Tenth Avatar: A quest for answers

by Kanchan Joshi

  Ram was losing patience. “Out with it then!”

  “Forgive me, my king. I am just the messenger. People think you are responsible for this.”

  Ram could not contain his bafflement. “Elaborate,” he ordered sternly.

  “I dare not speak another word. I fear for my life at the hands of the mighty King Ram,” the spy chief said, trembling with fear and appalled by what he had heard.

  “You should remember, your king did not shoot at the powerful King Ravan even when he himself was about to die from bleeding. You are only performing your duty. Don’t be afraid.”

  The spy hung his head in shame and looked downcast, teary-eyed. He said, “These ungrateful people say that the king was so enamored by his wife, he accepted her even when she had lived in another man’s house for months! And because of the loose morals of the king, the entire population has a right to be lustful and indulgent!”

  Ram responded calmly, “I had anticipated this. Queen Sita went through the Test by Fire.”

  “They say that only silly apes and bears witnessed it! Who knows what really happened?”

  “I see. My gratitude to you. You may leave now.” Ram was deeply hurt and disappointed.

  He thought for a while, then said aloud, “Economic prosperity is useless, even harmful, without moral and spiritual development. A king is like a father, and a queen like a mother. When parents see their child headed down the wrong path, they must take action. Our society is headed in the wrong direction and needs an urgent course correction. And as the rulers, Sita and I have to bring them back, and if necessary, pay the price for such an action.”

  Ram gathered his brothers in the palace and shared the sensitive news with them.

  Ram’s voice was laced with sadness. “I have made my decision. The Queen has to leave the kingdom. This will give me moral authority. I will lead from the front and steer the population back in the right direction.”

  Lakshman could not even begin to contain his anger. “Ram, why don’t you leave? Why does Devi Sita have to pay the price for your greatness and popularity all the time?”

  Ram had been expecting such an outburst. “Lakshman, you are the voice of truth, always! You say things that I want to say, but cannot, and I am thankful to you for keeping my conscience clear, dear brother. You took deadly arrows for me. You put your life on the line for me. I am thankful to you for that and for presenting facts as they are. I am ready to leave with my pregnant wife, right now! For me, this is the easiest thing to do as I don’t care about the title or the palace.”

  Lakshman was disgusted by the unfair treatment handed out to Lady Sita time and again. “I don’t care about all that,” he lashed out again. “Whenever I think of Lady Sita, I feel a motherly energy and grace filling my heart. She is an ideal human in all respects, even more so than you, because she does not get all the glory for her greatness. And I know you realize this. I don’t understand why you want to save these miserable people. These barbarians in civilized clothes are worse than the Rakshas we killed. Let me chop off a few wagging tongues and everyone will fall in line.”

  Ram’s other brother intervened. “This is Ram-Rajya, the rulership of the ideal King Ram. This is a yardstick by which other rulers will be judged in the future. Make no mistake, we are creating history here. Punishing people for expressing their views, however false they may be, shall not be practiced. Lady Sita is being treated unfairly. There is no question about that. But, we need the king here. Who will oversee the economic development? And who will guide the public along the right path? If the king leaves now, the economic engine will come to a halt, rebellion will spread everywhere, and there will be chaos. All the good work will be brought to nothing. The king must stay.”

  Lakshman knew his brother’s assessment was correct, but he did not want to admit it. He bowed before the king and walked out of the assembly room with heavy footsteps. The painful decision had been finalized. Just as a mother goes through unbearable pain during childbirth, true leaders suffer the pain for giving birth to a new social structure.

  The very next day, pregnant Queen Sita was dropped at an ashram by the river Ganga. She gracefully accepted the separation from her husband. King Ram was completely heart broken, but he knew he had a job to do. Ram summoned the ever-dependable Hanuman.

  “We need to bring people back to the spiritual path,” Ram said. “Their moral compass has gone completely wrong because they have forgotten what it means to be human! They have become too indulgent and lazy. They need to be made aware of their true nature and the greatness of being human. I cannot think of a better person for this job than you!”

  Hanuman agreed gladly, “Oh wonderful! I get to talk about my beloved guru Ram all the time, and spread his true teachings? It is my good fortune to do so! Once they taste this potion of your spiritual grace, they will completely forget about the silly indulgences. I guarantee you, my lord. Please do not worry, my king. I will accomplish this mission for you!”

  Hanuman was a natural leader. He spread yogic practices, created training centers, trained several disciples, and made spiritual pursuits part of everyone’s daily life.

  Hanuman advised his followers, “The scriptures describe how to eat, drink, exercise, procreate, and enjoy life while not getting too attached to it, and maintaining a constant reminder of your true nature beyond the body. Create temples, festivals, and customs such that reminders of your true nature are intertwined with your daily life, and it becomes a way of living. This is the only way a balanced life and a balanced society will be created.”

  A few years later, people slowly awakened to their mistakes and were gradually turning toward a more balanced life. A just king, such as Ram, positively influenced the general population with his actions and energy.

  The chief spy met with King Ram to inform him of the latest news. “My great king, your sacrifice, leadership, and Hanuman’s efforts are paying off. The people are being nudged toward a more balanced lifestyle.”

  “As per the scriptures, humans should spend the first quarter of their lives in childhood and education. The next part, they should spend as a householder, accumulating and enjoying wealth and pleasures of the senses. The third part they should devote to spiritual pursuits and development. Then guide others on the right path in the last part of their lives. I am glad to inform you, mighty king, that this population is moving in that direction. And this is not the best news, oh great king,” the spy declared, beaming from ear to ear.

  “The people want their queen back! They have realized their mistake and are thankful to have a merciful king, like you. They acknowledge and accept an ideal lady like Queen Sita as their ruler! They also want the twin brothers that Lady Sita gave birth to as their princes!”

  Although inwardly ecstatic, Ram spoke calmly. “I will send Lakshman right away to retrieve Lady Sita and invite her back. My people’s wishes are my command.”

  The very next day, Lakshman left for the ashram where Lady Sita stayed. He brought the two princes back, but could not bring Lady Sita with him. He delivered a letter from Sita for Ram. It read:

  My Dear King Ram,

  I am always fortunate to be your wife. Here at the ashram, I have practiced more meditation and evolved spiritually. I also befriended a princess of the people who live in underground caves. As you know, my birth was non-uterine. I was a queen, but hardly lived in palaces. I was a wife, but separated from my husband for long and painful periods of time. And now, I am sending my sons to their father. I am glad to hear that the people have realized their mistake and want me to come back, but I have decided for myself. The last few days of my unusual life shall be spent with the underground cave people. I will then leave my body voluntarily as per the yogic process.

  Your loving wife,

  Sita

  Ram was completely devastated to realize that he would never see his wife again. He contemplated for a few days, made all the arrangements, and decided to address his ministers and common people of t
he court.

  Ram said in a steady voice, “My fellow citizens, I have decided to give up this body as per the yogic practices, having realized my true nature a long time ago. My work is done here. The entire nation is safe, prosperous, and on a path toward a balanced life. My brothers and sons will take care of the kingdom. You are in capable hands.”

  Everybody in the court was shaken; some could not control their sobbing. However, they knew Ram’s word was always final.

  Ram addressed Hanuman next. “You are designed to be immortal by the Rishis. As you have seen, it is very easy for society to stray from the right path. You need to stay on this planet and make sure history is not forgotten. Guide the people when they need help.” Ram got up from his seat, walked toward Hanuman, and gave him an exceptional arrow. “This arrow is powerful like a thunderbolt. It is decorated with gold, its wood is from the reed forest of Kartikeya, and it has eagle feathers for fins toward the end. Its nodes are very smooth, the tip is extremely sharp, and its egress is flawlessly straight. It will always show you the right path forward!”

  Hanuman bent one knee, accepting the arrow with both hands. He respectfully touched it to his forehead. “My dear guru Ram, I accept your command. I assure you that, as long as humans live in this country, Devi Sita’s name will always be remembered ahead of you. As long as both of your names and history are not forgotten, I will stay here and guide the people on the righteous path.”

  Heartfelt cries reverberated throughout the city, “Victory to Sita-Ram! Victory to Hanuman!”

  Ten thousand years later, even today, due to the power of their actions and energies, Sita-Ram and Hanuman continue to be the beacons that guide humanity on the path to righteousness! They were humans who became Gods due to their actions. So can every human!

  Chapter 16

  The Tenth Avatar

  ~~~~~~~

  Modern Day California

  ~~~~~~~

  This is who I really am.

  Krish decided to take Prisha home from the hospital after she was sufficiently stable and had recovered from the self-inflicted gunshot wound. Her psychiatrist was an older lady in her early sixties, with wrinkled skin, slightly disheveled grey hair, and tired looking eyes. It seemed that her body had withered from the ravages of time and her soul had as well, from dealing with people whose minds had started working against them—in the process of ruining them from the inside.

  She delivered an ominous warning to Krish. “People who hurt themselves once are very likely to do it again.”

  On the way home from the hospital, Krish connected his phone to the Tesla Model S bluetooth system and listened to the news. “I miss newscaster Gwen Ifill’s cultured and soothing voice on the radio,” he said to Prisha, attempting to warm the silence. “She was only sixty-one when she died.”

  Prisha appeared lost in her thoughts. Krish breathed a sigh and thought, I’m glad she didn’t hear about someone else dying. It might have reminded her of her own near-death experience. Oh man, it’s going to be like walking on eggshells now.

  As the news went to commercial break, Krish reflected on the last few weeks. Although he had faced tremendous difficulties in his personal life, his professional life was going well. He was getting paid handsomely for the intellectual property and patents he had generated. He had also published scientific breakthroughs in highly rated peer reviewed journals from his work at CERN and his collaboration with world-renowned physicist Professor Anton Kimble from Cambridge.

  The press was fascinated by his work. He had done interviews with Hollywood celebrities and entrepreneurs on TV channels and some talk shows regarding his groundbreaking research. It was rare for a young scientist to receive such a high profile in the media.

  Krish’s advisor’s, Dave’s, ego was hurt due to his student’s fame. Dave secretly hoped that all this hype about Krish’s controversial theories would be over one day when it was just proven to be hot air. Then, Krish’s career would come to a grinding halt. Additionally, Dave was not fond of the eccentric Anton, and what he thought of as his conceited British accent. Dave had wondered loudly if Anton would be so famous were he not handicapped.

  Krish shook his head and said softly, “Ugh, office politics.” He breathed sharply and diverted his attention back to the radio as the news was back on. From the reports, it was clear that the persons and governments responsible for the horrendous, simultaneous, and highly coordinated twin nuclear attacks over the United States were brought to swift justice by the most powerful war machines created in modern times.

  Krish shook his head, trying to not remember the horrible day of the attack. Just then, the news stopped playing through the car speakers and an incoming call was seen on the screen.

  Prisha turned sharply to notice the call; neither one recognized the number.

  Krish answered.

  A professional sounding voice responded on the other end. “Sir, this is the FBI. We need your help with an investigation. Please visit our field office in LA tomorrow.”

  “Sure, I’ll be there.”

  “The address and further instruction will be sent to your email via a secure server.”

  “You have my email address? That’s not creepy at all,” Krish said sarcastically.

  “Yes sir, always watching, always listening. Glad to hear that your mom and dad are well.” The agent played along. “We will expect your presence at tomorrow’s briefing. Good day.”

  The line disconnected without further discussion.

  The next day, at the FBI field office on Wilshire Blvd in Los Angeles, a special agent briefed Krish. “The attackers used very sophisticated detonator with the drone to trigger the dirty bomb. We have their top scientific talent in custody. We need help deciphering some of the notes and mathematical formulae we recovered.”

  “All right, let’s get to it,” Krish said sitting down at a table. After studying the notes for some time, Krish was alarmed. “I need to talk to this guy. This is not some rudimentary work here. They seem to have even grander plans than what has already been carried out.”

  The special agent asked with anticipation, “What do we know so far?”

  “They plan to modify a long-range missile to make it nuclear capable. They came up with approximately 850 different changes to the existing missile to make it nuclear capable. They needed to run a simulation to find the most optimized path with the material constraints they had. That requires a sophisticated model of the system and a lot of computing power. I want to find out how he got from close to 850 design change paths, down to a 100 or so—and he was on his way to narrowing it further. That means they’re that much closer to achieving a nuclear missile attack!”

  The special agent was trying to process everything he heard. He got up from his chair and paced the length of the room. “Well first, it’s a woman, not a man, that we captured. And second, I need to talk to the New York office about what you just told me. The risk is real. I’m sure there are others working on different angles of this.”

  After pulling some bureaucratic strings, Krish could question the captured scientist through an intermediary. At one point during the interrogation, the captured woman was pressed hard for information. The interrogator got in her face, mere centimeters away, screaming, “How did you get access to super computers and sophisticated models? Which governments are supporting you?”

  The captured woman looked very upset, she spat in the interrogators face, looked straight into the camera, and started banging her head violently on the table. Blood dripped from her forehead. The interrogation had to be stopped; she wasn’t going to talk.

  Krish looked at the special agent, ran a hand over his face, and said, “I told you what we could decipher from the notes you showed me. Let me know if you find out more and if I can be of further help.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  On his drive home, Krish thought, when people are frozen in their beliefs, they refuse to look outside the constraints of their worldview. Throughout human
history, religious and ideological zealots, dictators, and warmongers have frozen their thoughts and views to an extreme level. But, in our day-to-day life, even some scientists have frozen views about some things and refuse to consider other possibilities. In any case, I need to keep an open mind and figure things out. I have seen enough death and destruction in the last few days. Plus, things could escalate further based on what I just saw—with an even more devastating nuclear attack. I’ve had close calls with death myself. My wife almost took her own life! I need to get to the bottom of this and figure out the true nature of life before death catches up to me.

  Krish developed a keen sense of being on a mission; a mission to understand the reality of life before it was too late for him, his loved ones, and perhaps the planet! As soon as he reached Pasadena, Krish got together with Kathy and Professor Kimble.

  “We have published a lot of high-impact papers, generated ground-breaking patents based on the data from CERN, and mathematical formulae from Ramanujan’s lost pages. But, that was not the goal. I really wanted to understand the true nature of life and the universe.”

  Kathy nodded in agreement. She habitually spun her pen in a circle, balancing it skillfully on her thumb and forefinger. “Yep, that was your mission, and we became part of it.” She paused and added half-jokingly, “What were we thinking! Anyways, let’s summarize what we have and what the missing pieces of the puzzle are.”

  Professor Kimble moved his wheel chair toward the desk, clicked on his custom software, and pointed to the diagram depicting galaxy clusters separated by empty space. “Each one of these yellow spots represents a galaxy. The known mass of matter is not sufficient to keep these galaxies, which are moving at great speed, from escaping from the center. So, there must be something holding it together. We call this unknown material dark matter. We cannot detect dark matter, but we see its effect. For example, the extent of gravitational lensing—light bending around galaxies that distorts their apparent shapes and even causes two galaxies to appear in place of one!”