
"Ugh... and now I have to wait for 20 years." The cat commented.
"Yeah, sweetie, cats have 9 lives, don't they?" Adi reminded him. The cat fell from Indra's hands making everyone laugh.
"Oh, I know all this is a clever plan by the peacock head."
"He only wears the feather, man, not the head itself."
"Oh, shut up."
"I think we should then return to Gurukul," I suggested.
"Actually, we have a summon from pitashree. I have an order to bring her to Vaikuntha." Kama said.
I held Adi's hand.
"You're in deep shit. So, if you find him, simply take refugee in him." I whispered to Adi.
"Can we first make a stop by Kashi? Salem has got some important action to finish." Adi requested.
"What?" All of us asked her together, including the cat.
"Well, that man died because of you. He's hovering around the worlds as a bhuta because you brought it on him. It is your duty that you make sure he can be free from that state. He's roaming as a bhuta because no one performed his final rites. So, that is your duty to correct it. You're attached to me, so if you mess up, it becomes my responsibility to correct it. I am a girl and hence not allowed to do it. But Kaal Bhairava has agreed to lend you a human form for a while till you finish the rituals. Once they're done, you're returning to this cat form."
"I'm not doing anything like that. I'm not even related to him. As a preta, it is in my nature to host on a living being."
"Yeah, tell that to Yama when you have finished nine lives and we both are free from each other." Adi returned. She grabbed the cat by the neck when it tried to run. The way mother cat grabs her kittens.
"Unhand me, you unruly creature. This is animal abuse. I protest." The cat went on with his complaints but Adi very casually ignored it.
We made a stop by Kashi. Shukracharya, Indra, Omkara, Angad and Anna went ahead with the cat who got a human form for a while. Kaal Bhairava appeared there with a body.
Adi and I were made to stay away because women couldn't go to the burning ground.
"So, how deep is the mess?"
"Very bad. Mama is going to have to make a decision. Indra wouldn't hold anything against you because of Mami and maa. But Mama is adamant to make the judgment. That is why you have to instantly take refugee with him. It is a rule, that once someone takes a refugee with him, it becomes his duty to save them. So, Mama will have to find another way to clear this issue." I told her.
She just nodded and stared ahead into the Ganga. She walked over to the banks and took some water and poured it over herself. "You see these waters, Sona?"
"Yes. This is the pious Gangajal."
"I always knew Ganga was pure in herself. Her unadulterated love towards the souls in this mortal love made her so pious. But when I now when I see it, I don't see just Ganga. I think of the waters that have washed over from the feet of Narayana. These very waters have poured over from the jata Shiva, these very waters have touched the piousness that Shiva is. This very water that I hold in the cup of my hands had previously touched Narayana and Shiva. Could I find anything more fortunate? Every morning for 17 years of my life, I had lived in such a short proximity to him. So close to Shiva. So close to my father. Yet I was ignorant. The pollution aside, when your mind comes to a state where you realize that these waters had come from them, you will see them in such a different light. I never really knew how close I was to my father until I was pushed so far away from him. This Earth, my mother Vasundhara, had been so close to me and I never appreciated it. If I think well, I have never really been away from them. I just hadn't simply been able to see them. There was no difference between me and all the other humans here. They too are unaware of how close they are to the eternal. Only when I went so far from him, I realize how close I was."
Something had characteristically changed about Adi. My restless sister had changed. She had become someone new. She was herself but yet different. Like she had altogether grown 20 years older at once.
"Adi, you're fine, right?" I asked her.
She chuckled. "What I'm saying is that I missed Earth. It feels nice to be back home."