The Secret of the Nagas (16 page)

Shiva stood up to welcome the Emperor of India, did a formal namaste and spoke with a smile. ‘We still don’t know Your Highness. She is not due till tomorrow.’

‘Oh wonderful. I have not been late then! I was very scared that I would miss this joyous day.’

Shiva laughed out loud. It was difficult to say who was more excited — the father or the grandfather!

‘Such a delight to meet you again, Purvaka
ji
,’ said Shiva, rising from his chair and bending down to touch the blind man’s feet. The suffix
ji
was a form of respect.

Purvaka, Drapaku’s blind father, was the same Vikarma whose blessings Shiva had sought at Kotdwaar in Meluha a few years ago. Kotdwaar residents had been stunned by the Neelkanth’s public rejection of the Vikarma law. Leave alone finding the touch of a Vikarma polluting, Shiva had actually sought to be blessed by one.

Purvaka had come along in Emperor Daksha’s convoy to Kashi. He immediately stepped back, as though sensing what Shiva was about to do. ‘No, My Lord. You are the Neelkanth. How can I allow you to touch my feet?’

‘Why not, Purvakaji?’ asked Shiva

‘But My Lord, how can you touch my father’s feet?’ said Drapaku. ‘You are the Mahadev.’

‘Isn’t it my choice as to whose feet I touch?’ asked Shiva.

Turning back to Purvaka, Shiva continued, ‘You are elder to me. You cannot deny me the right to seek your blessings. So please do so quickly. My back is hurting from bending for so long.’

Purvaka laughed, placing his hand on Shiva’s head. ‘Nobody can refuse you, great one.
Ayushman bhav
.’

Shiva rose, satisfied with the
blessing for a long life
. ‘So you intend to spend your time with your son now?’

‘Yes, My Lord.’

‘But we would be going on a dangerous voyage. Are you sure?’

‘I was a warrior too once, My Lord. I still have the strength. I can kill any Naga who stands in front of me!’

Shiva smiled, turning towards Drapaku, his eyebrows raised. Drapaku smiled back, signalling with his hand that he would protect his father.

‘My boy, don’t think I cannot sense what you are saying,’ said Purvaka. ‘I may be blind, but you learnt to wield the sword holding my hands. I will protect myself. And, you as well.’

Both Shiva and Drapaku burst out laughing. Shiva was delighted to see that the diffident Purvaka he had met at Kotdwaar, a man who had suppressed his natural valour in a defeatist manner against the assaults of fate, was rediscovering his old fire.

‘Forget about your son,’ said Shiva, ‘I would be delighted to have you as
my
bodyguard!’

‘I am scared, Shiva.’

Sati was sitting on her bed in their chamber. Shiva had just entered the room with a plateful of food. Much to the horror of the royal cook, the Neelkanth had insisted on cooking for his wife himself.

Pretending to be hurt, Shiva said, ‘My cooking isn’t that bad!’

Sati burst out laughing. ‘That’s not what I meant!’

Shiva came closer and smiled. Setting the plate aside on the table, he caressed her face. ‘I know. I have insisted on Ayurvati overseeing the delivery. She is the best doctor in the world. Nothing will go wrong.’

‘But what if this child too is stillborn? What if my past life’s sins affect our poor child?’

‘There are no past life sins, Sati! There is only this life. That is the only reality. Everything else is a theory. Believe the theory that gives you peace and reject the one that causes you pain. Why believe in a theory if it causes you unhappiness? You have done all you can to take care of your child and yourself. Now have faith.’

Sati kept quiet, her eyes still mirroring the foreboding she felt inside.

Shiva ran his hand along Sati’s face again. ‘My darling, trust me. Your worrying is not going to help. Just think positive and happy thoughts. That is the best you can do for our child. And leave the rest to fate. In any case, fate has ensured that you will lose your bet tomorrow.’

‘What bet?’

‘You can’t wriggle out of it now!’ said Shiva.

‘Seriously, what bet?’

‘That we will have a daughter.’

‘I had forgotten about that,’ smiled Sati. ‘But I have a strong feeling it will be a son.’

‘Nah!’ laughed Shiva.

Sati laughed along and rested her face against Shiva’s hand.

Shiva broke a piece of the roti, wrapped some vegetables in it and held out the morsel for Sati. ‘Is the salt all right?’

‘Are there really past life sins?’ asked Shiva.

The Neelkanth was in the Kashi Vishwanath temple. Seated in front of him was a Vasudev pandit. The setting sun shone through the spaces between the temple pillars. The red sandstone shone even brighter, creating an awe-inspiring atmosphere.

‘What do you think?’ asked the Vasudev.

‘I don’t believe anything till I’ve seen the proof. For anything without proof, I think we should believe the theory that gives us peace. It doesn’t matter whether the theory is true or not.’

‘That is a good strategy for a happy life, no doubt.’

Shiva waited for the pandit to say more. When he didn’t, Shiva spoke again. ‘You still haven’t answered my question. Are there really past life sins that we suffer for in this life?’

‘I didn’t answer the question because I don’t have the answer. But if people believe that sins of the past life can impact this life, won’t they at least try to lead a better life this time around?’

Shiva smiled.
Are these people just talented wordsmiths or great philosophers?

The Pandit smiled back.
Once again, I don’t have the answer!

Shiva burst out laughing. He had forgotten the Pandit could receive his thoughts and that he could, in turn, do the same with the Pandit’s.

‘How does this work? How is it that I can hear your thoughts?’

‘It’s a very simple science really. The science of radio waves.’

‘This is not a theory?’

The Pandit smiled. ‘This is certainly not a theory. This is a fact. Just like light, which helps you see, there are radio waves to help you hear. While all humans can easily use the properties of light to see, most don’t know how to use radio waves to hear. We are dependent on sound waves to hear. Sound waves travel much slower through the air and for much shorter distances. Radio waves travel far and fast, just like light.’

Shiva remembered his uncle, who he always thought could hear his thoughts. In his youth, he had thought it was magic. Now he knew better, that there was a science behind it. ‘That’s interesting. Then why can’t you create a machine to convert radio waves into sound waves?’

‘Aah! That is a tough one. We haven’t succeeded in that as yet. But we have succeeded in training our brains to pick up radio waves. It takes years of practice to do it. That’s why we were shocked that you could do it without any training.’

‘I got lucky, I guess.’

‘There is no luck, great one. You were born special.’

Shiva frowned. ‘I don’t think so. In any case, how is it supposed to work? How do you pick up radio waves? Why can’t I hear everyone’s thoughts?’

‘It takes effort to be able to even transmit your thoughts clearly as radio waves. Many people do it unconsciously, even without training. But picking up radio waves and hearing other people’s thoughts? That is completely different. It is not easy. We have to stay within the range of powerful transmitters.’

‘The temples?’

‘You are exceptionally intelligent, O Neelkanth!’ smiled the Pandit. ‘Yes, the temples work as our transmitters. Therefore the temples we use have to have a height of at least fifty metres. This helps in catching radio waves from other Vasudevs and in turn transmitting my thoughts to them as well.’

You mean other Vasudevs are hearing us all the time, Panditji?

Yes. Whoever chooses to hear our conversation. And very few Vasudevs would choose not to hear the saviour of our times, great Neelkanth.

Shiva frowned. If what the Pandit was saying was true, then he could speak to any Vasudev Pandit at any of their temples across India right now.
Then tell me this O Vasudev of the Magadh temple, what did you mean by saying that people are attached to evil?

Shiva heard a loud laugh. It appeared to be coming from a distance. The Vasudev Pandit of the Narsimha temple at Magadh.
You are too smart, Lord Neelkanth.

Shiva smiled.
I would prefer answers to flattery, great Vasudev.

Silence.

Then Shiva heard the voice from Magadh clearly.
I really liked your speech at the Dharmakhet war. Har Har Mahadev. All of us are Mahadevs. There is a god in every single one of us. What a beautiful thought.

What does that have to do with my question? I asked why people should be attached to evil.

It does. It very profoundly does. There is a god in every single one of us. What is the obvious corollary?

That it is the responsibility of every single one of us to discover the god within.

No, my friend. That is the moral. I asked what the corollary was.

I don’t understand, Panditji.

Everything needs balance, Neelkanth. The masculine needs the feminine. The energy requires the mass. So think! Har Har Mahadev. What is the corollary? What balances this statement?

Shiva frowned. A thought occurred to him. He didn’t like it.

The Vasudev of Ayodhya urged Shiva.
Don’t stop your thoughts, my friend. Free flow is the only way to discover the truth.

Shiva grimaced.
But this cannot be true.

Truth doesn’t have to be liked. It only has to be spoken. Speak it out. The truth may hurt you, but it will set you free.

But I can’t believe this.

The truth doesn’t ask for belief. It just exists. Let me hear what you think. There is a god in every single one of us. What is the obvious corollary?