Then came the most important ceremony of the marriage: taking the seven steps. The groom and bride together took seven steps signifying their everlasting bond of friendship and companionship. If marriage was not the beginning of a lasting friendship, what indeed was it? Taking these seven steps was central to Aryan marriages for many generations: the first step was for strength, the second for vigour, the third for increase of wealth, the fourth for happiness, the fifth for children, the sixth for the seasons and the seventh for sealing the friendship. The groom then touched the heart and navel of the bride to signify her initiation.
The ceremonies were over by noon. The bride was then led to the prince’s palace in a horse carriage. When they reached the palace, the new bride sat on a red animal skin till the evening, when the stars appeared. The groom then offered oblations to the gods in the sacrificial fire and then showed the bride the star Arundhatī, the symbol of constancy. Arundhatī, together with Vasiṣṭha, was the closest bright star to the unmoving northern pole, and therefore went around in a tight circle around it—a fitting symbol. Kaśyapa’s guru and his wife were named after these stars, just as the stars were once named after a sage and his wife.
There was great feasting after the ceremonies ended. Everyone in the city and the great magnates from other parts of the kingdom were invited. There was drinking and dancing that continued even after the marriage feast was over. The gambling dens did good business. The visiting Dasyu king and his retinue were treated with great respect and shown remarkable hospitality by the king and his courtiers.
Two days after the marriage, the Dasyu guests left for their kingdom. Aryan marriages were conventionally consummated only on the fourth night after the wedding. This was to drive out the evil demons and to appease the celestial Gandharvas.
A lot of the Aryans were surprised to find that the Dasyus were just like them. Indeed, some of the Dasyu slaves in Parśuvarta were dark, as most rumours claimed, but then so were many of the Aryans.
A section of people in Parśuvarta, however, prejudiced against the Dasyus, boycotted the marriage and considered it indecent for an Aryan to marry a Dasyu. Yet, most of the kingdom was in support of the marriage.
The prince and princess were married—Sudās seemed happy with his bride and the people were hopeful that peace would prevail in the time to come.
But, alas, nothing lasts for ever . . .
12
A Kidnapping Attempt on the King’s Son
It was the eighteenth day of the month of Mādhava and the one hundred and seventh day of the year. Kaśyapa had to perform some extra rituals to compensate for what he had missed some days back, when he was ill. The other students had finished their morning sacrifices and were at leisure.
That was when they heard the news.
One of Kaśyapa’s fellow students came running, screaming, ‘The prince has been injured! Somebody tried to kidnap the king’s son, Kutsa!’
Everyone was shocked. They had thought that the kingdom had finally settled into a peaceful state. Who could have done this?
‘Two people have been apprehended by the prince’s guards. I suppose they will soon be able to make them talk and we will know who is responsible.’
Kaśyapa and Agastya went to the prince’s palace and, bit by bit, by talking to the guards and the servants, were able to piece together what had happened. The prince had heard some commotion at one point in the night and had come out of his room to see three men running in the corridor towards the entrance, carrying the sleeping Kutsa. One of the boy’s two guards lay dead by the door and the other was missing. The prince chased them to try and catch hold of the boy.
‘It was not very prudent of you to take on three men unarmed,’ Vasiṣṭha, who had by then arrived at the palace, told the prince.
‘I was not thinking straight. By then, Veśa had also come out of his room and rushed to my aid. The boy is my ward after all—I could not have let anything happen to him,’ Sudās said in his defence.
‘What happened after that?’
‘Well, the men were a bit taken aback when they saw me running towards them. They hesitated to attack initially and assumed that I would give up chasing them at some point. However, when I continued to follow them, one of them stopped, turned around and attacked me with his spear. I ducked and he only managed to graze my skin and give me a superficial wound. Veśa had disarmed another person by then.’
‘How were the men captured?’
‘While we were grappling with the men, some of the palace guards came running. They had to kill one of them and captured the other two.’
Vasiṣṭha asked the prince, ‘Do you have any suspicions? Who could have done this, or why?’
‘Yes. I don’t think it is anybody but the queen. She must have been trying to regain control over her son.’
Veśa said, ‘Or, Prince, do you think you were the actual target? The instigators could have thought that if the kidnapping of your ward was attempted and sufficient noise was made, you would come running out, unarmed, just as you did, and that they could get rid of you with ease, without anybody else finding out.’
‘I did not think of that,’ the prince said meditatively.
Vasiṣṭha replied, ‘I don’t think so. The attackers would have known that the prince has his own guards. Even if he came out unarmed, his guards would surely catch up. Veśa did manage to come on to the scene.’
‘Yes, it is difficult to say whether the kidnapping was the actual motive or whether it was just a ploy to kill me.’
‘Prince, I think you should be more mindful of your own safety. Maybe you should have a few bodyguards with you at all times.’
‘I will consider that.’
Vasiṣṭha then turned to Veśa, ‘Make sure that all the food the prince eats is checked for poison.’
‘Yes, sir, I will arrange for that.’
Bhārgava came running upon hearing the news and looked shaken. ‘Oh, the poor boy! Who would have thought! He was all right when I left him last evening.’
The prince’s officers interrogated the two captured men too, but could not get any useful information out of them. All that the prisoners said was that someone who looked like a man from the military had offered them land in a village for kidnapping the boy and bringing him to a place near the gambling den. They did not know who this man was, but he had given them elaborate instructions on how to enter the palace and get to the boy. They were to bring the boy to this stranger and were told to kill any witnesses or interferers. They maintained that they were not given any specific instructions to kill the prince. This was all they could get from the men. No amount of torture could get them to say any more; they simply did not know.
Speculations were rife that the queen had a hand in this, but nobody could be sure. One thing was certain: the fire of rebellion was still burning. If the queen did plan to kidnap the boy, she probably planned to hide him away in a safe place and then challenge the prince’s care and governance, hoping to shake the faith the kingdom had developed in him.
However, if it was not her, who could it have been?
The prince increased the security cover for Kutsa too as it was clear that he was being used as a bait. Four men were deployed to always be on guard outside the boy’s room and accompany him wherever he went. The prince too got his own bodyguards. One of these men was an archer.
Two days after the kidnapping attempt, the prince got news that a unit of a small garrison, stationed in one of the smaller townships on the way to the western borders, had proclaimed Kutsa as king. The unit was obviously encouraged by the local chieftain, who was leading the rebels. However, the captain of the garrison had managed to quell this rebellion and execute the leaders.
What happened next proved that nothing can help when things have to go wrong. Whoever may have been responsible for the kidnapping, it was clear that the kingdom was far from being at peace just yet. Unlike what the people had thought, nothing had been resolved with this
arrangement. Even as it presented a calm exterior, a volcano was waiting to erupt underneath.
13
The King’s Son Is Dead
Four days had passed since the kidnapping attempt. Kaśyapa was worried. His investigation into Atharvan’s murder hadn’t progressed much and there was already another mishap. He told Agastya, ‘Tomorrow, we must talk to some other people who I think may know something about Atharvan’s death.’
‘Who all?’ Agastya asked.
‘I have memorized a list of people who I think could have had a motive for killing Atharvan. Of course, these are just my suspicions; only when we talk to them will things become clearer. For one, I think everyone should be a suspect in our eyes till they are cleared—it is a long list for that reason.’
‘What could their motives be? Who do you want to start with?’
‘I already spoke to Dīrghaśravas during our visit to the Dasyu capital. Let us try to talk to the queen next.’
‘Before that, I want to share something strange with you. I heard Vāyata talking to Bhārgava.’
‘When was this?’
‘Three days ago. I forgot to mention this to you.’
‘What did he want?’
‘Well, you know how Bhārgava is the tutor to the king’s son now. Vāyata challenged Bhārgava that if he were granted access to the king’s son for a short period of time for a few days, he could convert the boy to worship Varuṇa instead of Indra, and Bhārgava would not be able to do anything to reverse the conversion.’
‘I hope Bhārgava did not accept this challenge! Vāyata is far more adept at manipulation than Bhārgava could ever be.’
‘It looks like the challenge was thrown at him some time ago. Bhārgava must have hesitated at first, but you know he cannot resist competing if challenged. He seems to have accepted three days ago and agreed to give Vāyata some time each day for a few days with his tutee. They swore to keep the matter secret.’
‘How do you know all this?’
‘They were talking while standing on the steps leading up to the river, when they were there for their bath. I was nearby and heard them. They did not know I was there. There was another thing. Vāyata told Bhārgava that he wanted to get rid of all esoteric practices in the kingdom. He said that he was ready to tackle anyone who conducted esoteric practices. It all sounded very ominous.’
‘Has not Vāyata himself learnt these practices?’
‘Indeed, he has. But, according to him, he has given them up, even though he is an expert at conducting them.’
*
The next morning, things took a sharp turn for the worse. The kingdom was jolted out of its slumber with some shocking news: Kutsa was dead.
Agastya and Kaśyapa rushed to the prince’s palace and went straight into the boy’s room, where they found Vasiṣṭha, the king and queen, Veśa, Bhārgava and Sudās already present. The boy was lying motionless in his bed. There was nothing anybody could do to revive him, though some were trying. They were vigorously chanting some hymns to Vayu, asking him to revitalize the boy’s breath with each breath they took. Bhārgava also tried to perform some of the new esoteric techniques he was learning, but it was all to no avail. The boy was dead and, it appeared, had been dead for some time.
The queen was inconsolable. She was berating the prince and Vasiṣṭha. ‘You have killed him. It is your negligence that brought him to this state. Why did I ever allow him to be under your care?’
Turning to the king, she howled, ‘Are you satisfied now! We have lost our only child. You can sell me next to this murderous heir of your fortunes—at least then I can hope to have a child again!’
Poor Turvaśa! He did not know what to say. He tried to console the queen, but it was useless. The prince seemed too shocked to speak. He had done everything to protect the boy and yet he lay dead before him.
Vasiṣṭha tried to reason with the queen and tell her that the boy had died a natural death, but it was clear that she was unwilling to believe that Sudās had no role to play in Kutsa’s death. Even Kaśyapa could not fault her for this. The guru finally persuaded all of them to leave the room so that he could make arrangements for the child’s funeral. He allowed only Kaśyapa and Sudās to remain. Agastya stood by Kaśyapa. The guru said, ‘I have reason to believe that this was not a natural death.’
These words, from his guru, were a shock for Kaśyapa. Did the rebellion by the western chieftain in Kutsa’s name seal the poor boy’s fate?
Agastya said, ‘Yes, sir. The boy has been killed. If you look around carefully, you will see small seeds around his bed. These are from a poisonous herb and have medicinal and hallucinogenic properties. He may have ingested this herb.’
The guru said, ‘Hmm, I see that there is a glass of milk by his bed. Perhaps the herb was mixed into his milk.’
They looked closely at the milk at the bottom of the glass. Though it was not immediately obvious, the longer they looked at it, they noticed that it was slightly off-colour.
The guru observed, ‘This seems to be a potent mix, possibly of other herbs along with these seeds. The royal physicians who examined him told me that they too suspected that the boy was poisoned. I have told them not to divulge this information to anyone, but I am not sure for how long they will be able to hold on to a secret this big. One of them might just decide to go to the queen with his observations in the hope of some reward. She is bound to blame you in that case, Prince.’
‘Yes, I suppose I will be the primary suspect in the queen’s eye. But, sir, I assure you that I did not have even the slightest idea about this,’ Sudās said.
‘I believe you, but that is not enough to make the queen and the general public believe in your innocence.’
Despite Sudās’s claim that he wasn’t involved in Kutsa’s death, Kaśyapa could not help thinking that the death had made things very convenient for him.
Vasiṣṭha asked Sudās, ‘What about your Veśa? Could he have had a hand in this? Naturally, he would want you to have a smooth path to kingship since that would strengthen the possibility of his becoming the most powerful servant in the kingdom.’
‘Well, I can’t say anything definite. He is dedicated to me and my cause, no doubt, but I don’t think that he is brave enough to attempt to murder the king’s son.’
When Sudās and the others left, Vasiṣṭha turned to Kaśyapa. ‘How is your investigation into Atharvan’s death going?’
Kaśyapa replied honestly, ‘It’s going well, sir. I have been making constant inquiries. Though I have not come to any conclusion yet, I do have a lot of information about the goings-on.’
‘The killing of Kutsa is intriguing. The most obvious suspect is Sudās. But it is unlikely that he could have done it. It will obviously be seen as a failing on his part to discharge his duties to protect the boy, as indeed it is being done now. He would have thought twice before committing this deed. Also, I don’t think Sudās will kill a child.’
Agastya said, ‘I agree with you, sir.’
The guru said, ‘Kaśyapa, if we agree that the probability of Sudās having killed the boy, though not non-existent, is very low, then who could have killed the boy? If the killing is not connected to the dynastic feud, could there be some connection with Atharvan’s killing? I suggest that you take up the matter of the king’s son’s death too. Try to reason out why he was killed and by whom.’
Kaśyapa felt rather uncomfortable at being given this additional responsibility. However, he could not dare to oppose his guru’s wishes and said, ‘Yes, sir, I will look into this. But would the prince like me poking my nose into this affair?’
‘He will not mind. I will talk to him.’
‘Would he not want an officer of his own to look into this?’
‘No. This will then focus people’s attention on the prince himself, and he would not want that. It is best if things are done quietly. Meanwhile, remember, the fact that we think the boy was poisoned should not get out.’
&nbs
p; Kaśyapa nodded and asked, ‘Do they know what time the boy died?’
‘The physicians said it was probably around the second part of the night.’
Soon, it became known that Sudās had asked some of his officers to make immediate arrangements to send the three royal physicians on an errand to faraway villages.
That is a wise move, Kaśyapa thought. Now, they will be away from the capital and, more importantly, the queen, for a long time . . .
14
The Vassal Kings Rebel
Soon enough, Sudās had more things to worry about. News trickled in one morning that two of their vassal kings across the Vipāsa had rebelled and declared themselves free of King Turvaśa’s overlordship. This was disturbing news. Turvaśa had many vassals, smaller kings, princes and chieftains around the kingdom who paid an annual homage to him and sent him tributes in order to retain their liberty.
The actions of the rebel vassals were seemingly harmless. They issued edicts in their own names, without mentioning Turvaśa’s name. The convention of vassalship dictated that they mention the overlord king’s name first. They seemed to be testing whether Sudās was paying attention. They wanted to see how far they could go. If Sudās ignored this, they would know that he was not strong or sharp enough and that they could go to the next level of rebellion, but if Sudās reacted forcefully, they could claim that it was just an oversight on the part of their announcers and town criers.
The prince, however, was not taking any chances. He wanted to reassert overlordship before things got out of hand. He sat down with his advisers—the guru, the commander and others—to discuss the matter. By the next day, he was ready to announce his decision. He decided that he would go to the northern borders with the commander to quell any thoughts of rebellion in the vassal kingdoms across the Vipāsa. He had an army of five hundred ready in the garrison outside the northern city who, if needed, could be called in for quick action should the talks end badly.
The First Aryan Page 10