The Aryavarta Chronicles Book 03: Kurukshetra

by Krishna Udayasankar

  Syoddhan moved forward to lay a hand on Vasusena’s shoulder. ‘It doesn’t matter to me, my friend. Nor does it matter to Asvattama. We stood by you the day these kings and nobles said you could not be a warrior, that you could not be Arya. And, yet, look who you are and where you are now…Your Highness. What the Grandsire fears is… worse. He fears we may lose our legitimacy, our moral ground if the truth about you became known.’

  ‘Is that what he told you? Bhisma?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘He does not tell you the whole truth.’

  ‘Which is?’

  ‘Ask him yourself. For my part, my loyalty to you is absolute, Syoddhan, but I will not fight as long as Bhisma leads us. I cannot fight under the leadership of one who questions my ability and my intent, not to mention my integrity. Forgive me, my friend. I may be a charioteer’s son to the world, but through you, through your words and deeds, I’ve learnt that honour counts for something. I cannot fight while Bhisma commands us.’ With that, Vasusena walked off, making his way down the hillside and towards their camp.

  Syoddhan watched him as he walked away, and then turned to Asvattama. ‘Have him followed.’ he said.

  ‘But… No, Syoddhan. This is not the time for distrust. It will weaken you, weaken us. Vasusena has always been loyal to you…’

  ‘As have you? You vouch for his loyalty? You’ve never had enough of putting him down.’

  ‘Perhaps I’ve changed. War does that to a man.’

  ‘We are not yet at war.’

  ‘The prospect of war, then. And you know I am not the only one. Much as your grand-uncle hates Vasusena, he has allowed him to grow to be a force to reckon with. Not to mention that Vasusena is amongst your closest friends. Did you not wonder why? If the Grandsire had truly wanted Vasusena out of the way, would that have been impossible for him to achieve?

  ‘No. What you say is true. My grand-uncle believes that a man you don’t want as your enemy ought to become your friend at the least, and your brother in all but blood if that is possible. I have not disputed the principle because it served my ends…just as it served yours.’

  Asvattama drew himself up to his full, staggering height. ‘If you wish me to speak my mind on this matter…’

  ‘I do!’

  ‘Then, look to those who tell you not to trust. Suspicion is a poison that slowly burns away the mind. Look to those who sow the seeds of suspicion in you, the ones who urge you to be cautious beyond need…’

  ‘Like you? You insist that I follow your advice, though it will send Devala away from the battlefield, from our side, at this crucial juncture? Do you really know what you’re suggesting, Asvattama?’

  ‘All I know is that it does not take my father’s instructions to be loyal to you. As for Devala…it is no petty task I ask you to send him on. If he is successful the entire course of events will turn in our favour.’

  Syoddhan’s confused expression changed into a frown. He willed his face into evenness and said, as though it were unconnected to the matter at hand, ‘Have Vasusena followed, Asvattama. Don’t make me order you. It is not a situation both of us would enjoy. Go.’

  Asvattama took a step in compliance, then another. Then he turned to Syoddhan, his implacable mask once again in place. ‘There’s very little that remains to be enjoyed from here on, Syoddhan. Don’t waste your commands on those who serve you out of free will.’ He walked away, following the path Vasusena had taken.

  Alone on the crest of the hill, Syoddhan watched as their enemy’s mighty force approached.

  28

  THE SUN’S FIRST RAYS WERE A WARM GLOW ON THE HORIZON. Vasusena smiled despite his worries. He always found the dawn soothing, reassuring, for he supposed that the otherwise impossible golden darkness was not unlike being inside a mother’s womb. In that instant he could forget that he stood on the edge of an enormous battlefield, on the banks of a river that shimmered red in a sign of things to come, for the day had just begun and anything was possible. Yet, the lightness in his heart lasted but briefly, for as the sun’s brightness breached the edge of the world, he was bathed in the harsh rays of reality, as always.

  The first time he had heard of his father, his father by blood, not the loving man who had reared him, Vasusena had not undertood the true meaning of those veiled words. ‘A young man with the effulgence of the sun,’ had been the exact phrase. He did not fully remember who had spoken them, or where, for he had been a child, nor had they seemed to hold significance. After all, the kingdoms of the east, Anga included, lived by the sun, and revered and worshipped it as a deity. It was only when he had sought out the Bhargava clan of Firewrights to learn to wield arms with skill – an act of youthful rebellion – that he had heard those veiled words again, and so realized: his father had been a Firewright. But not even his teacher, Bhargava Rama, had been able to give him a clue to the final mystery of his birth, and over the years Vasusena had learnt to make his peace with not knowing the name of the woman who had borne him in her womb. Until now.

  After all this time, the temptation had presented itself, and from an unexpected quarter.

  ‘Thank you for coming,’ Govinda’s voice was a timely intrusion on Vasusena’s thoughts. The Anga king grunted in response. Emotion, not reason, had brought him here.

  ‘I’ll be quick,’ Govinda continued. ‘Your father’s allegiance, if not his individual identity, is known to you. You must have often wondered how it remained possible for your mother to conceal your birth, your Firewright father notwithstanding. And it could well have occurred to you already that she was a noblewoman of some importance…’

  Vasusena interrupted, ‘Either you know my mother’s identity or you don’t. If you do, tell me. If you don’t, then I will leave. I have no time to play games.’

  Govinda clucked his tongue. ‘You are being sentimental. You think only of your mother, but not what it would mean to be the son of an …influential woman.’

  ‘Why should that matter?’

  ‘Maybe it could help avoid war.’

  Vasusena started, then fell quiet as he considered the implications of the statement. He appeared to engage in some internal debate, fighting back the instinctive doubt and anger with his native pragmatism. Then, he said, as though he had made his peace with the fact and all its consequences, ‘You mean to tell me that Pritha, mother to Dharma Yudhisthir and his brothers, is my mother, too?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And how would that avoid war? Do you expect me to betray Syoddhan, to change my allegiance just because Dharma Yudhisthir is my half-brother?’

  Govinda said, ‘That would be one way of doing it. The other would be to appeal to your ambition and desire; to suggest that since Dharma and the others are King Pandu’s sons by surrogacy, you would be too, by law. That being the case, you stand to claim all rights as the eldest of the six – over the throne of Kuru, over the empire…why, by your own arguments at the time of the dice game, over Panchali too. Imagine, Vasusena, the woman you’ve always desired, to take as you wish. Surely that is a prize worth considering?’

  It took Vasusena, disgusted as he was by the proposal, a while to meet Govinda’s gaze. And then, he saw the disdain in Govinda’s eyes and understood the sarcasm in his words. ‘If you are trying to provoke me, Govinda,’ he said, ‘it is futile. Is there anything else?’

  ‘There is the simple matter that this piece of information had bought me a chance to speak with you. I doubt any other kind of message or invitation would have drawn your interest, or stopped you from telling Syoddhan about it.’

  ‘So you tempt me with a secret just for an opportunity to speak with me? What could you possibly say, Govinda? You have already listed all that could tempt me, but none of it does. Neither blood nor ambition nor desire can sway me.’

  ‘But we live in a world where such temptations are well within our means, even our morals. That I can suggest to you that betrayal bears such rewards; that I can promise you the life and liberty of a woman as
your payment… Do you not think that wrong?’

  ‘I agree, it is wrong. But these wrongs are not set right by another wrong. My life, my loyalty, are sworn to Syoddhan. You know that, Govinda. Why do you bother asking me to reconsider?’

  ‘I ask you to have compassion. I ask that you consider the woman who has wept every night she has been parted from you, secret tears that she could share with no one. I ask that you not leave her destitute. She has already lost one son – you – she cannot bear to lose another. I ask you to think of the thousands of mothers like her, who will grieve if war is not averted.’

  Vasusena could not hide his amazement. ‘You want to stop the war?’ he asked.

  ‘But of course. My intent was for both Dharma and Syoddhan to see what the might of Aryavarta truly is – not their well-fed vassals and their paid armies, but the people. I wanted them both to see in whose name it is that any Emperor ought to rule. You understand, don’t you?’

  ‘I do,’ Vasusena nodded. ‘In fact, I’d suggested to Syoddhan that we enlist…commoners…as they call them. But he refused.’

  ‘And that is why he must see it, as must Dharma. But I don’t want the very people I fight for to lose their lives over this. I need your help, Vasusena. I don’t ask you to betray Syoddhan but, please, counsel him as a friend ought to. There will be an offer of peace. Dhaumya will bring him a proposal this very day. Make Syoddhan see what you see. I don’t ask for surrender, I don’t ask that Aryavarta be given to Dharma. I ask that it be given to the people. Is that not right?’

  Vasusena fell into thought. The sun had risen low in the sky, and its rays sparkled off river and leaf. Birds had begun to sing and the low buzz of insects drying their night-dew-soaked wings in the sunshine filled the air. The sweet smells of morning rose around the two men.

  Finally, Vasusena spoke. ‘You’ve answered many questions I’ve had over the years, including why the Grandsire Bhisma has suffered my proximity for so long. He feared either for the honour of the Kurus, or for Dharma’s claim to the throne. I won’t be surprised if it was the latter more than the former. I suppose that very fact should convince me to help you, and I will – but only as far as I believe it is in Syoddhan’s interests and for the greater good. I assume you will counsel Dharma similarly?’

  ‘I will. He is eager for peace. Indeed, I’ve held him back, not for reasons of ambition but…’

  ‘Yes, yes, Govinda. I get it. Clearly you’ve been spending a lot of time with Dharma Yudhisthir, if explaining your actions and spouting reassurances have become second nature to you.’

  The statement made both men smile, though Govinda did his best to conceal it out of politeness. Vasusena breathed in deep and let it out in a loud sigh. ‘As for my mother…’ he said.

  Govinda said, ‘I understand if you are angry…’

  ‘Angry? No, not angry…I know too well the price of rebellion. I also know that her eyes have shadowed me, whenever we have met. I… I just assumed… I don’t know what I assumed, Govinda, but I did not think it to be affection. Now I know.’ He grabbed Govinda’s arm, eager. ‘Tell her for me. Tell her that I do not hate her, for that is not how my parents brought me up, nor is it what I learnt in her womb. As for her loss… Tell her, if there is peace, then I may be fortunate to live as her child, after all.’

  Govinda smiled and gestured to the figure that emerged from the woods nearby.

  ‘How…?’ Vasusena began as he caught sight of Pritha, but his question was answered as Vidur emerged next to her.

  All Govinda said was, ‘I shall leave you alone now.’

  29

  BY THE TIME GOVINDA HAD RETURNED TO DHARMA’S CAMP, THE pleasant cool of the morning had begun to give way to the dry heat of daytime. The weather, however, was the least reason for the muted curse he let out as he approached the Command Tent. A horse, the armour and colours identifying it as belonging to the house of the Kurus of Hastina was tethered nearby. He supposed the steed’s rider was already inside. He lengthened his strides to reach the Command Tent as quickly as he could.

  The visitor was not one whom Govinda had expected to see there, and when he spoke the name it came as an exclamation rather than a greeting: ‘Yuyustu!’

  Yuyutsu, Dhritarasthra’s son by a palace handmaiden, was younger only to Syoddhan, but his position as a Suta meant that the acceptance and luxurious lifestyle he had enjoyed as a prince of Hastina was more a privilege than a right. Govinda’s mind raced over the various possibilities for Yuyutsu’s presence, from a kindred sense of outrage on the prince’s part for all that he had suffered as a handmaiden’s son to the notion, immediately dismissed, that this was a ruse of some sort on Syoddhan’s part.

  Dharma settled the matter by declaring, matter-of-fact, ‘Yuyutsu wishes to fight on our side.’

  Govinda said, ‘You are welcome.’

  Dharma continued, ‘He was giving us a count of Syoddhan’s armies as they stand. I have no doubt that our enemy had full news of our activities so I did not think it improper to hear him out.’

  Govinda did not comment on Dharma’s explanation, but turned instead to Yuyutsu. ‘Our last reckoning was between seven and eight akshauhini. Are we far off?’

  ‘No,’ Yuyutsu said. ‘That is Syoddhan’s force, as it stands. And it is my unfortunate duty to remind you that an entire division of those seven is made exclusively of elephants.’

  ‘Bhagadatta, King of Pragjya,’ Govinda noted. ‘He helped us once, long ago, during the Imperial campaign. Perhaps he thought he’d come off worse for that bargain. Or perhaps he finally admits his need for revenge against me. After all, I did kill his father. But I had help then… Eagles against his elephants,’ he finished, smiling as he thought of his dear friend, Garud.

  ‘And? Would those eagles not help us now?’ Yuyutsu asked, confusion clouding his face.

  ’No, Yuyutsu. I can’t afford to cage those eagles. They believe that they alone preserve paradise on earth, and it is their sacred duty to revive life at the end of all ages. Swyam-bhala or Shambala they call their home, and protect it zealously. Nothing I say or do can persuade them to emerge from their retreat. You see, their cause is larger than ours.’

  ‘Syoddhan has the likes of Acharya Dron and the Grandsire Bhisma on his side. For long, they have been the sanctified custodians of all the Firewright astra-weapons that were recovered…or plundered, as you will, during the Great Scourge. I doubt their arsenal can be rivalled, and that is the singular cause on my mind right now,’ Yuyutsu said.

  ‘I do not believe that they will fight against us,’ Dharma declared, ‘for ours is the righteous cause and that is all that matters.’

  ‘Surely you don’t expect the Grandsire to change his allegiance at the last instant?’

  ‘Why not? You are here, are you not? What brought you here, Yuyutsu? Was it the fact that both armies stand well-matched? Or was it your conscience? Whether you call it self-preservation or righteousness, sanity has prevailed, has it not? With such equally placed armies, war is futile and peace inevitable.’

  Yuyutsu thought it over and said, ‘Well, I can only hope the others see themselves as sane as you do.’

  Dharma scowled, unhappy to have his optimism questioned. He said, ‘Govinda! Those soldiers you promised, from the forests of the east…’

  ‘Will be here,’ Shikandin interrupted, gruff.

  Partha, who had been silent all the while, was not convinced. He said, ‘Is that anticipation or information, Shikandin? I suspect it is the former… And with all due respect, even if you do manage to get an akshauhini of soldiers, which itself is doubtable, how trained are they to fight? If limping dotards and untested boys like the ones you’ve brought along are what you…’

  ‘That limping dotard is my brother-in-law. Just as Dharma here is.’

  ‘Are you comparing me to that…’

  ‘Peace, Dharma,’ Yuyudhana intervened, while Bhim pulled Shikandin back and Govinda laid a restraining hand on Partha’s chest. Yuyutsu, ne
w to the numerous tensions that filled the air, appeared uncomfortable.

  Govinda said, ‘Come, Shikandin, Yuyudhana. You too, Dhrstyadymn. Let’s show Yuyutsu around. I’d like to hear more on his assessment of our army as against Syoddhan’s.’ He led the way out of the tent, Yuyudhana and an eager Yuyutsu with him, while the two reluctant Panchala princes followed.

  Govinda and Shikandin waited till Dhrstyadymn and Yuyudhana had gotten into conversation with Yuyutsu on how Syoddhan might use Bhagadatta’s elephants, and then fell behind the three men for a more private exchange.

  ‘Speaking of those men…’ Govinda began, his voice loud enough for Shikandin alone to hear.

  ‘My people are half a day’s march away. They will be here well before noon.’

  ‘Excellent! But then, when have you let me down, Shikandin, no matter how high the stakes? Now the last piece of my plan is in place – the added forces are exactly what we need to tip the scales in our favour. We stand, at this moment, as strong as, if not stronger than, Syoddhan. Peace is not just likely, it is inevitable. Rudra be praised!’ Govinda finished.

  ‘It’s done then?’ Shikandin ‘Your plan…it’s in place?’

  ‘Yes,’ Govinda confirmed. ‘Dhaumya will soon take my offer of peace to Syoddhan. Of course, such peace will come at a price, but one that I am happy to pay.’

  ‘Speak for yourself, Govinda. I’m never happy with any barter that you are so eager to make. On the contrary, it makes me nervous.’

  ‘You? Nervous? The man with a heart of mighty rock and cold stone?’ Govinda laughed. ‘Come now, Shikandin. If anyone has known what I’ve intended, right from when we met again at Matsya, it has been you. You are the one I relied on to gather together the people of the eastern and central regions of the realm. You are the one who shared my fears, my thoughts, as Dhaumya and then I bore our incomplete offers of conciliation to Hastina – offers that were bound to be refused. You are the only one who knew that I have hidden the truth of what I have wanted, not in innuendo but in plain speech: We prepare for war in order to avoid war. I did not mean for things to be otherwise, except in terms of the outcome…’