THE CURSE OF BRAHMA

by Jagmohan Bhanver

  He could see Sini Yadav standing at the head of the Bateshwar army but there was no sign of Vasudev.

  ‘That coward has shown his true colours,’ Somdatta gnashed his teeth in frustration. ‘I was looking forward to cutting off his hands and legs and presenting it to his lover Devki, before I marry her. But that yellow-blooded rascal did not have the courage to show up. Never mind, we will destroy their army first and then decide what to do with him.’

  Somdatta looked ahead and his expression grew grim as he saw that Sini Yadav had organized his forces in the Kamal Vyuha (lotus formation). This meant that archers were placed in the centre and the infantry and cavalry formed ‘petals’ around them for protection. This was the ideal formation for an army that did not have any war elephants. Somdatta would have used the same strategic arrangement for his own troops, but with his oversized elephants, the Kamal Vyuha was not possible. He instantly knew what he had to do. He indicated to Damodara to quickly get their entire force into the Matsya Vyuha (fish formation).

  Damodara flashed an evil smile. He knew the Matsya formation was a deadly pattern and even large armies faced great difficulty in standing up to this particular arrangement. An army as small as Sini Yadav’s would be completely routed. Moreover, the Matsya Vyuha was the best way to combat the Kamal Vyuha selected by Sini Yadav for his troops. Somdatta had chosen the formation well. As the name suggested, the Matsya Vyuha involved aligning the troops in the shape of a fish. The lighter-armed infantry would be placed in the centre of the formation and continue forward where they would give way to the cavalry, which formed the mouth of the fish formation. The sides of the structure would comprise the war elephants, and behind these huge beasts, the archers would hide and let fly their deadly arrows. The rear end again comprised the remaining infantry troops. Their fish formation would smash through Sini’s lotus formation like an iron rod through a sheet of paper.

  ‘Charge!’ roared Somdatta standing at the mouth of the Matsya Vyuha, with Damodara by his side. The entire formation moved forward as one large entity and it was astounding to see thousands of men and beasts surging ahead as if bound by one invisible thread.

  ‘Stand firm!’ Sini Yadav shouted at the other end of the battlefield. His troops stood at their place, awaiting further commands from their senapati. The entire Bateshwar army resembled a gigantic lotus waiting for the mammoth fish-like structure rushing towards it in what seemed an attempt to completely devour it.

  ‘Steady men, steady!’ Sini said to his people, as he saw soldiers and animals getting nervous, waiting for the gigantic enemy force to hit them where they stood. The tension was palpable. It appeared that the Bateshwar soldiers had forgotten to breathe for a brief moment.

  ‘If we stand still, we can handle their onslaught better,’ Sini said turning to the archers in the middle of their formation. ‘Aim for the sky. Make sure every arrow rains down from the sky and hits their elephants like a thunderbolt. That will keep them occupied for a while.’

  His next command was to the cavalry. ‘Spears at the ready, men. Keep them pointed towards the enemy.’ All cavalry troops had arms of steel and the power of iron in their veins. They would impale the enemy’s first charge on the tip of their spears, and they wouldn’t waver. Sini knew this with the same certainty as he knew the names of each of his soldiers. To the infantry he instructed, ‘Swords at the ready. Take down the first man to come in front of you. The rest will be easy.’

  Sini wished Vasudev had been with him. His friend’s presence had the same calming effect on him as his own had on his friend. But he had agreed with Vasudev’s almost last-minute decision to not be with him at this moment. ‘I hope you were right in deciding not to be here with me, my friend,’ he thought grimly.

  Meanwhile, Somdatta had not been idle. He knew the skill of the Bateshwar archers, and he realized that if he had been in Sini Yadav’s position, he would have used his scant forces to try and wreak the maximum damage possible. Our attack has to be swift and ruthless, he thought grimly, as he ordered his soldiers arranged in the Matsya Vyuha to increase their speed. His cavalry rushed ahead with the speed of lightning. Somdatta’s first charge resulted in the instant deaths of scores of his best riders as they were mercilessly impaled on the spears of the Bateshwar horsemen. However, by the time Sini’s cavalrymen had recovered from the first onslaught and could re-arm themselves with another spear, the second wave of Somdatta’s outsized cavalry was upon them and large patches of Sini’s cavalry were cut down into pieces. The Bateshwar infantry tried their best to fight the enemy soldiers rushing over them on horseback, but their task was made difficult as they stumbled over the dead bodies of the fallen cavalrymen. The foot soldiers were no match for the high-perched cavalry of Somdatta’s army and within moments, hundreds of dead bodies were scattered all around. Most of these soldiers were simply ground under the hoofs of the Bahlika steeds.

  Sini’s face was red with rage as he roared, ‘Archers, let loose your arrows. Shoot without taking rest.’ His archers had been waiting for the signal, and filled with the fury of watching their comrades being killed ruthlessly, shot their arrows in the air. The sky was covered with thousands of arrows, and the sound of the same arrows as they descended towards the earth was deafening. They rained down with the force of a thousand thunderbolts and created havoc in the ranks of Somdatta’s army. Horses and men perished in the blink of an eye as long, deadly arrowheads pierced their armour and skin as if it were paper. Elephants were a different matter. Their thick pachyderm skin saved them from death, but arrows stuck in their eyes and heads made them go mad with painful rage. They ran amok and trampled their own soldiers under their huge feet.

  Somdatta looked on in impotent rage as he witnessed his own elephants kill his soldiers and destroy the formation he had so skillfully executed just a few minutes back. He made his decision. ‘Kill all the wounded elephants,’ he shouted to the mahouts (the elephant drivers). In seconds, the riders of the wounded elephants drove the tip of their sharp rods into the relatively softer part of the elephants’ neck. All mahouts were supposed to carry these iron rods, with the sharp tips laced with deadly Naga poison, in case of just such an eventuality. The wounded elephants tripped and fell, dead before they even hit the ground. Soldiers in the vicinity moved away quickly to save themselves from being trapped under the huge beasts. More than half of Somdatta’s war elephants lay dead and a significant part of his Matsya Vyuha was in disarray. Somdatta signalled to Damodara, who quickly got busy trying to get the troops back into formation. Meanwhile, Somdatta ordered his archers to let loose their arrows, and the sky was once again filled with the deadly missiles, this time headed in the direction of the Bateshwar forces. The damage on Sini’s side was also considerable as the arrows rained down on his troops. However, it was minimized as there were no war elephants to aggravate the chaos.

  Sini rallied his troops as they now engaged the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. Damodara led the attack this time and Sini’s soldiers fell in front of him like flies before a giant. Somdatta had sent Damodara up front with the sole purpose of taking hold of Sini Yadav and killing him. He knew once Sini was dead, the rest of the Bateshwar army would succumb in no time. Damodara slowly began making his way to where Sini stood commanding his troops. Meanwhile, Somdatta stayed back with the larger part of his army, keeping them in place. He knew they couldn’t afford to lose their formation once again in this battle.

  Sini saw Damodara advancing towards him. He was nowhere as large as Damodara, but there were very few men who were as good at sword fighting as Sini. Vasudev was one of those, but he wasn’t here right now. He would have to fight Damodara himself. If he could kill Somdatta’s right-hand man, it would be a big dent in Somdatta’s armour. Sini Yadav rode ahead on his horse. Damodara saw him coming and smiled malevolently at him from a distance. He didn’t want to fight Sini while he was on a horse, but he didn’t have time to get a horse for himself. He waited for him to come close, and as Sini attacked Damoda
ra with his sword, the latter ducked deftly, in a swift motion that belied his gigantic size. Before Sini could attack again, Damodara gave one mighty blow to the horse’s head. The blow would have broken the back of a large man, but the horse only stumbled for an instant. This was, however, enough for Damodara as he used the moment to pull Sini off the horse and throw him to the ground. He walked slowly towards where Sini was sitting on the ground, shaking his head to regain his equilibrium. Damodara took out his sword, and gave Sini an evil smile. ‘Welcome your death, senapati!’ he mumbled softly. Sini held his sword up with one hand, trying to get up with the other. As per the rules of war, Damodara could attack him only when he was standing. Damodara eyed him carefully, waiting for the moment Sini would rise, so that he could finish him off with one swift stroke of his sword. Sini stumbled to gain his balance, just as Damodara rushed towards him with his sword held high.

  At exactly that moment, the earth appeared to shake violently and sure enough, there was the deafening roar of what seemed like hundreds of elephants and horses galloping at breakneck speed. Over this disturbance, there was another sound, growing more clamourous by the moment. Both Damodara and Sini strained their ears to make out what the commotion was. And suddenly the din was audible. It seemed as if thousands of men were shouting, ‘Bateshwar ki Jai…Rajkumar Vasudev ki Jai’ (Praised be Bateshwar…Praised be Prince Vasudev). Sini Yadav smiled in relief in the same moment as realization dawned on Damodara. Damodara looked in Somdatta’s direction for guidance, but he was preoccupied looking the other way, towards the rear side of his Matsya Vyuha, where there was major disorder. Damodara knew he had to make this decision alone. He turned to face Sini again, and charged at him. Sini had anticipated this move and he adroitly slipped down to his right knee, as Damodara’s sword swooshed over his head.

  Before Damodara could make another attack with his sword, Sini had sunk the tip of his blade right up to the hilt, in Damodara’s abdomen. Damodara’s eyes glassed over, and he toppled, crashing to the ground, even before he knew what had happened.

  ‘You were a worthy enemy,’ Sini sighed, as he looked at Damodara’s lifeless body.

  Though he was no stranger to death, and he would gladly fight anyone who threatened his nation, Sini always felt bad whenever a worthy opponent died at his hands. He quickly hopped back onto his horse to get a better view of what was happening at the far side of the battleground. He could see Somdatta waving frantically at his troops to break formation and turn around.

  Sini knew the reason for Somdatta’s confusion. Vasudev had attacked Somdatta’s Matsya Vyuha from the rear. He had led the charge with the entire lot of war elephants at the disposal of Bateshwar. This was one of the main reasons he had asked Sini not to take the elephants with his troops. The chaos at the rear end of Somdatta’s Matsya Vyuha was now evident. Vasudev’s war elephants had completely decimated the tail end of the fish formation and a majority of Somdatta’s infantry stationed at the back was crushed to pulp. The elephants rode over them and carried their onslaught right to the centre of the vyuha, trampling every infantry unit in their path. Meanwhile, soldiers perched on the elephants showered spears on Somdata’s cowering archers. Vasudev’s cavalry followed right behind the war elephants, finding it easy to find their footing as the elephants had literally cleared a path for them. His soldiers made short work of the remaining Bahlika foot soldiers. In a few minutes, the face of the battle had changed. Vasudev’s well-timed attack from the rear end of Somdatta’s forces had not only taken them by surprise and shattered the enemy’s strategic formation, it had dealt such a crushing blow to the morale of the Bahlika army that the soldiers were finding it impossible to recover from the offense. Sini Yadav seized the opportunity to intensify the attack. Somdatta’s forces were caught between Sini’s troops in the front and Vasudev’s fresh forces from the rear. It would have been a complete massacre if Vasudev had not blown his conch to halt the battle.

  Sini’s soldiers captured Somdatta’s personal bodyguards, who were all killed right away. Somdatta was bound and brought to Sini, who placed the tip of his blade under Somdatta’s chin and pressed it lightly, causing blood to trickle down his neck. ‘I should kill you right away, you scoundrel,’ he hissed. Somdatta ignored him as he looked around, as if searching for someone. ‘Damodara,’ he whispered. ‘Where is Damodara?’ he asked.

  ‘Damodara is dead, you rascal,’ Sini snapped at him. ‘Dead…so that you could satisfy your ego,’ he continued with contempt in his eyes, as he spat in Somdatta’s direction.

  ‘Sini!’ Vasudev exclaimed in shock. He had just made his way to where they held Somdatta, and witnessed Sini spitting on the enemy’s face, while the latter was held in chains.

  ‘Vasudev,’ Sini hugged his closest friend with love. ‘Your strategy paid off. They were completely taken by surprise,’ he grinned at Vasudev.

  Vasudev, hugged his friend back, but Sini noticed he was not smiling. ‘What’s the matter, Vasudev? You don’t look happy at our enemy’s defeat,’ Sini said with a tinge of disappointment in his voice.

  Vasudev looked at his friend with a wan smile. ‘No one is happier than me that we have won, Sini. But at what cost?’ He gestured towards the hundreds of soldiers lying dead on both sides of the battlefield. ‘And is it right that you spit at a man bound in chains, in front of his own countrymen?’ He looked at Sini with narrowed eyes.

  Sini bent his head in shame. He knew he was wrong to spit at Somdatta while he was chained and helpless, but he couldn’t control himself at the sight of the man who had been responsible for all this destruction. However, Vasudev was right. The ethics of war did not include insulting a man when he was already down and defeated.

  ‘What do you want me to do prince?’ he asked Vasudev with apology evident in his voice.

  Vasudev glanced in Somdatta’s direction. ‘Ask your men to unchain him. And let his soldiers be free to return home. Tend to the injured on both sides of the battlefield, and then let us go home…to Bateshwar.’

  Sini Yadav bowed to Vasudev and gave the command to unchain Somdatta. An unarmed Somdatta moved towards Vasudev. ‘You have won my respect Vasudev, but not my friendship. I have lost too much today to ever be your friend, but I can promise that the next time we meet on the battlefield, I will not underestimate you. And I will have my revenge. But for now, you can tell Ugrasena and your father that you have won Devki from me.’

  Vasudev clenched his jaw at Somdatta’s last words, but he maintained his calm. ‘Devki was never yours to give to me, Somdatta.’ Then he smiled at his enemy, and there was steel in his gaze. ‘But I look forward to meeting you again, in happier circumstances. You will get the invitation of my marriage with Devki.’

  Somdatta looked at Vasudev with hatred in his eyes. But he refrained from saying anything. Sini shouted commands to prepare to return after tending to the wounded on both sides.

  Vasudev mounted his horse and galloped back towards Bateshwar, followed by a team of trusted bodyguards. A chorus of ‘Bateshwar ki Jai…Rajkumar Vasudev ki Jai’ accompanied his departure from the battlefield.

  Birth of a Demon Child

  ansa moved in his sleep. The nightmare was disturbing and it had been recurring for the past few days. Images of death…his death came to him in flashes. A little boy was running in the royal gardens, butter smeared across his face. He had the most innocent smile Kansa had ever seen. He moved surreptitiously towards the child so he wouldn’t disturb the infant’s unbridled frolicking in the mud. He bent down to see what the child was doing. He saw the infant shaping something out of the mildly wet mud; it looked like he was making a toy dagger. Kansa smiled indulgently at the toddler. At the age of three, he was already showing signs of being a true kshatriya (warrior). After all, he was the son of his beloved sister Devki and his valiant friend Vasudev. He had to be a warrior among warriors. The child had by now completed fashioning the dagger out of the wet mud and was waving it in an arc, as if parrying with an unseen foe. Kansa pla
yfully tried to pull the toy dagger from the child’s hands, but he resisted with a smile. Kansa laughed at this. The baby laughed too. But it seemed to Kansa that the child was not laughing with him; he was laughing at him. Suddenly, the child thrust the toy dagger in Kansa’s direction and at that moment the toy weapon became real—a metal dagger with a lethally sharp end, pointed in his direction. Kansa barely escaped from getting hurt. Instinctively Kansa pulled out his own sword and just as he was about to plunge it into the child, Devki appeared out of thin air. She screamed, ‘No, Kansa, he is my son…your nephew! You can’t hurt him!’ Kansa was shocked at what he had almost done. He turned back to apologize to the child, but he was gone. In his place stood a fifteen-year-old youth with the same innocent smile the child had had. The young boy was holding the infant’s dagger by the handle, but the tip of the dagger now rested in Kansa’s abdomen, and Kansa could see more than feel the life blood pouring out of his body and on to the ground, making the mud even wetter. He looked at the boy, unable to understand. The boy laughed, and again it seemed as if he was laughing at Kansa. Devki came close to the boy and hugged him. Why was she hugging him? His beloved sister, hugging his murderer! And then Kansa heard the words that chilled his heart and made his blood freeze. ‘Thank you my son!’ Devki had just thanked the boy who had killed her brother.

  Kansa got up from his nightmare, his angavastra drenched with perspiration. He felt sick. The dream had seemed so real; as if it were happening right before him. Devki’s betrayal haunted him. Of all his brothers and sisters, she was dearest to him. What if she ever betrayed him? He shook his head vigorously to get the vile thought out of his mind. She would never do something like this. This was just a dream! he said viciously to himself.

  What if it was not a dream? The hoarse and raucous voice came from somewhere inside his mind. Kansa jumped off his bed. His fighting arm instinctively reached to retrieve his sword from the other side of his bed. He looked around him trying to see where the voice was coming from.