The Oath of the Vayuputras
Page 77

‘Really? I thought we Indians believed that human civilisation began here.’
‘True.’
‘So, who’s right?’
Gopal shrugged. ‘I don’t know. This goes back many thousands of years. But frankly, does it matter who got civilised first so long as all of us eventually became civilised?’
Shiva smiled. ‘True. And where is Elam?’
‘Elam is a much smaller kingdom to the south-east of Mesopotamia.’
‘South-east?’ asked Shiva. ‘So, Elam is closer to Pariha?’
‘Yes. And Elam acts as a buffer state between Pariha and Mesopotamia, which is why the Parihans have occasionally helped the Elamites unofficially.’
‘But I thought Pariha never got involved in local politics.’
‘They try to avoid it. And most people in the region have not even heard of the Vayuputras. But they were concerned that an expanding Mesopotamia would encroach into their land.’
‘Expanding Mesopotamia?’
‘A gifted gardener had once conquered the whole of Mesopotamia.’
‘A gardener? How did a gardener become a warrior? Did he train in secret?’
Gopal smiled. ‘From what I’ve heard of the story, he wasn’t trained.’
Shiva’s eyes widened with amazement. ‘He must have been very gifted.’
‘Oh, he was talented. But not in gardening!’
Shiva laughed. ‘What was his name?’
‘Nobody knows his original name. But he called himself Sargon.’
‘And he conquered the whole of Mesopotamia?’
‘Yes, and surprisingly quickly at that. But it did not satiate his ambition. He went on to conquer neighbouring kingdoms as well, including Elam.’
‘That would have brought him to the borders of Pariha.’
‘Not exactly, my friend. But uncomfortably close.’
‘Why didn’t he move farther east?’
‘I don’t know. Neither he nor his successors did, though. But the Vayuputras were troubled enough to offer anonymous assistance to Elam. The Elamites were able to rebel because of this support, and the conquest of the Mesopotamians did not last for too long.’
‘King Sargon seems like a very interesting man.’
‘He was. He challenged the entire world, and even fate itself. He was so feisty that he dared to name his empire after the water-carrier who was his adopted father.’
‘His father was a water-carrier?’
‘Yes, named Akki. So they called themselves the Empire of the Akkadians.’
‘And does this empire still exist?’
‘No.’
‘That’s sad. I would have loved to meet these remarkable Akkadians.’
‘The people of Elam would have thought very differently, Lord Neelkanth.’
‘The soldiers are bored and restless,’ said Ganesh. ‘They have been mobilised, but there has been no action, no battle.’
Kartik and Ganesh had just entered Sati’s chamber and were happy to find Kali with their mother.
‘I was discussing just that, with didi,’ said Kali. ‘The men are spending their time gambling and drinking to keep themselves occupied. Training is suffering because they don’t see the point of it when there is hardly any chance of combat in the near future.’
‘This is the time when stupid incidents occur which can blow up into serious problems,’ said Sati.
‘Let’s keep them busy,’ suggested Kartik. ‘Let’s organise some animal hunts in the forests around the city. We know that the Meluhan army has still not moved out of Karachapa, so there is no risk in letting our soldiers out in large groups. Hunting will give them some sense of action.’
‘Good idea,’ agreed Kali. ‘We can also use the excess meat to organise feasts for the citizens of Lothal. It will help assuage some of their irritation with having to host such a large army.’
‘The excitement and the blood-rush will also prevent boredom from creeping into our troops,’ said Ganesh.
‘I agree,’ said Sati. ‘I’ll issue the orders immediately.’
It was nearly a month and a half since they had started their journey from the secret lagoon off the Narmada delta. Shiva’s ship came to anchor off a desolate coast on the Jam Sea. There didn’t seem to be any habitation of any kind at all; in fact it appeared as though this land had never been disturbed by humans. Shiva was not surprised. Just like the Vasudevs, the Vayuputras were secretive about their existence. He did not expect a welcoming port of landing. But he did expect some secret symbol, something like the emblematic Vasudev flame on the banks of the Chambal near Ujjain.
Then he thought he detected something. The coast was lined by a thick row of tall bushes, maybe three or four metres high. From the distance of the anchored ship, it seemed like these bushes had reddish-orange fruit hanging in abundance. The shrubs were covered with small dark-green leaves, except at the top, where it was bright red. These bright red leaves combined with the reddish-orange fruit to give the impression that the bush was on fire.
A burning bush...
Shiva immediately turned and began climbing the main mast, all the way up to the crow’s nest. Once there, the symbol became obvious. The bushes, when combined with the white sand and brownish rocks, came together to form a symbol that Shiva recognised only too well: Fravashi, the holy flame, the feminine spirit.
Shiva came down to find Gopal standing below.
‘Did you find something, my friend?’ asked Gopal.
‘I saw the holy flame; the pure being. I saw the Fravashi.’
Gopal was astonished at first, but not for long. ‘Of course! Lord Manobhu... He would have told you about Fravashi.’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s a symbol of the faith of Lord Rudra’s people. The Fravashi represents pure spirits, the angels. They exist in large numbers, their scriptures say in the tens of thousands. They send forth human souls into this world and support them in the eternal battle between Good and Evil. They are also believed to have assisted God in creating the universe.’
Shiva nodded. ‘The Vasudevs believe in the Fravashi as well, I assume.’
‘We respect the Fravashi. But it is a Parihan symbol.’
‘Then why do you have a Fravashi at the entrance to your land?’
Gopal frowned. ‘A Fravashi symbol? Where?’
‘At the clearing on the Chambal, from where we communicated with you through clapping signals.’
‘Oh!’ smiled Gopal, as understanding dawned upon him. ‘My friend, we have a symbolic fire as well. But we don’t call it Fravashi. We call it Agni, the God of Fire.’
‘But the symbol is almost exactly like the Fravashi.’
‘Yes, it is. I’m aware that the Parihans give enormous importance to fire rituals. So do we Indians. The first hymn of the first chapter in the Rig Veda is dedicated to the Fire God, Agni. The importance of the element of fire is, I believe, common across all religions of the world.’
‘Fire is the beginning of human civilisation.’
‘It is the beginning of all life, my friend. It is the source of all energy. For one way of looking at the stars is to see them as great balls of fire.’
Shiva smiled.
A sailor walked up to the two men. ‘My Lords, the rowboat has been lowered. We are ready.’