The emperor was listening, hardly able to believe his good fortune. Being granted the opportunity to guard the world’s most priceless treasure was something he was willing to die for.
‘I will do as you command, O great sage. But I need your wise counsel. Which one, from among my humble shrines, do you deem suitable to be the next Black Temple?’
‘None of them,’ replied Durgadas plainly.
The king looked bewildered as he saw the matthadheesh get up from his dining chair. If none of his grand temples was worthy of the responsibility he was being asked to shoulder, what was he to do?
He did not have to wait for long. Durgadas Shastri’s eyes were sparkling with the excitement of a young alchemist. He looked straight at the brilliant Prithvivallabha and pronounced with a prophetic air.
‘Build a temple that is indestructible, O mighty Prithvivallabha! Cut out a chariot for the lord from the hardest rock that you so expertly carve as if it were fresh butter. Sculpt it deep into the bosom of mother Prithvi, a temple so impregnable that the secret of the Black Temple remains protected for centuries to come. Even thousands of years from now men should marvel at your architectural triumph.
And call this spectacular temple by a name that becomes an immortal tribute to your deity, the God of Gods, Lord Shiva Himself.
Call it the Kailasa temple of Ellora.’
Banaras, 2017
A TOTALITARIAN GOVERNMENT – PART III
‘There is a scientific or you may say evolutionary basis on which the secret brotherhood has planned its ultimate vision spanning millennia. While Constantine was probably not aware of the socio-political alignment of his plan with what was anyway the progression of the human planet, the malicious successors of the Order are well in the know.
As described beautifully by Yuval Noah Harari in his book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, the world and the society moving towards unification is a sort of universally accepted anthropological truth. In the year, say, 20,000 BCE the earth was divided into tens of thousands of human bands that lived like hunters and gatherers. By the year 2,000 BCE they were organized into large settlements, were comparatively civilized and had learnt agriculture. These included the Indus Valley region, Mesopotamia, the Egyptian civilization and more. Slowly, trade started to flourish between these settlements and the human race began to get even more unified through the principles, needs and benefits of economics.’
They had now spent over seven hours together. Vidyut was completely spellbound at the narration of the great conspiracy being unfolded page by page as Dwarka Shastri spoke continuously, tirelessly.
‘Harappa had well-developed trade relations with the Mesopotamian people, who in turn had commerce links with Egypt. Thereafter, religion emerged as the next social medium for unification. Buddhism and Christianity started to spread rapidly across large parts of Asia and Europe. But despite the flourish and the reach of religion, it was still not the number one consolidating influence. The greatest cohesive force by far was – conquest!
Trade and religion were followed by the empire-building ambition of some of history’s most unforgettable individuals and monarchies. Whether it was Alexander, Samudragupta and Genghis Khan or the Roman, Spanish, Portuguese and British empires, the world slowly but surely moved from being a sparsely populated planet with tens of thousands of tribes, to a global map that could be portrayed clearly under a few hundred nations and states. This unification continues even till the most contemporary history. Why, even the Indian sub-continent lay fragmented into 565 princely states till as recently as 1947. Today it is one country, one identity – India. So, you see, Vidyut, the Order believes that what it is doing is simply what nature and destiny expect it to! They think of themselves as modern-day conquerors, simply accelerating what is eventually inevitable!’
‘But that is absurd, Baba! The socio-political and geographic evolution you have so deftly encapsulated, took thousands and thousands of years of natural progression to occur. The New World Order, in that comparison, is an infant! Moreover, the amalgamation of so many human societies and civilizations happened not as an outcome of a purposefully chalked-out game plan. It was a complex process involving innumerable factors that defined the journey and landscape of the human race in almost a Darwinian method of natural selection, so to speak. How can anyone in their right senses even dream of manipulating such a behemoth dynamic?’
Dwarka Shastri once again gave a tired, almost dejected smile.
‘Those who have already manipulated it successfully several times over, Vidyut.’
‘While the Order routinely morphed into several forms and names, and spread its tentacles into various powerful offshoots including the Freemasons, the Order of the Skull & Bones, the Priory of Sion and the Rosicrucians, the most formidable among all were the dreaded Illuminati,’ continued the great matthadheesh.
Vidyut was a bit concerned now. While he did not want this life-changing discourse to stop, and he was thirstier than ever to know more about the forces that assassinated his beloved father, he did notice that for hours his old Baba had not even taken a sip of water. He had refused all his ayurvedic medicines and was clearly exerting himself too much.
‘Baba, we can continue later. You should get some rest now. You have been speaking for hours together,’ suggested Vidyut politely.
Dwarka Shastri ignored his great grandson’s advice. The matthadheesh’s entire life, all his work, each one of the excruciating battles and the horrific sacrifices…everything now danced in front of his eyes. Everything that he lived and breathed for, now stood staring at him.
The prophesied hour was upon them. The terrifying yet much-awaited guest had arrived and waited patiently in the dark, sacred cellar below the raakshasa-khannd of the matth.
In a few hours, the planets would start juxtaposing themselves.
This millennia-awaited, this specific, historic Rohini Nakshatra was about to arrive.
‘Consider a few strange facts about history’s greatest tectonic-shifts. Let’s start with the Bolshevik movement or simply the Russian Revolution of 1917 that led to the fall of the Tsarist regime and established the Soviet Union. As we know, the Bolsheviks followed the ideology propounded by Karl Marx and stormed the Tsar’s palace to wrest control of the country. But do you know, Vidyut, till just four years before the great revolution, the Bolsheviks were nothing more than a small political unit with no real influence? Then how did they suddenly emerge as such a formidable force that they toppled the all-powerful Tsar himself? What helped them achieve such meteoric rise? Who helped them?
Let us take an even older example. Let us delve a little into the French Revolution – a world-event that has inspired as much romantic literature and theatre as it has enthused revolutionaries of all times. But what did the French Revolution really achieve in the immediate term? It led to what is today known as the Reign of Terror and massive loss of human life. And yet, what if I tell you that in the year 1784, a full five years before the revolution actually broke out in France, a secret letter from Adam Weishaupt, the Founder of the Illuminati, to a man named Maximillien Robespierre, detailed out how the revolution needs to be systematically brought about? Vidyut – the French Revolution was not simply an uprising of the poor and the exploited against their rulers. It was a planned socio-political project engineered by the Illuminati!’
There was stunned silence in the room. Even Purohit ji did not know the intricate details of the Illuminati’s work on profound world-events like the emergence of the Bolsheviks and the French Revolution. Finally, after a few seconds, Vidyut spoke.
‘Who are the Illuminati, Baba? How are they connected to the New World Order?’
Dwarka Shastri took a deep breath, and began the most mysterious chapter of the bloodcurdling tale that he was unwrapping layer by layer.
The Marshes of Aryavarta, 1699 BCE
THE ARRIVAL OF PRACHANDA
Satyavrata Manu stood leaning over the design charts spread out
on a makeshift wooden table that was built by sawing a massive tree trunk in half. The charts were made on hardened cotton sheets and detailed out the structural plans for various sections of the Ark. They were gathered in a semi-built cabin of the giant-boat. This secluded area served as Manu’s control bay for the gargantuan project.
Manu’s long hair was tied behind his head in a braid, and large, circular kundals dangled from his ears. On Tara’s insistence, he wore kohl in his eyes, which accentuated their burning intensity. Manu looked every bit the ancient priest-king that he was going to be remembered as till eternity.
‘This does not appear to be right,’ he said to Somdutt, who was standing across the upturned tree-trunk, studying another chart.
‘What, Manu…?’ enquired Somdutt.
Over the last few grueling months, Manu had learnt the art and science of shipbuilding at a furious pace. He spent several nights under a flickering burner, studying the texts recommended by Somdutt. He sat attentively in the sessions conducted by the chief architect with his team, and took notes. He spent hours understanding the nuances of Vedic mathematics and architecture from Somdutt and asked hundreds of questions. So much so that in a short span of a few months, even the chief architect had begun to value Manu’s structural inputs for the construction of the great Ark. It was anyway something that was far beyond the imagination and intellectual capacity of any one human brain.
‘There is too much cable being used in the stern rudder. So much bronze will increase the weight of the rudder radically, making it impossible to maneuver. Remember there is provision for only fifteen hundred men to pull from either side.’
‘Hmm…I think you are right. What if we increase the number of masts and reduce dependence on…’
Before Somdutt could complete his sentence, a soldier of the fish-folk came in with a message Manu did not expect.
‘Pranaam, Satyavrata,’ said the messenger. ‘A very large armed contingent is approaching the great Ark. And the riders from our outposts bring disturbing news.’
Manu’s fist tightened around the handle of his sword.
‘And what is that disturbing news?’
The soldier hesitated for a moment before breaking the news.
‘It is the asuras.’
‘They don’t seem to be attacking,’ said Dhruv, as they stood atop the Ark and observed the incoming asura troops.
Dhruv was right. The asuras trudged towards the Ark at a slow pace. While all of them were armed, none were weapons-ready. And from what Tara, Dhruv and Manu could make out from a distance, the asuras seemed to be tired. Very tired.
‘Ask our fighters to be ready. But not a single arrow should be unleashed unless the asuras attack first,’ Tara instructed the commanders of the Ark’s armed corps.
‘And request the kitchens to prepare a lot of hot broth. Looks like our guests are going to need it,’ added Manu, as the fight commanders prepared to leave.
Prachanda looked impressive even in his fatigued state. He rode at the head of his huge platoon, and while he failed to appear as gloriously regal as his magnificent predecessor Sura, he compensated for it by looking a lot less arrogant. A lot less cruel.
Manu stood a mile from the great Nauka now to receive the visitors who, it was clear by now, came in peace. He was accompanied by his inseparable friend Dhruv and his trusted counsellor Pundit Somdutt. Twenty choicest warriors of the fish-folk stood behind them, just as a contingency arrangement for any unexpected ambush.
The reputation of the asuras travelled far ahead of them.
And except Prachanda, no one at Manu’s Ark knew anything about the last battle of Vivasvan Pujari.
They now sat in one of the large halls of the Great Ark, on rough mats made of animal hide. Satyavrata Manu knew he needed as many allies as he could muster. By now the Ark was believed to be the ultimate savior by one and all, far and wide. It was the accepted last hope and the last boat for humanity. It was clear that pralay was going to inundate all of Aryavarta. And the proverbial pirates were watching. They wanted to snatch this boat.
Having the asuras on his side would mean a lot more defense muscle for Manu’s Ark. He knew a great battle was looming. Therefore, welcoming the king of the asuras with open arms came naturally to the son of Surya. Slowly but surely, Satyavrata was also learning diplomacy.
The dampness of the wooden walls and pillars was palpable. And just like every single corner of the behemoth, the ceiling dripped continuously from hundreds of places in the giant hall.
Prachanda was in a state of complete stupefaction. Beholding the Great Ark from both far as well as from close was a life-altering experience. That something so massive could exist was in itself a jolt on the senses. On top of that being asked to believe that it had been built by humans and not some celestial titans, was a nerve-wracking ordeal.
The new emperor of the mighty asuras looked up and down, stared into all directions, admiring the scale of what he was seeing. He was still in one of the very low rungs of the colossal boat. Already the small, round windows brought in shrieking winds that were freezing the wise asura and his commanders to their bones. He dreaded to imagine what it would be like at the highest deck of this great vessel, way above the clouds, amidst the screaming skies.
‘Please begin the humble meal, O Prachanda. While most of us are shaakahaari, the meat has been prepared especially for you and your men,’ said Manu, as he invited the asura king to break bread with him.
Prachanda was amazed to notice the resemblance between father and son. Not just the same strong jawline and the identical sparkle of the eyes, Satyavrata Manu even spoke with the same authoritative humility as his magnificent father did.
The meal was simple, and yet quite a spread in the given wretched times. Prachanda and his men dug their fingers into the fresh rice cooked with chunks of goat meat and spices. After their harrowing journey through the cold crevices of the mighty mountains of the north-west, this hot meal came as a life-saver for the asura and his commanders.
Even as he was about to feed himself with the first morsel of meat and rice, Prachanda stopped.
‘Is anything the matter, my friend? Why do you hold yourself back?’ asked Manu.
Prachanda spoke without hesitation.
‘What about my soldiers, Satyavrata? They are famished and weak after the long, grueling…’
Even before Prachanda could complete his sentence, Manu intervened.
‘Do not worry about them, O king. As we speak, they are being served a hot broth of meat, vegetables and rice. Once they have eaten, the Ark’s physicians will tend to the weak and the sick.’
Prachanda smiled and gratefully filled his mouth with the piping hot meat and rice.
‘You are just as kind and as righteous as your great father was, O king Manu. You even speak in the same manner!’
At first Manu nodded in polite response, but in a moment, he stopped chewing and looked up. Something was not right here.
‘Pardon me, O asura king…but how could you have met or spoken in person with my father? He succumbed to his wounds soon after he was tortured at the Great Bath…’
Prachanda appeared bewildered, as he looked around at the men seated over the meal, before exclaiming confidently -
‘That is not true, Satyavrata. Vivasvan Pujari did not die at the Great Bath.
I was witness to his last, his greatest battle that changed the course of destiny.’
Banaras, 2017
9/11
‘In 1776 the Bavarian philosopher Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati. While the earlier principles of the Illuminati were to reject the bondage and social hierarchies that came with the orthodox Roman catholic church, soon the mystical society started drawing members from the richest and most influential families of that time.
It is recorded in the secret chronicles of the society that are available only to a select few, that members of the Illuminati came from families that remain among the richest in the world till date,
including even the powerful Medici of Florence and the Stonefellar family. As the Illuminati grew, it became clear that their goal was to establish a totalitarian world-government by any means available. In 1972, the American economics professor Antony Sutton wrote in his work The Best Enemy Money Can Buy that the Illuminati controlled and manipulated every single war and civil unrest of the 21st century, including the rise of the Soviet Union as well as that of Adolf Hitler. He claimed that every conflict from Kosovo to the Arab Spring, was funded and maneuvered by the powerful secret society using its fronts on Wall Street. And that it was the Illuminati banking dynasties of the US that actually supplied ninety percent of the Soviet Union’s military technology to the Communist state, thereby unleashing what was going to convert the world into a war-economy for the next three decades – the Cold War.’
The great matthadheesh now indicated that he needed a glass of water. Vidyut quickly got up, filled his Baba’s glass from the mud suraahi and handed it over to the grand old man.
‘Their modus operandus was complex but effective – create social unrests in countries, make them weaponized, build distrust and tension between governments and the people, fund opposing factions with money and arms, cause civil wars, send in the so-called peacekeeping troops, ensure that peace never returns to the regions and eventually - coffers of bankers, pharma companies, oil barons and manufacturers of arms and ammunition keep brimming over by hundreds of billions of dollars. And together this rapidly prospering brotherhood goes on tightening its grip on the world!’
‘What about 9/11, Baba? You mentioned something about the heinous act of terrorism that shook up not only New York city or the United States, but the entire world. It is hard for me to believe that the Illuminati had anything to do with it.’
Kashi: Secret of the Black Temple (Harappa Series) Page 9
