The Krishna Key (15 page)

‘But what does the remaining part of Varshney’s note,
Raja surrender,
mean?’ asked Radhika. ‘How is that part of the note connected with Somnath?’

‘Varshney is probably referring to the worst attack that Somnath witnessed—the one by Mahmud of Ghazni,’ said Saini.

The fact of the matter was that even though Karana had been loyal to Duryodhana, he continued to be treated terribly in the Kaurava camp on account of his supposed low birth. When Karana declared that he would ensure victory for Duryodhana, the elder Bhishma mocked him. ‘You couldn’t save Duryodhana from the Gandharvas when the four of you went after the Pandavas! It was the Pandavas that saved you from the Gandharvas! Remember also that it was Arjuna who prevented you from defeating King Virata!’ A furious Karana roared at Bhishma, ‘You have achieved nothing in life. You didn’t even have the courage to get married. I refuse to fight under you!’ Bhishma retorted that he was relieved that he would not have to tolerate Karana in his ranks. I heard about this later and consoled myself that such infighting would play to the advantage of the Pandavas.

‘Can you run a search for
Zakariya bin Muhammad bin Mahmud
on the internet for me?’ asked Saini, turning to Chhedi.

‘How does one spell the name?’ asked Chhedi, beginning to type the search request into his tablet.

Saini spelt out the name for Chhedi and, turning to Radhika, said, ‘Zakariya was a Persian traveller and wrote a book titled
Asaru-l Bilad wa Akhbaru-l’ Ibad,
in the thirteenth century,’ said Saini. ‘Translated, the title means
Monuments of Countries and Memoirs of Men.
He has provided a vivid description of the Somnath temple and the destruction of it by Ghazni.’

‘Ah! Here it is,’ said Chhedi, searching the relevant extract on his tablet. ‘Zakariya says that
Somnath is the celebrated city of India, situated on the shore of the sea, and washed by its waves. Among the wonders of that place was the temple in which was placed the idol called Somnat. This idol was in the middle of the temple without anything to support it from below, or to suspend it from above. It was held in the highest honour among the Hindus, and whoever beheld it floating in the air was struck with amazement, whether he was a Musulman or an infidel. The Hindus used to go on pilgrimage to it whenever there was an eclipse of the moon, and would then assemble there to the number of more than a hundred thousand.’

‘Continue reading the extract,’ said Saini. ‘He will go on to describe how rich Somnath was.’

Chhedi continued. ‘Zakariya says that
everything of the most precious was brought there as offerings, and the temple was endowed with more than ten thousand villages. There is a river
—
the Ganges, which is held sacred between which and Somnat the distance is two hundred parasangs.
They used to bring the water of this river to Somnat every day, and wash the temple with it. A thousand Brahmins were employed in worshipping the idol and attending on the visitors, and five hundred damsels sung and danced at the door. All these were maintained upon the endowments of the temple. The edifice was built upon fifty-six pillars of teak, covered with lead. The shrine of the idol was dark but was lighted by jewelled chandeliers of great value. Near it was a chain of gold bells weighing two hundred maans. When a portion of the night watch closed, this chain used to be shaken to rouse a fresh lot of Brahmins to perform worship.’

Saini nodded. ‘Just imagine—ten thousand villages, one thousand Brahmins, five hundred dancing girls, massive bells and chains of solid gold… incredible,,’ replied Sir Khan6D sai’ he muttered. ‘If you go further into the extract, you will read Zakariya’s description of the attack by Ghazni—referred to as
Yamin-ud Daula Mahmud.’

Chhedi continued reading from where he had left off. ‘
When the Sultan Yamin-ud Daula Mahmud went to wage religious war against India, he made great efforts to capture and destroy Somnat, in the hope that the Hindus would then become Muhammadans. He arrived there in the middle of December in the year 1025. The king looked upon the idol with wonder, and gave orders for the seizing of the spoil, and the appropriation of the treasures. There were many idols of gold and silver and vessels set with jewels, all of which had been sent there by the greatest personages in India. The value of the things found in the temples of the idols exceeded twenty thousand dinars. When the king asked his companions what they had to say about the marvel of the idol, and of its staying in the air without pedestal or support, several maintained that it was upheld by some hidden support. The king directed a person to go and feel all
around and above and below it with a spear, which he did, but met with no obstacle. One of the attendants then stated his opinion that the canopy was made of lodestone, and the idol of iron, and that the ingenious builder had skilfully contrived that the magnet should not exercise a greater force on any one side
—
hence, the idol was suspended in the middle. Some coincided, others differed. Permission was obtained from the Sultan to remove some stones from the top of the canopy to settle the point. When two stones were removed from the summit, the idol swerved to one side, when more were taken away, it inclined still further, until at last it rested on the ground.’

Chhedi reached the end of the extract. Saini declared, ‘Ghazni went down in history as the most hated looter to reach Somnath. He was fanatical about destroying the Shiv lingam. Mahmud personally took on the task of smashing the temple’s lingam to smithereens. The stone fragments from the lingam were transported back by him to Ghazni. These fragments were scattered upon the steps leading to the city’s Jamiah Masjid—a new mosque that was under construction. The idea was to ensure that the feet of worshippers at the mosque would tread all over the lingam’s fragments as they entered the mosque. The defenders of the Somnath temple had been several Rajput clans—including one led by the ninety-year-old Raja Brahmadeva. But they were unsuccessful in repelling Ghazni’s attack. Eventually, fifty thousand people lost their lives and Raja Brahmadeva had to concede defeat. Many of the Hindus fighting at Somnath escaped by boat in the middle of the night and, soon, the temple was left defenceless. Hence, Varshney’s clue—
Raja surrender
—the king gives up.’

‘Er, I hate to spoil the party but that sentence could just as well pertain to Mount Kailash,’ said Chhedi.

With the declaration of war, kings from all over the land, along with their armies, horses, chariots and elephants, began to arrive at one of the two camps
—
the Kauravas’ or the Pandavas’. Some of them found themselves unwittingly sucked into the wrong side. The king of Madra
—
Shalya
—
was related to the Pandavas, and arrived with every intention of fighting alongside them. On the way to Kurukshetra he was happy to find that arrangements for feeding his men and animals had been made by the Pandavas. It was only later that he realised that his hosts had been the ,’ replied Sir Khanpossible on the KaliyugaKauravas. Having enjoyed their hospitality, he could not fight for their enemies. He came running to me and told me of the predicament he found himself in. ‘Be at peace with yourself,’ I said. ‘At some point of time they will ask you to drive Karana’s chariot. Whenever that happens, please remember to praise Arjuna repeatedly. You will be helping us by making Karana insecure.’

‘How could this clue have any bearing on Mount Kailash?’ asked Saini.

‘We know that Mount Kailash is located in modern-day Tibet. When the Chinese forces occupied Tibet,
the ruler of Tibet—the Dalai Lama—was forced to flee to India, where he established a Tibetan government-in-exile. Thus, the sentence,
Raja surrender,
could very well be alluding to Mount Kailash.’

Saini nodded, finding new respect for Chhedi’s reasoning.
Who would have ever thought that the schoolboy Dumpy would one day grow up to be a life sciences researcher, one who could also decipher mythological riddles,
thought Saini, smiling inwardly.

‘Let’s consider the next sentence of Varshney—
Six are tips in a star,’
suddenly interjected Rathore, finally warming to the exercise.

‘The original doors of the Somnath temple had six-pointed stars for decoration,’ replied Saini. ‘The doors were taken away by Ghazni and they were installed in his tomb upon his death. There’s a lithograph of Ghazni’s tomb in the book
Afghaunistan,
a travelogue written by Lieutenant James Rattray. In that lithograph you can see the Somnath doors with their six-pointed stars in the carving.’

Chhedi had run a search on the internet and had located an image of the lithograph in question. ‘See the stars on the doors?’ he said, passing the tablet out to the others.

‘But what exactly is the significance of the six-pointed stars on the doors?’ asked Rathore, humbly.

‘Six-pointed stars represent the ultimate union of Shiv and Shakti,’ explained Saini. ‘The upright triangle represents the erect phallus and the inverted triangle represents the female genitalia—or
yoni.
The intersection of the two triangles represents fertility—the union of male and female. This sacred symbol was later carried by Vedic immigrants to Sumeria, where Abraham was born. The religion that Abraham founded—Judaism—would later adopt a version of this very symbol. They called it the Star of David.’