The Mahabharata Secret

by Doyle, Christopher C

  As if his words were some kind of spell, there was a loud thunderclap, the car windows and windscreens shattered and the vehicle was buffeted by a strong gale.

  Imran reached out and knocked out the shattered windshield so he could see ahead of him. The SUV swung wildly and he fought to keep it on the road. He felt as though invisible hands were taking turns to pull or push the car violently in different directions; the steering wheel seemed almost useless in his hands.

  Almost simultaneously, the ground under them shook violently again and something big thumped hard against the side of the car. The door bulged inwards with the impact. There was another loud thump on the roof which immediately caved in and they saw a large branch blow away after having struck the car. More branches slammed against the shattered rear windscreen and windows, spraying the occupants of the cabin with shards of smashed glass and letting in smaller branches, twigs and leaves, along with the gale that was now rocking the SUV.

  Radha screamed and they looked at the road ahead in shock. A crack on the left side of the road was widening and advancing directly across the road ahead of them. In a few seconds, it would stretch right across the highway, leaving them with no space to escape it.

  Imran pressed the accelerator to the floor. The engine roared as the SUV charged ahead, racing alongside the swiftly advancing crack. He said a silent prayer as he tried to focus on the road through the leaves and branches that swept past them and into the car, because of the absence of the windshield.

  Just as the fracture began to devour the narrow path Imran had been driving on, the SUV zipped forward, its two left wheels bumping over the narrow wedge of the fast-growing crack.

  Imran now exhaled audibly and allowed the car to slow down just a bit. For a moment there, he thought that they were going to plunge into the abyss that had opened up across the highway!

  Then, it was over. Silence descended on them, apart from the roar of the SUV. Through the open windows they saw the devastation around them. Trees had been blown over and those that were still standing had had branches and leaves ripped off them.

  Imran stopped the SUV, leaving the engine idling and they all clambered out, shaken and bruised.

  ‘Oh, my God!’ Colin whispered. He was facing the direction from which they had come, the direction in which the hill was located.

  They turned to look at what had disturbed Colin. The ruined forest stretched out on either side of the highway. Apart from the devastation, they saw a column of flames that had shot up to the heavens, brightening the dawn sky behind them.

  Before they could comprehend the sight before them, there was a loud blast from the direction of Sitagarha hill.

  Almost immediately, there was a second, bigger and louder explosion that seemed to tear through the forests around them.

  ‘What...what’s happening?’ Radha’s face was white as she stared at the column of flames.

  ‘The seismic and airblast shockwaves travel faster than sound,’ Imran explained. ‘The hill’s blown up.’

  Fury of Fire

  As Imran and the others left the forest for the highway, a huge orange jet of fire shot out towards the roof of the cavern and shrapnel flew at the LeT men, who fell like ninepins.

  Verma stared in horror at the space that had seemed vacant until now, and where now indistinct shapes suddenly materialised out of nowhere, engulfed by flames that had begun to devour that part of the cavern.

  The King of Magadha had apparently succeeded in equipping part of his fleet with the sheath of invisibility. The grenade had strayed from its path and exploded right in the middle of the fleet of invisible aircraft.

  As the cavern and the foundations of the hill shook, a second explosion followed, bigger than the first one. The cavern erupted in a fury of fire as the row of vimanas, visible and invisible, exploded, blasting the upper half of the hill to smithereens. Boulders and rocks, along with blasted pieces of vimana, were ejected high above the forest.

  All that was finally left of the cavern and the hill was a smoking crater in which rocks pelted down from the sky.

  The Aftermath

  Imran steered the SUV through the deserted streets of Hazaribagh. The roads were torn and shredded like the highway, testifying to the intensity of the explosions at Sitagarha.

  They gazed at the buildings they passed. Some now had great cracks running along their sides, others had partially or fully collapsed walls or roofs and a slum they passed had been razed to the ground. There was not one window that had a glass pane intact and the roads were littered with shards of glass. Electric cables had snapped and lay like lifeless snakes curled on or along the sides of the roads.

  It was a sorry sight and Radha was glad that Imran had had the presence of mind to have the town evacuated. Who knows what loss of life and injuries may have resulted had the inhabitants of Hazaribagh been here? Imran pulled over and dialled Vishnu Prasad. ‘The dams,’ he said and listened for a while. ‘Thanks,’ he said finally as he hung up.

  The others looked at him curiously.

  ‘All safe,’ Imran reported, but he was unable to bring a smile to his face as he said, ‘The villages were evacuated. Fortunately, the dams are still standing. They were apparently built to withstand an earthquake much stronger than the seismic activity generated by the explosions.’

  But the fate of the commandos was seared into his mind.

  50

  Day 12

  Jaungarh Fort

  Vijay sat on a balcony of Jaungarh fort and surveyed the countryside, gloomily. The sun was sinking below the hills on the horizon, reflecting his mood. The view of the countryside was breathtaking. The dying sun wrapped its cloak around the landscape, throwing long shadows upon the ground. At the base of the hill on which the fort stood, lights twinkled in the houses huddled together in the village that had, in centuries past, been defended by the fort.

  From Sitagarha they had returned to Patna, from where they were flown in a military aircraft to Delhi, after Vijay and Shukla had received medical attention. The media had been full of reports about the mysterious explosion at Sitagarha hill that had levelled half the forests of Hazaribagh and caused devastation on an epic scale. Tremors from the explosion had been felt as far away as Patna.

  Speculation was rife as news reporters linked the midnight evacuation of Hazaribagh town with the devastation at Sitagarha Hill. The government had refused to issue a statement, with the Home Minister saying that he would only comment after a probe led by a scientific team. There was no mention of the IB’s involvement in the mission. Or of the commandos. It was as if they had never existed.

  Vijay reflected on the events of the last few days. He had set out to solve the clues in his uncle’s email. And look what had happened. They had found the secret of the Nine and almost lost it to Farooq and the LeT. If it had not been for the selfless act of the commandos, the world would have been a different place once the LeT carried out its threat.

  But surely this wasn’t what his uncle had intended? His uncle knew about Farooq’s motives. Why, then, had he sent Vijay on a mission that would deliver him and the secret into the hands of LeT?

  And then, there was the other emotional storm that was playing out in his head. In the turmoil of the last few days he had discovered love. And yet, was there a future for Radha and him? They both had their individual ambitions to live for...

  Day 12

  The Brotherhood lives on

  Vijay sat up in bed and switched on the bedside lamp. Sleep wouldn’t come to him. Earlier that evening, he had dropped Colin off at the airport.

  He was alone in the fort now and had stayed up reading before deciding to try and sleep. But there was too much on his mind.

  He got out of bed and switched on his laptop. There was something that nagged at him. He didn’t know what it was, but it had also contributed to his difficulty in falling asleep. What he did know was that he still hadn’t resolved his uncle’s intentions in sending him the emails.

/>   Without quite knowing why, he pulled up the emails his uncle had sent him and gazed at them. There they were, straightforward enough, now that they had been fully deciphered and their directions followed.

  Something tugged at his mind. Despite all that had happened, including the destruction of Sitagarha hill, he had a subliminal feeling this saga wasn’t over yet, that there was more to come.

  But what more could there be?

  He glanced over the emails again and contemplated deleting them.

  He took a deep breath and opened the first email. Quickly glancing at it, he deleted it and opened up the second email. The nagging feeling returned. As if something was trying to steer his thoughts in a certain direction.

  What was it? He studied the email, reading it slowly and carefully. But they had exhausted the meanings buried in this email.

  Or had they?

  Everything isn’t always the way it looks. Sometimes you need to look deeper within. Study, the Bhagavad Gita, it is the source of much knowledge. The subject of the Gita, though mixed up, is a mark upon us for our future lives, and will lead you through the door to knowledge, which you must unlock. In an ocean of maya, there is always an island of satya.

  Vijay sat back and mused.

  Why was this particular email troubling him? Was there an even deeper meaning in this email?

  Sometimes you need to look deeper within.

  Or was he being over-analytical? He had grown so accustomed to discovering multiple hidden messages in the emails that it was difficult not to look for more meanings behind every word.

  A thought suddenly swam through his head. He sat up, considering it.

  Was it possible?

  For a moment, he sat still, trying to dismiss the thought. It seemed incredible. But the harder he tried to banish it, the stronger it seemed to get.

  He walked out of his bedroom, and through the corridors of the fort, switching on the lights as he progressed deeper into the fort, until he came to a room that had been constructed around the hillside. This was a room with a huge mural depicting the discourse by Lord Krishna to Arjun the Pandava, on the battlefield of Kurukshetra. The discourse known as the Bhagavad Gita.

  He switched on all the lights in the room and stood gazing at the mural, musing over the second line of the email.

  Study, the Bhagavad Gita, it is the source of much knowledge.

  His mind raced. This line had first helped them isolate the study as the location of the key. But this line also contained the second reference to knowledge, within this email. Was there a connection between this line and the last line of the email which also mentioned the Gita, and spoke of the door to knowledge? Was there another meaning to the Subject of the Gita other than the obvious reference to Karma which they had already interpreted?

  He trembled with excitement as he considered the possibility that the email might be pointing to this mural. The subject of the Gita could also mean the discourse itself, which was represented in this painting.

  But what was the door to knowledge?

  Vijay walked closer to the painting and studied it closely. It was a painting that was common in India and he could find nothing exceptional or different about it.

  Unless...

  He moved closer to the wall and examined the chariot. Only one wheel was visible in the painting.

  He held his breath as he studied the wheel and then exhaled sharply.

  The wheel of the chariot had nine spokes.

  There had been another hidden message in the email. What did it lead to?

  Vijay sat on the floor, now wide awake, and tried to reason it out. If the clue in the email was taken into consideration, it would mean that his uncle had hidden away something in the fort; something that was connected to the secret of the Nine, something that could be classified as knowledge...and something that fitted the description of being ‘2,000 years of history’.

  What could it be? And where could his uncle have hidden it?

  He examined the painting again. Perhaps he had missed something. There must be more in the painting to guide him.

  Was it the horses? There was nothing special about them.

  He studied the figures of Arjuna and Krishna but there was nothing unusual in them either.

  It was difficult to search for something when he had absolutely no idea what he was looking for. He sighed and examined the chariot but there was nothing out of the ordinary there either.

  What about the wheel? Apart from the nine spokes, did it have anything that stood out? He took in the rim, the spokes and the axle, a portion of which was visible.

  Nothing there.

  He turned his attention to the centre of the wheel and started.

  In his earlier scrutiny of the painting, the hub of the wheel had appeared to be a dark black solid circle. Now, he realised that where the hub should have been, there was a concave cavity. Armed with this knowledge, he now discerned a thin hairline crack in the painting that he hadn’t noticed before. It was barely visible and extended from the missing hub towards the floor and the ceiling, perpendicular to them.

  Vijay felt his excitement growing. The last time they were guided by this email they had found the key to the disk, in a painting in his uncle’s study. Was there a link between the key and this painting?

  Only one way to find out.

  He darted out of the room and sped up the stairs to the study. It took him seconds to find the key and fly down the stairs, back to the room with the mural.

  Would it fit?

  He slowly slid the circular key into the concave cavity in the mural, his hands trembling with anticipation.

  It fitted perfectly.

  Vijay could barely contain his excitement.

  He turned the key to the left. It locked in with a click. Holding his breath, he turned it in a clockwise direction.

  There was a series of clicks and whirrs, then the wall split at the crack he had seen, the two halves of the painting sliding aside with a soft rumble.

  Vijay stood transfixed at the archway carved into the rock of the hillside.

  The door to knowledge, which you must unlock.

  It now made sense.

  He stepped into the darkness beyond the arch. As he crossed the threshold, a soft light played around him and he realised that he was in a tunnel carved out of the rock. It led into a chamber within the hillside.

  Entering the chamber, he looked around with awe. Row upon row of stainless steel shelves lined the rocky walls; each bore stainless steel containers.

  Against one wall stood a stainless steel table upon which were placed a thermograph and a hygrometer. The thermograph indicated a temperature of 65 degrees Fahrenheit and the hygrometer showed humidity at 35%.

  He felt the caress of cool air against his skin and heard the faint hum of an air conditioner.

  What was this place? And what was in the steel containers?

  Vijay realised that his uncle had gone to great lengths to build this chamber. But what was its purpose?

  He strode up to a row of shelves and examined the containers. Each one had a label on it and they were all in a strange, unknown script. He opened one container. Inside was a roll of microfilm.

  That explained the air conditioning and the thermograph and hygrometer; they were to ensure that the microfilm was preserved.

  What was on the microfilm?

  Next, he noticed a screen set up at the far end of the chamber, with a machine before it. It was a microfilm reader. The desk also had a sheaf of papers with notes on it.

  Vijay browsed through the papers. The notes were in his uncle’s handwriting. He was reading a paragraph that described the engine of an aircraft that used anti-gravitation as a means of propulsion.

  He switched on the microfilm reader. Images appeared on the screen; lines of script, unreadable and undecipherable. He had never seen this script before. But he knew what he was looking at.

  Whether it was as the leader of the Nine or simply as a m
ember of the Nine, who was well-versed in ancient Indian languages, Vikram Singh had been tasked with the responsibility of deciphering the ancient library of the Nine. They had seen the abandoned shell of the library in the cavern at Bairat. But here were the contents, safely preserved, and his uncle had been engaged in translating these into English.

  Vijay looked around. The shelves nearest him bore containers with labels in English. He understood. His uncle had also preserved the English translations on microfilm.

  He now noticed that there was a drawer in the steel desk. He slid it open. It was empty, except for an envelope. To his great surprise, it was addressed to him.

  Vijay pulled out a single sheet of paper. It was a letter. He recognised the handwriting as his uncle’s.

  It was dated six months ago.

  My dearest nephew, Vijay,

  If you are reading this letter then it means that you have lived up to my expectations and decoded my messages. It also means that you now know about the Nine and the secret that the brotherhood have guarded for over 2,000 years. What you don’t know yet is that I am the last of the Nine—their leader in the 21st century.

  I am sorry I had to keep this from you but I was bound by the code of the Nine.

  Your presence within my microfilm chamber implies that I am dead, probably killed by someone who was once a trusted friend and colleague but who turned against the values and principles of the Nine. But that isn’t important. What you must know, however, is that your life may also be in danger, now that I have shared this knowledge with you.

  It is my sincere hope that my decision to share my secret with you will not put your life in peril. And I hope you will understand that I have no other choice.

  Now, to speak of a matter close to my heart. I am the last surviving member of the Nine. I must pass on my responsibility to someone I trust. And I trust no one more than you, Vijay. So, I am asking you to shoulder the burden I bore for 25 years and become the custodian of the secret of the Nine.

  A word about this secret. When the brotherhood of the Nine was founded by Asoka the Great, 2,300 years ago, the nature of the secret was known to the founding members of the Nine. However, the oath of secrecy and the confidentiality surrounding the identity of the Nine, even as members were replaced through the centuries, meant that the nature of the secret and its location were forgotten over the years. Only the puzzle remained to identify the location of the secret. Even I did not know what the secret was until a few years ago.