Immortals of Meluha

by Amish Tripathi

  ‘Appear?’

  ‘Yes,’ explained the Pandit. ‘Evil has a relationship with you. It will come to you. You have to keep your mind and your heart open so that you recognise it when it appears. I have only one suggestion. Don’t be hasty in trying to recognise evil. Wait for it. It will come to you.’

  Shiva frowned. He looked down, trying to absorb the strange conversation. He turned towards Lord Ram’s idol, seeking some direction. He did not find the judgemental eyes he expected to see. Instead, he saw a warm, encouraging smile.

  ‘Your journey is not over, my friend. Not by a long shot. It has just begun. You have to keep walking. Otherwise evil will triumph.’

  Shiva’s eyes dried up a bit. His burden didn’t feel any lighter, but he felt strong enough to carry it. He had to keep walking to the very end.

  Shiva looked up at the Pandit and smiled weakly. ‘Who are you?’

  The Pandit smiled. ‘I know the answer had been promised to you. And a vow by any of us is a collective vow. I will not break it.’

  Shiva gazed at the Pandit, waiting for the answer.

  ‘We are the Vasudevs.’

  ‘The Vasudevs?’

  ‘Yes. Each Vishnu leaves a tribe behind entrusted with two missions.’

  Shiva continued to watch the Pandit intently.

  ‘The first mission is to help the next Mahadev, if and when he comes.’

  ‘And the second?’

  ‘The second is that one of us will become the next Vishnu, whenever we are required to do so. The seventh Vishnu, Lord Ram, entrusted this task to his trusted lieutenant, Lord Vasudev. We are his followers. We are the tribe of Vasudev.’

  Shiva stared at the Pandit, absorbing the implications of this information. He frowned as one inference suddenly occurred to him. ‘Did the Mahadevs also leave some tribes behind? Did Lord Rudra?’

  The Pandit smiled, deeply impressed by Shiva’s intellect. The Mohan Jo Daro Secretary was correct. This man is capable of being a Mahadev.

  ‘Yes. Lord Rudra did leave behind a tribe. The tribe of Vayuputra.’

  ‘Vayuputra?’ asked Shiva. The name sounded oddly familiar.

  The Pandit placed his hand on Shiva’s shoulder. ‘Leave this for another time, my friend. I think we have spoken enough for today. Go home. You need your good wife’s comforting embrace. Tomorrow is another day. And your mission can wait till then. For now, go home.’

  Shiva smiled. An enigmatic smile. Out of character with his simple Tibetan ways. But he had become an Indian now. He leaned forward to touch the Pandit’s feet. The Pandit placed his hand on his head to bless him, speaking gently, ‘Vijayibhav. Jai Guru Vishwamitra. Jai Guru Vashishta.’

  Shiva nodded, accepting the blessings with grace. He got up, turned and walked towards the temple steps. At the edge of the platform, he turned around to look at the Pandit once again. The Pandit sat on his haunches, touching his head reverentially to the ground that Shiva had just vacated. Shiva smiled and shook his head slightly. Looking beyond the Pandit, he gazed intently at the idol of Lord Ram. He put his hands together in a namaste and paid his respects to the Lord.

  His burden didn’t feel any tighter. But he felt strong enough to carry it.

  He turned and started climbing down. At the bottom, he was surprised to find Sati leaning against the statue of an apsara in the middle of the compound. He smiled. There was nobody in the world whom he would rather see at this time.

  Walking towards her, he teased, ‘Are you always going to follow me around?’

  ‘I know when you need to be alone,’ smiled Sati. ‘And when you need me.’

  Shiva froze suddenly. He could see a robe flapping behind the trees, a short distance from Sati. The light evening breeze gave away the position of the skulking man. Sati followed Shiva’s gaze and turned around. A robed figure, wearing a Holi mask, emerged from behind the trees.

  It is him!

  Shiva’s heart started beating faster. He was still a considerable distance away from Sati. The Naga was too close for comfort. The three stood rooted to their spots, assessing the situation, evaluating the others next move. It was Sati who moved first. Shifting quickly, she pulled a knife from her side-hold and flung it at the Naga. The Naga barely stirred. The knife missed him narrowly, slamming hard into the tree behind him, burying deep into the wood.

  Shiva moved his hand slowly towards his sword.

  The Naga reached behind, pulled the knife out of the tree and in a strange act, tied it tightly to his right wrist with a cloth band. Then he moved, quickly.

  ‘Sati!’ screamed Shiva, as he drew his sword and started sprinting towards his wife, pulling his shield forward as he ran.

  …to be continued

  Glossary

  Agni: God of fire

  Agnipariksha: A trial by fire

  Angaharas: Movement of limbs or steps in a dance

  Arya: Sir

  Asura: Demon

  Ayurvedic: Derived from Ayurved, an ancient Indian form of medicine

  Ayushman bhav: May you live long

  Bhang: Traditional intoxicant in India; milk

  mixed with marijuana

  Bhiksha: Alms or donations

  Bhojan graham: Dining room

  Chandravanshi: Descendants of the moon

  Chaturanga: Ancient Indian game which was the basis of the modern game of chess

  Chillum: Clay pipe, usually used to smoke marijuana

  Choti: Braid

  Construction of royal court platform: The description in the book of the court platform is a possible explanation for the mysterious multiple column buildings made of baked brick dis-covered at Indus Valley sites, usually next to the public baths, which many historians suppose could have been a granary

  Daivi Astra: Daivi = Divine; Astra = Weapon. A term used in ancient Hindu epics to describe weapons of mass destruction

  Deva: God

  Dharma: Dharma literally translates as religion. But in traditional Hindu custom, it means far more than that. The word encompasses holy, right knowledge, right living, tradition, natural order of the universe and duty. Essentially, dharma refers to everything that can be classified as ‘good’ in the universe

  Dharmayudh: The holy war

  Dhobi: Washerman

  Divyadrishti: Divine sight

  Dumru: A small, hand-held percussion instrument

  Guruji: Teacher; ji is a term of respect, added to a name or title

  Gurukul: The family of the Guru or the family of the teacher. In ancient times, also used to denote school

  Hat Har Mahadev: This is the rallying cry of all of Lord Shiva’s devotees. I believe it means ‘All of us are Mahadevs’

  Hariyupa: This city is presently known as Harappa. A note on the cities of Meluha (or as we call it in modern times, the Indus Valley Civilisation): historians and researchers have consistently marvelled at the fixation that the Indus Valley civilisation seemed to have for water and hygiene. In fact historian M. Jansen used the term ‘wasserluxus’ (obsession with water) to describe their magnificent obsession with the physical and symbolic aspects of water, a term Gregory Possehl builds upon in his brilliant book, The Indus Civilisation — A Contemporary Perspective. In the book, The Immortals of Meluha, the obsession with water is shown to arise due to its cleansing properties of the toxic sweat and urine triggered by consuming the Somras.Historians have also marvelled at the level of sophisticated standardisation in the Indus Valley civilisation. One of the examples of this were the bricks, which across the entire civilisation, seemed to have similar proportions and specifications

  Holi: Festival of colours

  Indra: The God of the sky and believed to be the King of the Gods

  Jai Guru Vishwamitra: Glory to the teacher Vishwamitra

  Jai Guru Vashishta: Glory to the teacher Vashishta. Only two Suryavanshis had the privilege of having both Guru Vashishta and Guru Vishwamitra as their gurus (teachers) viz. Lord Ram and Lord Lakshman

  Jai Shri Brahma: G
lory to Lord Brahma

  Jai Shri ram: Glory to Lord Ram

  Janau: A ceremonial thread tied from the shoulders, across the torso. It was one of the symbols of knowledge in ancient India. Later, it was corrupted to become a caste symbol to denote those born as Brahmins and not those achieving knowledge through their deeds

  Karma: Duty and deeds; also the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous births, considered to affect future fate

  Karmasaathi: Fellow traveller in karma or duty

  Kathak: Type of traditional Indian dance

  Kriyas: Actions

  Kulhads: Mud cups

  Mahadev: Maha = Great and Dev = God. Hence Mahadev means the greatest God or the God of Gods. I believe that there were many ‘destroyers of evil’ but a few of them were so great that they would be called ‘Mahadev’. Amongst the Mahadevs were Lord Rudra and Lord Shiva

  Mahasagar: Great Ocean; Hind Mahasagar is the Indian Ocean

  Manu’s story: Those interested in finding out more about the historical validity of the South India origin theory of Manu should read Graham Hancock’s path breaking book, Underworld.

  Mausi: Mother’s sister, considered almost equivalent to a mother

  Mehragarh: Modern archaeologists believe that Mehragarh is the progenitor of the Indus Valley civilisation. Mehragarh represents a sudden burst of civilised living, without too much archaeological evidence of a gradual progression to that level. Hence obviously, those who established Mehragarh were either immigrants or refugees

  Meluha: The land of pure life. This is the land ruled by the Suryavanshi kings. It is the area that we in the modern world call the Indus Valley Civilisation

  Meluhans: People of Meluha

  Mudras: Gestures

  Naga: Serpent people

  Namaste: An ancient Indian greeting. Spoken with the open palms of both the hands joined together. Conjoin of three words. ‘Namah’, ‘Astu’ and ‘Te’ —meaning ‘I bow to you’. Namaste can be used as both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’

  Nirvana: Enlightenment; freedom from the cycle of rebirths

  Oxygen/anti-oxidants theory: Modern research backs this theory. Interested readers can read the article ‘Radical Proposal’ by Kathryn Brown in the Scientific American

  Pandit: Priest

  Parmatma: The ultimate soul or the sum of all souls

  Patallok: The underworld

  Pawan Dev: God of the winds

  Pitratulya: The term for a man who is ‘like a father’

  Prahar: Four slots of six hours each into which the day was divided by the ancient Hindus; the first prahar began at 12 midnight

  Puja: Prayer

  Rajat: Silver

  Ram Chandra: Ram = Face; Chandra = Moon. Hence Ram Chandra is ‘the face of the moon’

  Ram rajya: The rule of Ram

  Rangbhoomi: Literally, the ground of colour. In ancient times, stadiums where sports, performances and public functions would be carried out

  Rangoli: Traditional colourful and geometric designs made with coloured powders or flowers as a sign of welcome

  Rishi: Man of knowledge

  Sanyasi: Sanyasis are people who renounce all their worldly possessions and desires to retreat to remote locations

  and devote their time to the pursuit of god and spirituality. In ancient India, it was common for people to take sanyas at an old age, once they had completed all their life’s duties

  Sapt-Sindhu: Land of the seven rivers — Indus, Saraswati, Yamuna, Ganga, Sarayu, Brahmaputra and Narmada. This was the ancient name of North India

  Saptrishi: One of the ‘Group of 7 Rishis’

  Saptrishi uttradhikaris: Successors of the Saptrishis

  Shakti Devi: Mother Goddess; also goddess of power and energy

  Shamiana: Canopy

  Shloka: Couplet

  Shudhikaran: The purification ceremony

  Sindhu: The first river

  Somras: Drink of the gods

  Sutlej: Known as Dhrishadvati in ancient times; modern name Sutlej is used for the convenience of readers. Many believe that the Sutlej was the main Saraswati river and when Yamuna, its tributary, merged into it, it became the mighty river of yore

  Svarna: Gold

  Swadweep: The Island of the individual. This is the land ruled by the Chandravanshi kings

  Swadweepans: People of Swadweep

  Swaha: Legend has it that Lord Agni’s wife is named Swaha. Hence it pleases Lord Agni, the God of Fire, if a disciple takes his wife’s name while worshipping the sacred fire. Another interpretation of Swaha is that it means offering of self

  Tamra: Bronze

  Thali: Plate

  Varjish graha: The exercise hall

  Varun: God of the water and the seas

  Vijayibhav: May you be victorious

  Vikarma: Carrier of bad fate

  Vishnu: The protector of the world and propagator of good. I believe that it is an ancient Hindu title for the greatest of leaders who would be remembered as the mightiest of gods

  Yagna: Sacrificial fire ceremony

  Episode from The Secret of the Nagas

  The Gates of Branga

  ‘Why are you back so soon? You have enough medicines for a year.’

  Divodas was shocked at the manner in which Major Uma was speaking. She was always strict. But never rude. He had been delighted that she had been posted on the gates. Though he hadn’t met her in years, they had been friends a long time back. He had thought he could use his friendship with her to gain easy passage into Branga.

  ‘What is the matter, Uma?’ asked Divodas.

  ‘It is Major Uma. I am on duty.’

  ‘I’m sorry Major. I meant no disrespect.’

  ‘I can’t let you go back unless you give me a good reason.’

  ‘Why would I need a reason to enter my own country?’

  ‘This is not your country anymore. You chose to abandon it. Kashi is your land. Go back there.’

  ‘Major Uma, you know I had no choice. You know the risks to the life of my child in Branga.’

  ‘You think those who live in Branga don’t? You think we don’t love our children? Yet we choose to live in our own land. You suffer the consequences of your choice.’

  Divodas realised this was getting nowhere. ‘I have to meet the King on a matter of national importance.’

  Uma narrowed her eyes. ‘Really? I guess the King has some important business dealings with Kashi, right?’

  Divodas breathed in deeply. ‘Major Uma, it is very important that I meet the King. You must trust me.’

  ‘Unless you are carrying the Queen of the Nagas herself on one of your ships, I can’t see anything important enough to let you through!’

  ‘I’m carrying someone far more important than the Queen of the Nagas.’

  ‘Kashi has really improved your sense of humour, Divodas,’ sneered Uma. ‘I suggest you turn back and shine your supreme light somewhere else.’

  The snide pun on Kashi’s name convinced Divodas that he was facing a changed Uma. An angry and bitter Uma, incapable of listening to reason. He had no choice. He had to get the Neelkanth. He knew Uma used to believe in the legend.

  ‘I’ll come back with the person more important than the Queen of the Nagas herself,’ said Divodas, turning to leave.

  The small cutter had just docked at the Branga office. Divodas alit first. Followed by Shiva, Parvateshwar, Bhagirath, Drapaku and Purvaka.

  Uma, standing outside her office, sighed. ‘You really don’t give up, do you?’

  ‘This is very important, Major Uma,’ said Divodas.

  Uma recognised Bhagirath. ‘Is this the person? You think I should break the rules for the Prince of Ayodhya?’

  ‘He is the Prince of Swadweep, Major Uma. Don’t forget that. We send tribute to Ayodhya.’

  ‘So you are more loyal to Ayodhya as well now? How many times will you abandon Branga?’

  ‘Major, in the name of Ayodhya, I respectfully ask you to let us p
ass,’ said Bhagirath, trying hard not to lose his temper. He knew the Neelkanth did not want any bloodshed.

  ‘Our terms of the Ashwamedh treaty were very clear, Prince. We send you a tribute annually. And Ayodhya never enters Branga. We have maintained our part of the agreement. The orders to me are to help you maintain your part of the bargain.’

  Shiva stepped forward. ‘If I may...’

  Uma was at the end of her patience. She stepped forward and pushed Shiva. ‘Get out of here.’

  ‘UMA!’ Divodas pulled out his sword.

  Bhagirath, Parvateshwar, Drapaku and Purvaka too drew out their swords instantly.

  ‘I will kill your entire family for this blasphemy,’ swore Drapaku.

  ‘Wait!’ said Shiva, his arms spread wide, stopping his men.

  Shiva turned towards Uma. She was staring at him. Shocked. The angvastram that he had wrapped around his body for warmth had come undone, revealing his nee/ kanth, the prophesied blue throat. The Branga soldiers around Uma immediately went down on their knees, heads bowed in respect, tears flooding their eyes. Uma continued to stare, her mouth half open.

  Shiva cleared his throat. ‘I really need to pass through, Major Uma. May I request your cooperation?’

  Uma’s face turned mottled red. ‘Where the hell have you been?’

  Shiva frowned.

  Uma bent forward, tears in her eyes, banging her small fists on Shiva’s well-honed chest. ‘Where the hell have you been? We have been waiting! We have been suffering! Where the hell have you been?’

  Shiva tried to hold Uma, to comfort her. But she sank down holding Shiva’s leg, wailing. ‘Where the hell have you been?’

  A concerned Divodas turned to another Branga friend also posted at the border. His friend whispered, ‘Last month, Major Uma lost her only child to the plague. Her husband and she had conceived after years of trying. She was devastated.’

  Divodas looked at Uma with empathy, understanding her angst. He couldn’t even begin to imagine what would happen to him if he lost his baby.

  Shiva, who had heard the entire conversation, squatted. He cradled Uma in the shelter of his arms, as though trying to give her his strength.

  ‘Why didn’t you come earlier?’ Uma kept crying, inconsolable.