Kashi: Secret of the Black Temple (Harappa Series)

by Vineet Bajpai

  The demon then roared again, sending ripples of fear down the spine of every man that stood on the battlefield. Using the madness of his dragon-like snarl to work himself into a frenzy yet again, Nara-Munda grabbed the ropes that bound him. Taking four or five ropes together in his giant grip, he pulled them with unhuman strength. In the next moment, a dozen of Dhruv’s riders were being twirled and dragged around on the bloody marshland. Nara-Munda was stronger than a wild tusker!

  Frustrated with this failed attempt, Dhruv decided to take on the fiend himself. He jumped off his galloping horse and walked up to the cannibal, his sword drawn. The demon grinned like a goblin as he saw Dhruv approaching. As the brilliant archer came near, Nara-Munda bent down slowly to pick up a gleaming, gigantic axe. Dhruv had no real plan in mind that would defeat the cruel man-eater. He also knew his sword would not withstand even one blow of the cannibal’s axe. He was going in nevertheless.

  Then suddenly, from right behind him, Dhruv heard a voice. His favorite voice in times like these.

  ‘Haul me, Dhruv!’

  The archer turned to see Satyavrata Manu charging like a wounded lion, short swords dancing in both his hands. He screamed again.

  ‘Haul me...!’

  Dhruv instantly bent and made a cup of his hands. Manu strode right into Dhruv, put one foot on his friend’s hands, another on his shoulder and launched himself upon Nara-Munda, high up in the air.

  Everyone watching was stunned to see the bravado of the son of Surya. Manu flew against the black and red sky for a few feet, and tore one of his short swords deep into the beast’s shoulder. The merciless titan grunted aloud in agony. It was the first wound inflicted on Nara-Munda during the entire war.

  Dhruv saw his king and friend leap like a fearless young panther. For him time froze for a moment.

  The future of humankind, the builder and defender of the great Ark, the very magnificent Satyavrata Manu was going into battle!

  Banaras, 2017

  DEV-RAAKSHASA

  ‘Cigarette?’

  Vidyut noticed the Maschera was offering him an Indian brand of tobacco. The Mask saw the devta’s eyes and smiled.

  ‘Your friend Bala used to send me a carton of these, every month. It is a shame no cigarette in Europe can match the flavor of this Indian brand.’

  Vidyut was seething with anger. He knew that the Maschera Bianca was taunting him. Bala was nothing more than a toy for the Mask. It was unbearable for Vidyut to think about how the Order had infiltrated his life years ago. How they had played with his work, his home, his emotions...and even now this green-eyed man sat next to Vidyut, remorselessly. Fearlessly.

  ‘What do you want, Maschera? Why are we here?’

  The White Mask laughed. He lit his cigarette and blew out the smoke in a smooth, silken manner from a little gap between his lips. He then turned to Vidyut, still smiling.

  ‘I want to make you a billionaire, Vidyut. I want you to marry Damini. Have beautiful children. I want you to live a long, happy life. That is what I want, devta.’

  It was now Vidyut’s turn to laugh. He found the Maschera’s offer very amusing. He knew they were wasting time. And it had stung him like a bee to hear Damini’s name from his vile mouth.

  ‘That is very generous of you,’ said Vidyut. ‘And what, may I ask, do you seek in return?’

  The Mask grinned, looked away towards the far end of the holy Ganga and took another drag from his cigarette.

  They both knew what the Mask wanted.

  ‘You cannot blame me for trying, can you, Vidyut? Although I knew my offer of a king’s life would not deviate you from your destiny.’

  Vidyut was listening. He wanted to know more about this man. He wanted to understand what works in the mind of someone as ruthless as the White Mask.

  ‘Tell me, Vidyut. I saw thousands of devotees at the Kashi Vishu…’

  ‘Kashi Vishwanath,’ Vidyut assisted him.

  ‘Yes, that. I saw an ocean of people there, worshipping, chanting, bending…basically consumed by their devotion. But most of them were indescribably poor. They were suffering beyond endurance. They were shriveled, diseased, grieving, penniless...and yet they bowed to your God like misery meant nothing to them. Why?’

  ‘Your God?’ asked Vidyut, his eyebrows raised enquiringly. ‘In that case, who is your God, Maschera?’

  The Mask laughed and shook his head.

  ‘It amazes me how little you understand these things, and yet you are willing to sacrifice your life for them! Do you not see, Vidyut - good and evil, God and Satan, light and darkness...they are all creations of the same power that wants billions of human beings to suffer all their lives, bow each day of their miserable existence to their so-called God and finally die hoping to meet their maker? Is this what your God has to offer – pain, loss, tears, grief, illness...death?’

  The White Mask was speaking with uncanny conviction. Perhaps the same mindless fanaticism that propels evil to spread terror and violence in the name of religion. In the name of God. The same destructive, inhuman and foolish conviction.

  ‘I don’t know what God has to offer. But I know about your final solution, Maschera. Culling down billions of people...mercilessly, systematically? Is that what you have to offer as an alternative?’

  ‘Human beings deserve to be culled because a majority of them are the biggest fools in the entire universe. You bring children into this world knowing well that this is a place for suffering, disease and hate.

  You establish worthless institutions like marriage, and both man and woman spend the rest of their lives pretending to be pious, lusting for other men and women.

  Today you say human culling is wrong. Less than a hundred years from now when dying of thirst, heat and disease these very seven billion people will turn into man-eating zombies – hungry for flesh because they will have nothing else left to eat. Thirsty for blood because there will be nothing else left to drink! Where will your God be then, devta?

  Don’t you see, Vidyut? YOU are the evil. Your God is the greatest of the dark forces – veiled under a fake, glowing white light. Whereas WE are the truth, the virtuous…and the future!

  What makes a stone so powerful? Or a shrine? Or a book or an idol? It is you – you humans! You venerate these lifeless objects and transfer your cosmic, collective spiritual energy by the millions for hundreds of years – and naturally, the stone becomes divine. And then it uses the very power it has accumulated from you – to govern you! To give you pain, sorrow and malicious tendencies in the garb of free will!’

  The Mask took out another cigarette and lit it in a rush. He took a deep drag, inhaled the smoke and kept it inside for a few seconds. He then shrugged to Vidyut, keen to hear the devta’s response. But before Vidyut could say anything, the Maschera added a chilling appendage, his cold, green eyes glowering down at the devta.

  ‘Leave Kashi today, Vidyut.

  I have killed too many young men like you. I don’t want to add your name to the list.’

  Vidyut had not failed to observe how the Mask was referring to humans as ‘you humans’. As if he himself was not one at all.

  The devta felt compelled to respond.

  ‘I pity you, Maschera Bianca or whatever you call yourself. It is you who seems to be completely oblivious to the splendor of the human spirit. We bring children to this world not for them to suffer pain and disease, but for them to live and love! For them to bask in the boundless benevolence of God – the cradle of a mother’s lap, the fingers of a father’s hand, the unforgettable touch of a lover, the fire of ambition, the triumph of achievement, the caress of a cool breeze, the peace of a temple, the laughter of sons and daughters, the carefree abandon of friendship...this is why we want our children with us.

  You make me laugh when you speak about marriage with such pathetic patronizing. Agreed men and women cannot just switch off their instinctive desires. Yet a majority of them spend their entire lives devoted to their partners, deeply in love – so much
love that it is enough to outweigh their banal cravings. And that is the greatest testimony to the sacredness of the institution. Togetherness that creates soulmates for journeys far beyond just this life, is more precious than your dark being can ever comprehend.

  Yes, we make shrines. Yes, we shower our Gods with our purest sentiments. Those are just humble ways to build a channel, to feel His presence within the limited senses we have as humans. But as the scriptures say, “Aham Brahmmasmi” or “I am Brahmma” or simply - “God resides within me” - is the simplest way to understand the cosmic connection between each individual and the Lord. Every man or woman who walks on this planet is a living shrine of the Almighty. You say He governs us. Nothing could be farther from the truth. God has never intervened in the way we choose to live, and yet He watches over us as we laugh, cry, struggle, resolve and rejoice. He loves the atheists as much as He looks after the pastors.

  As for seven billion human beings turning into flesh-eating rogues...you should not worry too much. Several naysayers and doomsday soothsayers like you have come and gone – underestimating the resilience of the human race. You see, we are still here. While challenges of climate change have been created by us, it is we who are now harnessing the power of the Sun and the wind to light up our cities. While we have, no doubt, polluted our air and our oceans, it is us now manufacturing green cars and constructing green buildings to fight back. Why, it is the magnificent men of our species who are now taking the giant leap to inhabit even the planet Mars, and transform us into a multi-planetary civilization!

  We are here for good, Maschera.

  Leave us alone.

  And tell your Overlord brethren the same.’

  The meeting between the Dev and the Raakshasa was over.

  Vidyut got up to leave as the Maschera Bianca sat looking far into the horizon, his teeth clenched.

  Before the devta turned to leave, he added a chilling appendage, his brown eyes locked with those of the demon.

  ‘Leave Kashi today, Maschera.

  I have never killed a human being in my life. Don’t make me change that.’

  Vidyut turned and walked away along the Ganga, climbing the steps of the ghaat slowly. He could not help but think about his last statement.

  If this green-eyed monster is not human...it will not be wrong to punish him for his sins.

  In his own currency.

  The Marshes Surrounding the Great Ark, Aryavarta, 1698 BCE

  NARA-BALI

  The rest of the battle slowly came to a standstill.

  Warriors from both sides watched the bloody contest with bated breath. This duel between man and man-eater was going to be the decisive battle of the war for the Ark and the Earth.

  Tara stood atop the Ark deck, trembling with fear. She had seen what Nara-Munda could do. She was witness to the gruesome fate of the great architect. She had seen how the cannibal-king had crushed the riders of the fish-tribe. Her heart had stopped when he had dragged twelve horsemen from their mounts in one go. And now her Manu, her beloved Manu was battling the fiend singlehandedly.

  She closed her eyes and prayed to the One she knew would never let any harm come to Satyavrata.

  She prayed to Matsya.

  After momentarily staggering with his shoulder wound, Nara-Munda had recovered, more enraged than before. He lifted and flung Manu away. The might of the giant was such that Manu fell twenty feet away from him. But the moment his body touched the ground, Manu scrambled up and was on his feet, charging head-on again towards the monster.

  As Manu came closer to his gigantic adversary, the cannibal-king smashed his colossal foot like a battering ram into Manu’s chest and abdomen. Once again, the son of Surya flew back several feet, unable to breath as an outcome of the crushing impact. But once again, as soon as his body landed on the marshy ground was he up and charging at the giant.

  Manu was fighting like a wounded tiger against a wild mammoth tusker. Not backing down, not retreating, not afraid!

  The third time Manu charged at the man-eater, he succeeded in dodging a massive axe attack and slashed the monster’s knee with his short sword. Satyavrata Manu’s blade-strike was so accurate that it would have sliced off any other man’s leg into two. But Nara-Munda’s hide was like rhino leather. He only suffered an inch-deep gash. The giant gnarled, as Manu pranced around him waiting for the next opportunity to pounce.

  Both Nara-Munda and Manu were out of breath, panting and sweating heavily under the rainy night. They had been fighting for what seemed like eternity. The cannibal emperor had suffered several wounds at the hands of the young priest-king, but none fatal enough. He was nowhere close to being vanquished.

  With every passing minute, Manu was running out of moves, ideas and breath. In his desperation, he committed his first mistake. In an attempt to reach the fiend’s jugular, Manu came within hitting range of the titan’s arm. Nara-Munda did not miss his chance and struck the defender of the Ark with a mighty fist blow. The smashing hit was enough to fracture a wall. Manu instantly spat blood and crashed down to his knees. His world went black as he felt a giant hand grab his long hair.

  Pulling him by his hair, Nara-Munda dragged Manu around the field in a circle for everyone to see. Tara broke into heavy tears as she picked her sword and ran towards the rope ladder dropping from the Ark deck’s thick wooden railing. She was held back by several fighters of the Damini Sena, who were now bracing themselves for a full and final attack on the great boat.

  The beast then threw Manu a few steps away from himself. He turned to first look triumphantly at his own soldiers. In their response, the daityas roared to cheer for their invincible sovereign, raising their weapons in celebration of victory. Thereafter Nara-Munda looked at the Ark defenders with cruel, prophetic eyes, indicating coldly what fate awaited them. He then slowly walked towards the son of Surya. In his usual style, the monster raised his gigantic, muscular leg and pressed it against Manu’s head.

  He guffawed like a giant goblin before increasing the pressure on the fallen warrior’s face.

  He was going to crush Manu’s skull to pulp.

  The colossus did not know what tore through his leg. The fool had forgotten who he was fighting. In his premature celebrations, he had forgotten that the son of Vivasvan Pujari was wounded. He was not dead.

  Still squashed under the monster’s foot, Manu had pulled out his dagger. Drawing on every last ounce of strength left in him, he had dug the blade deep into Nara-Munda’s calf. Within moments Manu ripped through the giant’s pillar of a leg, the fiend’s calf muscle hanging out, his fibula bone exposed.

  Nara-Munda screamed in unbearable agony. As the beast stuttered in shock and intense pain, Satyavrata Manu sprung back to his feet. While he was indeed shaken by the brutal assault from the cannibal’s fist, the son of Surya was not unconscious as he was being dragged. The defender of the Ark was waiting for the right time to claw back into the fight.

  The giant was now swinging his axe madly, growling like a wild beast, unable to maintain his balance. Satyavrata Manu once again began to walk around the bleeding man-eater. This time it was a slow walk. The king of the Ark could not forget the gruesome sight of Somdutt being ripped to pieces. He was clear in his mind. This brute deserved no mercy.

  As the monster turned and swung his axe in a futile attempt to strike the priest-king, Manu broke into a sudden sprint. Before the fiend could realize what was happening, Manu had climbed up on the cannibal’s massive shoulders from behind.

  ‘This is for my father’s last friend, Nara-Munda! This is for the architect of Harappa! This is for Pundit Somdutt!’ screamed Manu into the demon’s ears.

  In the next moment, the son of Surya stabbed the daitya in the neck with his short sword, twisting and pushing the blade deep, shredding open the cannibal’s throat.

  Somdutt’s ghastly killing had been avenged with an equally brutal end.

  Blood sprayed out of Nara-Munda’s jugular like a fountain, as the gigantic monster
crumbled to his knees. The cannibal was now certain to bleed to death. Even though he was still seething with rage, Manu decided to end the fiend’s suffering.

  Lifting the dark emperor’s own battle-axe, Manu swung the heavy blade in one precise move. That was the end of the daitya king.

  Nara-Munda’s huge head flung in the air, as his headless body crashed into the slushy mud.

  Another monster appeared as one monster fell.

  ‘Imprison the daityas! And fall back to the Ark! Fall baaaaacck!’ yelled Manu to his army.

  Tearing through the stormy clouds, silencing the thunder in its wake, covering half the sky under its devastating curtain...it appeared.

  Pralay!

  The calamitous waves of the great deluge were hurtling towards the Ark.

  Banaras, 2017

  DEADLIEST ASSASSINS IN HISTORY

  ‘They are here, Vidyut dada!’

  The Order wasted no time. They knew that the secret of the Black Temple, the exact birthplace of the Kalki avatar, the names of His mortal parents...everything was now buried in the heart of the devta. The ancient scroll had been burnt in the holy fire during the Rohini Nakshatra.

  The secret brotherhood was left with no other alternative. Their survival and their vision of the New World Order depended on finding and murdering the infant Kalki. They were repeating the mistakes and the desperate bids made by tyrants of the past. Kansa, the demon-king of Mathura, endeavored to kill all infants born when Lord Krishna arrived on earth. Emperor Herod of Judea tried the same when Jesus Christ stepped on the planet. And now the Order was attempting a similar depravity.

  Vidyut was the secret of the Black Temple now!

  The Order was clear.

  Vidyut had to be captured. He had to be tortured. The information he had was to be extracted at all cost. And the Kalki avatar had to be extinguished in the cradle itself!