Shiv was so happy with Nandi at Kailash. He sank into meditation day and night, and ultimately arrived at the apex of the Absolute Consciousness. Out of sheer bliss Shiv suddenly started beating his Damru. Nandi, who was sitting beside Shiv as a true acolyte all along without having any food or water, got alarmed over the resonating beats of damru, and looked curiously to Shiv, raising his ears, as if asking, “What happened?” Shiv, who was an expert in communicating with animals since childhood, smiled mysteriously to Nandi, acknowledging that being his closest friend Nandi deserved to be privy to the enlightenment he had just acquired. Shiv whispered the great knowledge in Nandi’s raised right ear. Blessed with the great knowledge, Nandi sprang up dancing, rejoicing and expressing gratitude to his benefactor. Shiv played damru in a rapture and Nandi was dancing under spell – both ecstatically.
Soon after the enlightenment, Shiv along with Nandi climbed down to the plateau of plantation, which he had named Anand Kanan, the garden of bliss. There he had grown Som plant, Rudraksha and some other trees, besides grass fodder for Nandi. There they had food to their fill and drank Somras from the brewery. They stayed there for some time discussing issues at the villages below. When Nandi recounted how Bilotu pushed the old Dhenu from the cliff to kill her feigning it an accident, Shiv’s rage again surged. It could subside only after Shiv danced Tandav for hours together in great excitement and agitation. The ground under Shiv’s feet trembled like a thin paper and sky above appeared whirling with furious movements of his wildly waving hands. Nandi remained a silent onlooker, lost in prayers.
3.11
A strange person of gaunt looks reached Lohtsa, playing a Veena and singing slowly something like Narain, Narain. He demanded to see Shiv, telling that he was his friend Narad. None of the villagers was aware of any person named Shiv belonging to that village, while Narad was desperate to deliver a message brought from Panini, the Kulpati of Vishwayatan, to Shiv. The more Narad insisted that Shiv had told him to be belonging to village Lohtsa in Deul valley, the more the villagers denied of knowing any such person.
Luckily, Gannu, who was away on a business trip with his father, returned at the nick of time to the village and came to know about Narad’s desperate search for Shiv. Amidst peals of laughter he admitted that he knew that person, and to the astonishment to the villagers he revealed that Cheu was Shiv. However, relief for Narad did not last for long as there was a problem as to how to contact Shiv who was in self-exile at the forbidden peak. Gannu also did not know solution to this problem as he could not dare to think to access the abode of spirits. Narad was very angry over the villagers and decided to go himself alone up to the peak to meet Shiv as he had to comply with the order of the Gurudev by conveying the message to Shiv.
Narad started clambering up the Mount Meru, engrossed in the thoughts of meeting Shiv, forgetting playing his one-stringed instrument, and even breaking his obsessive recitation of “Narain – Narain”, and instead repeating “Shiv – Shiv”. Intermittently, he would squeal Shiv Shiv like a desperate child.
Shiv was chit-chatting with Nandi at Anand Kanan, when he heard someone calling him entreatingly. After sometime the call became shriller and clearer, enabling him to realize that the voice appeared to be familiar. In a few moments he recognised that the call was from his friend Narad who was coming up calling him. Immediately, Shiv rushed down followed by Nandi, to receive Narad.
Their meeting was so surcharged with emotions that it defied all descriptions. Who could describe the meeting of two bosom friends, togetherness of two alumni, and above all the divine union of Bhakta and Bhagwan? Only those having accumulated virtues through births after births or one who had desire deep at the core of one’s being could appreciate the secret of this union.
The two friends, along with Nandi, came down immediately to Lohtsa, called Gannu, and sent a word for Bhero to Thongsa to immediately move with them on an important mission, on the call of Maharshi Panini.
Chapter four
Sati
4.1
King Daksha Prajapati ruled Jambudweep, the continent of blackberry, from the capital Mayawati, situated at the foot of the Himalayas where the River Ganga entered the vast plains lying ahead. From his Queen Veerini, he had fathered three daughters – Aditi, Diti, and Sati. The eldest, Aditi and the middle, Diti were married to Maharshi Kashyap. The youngest, Sati was yet unmarried, though had come of age for wedlock.
Kashyap was a Maharshi, the great seer, famous for his scholarship, sedulity and vigour. He had envisioned and composed many hymns of the Rig Veda, but he was more famed, particularly among his kin, for procuring the land of Kashmeer. It was said that during his wanderings in his youth Kashyap had once happened to arrive at a vast reservoir of water surrounded by mighty mountains in the Himalayas. Smitten by the beauty and serenity of the region, Kashyap wished to turn the vast lake into a land, fit for an idyllic settlement. The energetic and indefatigable Kashyap launched into working on an ambitious but arduous task to make a big hole at the foot of the southern mountain at Varahmula. When the water drained out through the tunnel dug out in the southern mountain, a beautiful flat land emerged, which later came to be known as the Valley of Kashmir. Kashyap brought his kin and other Brahmins from the plains and settled them in the Valley. He opened a school of Vedic learning, which attracted scholars and students from across the world.
Princess Aditi, the eldest daughter of King Daksha Prajapati, was a noble and kind-hearted young lady. She fell in love with the young and handsome Kashyap, when he once visited her father at Mayavati. She was mad in love with the Brahmin youth, who seduced her by telling the stories of his venture of bringing about Kashmeer. King Daksha Prajapati had to yield to Aditi’s insistence, and she was reluctantly married off to the poor Brahmin youth. But Aditi was very happy to avail herself of Kashyap’s love, enjoying conjugation with him in the Valley. In due course, she was blessed with seven sons known as Adityas, the progeny of Aditi. They were called Devas, the illuminated ones, and were named Varun, Mitra, Aryaman, Bhag, Ansh, Dhatri, and Indra. As was their mother’s wont, they all followed rit, the law of righteousness. They were virtuous and upright, brave and courageous, and protector of the weak and righteous.
His lust not satiated with mere Aditi, Kashyap set his eyes on Diti, who was sultrier and sly. Her voluptuousness had a huge crush on Kashyap. Envious of romantic escapades – mostly fantasized - of her elder sister, Diti was all willing to taste and own Kashyap. This enabled Kashyap to easily seduce Diti, who was eventually married off to him by sulking parents.
Diti and Kashyap would indulge in orgies of wild lovemaking, without bothering for Aditi. In due course, they produced three sons, named Hiranyaksha, Hiranyakashipu, and Virochan, and two daughters, named Holika and Kaikesi. They all were known as Daityas, the progeny of Diti. Contrary to Devas, Daityas were yielded to maya, the power of illusion and delusion. They were cruel and quarrelsome, bearing all wickedness of their mother. They all were giants - the males wielding deadly weapons of mass destruction, and females wearing jewellery the size of boulders. The diabolic mother always approved of the devilish activities of her offspring, and even encouraged them to indulge in evils. With villainous jealousy against Aditi and her Deva sons, she would provoke Daityas against their half-brother Devas, and encourage them to rob the Devas of their riches and women.
Unfazed by frequent fights between his sons, Kashyap continued to keep his lust for women thriving. This time, he was targeting to seduce his youngest sister-in-law, Sati. Sati was the most beautiful among her sisters. Once when she visited her sisters in Kashmir Valley, Kashyap was after her, stalking and wooing, telling dirty jokes and making immodest proposals. In craziness to win her over he even named a beautiful lake in the Valley Sati Sarovar, after her name. But, it was all in vain as Sati showed no interest in the old, amorous and stale person. He even attempted to shamelessly seek her hands from his parents-in-law, but was denied.
4.2
Sati being the
youngest was pampered a lot by her parents. Not happy with the marriage of their two elder daughters with a mere Maharshi, the parents aimed to seek a Param Purush, the perfect man, for Sati. But it was not an easy task as they faced many tough questions: who is a Param Purush; how to identify him, and where to find him? Daksh and Veerini had arguments between themselves, but could not arrive at unanimity. Discussions were held with ministers and courtiers also, but consensus on the vexed issue still eluded. Ultimately, Daksh approached the Saptarishis, the seven rishis, with his problem, and appealed them to conference and find a solution. The Saptarshi Mandal, the club of the seven rishis, held umpteen rounds of deliberations, examining the concept of Param Purush and ascertaining the ideals essential for him. Their debates led them to nowhere, but to a recommendation that a competition be held to find out that person.
The king had no option but to accede to the recommendation. A committee was constituted to suggest the course of the competition to select the perfect man. This committee charted a set of tests in five categories: javelin throw to assess the strength in the arms of the competitor, animal race with the competitor riding on its back to assess control of the person on animals, performance of dance to assess body’s suppleness and its response to expression of tender feelings, music to assess the competitor’s capability in fine arts, and oration on the topic “Supreme Virtue of the Perfect Man”.
The committee had set two essential prerequisites for the competitors: first, the competitor must hail from a royal lineage or he should be son of a chieftain, and second, he must not have been convicted by any court.
Maharshi Panini, being a great educationist and close friend of Daksha, figured on the committee. He perceived the ideal of a perfect man only keeping his most brilliant disciple Shiv in mind. Though he had firm belief that Shiv was an incarnation of God, he was apprehensive of his likely failings and limitations while playing an assumed human role. So, during the deliberations, he attempted, though unsuccessfully, to effect dilution of the two prerequisites to suit Shiv.
While wide publicity about the event was being made across Jambudweep, Aryavarta, Dakshinavarti, and Vindhyatavi up to Dandakaranya, Maharshi Panini was anxious that it might not reach the village in hard-to-access Deul Valley where Shiv lived. He was further concerned that despite the village being aware of the forthcoming event, Shiv might not be interested in such a competition. So, he assigned the task of bringing Shiv to the event, under compulsion of his order, to his most mobile disciple, Narad. And, Narad did it successfully.
4.3
Mayawati was decorated like a bride. The Raj Bhavan, the king’s palace, and the buildings in the main thoroughfares leading to it were specially washed, and decorated with flags, festoons and lamps. The venue of the competition was a vast raised platform, surrounded by newly constructed buildings to house the offices to deal with the works relating to the event, and many others to accommodate the competitors and their retinues.
Competitors had assembled in large numbers, coming from far-off places. The prominent were Sujoy from Gauddesh; Dhananjay from Angdesh; Divodas from Vairat; Ranvijay from Kaushal; Mahish from Vindhyatavi; Locha from Dandakaranya, and Karush from Utkal. They all were princes. They were getting registered at the Pratiyogita Bhavan, the competition office, before being accommodated in the buildings around the competition venue. During the registration, the credentials of competitors were checked to ensure if they fulfilled the two essential prerequisites of hailing from a royal lineage or being son of a chieftain and not convicted by a court.
Some rishikumars and acharyas had also jumped in the fray to stake their claim to the feted royal beauty. Flaunting their sacred threads slinging across their naked torsos and sandal dabs on their foreheads, they asserted that their position was far pious and virtuous than the royals’. Maharshi Kashyap, who helmed this group of hauteurs, was debarred from participating in the competition due to being in the selection committee. The rest were, however, allowed to proceed for registration.
As desired by Maharshi Panini, Shiv was taken to the Pratiyogita Bhavan for registration. When his credentials were being checked, Kenka, the young Goba and Shiv’s arch rival who was tailing him secretly from the village itself, suddenly appeared on the scene. He raised objection to the candidature of Shiv, contending that he was an orphan of an unknown parentage, and that he had been convicted by the village court of Thongsa.
The sudden appearance and interruption in the registration proceedings by Kenka baffled Gannu and Bhero. Gannu reproached Kenka for taking the village rivalry up to this level, while agitated Bhero charged at him. A big commotion ensued, which compelled the registration officials to refer the matter to the panel of judges.
A panel of judges comprising the seven great rishis, besides Daksh, Veerini, Sati and Panini was in place to hear all the matters related to the competition and award the final decision. All the judges, except for Sati, were empowered with equal weight of ten points, while Sati was privileged with an extra ten-point weight to favour a decision she liked. This provision was made on insistence by her parents who stressed the need to honour their dearest daughter’s choice.
4.4
Shiv could well remember his first encounter with Daksh at Vishwayatan, when he was a student there and Daksh had delivered a scholarly, though sententious, lecture on dharma. Daksh’s demeanour and dexterity in presenting his views was so daunting that Shiv had delved a bit deeper probing and analysing Daksh’s personality.
Daksh’s real name was Dash on account of him being the tenth Prajapati, progeny of Brahma, the Creator. He had grown a great exponent of Vedic rituals and was such a perfect performer of Vedic yagyas that he was feted as Daksh, the skilled one. This tag stuck to his personality so well that he become synonymous with his new name of Daksh, and his real name was dismissed as a humdrum.
Daksh was a priestly king supporting the cause of education and piety. When Panini had approached him with his dream project of establishing a university in his kingdom, he had munificently, despite his differences with Panini on elucidation of Vedas, granted huge donations to raise a university at Rishikesh, near his capital Mayawati. Panini had made him Kuladhipati, the Patron and Visitor of the university. In this capacity, Daksh used to visit the university and would deliver discourses on various aspects of dharma. Interestingly, he had a fad for tutelage for smugly correct stress on pronunciation and meaning of words of Vedas.
Once, Daksh delivered a discourse on the topic ‘Essence of Dharma’ in the university, to an elite assembly of acharyas and a select group of students. Shiv, his friends – scholarly Dadhichi and playful Narad - were also in the assembly.
In his discourse, Daksh was resolute in elucidation of the nature of dharma, understood as a set of ritual obligations and prerogatives to be performed properly. Shiv had a disagreement with this view of dharma, and when he got an opportunity during the question-answer session voiced his dissent, expounding that compassion was the essence of dharma. This view expressed cheekily by a feisty and peculiar lad annoyed Daksh grossly, and he peremptorily rejected Shiv’s view. The arrogance and incivility shown by Daksh in dismissing Shiv was too much for irascible Dadhichi; and he entered into a heated argument in equally disdainful manner. Narad also joined him by trivialising Daksh’s arguments and insisting that the devotion to God was the only essence of dharma. This all enraged Daksh so much that it took sustained interceding by the Kulpati and acharyas in mellowing him on the pretext of the students being ignorant and promise for suitably spanking and disciplining them.
4.5
During hearing by the panel of judges, Shiv’s side was presented by Narad, while Kenka was alone in the fray. Shiv, who was also present during the hearing, was unconcerned and indifferent to whatever was going on there, and rather appeared to have been hooked to some deep contemplation, with a remarkable nonchalance. A very attractive youth of tall and impressive physique, he appeared more charming in his meditative countenance with half-close
d eyes. His body was smeared with ash and tiger skin was girt around his loins. He was carrying, in his left hand, trishul with damru tied to its head. His unique countenance and his wielding of trishul and damru appeared weird and repulsive to some of the judges. Sati, however, felt a strong pull towards him and wished secretly that that was the man of her dreams. Daksh recognised Shiv immediately, but was silent bound by the rules and vouchsafed by Panini for a decent conduct of Shiv.
After listening to the arguments put forward in a broken and hardly comprehensible expression by Kenka, the judges proceeded to examine Shiv, who to their utter amazement, answered in refined Sanskrit. About parentage, he answered emphatically that he was son of his Ba, Lolmu who was the Goba of Lohtsa village in Deul valley. When cross-examined, Kenka admitted that Lolmu was the Goba of Lohtsa. In the meantime, Narad kept strumming his Veena. It annoyed Daksha immensely, who scolded him for being insolent on such an important occasion. Laughing aloud, Narad came up with a repartee: “Who can tell of Shiv’s parentage? Even gods cannot know about his parentage, for he is the Existence himself, assuming form and attributes only at his will. Only primordial sound can be presumed as the origin of his manifestation as Shiv. That’s why I was producing the sound - the brahm naad - to indicate his paternity.”
About his conviction, Shiv explained that he sympathised with the excommunicated woman out of compassion and not with a carnal desire. He clarified that he had rejected the decision of the village court only because the jury were blinded by a convention which he found despicable and devoid of human sensibility and compassion.
When asked for substantiation of his side by two witnesses, Kenka failed, while Narad produced Gannu and Bhero in support of Shiv. The matter was decided in favour of Shiv, allowing him to participate in the competition. Shiv was indifferent, though a bit irritated on row over his parentage and recall of despicable convention of punishing people for nebulous matters in Deul.
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