Dwandv:: The Battle for the Gate

by Dinkar Goswami

  Danta had the right kind of mother. The vanara had been expecting her six years ago, and the mountain had delivered her to him to be saved. It all added up. If this boy was indeed the paragon, Vir definitely needed to protect Danta as long as he could. Was that the reason that the boy was being hunted? Was Danta the reason he had been directed to save Gerua six years ago? He would ask Gerua directly. Sensing Vir’s desire to communicate, Gerua established a telepathic link with him.

  “Please do not speak. I have established a contained telepathic link with you so you can communicate only with me,” Vir heard Gerua say.

  “Is it true that you are looking for the gate?” inquired Vir. “Yes, and I intend to find it. Your kindness and help will not be forgotten. But I have to do it myself, alone with Danta,” she explained again politely.

  “But the gate is only a myth without description,” Vir stated his doubts.

  “Just like nirvana or siddhi?” Gerua started, but Vir interrupted her.

  “I agree. Still, finding the gate is an arduous task. You search for a myth, which has never been witnessed by anyone and never ever been written about, a myth from another world.” Vir did not desire to sound confronting. “The aghori and the edict are still hunting you. There are other dangers as well. Please remember that this is elephant country. Many other smaller non-predatory animals live here and seek the protection of the elephants. I have heard there are wolves too. Mungwa, the huge cat, hunts anything, including young elephants. Some people talk about a wolf-like creature as tall as two men with armor. Please let us accompany you for a bit till you are sure you do not need us,” Vir insisted worriedly. “I consider it my duty to protect Danta.”

  Gerua thought for a while. “The boy must remain pure no matter what happens, and you must leave or stay as I ask.” She saw that Danta had begun to sculpt a humanoid figure.

  “Agreed. We will do as you say. I thank you for giving us the honor to serve you and your son, and for allowing us to be a part of your great quest.” Vir was relieved.

  Gerua broke the telepathic link. Back in his full snake form, Vir joined the two naga that had climbed the cliff behind him, and all three basked in the sun while they waited. Gerua sat with Danta near the cliff, and her thoughts drifted briefly to the ashram as she recalled a conversation with Master Shalya.

  CHAPTER 42

  IMPLICATION

  Sometime before Gerua and Danta were due to leave the ashram, Master Shalya had spoken to Gerua. “As I have told you earlier, the cosmic gate is the only access to the miraculous city of the lord of yog. The gate, therefore, will only appear if a deserving being is to be granted admission to the city. The city is known by many names such as Eden, Shangri-la, Atlantis, Asgard, or Olympus. It is also called Dwarka. The word ‘Dwarka’ is made of two words, dwar and ka. Dwar means ‘door’ or ‘gate,’ and ka means ‘owner.’ Dwarka, therefore, means ‘the owner of the gate’,” Master Shalya had explained. “Ka could also mean ‘of,’ thereby meaning ‘belonging to someone.’ Ka has also been said to mean heaven. Therefore, Dwarka can mean ‘gateway to heaven,’ and there must be a gate to the gateway to heaven. It is also called Mokshapuri, meaning the place where you can also find moksha or nirvana.

  “It is said that floods or a tsunami had destroyed Dwarka many thousand of years ago. But can you believe that a mere sea wave destroyed the fabled city of the great Krishna, the lord of yog?” Master Shalya mused. “Dwarka is a place of wonder. The intention was merely to make Dwarka, with its many secrets and mysteries, disappear from this planet. A new dawn was occurring. Krishna knew that maya would prevail, so the drowning of the fabled city was used to relocate the palace and the city. Dwarka was since rebuilt and modified many times. It was built by the enlightened, for those possessing the gift to be divine. You realize that I use the word ‘enlightened’ and ‘divine’ separately?”

  “Is there a difference?” Gerua asked curiously. “Enlightened ones are divine?”

  Master Shalya smiled. “Let me continue. Dwarka is often also called Krishna’s Dwarka, and one could interpret it to be the gate of, or for, Krishna. Krishna has a dual meaning. Krishna can be said to be the dark one, or the all beautiful. All beautiful refers to the Supreme Being to whom all creatures are attracted as Krishna is often depicted in paintings. At the same time, Krishna can be depicted as the dark one, not only because of his color, as simple people believe, but also because he is the destroyer of evil and can absorb all evil without affecting his supreme being. So, Krishna’s Dwarka can also mean the gate to all beautiful or the gate to the dark one. This duality exists everywhere,” Master Shalya explained. “The gate to this wondrous duality could be anywhere.”

  “How will I find it if it can be anywhere? I don’t even know what it looks like,” Gerua persisted.

  “You have to ask yourself the reason why you need to find the gate? If the reason is righteous and virtuous, and if there is a need for someone truly possessing the gift to be divine to be enlightened, then the gate will show itself, but only in the presence of a celestial immortal. Danta will help. Remember the gate is the only access to Dwarka, and though it may look familiar, it is not.” Master Shalya had looked at Danta building a nearly perfect sculpture of an elephant out of clay with three heads. “He has the making of an artist. He is constantly building sculptures of things he imagines from the stories we tell him.”

  “Remember, they say the gate can also find you, just like yog. If the gate wants to find you, it will appear to you and allow your mind to create a path to find it. You must pay attention to what young Danta is doing. A pure and virtuous mind can visualize and create anything,” he said, adding mystery to impossibility.

  “As for the enlightened creatures, they are the ones with the potential to be divine. I know of certain enlightened creatures that had the potential to be divine but gave up their divinity. So, to be enlightened is not necessarily, to be divine.” He clasped his hands in front of his chest as he got up. “Namaste, I hope you understand,” he had said, leaving a mystified Gerua.

  * * *

  Gerua broke her reverie and focused on the present. The naga were basking in the sun, drawing energy. She saw that Danta was sculpting again. Gerua squinted at his work. Taking the sculpture gently from Danta, she examined the sculpture and then looked at Danta, astonished. “Who is this?” she asked.

  “It is my friend, the sage,” answered Danta. “When you saw him earlier under the banyan tree, he was disguised.” Gerua was puzzled. She looked intently at the sculpture. Could it really be? Gerua thought.

  “Are you hungry? It’s noon.” She needed to think.

  “A little,” said Danta, who was busy making another sculpture. Gerua took out the remaining fruit and gave it to Danta.

  “Thank you, Mom,” said Danta, accepting the fruit as soon as he had finished sculpturing. “Can you put this in the bag.” Danta handed over the second sculpture to Gerua. It was a sculpture of a beautiful white elephant. Gerua stared at the two sculptures in her hands frowning.

  Vir, basking in the sun, looked at Gerua, mystified. He wondered what she was thinking and why she was staring at the two sculptures she held in her hand. She had shut off her mind, and he could not read her thoughts unless she let him.

  Danta finished eating. Gerua looked at him putting the elephant sculpture in the bag, “Shall we move? We will continue directly south just as your friend told us to. The elephants have made paths in the forest, so we should be able to find the one that takes us directly south. Shall I put this in the bag too?” Gerua asked Danta, holding out the sculpture of the humanoid.

  Taking the sculpture from his mother, Danta threw it in the air. “Find me when I need you,” he muttered. Gerua watched in amazement as the sculpture vanished into thin air.

  “We can move now,” said Danta satisfied.

  Looking at a smiling Danta, she squinted her eyes and frowned. What was going on here, she wondered.

  Gathering herself, Gerua telepathic
ally asked a puzzled Vir, who was looking at the sky trying to figure out where the sculpture had gone, to follow them. The forest was full of the sounds of chirping birds, noisy insects, and shrieking tree-dwelling primates. The sounds were getting louder and louder. Worried, Gerua said, “There is too much noise, and we’re attracting too much attention. I wish we could move more quietly.” She dropped the backpack to her left side, and Danta leaped onto her back.

  After she had walked a bit, Danta whispered in her ear, “Mom, it’s the naga. I love them, but if they stay away, the forest creatures will be a little less noisy.”

  “Okay, darling. You have to get down again so that I can respectfully speak to Vir.” Danta clambered down. They turned around and waited for the naga to reach them.

  Facing the three naga, Gerua clasped her hands in namaste, as did Danta, and said, “Thank you so much for your help. We must proceed on our journey on our own now. You have been our protectors, and we wouldn’t have made it this far and so quickly without you. Now the forest will protect us.”

  “We thank you for allowing us to be of help.” Vir wanted to continue accompanying them on their journey, but he had given his word. They would have to leave them to their destiny. “The naga will always be grateful to you for helping the nagins see the truth. We will wait for you until dusk. If you need us, just send me a thought, and we will be there. Please do not hesitate to summon us. Be safe.”

  “I will, if we need you. And thank you again,” Gerua said gratefully.

  Danta once again climbed on Gerua’s back, and she activated the belt. The naga watched them disappear into the forest.

  CHAPTER 43

  PLOY

  Gerua’s mind was racing as they moved through the forest. She was thinking about the significance of the sculptures Danta had made. She knew that Danta sculpted a lot of animals. But now it seemed, they meant something.

  Why had Danta sculpted a humanoid sculpture after meeting the sage, whom Danta had claimed was actually in disguise? He had claimed the sculpture was the sage even though the sculpture had a tail and looked like a vanara. Why had he thrown it in the air saying, “Find me when I need you.” And it had vanished!?

  Was Danta trying to tell her something? Was she even remotely correct in thinking that it was a sculpture of one of the immortals...!? The very thought was so astounding that it was unbelievable.

  And what was the significance of the elephant in her bag? This was the second time she had seen him sculpt an elephant. Although it had been a three-headed elephant at the ashram, it wasn’t unlike the one she had in her bag…

  Gerua was so deeply engrossed in her thoughts that she failed to notice they were being stalked.

  Mungwa was the top predator in the forest. He was a huge cat, at least twelve feet long. Its huge jaws could crush a juvenile elephant’s skull, and he could leap over a fully-grown elephant. Mungwa’s normal eighteen hours of slumber was disturbed by the abnormally loud noise of unusual excitement in the forest. Mungwa was a dawn hunter, and apart from sleeping and hunting, he did little else. But today his curiosity was aroused, and thought it was an effort, he got up to investigate.

  He stretched lazily and yawned, baring his huge canines, the razor-sharp carnassial and bone-crushing molars. He whisked his tail to rid himself of the annoying insects and, lethargically but with the confidence of an apex predator, began moving silently in the direction of the noise. He paused and raised his nose toward the noise, grimacing and sniffing to pick up a scent. Mungwa recognized the scent of elephant. But he could also smell primate and a very unusual reptilian smell, which he did not recognize. After he had meandered for a hundred yards or so, he smelled human. Mungwa knew that humans were slow and thus make easy prey if unarmed, but he was not interested in eating them; they did not taste good. And even though he had eaten that morning, his predatory instincts took over and he had an irresistible urge to stalk.

  “Mom, stop,” said Danta quietly, interrupting Gerua’s thoughts, and she stopped dead on her feet. “There are very bad aghori ahead, and they have monstrous pishachas with them. We’re also being hunted from behind by Mungwa.”

  How does Danta know all this? Gerua turned around but saw nothing. Act, she told herself. She took out the scroll and saw the little blue pishacha way behind in the trees. She couldn’t do anything about it herself. But she knew she could get help that would take care of both, the Mungwa and the pishacha. She set up a telepathic link with Vir and informed him about the big cat and the pishacha. Vir acted immediately. He slithered in his full majestic human-serpentine form, almost gliding as he sped toward the Mungwa. The other two naga followed their leader in their full serpentine form.

  After the blue pishacha had relayed to Bubba that Gerua and Danta had changed direction, Bubba had been a little disappointed. But then they had turned south again where his aghori and the two pishachas were waiting. Finally, the opportunity he had been waiting for had arisen. The naga had abandoned them, and Danta and Gerua were totally without help. Also, the Mungwa was stalking them and Bubba could use him. He acted quickly.

  Bubba ordered the two large pishachas to fly toward Gerua and attack her in their solid form immediately. The aghori were to follow. He also ordered the little blue pishacha to go and sit in Mungwa’s ear and consume his mind and make him attack the woman from behind. The combined strength of the two pishachas, as well as the massive Mungwa, was more than enough to overpower Gerua and separate Danta from her, no matter what weapons she had. Danta was to be grabbed while Gerua was engaged, and Bubba himself would come and take him away. The attack was to commence immediately before someone else came to his or her aid.

  The pishachas complied and flew toward Gerua and Danta, taking solid form just as they reached Danta and Gerua. She saw the pishachas approaching her, but she was not concerned about herself. The most important thing was not to separate from Danta. He would be vulnerable without her.

  Gerua withdrew her urumi in the full blade form and moved with blinding speed as the pishachas prepared to launch at her. Gerua slashed the urumi left to right, slightly at an angle seemingly just through the air. Then she activated its grabbing mode and swung it upward. The urumi wrapped around a low-hanging thick branch growing toward Gerua as she moved forward toward the tree with Danta clinging on to her back. Her first strike with the urumi had cut cleanly through the thick tree trunk just near the ground. Leaping and seemingly flying through the air she executed a very high wrestlers drop kick with all her might at the main tree trunk with the soles of both her feet. The tree shook upon impact. The bewildered pishachas stared at her as she seemed to be fighting the tree. But Gerua knew exactly what she was doing.

  Using the inirtia of the still standing tree she back fliped from the tree trunk on to the ground and just as she landed she used her feet to immediately swing diagonally forward, using the urumi like a low hanging rope. The combined force of the drop kick, the backflip and the weight of Danta and her swinging diagonally forward, turned the angle of the now falling tree trunk just enough. She landed softly on the ground with Danta still on her back, toward but away from the still bewildered pishachas who stood momentarily frozen looking at the tree falling at them and then turned to look at her enraged, preparaing to hurtle toward her. But it was too late, and the momentary freeze was all the time Gerua had needed.

  Gerua had moved blazingly fast, giving little time for the pishachas to react, their dull wits not comprehending what was happening. The cut huge tree fell toward and on the still confused pishachas, disorienting them and trapping them under its weight whilst Gerua unwrapped the urumi from the branch. She took off the necklace of the rudraksh she wore and asked Danta to do the same. She quickly put the two necklaces around the pishachas head, sending them into agonizing seizures. Energy from the necklace crackled around them and prevented them from changing form or escaping. The pishachas were stuck under the tree trunk.

  Racing toward Gerua and Danta, the two aghori heard the tree
falling. Knowing that the battle had begun they raced even faster toward the noise. Silently arriving on the scene, they saw Gerua standing over the trapped pishachas with Danta on her back. Gerua had her back to the aghori and did not realize that the aghori were behind her.

  One of the aghori had a shield and a trident. The other, a metal chains whip with a slashing, stabbing dart at the end. Without hesitation the aghori with the shield swung his arm, throwing the shield at Gerua’s legs. Her knees collapsed and she began falling backwards. Not wanting to get pinned under Gerua awkwardly, Danta leapt off her back spinning, so that he would land facing the aghori. Even before he landed, Danta saw the aghori who had thrown the shield leap in the air, his trident held high over his head, aimed at the spot where Gerua’s heart would be when her body touched the ground. Landing softly on the ground, and knowing his mother was protected, Danta quickly backed away.

  Looking over her back as she fell Gerua evaluated the threat. She saw the first aghori in the air and ignored him. She saw the second aghori also leap into the air, and raise the whip to strike Danta down. She knew she had to quickly neutralize the first aghori and get Danta under the protection of the belt. Just as Gerua’s back touched the ground, the aghori with the trident landed on the ground near her head, and drove his trident down, toward her heart with all his strength. Though the aghori could not pierce her body, he had her pinned to the ground. Keeping her pinned, the first aghori recovered his shield by giving the shield a mere voice command.

  Without wasting time, Gerua slashed with her urumi in grabbing mode at the aghori, hoping to dislodge the trident. The aghori’s shield warded off her strike as if it had a mind of its own. This time, Bubba had armed his aghori well. The aghori had weapons that matched Gerua’s.

  The little blue pishacha told Mungwa to stop stalking and race toward Gerua and help bring her down with his immense power. The aghori would then capture the boy and wait for Bubba. The blue pishacha did not know that Mungwa himself was being stalked, and his stalkers were already on him.