The Mahabharata Secret (12 page)

‘You got it,’ Vijay grinned. ‘Finally the years of knowing me have rubbed off on you. You’re getting smart, my friend.’

‘So I guess you also know which nine edicts the verse refers to, O Wise One?’ Colin retorted.

Vijay held up a sheaf of papers from the desk. ‘That’s what I’ve been working on, while you were sleeping.’ He sorted the papers. ‘There are several locations where the edicts were found; some on rocks, some on pillars. I’ve been researching the net and have downloaded some information on the edicts and analysed it.’

He put the papers on the table. ‘I’ve summarised information about each site where the edicts were found. I wasn’t sure how exactly we were to associate the locations with the lines in the verse, so I’ve tried to cover everything—location, script, variations. Not all locations had all the edicts. Some had only the major edicts and others only the minor ones. There were 14 major rock edicts and three minor ones. I’ve listed them all. There were also seven major pillar edicts and two minor ones. But there were also variations between different locations. For example, the one in Dhauli omits any reference to the Kalinga war. Scholars believe this was probably because Dhauli was in Kalinga and Asoka didn’t want to offend his conquered subjects.’

Colin’s forehead furrowed. ‘So we have to go through this list and try and match the clues in the verse to the locations?

‘It’s not that tough. I even managed to get us off to a start by deciphering the ninth line of the verse.
The ninth speaks in two tongues
.’ Vijay quoted from the verse. ‘I thought it must be the one at Kandahar, where there was a bilingual edict in Aramaic and Greek. Two tongues.’

The others nodded, seeing the logic in his deduction.

‘Maybe it won’t be that difficult to find the others,’ Radha said slowly, ‘We may not have to study all locations in detail in order to find the ones that match the verse. I think the first line of the verse—
the Nine have gone forth to the edges of the Empire
—provides us with a direction. If the verse had referred to the Nine themselves we could have interpreted this, quite literally, as the members of the brotherhood travelling to the borders of the Empire. But since we now think the verse refers to locations, we should be looking for nine sites on the borders of Asoka’s empire.’

‘Great thought.’ Vijay walked back to the desk and started typing on the laptop. ‘Let me find a good map that depicts the full extent of Asoka’s empire.’

Colin was studying the list of locations while Vijay searched for the map. Suddenly he looked up.

‘I think I’ve found another one. The third location is Maski. The verse says,
The third speaks the name of the Emperor
. Maski is the only edict to mention Asoka by name.’

Shukla nodded approvingly. ‘Good work.’

Colin beamed and went back to the list of locations.

The printer hummed. Vijay plucked the sheet and carried it back to the group.

‘Here’s a good map. It shows the location of his edicts. Asoka’s empire covered most of present-day India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Kandahar is in Afghanistan, the western extremity of Asoka’s empire. Maski, while not on the edge of the empire, is close to the southern border. It could be a likely candidate.’

Colin scowled at him with mock indignation. ‘I find something and you try and dig a hole under it. Can’t you just accept and get used to my intellectual superiority?’

‘Okay, Mr. Wow,’ Vijay retorted. ‘Let’s see your superior intellect come up with a few more locations.’

Despite their light-hearted banter, there was excitement in the air. The group pored over the papers, occasionally glancing at the map, trying to find the links between the sites marked on the map and the clues in the verse.

Radha found the next one. ‘The first one is Girnar. The edict that looks different from the others, as the inscriptions are all separately engraved and separated by horizontal lines.
The first, in appearance, is different from the rest
.’

‘I’ve got two,’ Shukla announced after a while. ‘The seventh one is Sarnath. And the fifth is Shahbazgarhi.’

‘I don’t get the connection,’ Colin confessed. Vijay shrugged in agreement.

‘
The seventh pays homage to the Wheel of Truth
,’ Shukla quoted. ‘The Buddha gave his first sermon at the Deer Park in Sarnath; he preached the concept of the Wheel of Dharma or the Wheel of Truth, also known as the Wheel of Law, to his five disciples. He glanced at the paper he held. ‘According to this, the seventh edict stands at Sarnath, carved into a highly polished sandstone pillar.’

Colin and Vijay nodded, impressed by Shukla’s knowledge.

‘The edicts at Shahbazgarhi,’ Shukla continued, ‘are inscribed on two rocks, one on the slope of the hill and the other in the valley. Shahbazgarhi is in present-day Pakistan. The verse says...
The fifth writes with a hand that is different from the rest
...this particular edict is the only one that is written in the Kharosthi script which is read from right to left. Earlier, this script was known as Indo-Bactrian and Ariano-Pali and is derived from Aramaic. All the other edicts are written in the Brahmi script. So, the hand that is different from the rest is the script.’

He saw the expression on Colin’s and Vijay’s faces and smiled, shrugging self-deprecatingly. ‘You shouldn’t be surprised. I studied ancient Indian languages.’

‘I’ve got another one, I think,’ Colin spoke up after a while. ‘The eighth line says...
The eighth does not have all that the others do but is special for he also has that which the others do not...’
He looked up, beaming, delighted. ‘It’s the one at...,’ he peered at the sheet of paper, ‘Dhauli, is that how you pronounce it?’

Vijay nodded, but looked like he didn’t understand. Colin couldn’t resist a barb. ‘Okay, I’ll explain. Make way for my grey cells, my friend.’

Radha smiled. The good-humoured exchange between the two friends and the insults that they traded frequently only revealed the depth of the friendship. ‘The carving at Dhauli,’ Colin resumed, ‘doesn’t contain edicts 11 to 13, so doesn’t have all that the others do; but it also has two other edicts that the others do not have.’

‘Lucky guess,’ Vijay muttered. ‘And now he’ll go on about it for the next 10 years.’

‘I think I know what the second one is,’ Shukla offered. ‘I should have got it much sooner, since I’ve read about it before. The second one is supposed to gaze over the sea, waiting for a ship to come in.’

‘It’s a port,’ Colin interjected.

‘Yes,’ Shukla smiled at his excitement. ‘In Ptolemy’s time there was an ancient sea port called Soupara, which was a commercial centre. Its ancient name was Supparaka. Today, according to this map and your research, it is known as Sopara.’

Vijay beamed with delight. ‘We’ve got seven now. Just two more to go.’

‘I’ve got another one,’ Colin grinned. ‘The sixth one...
The sixth is greater by one than the other upright ones
...the upright ones are the pillar edicts. All the pillars have six edicts, except one. Topra has seven edicts. It is greater by one than the other pillar edicts.’

Vijay looked at him. ‘Seems logical.’

‘Grey cells again,’ Colin beamed. ‘I’m awesome. What would you do without me? What...’

‘There’s one left,’ Vijay interrupted him, smiling. ‘
The fourth is seventeen
...what could that refer to?’

Radha frowned. Something in the printed notes had struck her but she couldn’t quite put her finger on it. Silence descended on the group. What could this line of the verse mean? It certainly couldn’t refer to the age of the edict.

Suddenly, Radha looked around, flushed with excitement.

‘Yerragudi.’

Questioning looks were directed at her.

‘Yerragudi is a small town in Andhra Pradesh,’ she explained. ‘There doesn’t seem to be much significance attached to it since there isn’t too much in the notes but it has both the major and minor rock edicts.’

Blank faces gazed at her.

‘Don’t you get it? There were 14 major rock edicts and three minor ones; 17 in all. Yerragudi had all 17.’

Vijay shook his head. ‘Unbelievable. The locations of all the edicts were cleverly disguised.’ He turned to his notes. ‘So the locations, in the order they are mentioned in the verse, are: Girnar, Sopara, Maski, Yerragudi, Shahbazgarhi, Topra, Sarnath, Dhauli and Kandahar.’

‘What are we supposed to do with them?’ Radha wondered. ‘This still doesn’t lead us anywhere.’

‘In all the books I’ve read,’ Colin said thoughtfully, ‘when people decipher clues like these, they normally visit each location and find additional clues. Perhaps if we visit all nine locations we will find nine more clues that will lead us to something else and so on, until we find the secret of the Nine?’

‘You read a lot of rubbish,’ Vijay grinned at him, then his face grew serious. ‘But you may be right.’

‘Me and my big mouth,’ Colin groaned. ‘Now we’ll go traipsing round the countryside looking for clues under every rock we find. Look, I’d love to see more of India but if we have to go to the edges of Asoka’s empire, that’s not quite my idea of a tour itinerary. And Kandahar is in Afghanistan. Wild horses wouldn’t drag me there. Haven’t you guys heard? The Taliban shoot Americans on sight. Sorry guys, but I don’t want to end up as target practice for some trigger happy militants.’

Shukla shook his head. ‘I don’t think so. It’s very unlikely that there are clues at every location. The Nine went to great lengths to conceal the location of their secret. They would have ensured that the trail of clues was indestructible, like this metal disk. Any clues left on rocks or pillars in the locations where the edicts are located may have been erased by the ravages of time. Somehow, it doesn’t seem like the Nine would have made such an effort and then leave clues that could be obliterated by time and the elements.’

‘What then?’ Vijay frowned at the map of Asoka’s empire. He had marked out, with red ink, the nine locations identified in the verse.

‘It’s strange, isn’t it?’ Radha remarked. ‘Girnar, Sopara, Maski and Yerragudi are in a straight line. And Shahbazgarhi, Topra, Sarnath and Dhauli form another straight line that is almost parallel to the first line of edicts.’

Vijay stared at the map. Why hadn’t he seen it before?

A broad smile creased his face. ‘You’re right, Radha. All we have to do is follow the edicts of Ashoka. That’s what uncle said in his mail. Look at this.’

Vijay took a ruler and red pen and connected Girnar to Sopara, then extended the line to connect Maski and Yerragudi. As Radha had observed, all four locations were in a straight line. He then placed the ruler along the dots that represented Shahbazgarhi, Topra, Sarnath and Dhauli and drew a second line connecting these four locations. This line was parallel to the first.

‘Let’s follow the edicts of Asoka in the order they are mentioned in the verse on the disk,’ he grinned at them, enjoying himself, now that the puzzle was clear to him. ‘We go from Girnar to Sopara, then to Maski and Yerragudi. Next, the trail goes from Yerragudi to Shahbazgarhi in the north.’ He connected Yerragudi and Shahbazgarhi with another straight line. ‘From Shahbazgarhi, we follow the line through Topra, Sarnath and on to Dhauli. Now, look at this. The last stop is Kandahar.’

He took the ruler and once more drew a straight line, this time between Dhauli and Kandahar. Then, he sat back and watched as the others took in the pattern that had emerged on the map.

The line connecting Yerragudi to Shahbazgarhi and the second line from Dhauli to Kandahar intersected. At the point of their intersection lay another site with Asoka’s edicts.

Bairat.

‘Together they guard the way to the truth that is protected by the Nine!’ Vijay declared with a flourish.

‘This is incredible.’ Colin shook his head. ‘When you put it this way, it jumps out at you.’

Vijay grinned wickedly at him. ‘I thought you were the brains between the two of us?’

‘Yes, but you couldn’t have done it without the help of your uncle’s email,’ Colin retorted immediately.

Vijay simply grinned back at him, delighted with what they had achieved.