Kaśyapa had to accept this explanation, but he was not fully satisfied.
*
On the tenth day after Sudās’s coronation, Vasiṣṭha told Kaśyapa that he felt it was time for him to start learning the esoteric sciences. He asked Kaśyapa to come to the sacrificial field that evening, where he would start his lessons. Kaśyapa was elated. He had been elevated to the highest level of studentship!
He knew that Agastya would be envious of him. Kaśyapa was oath-bound to his guru to not tell anyone what he learnt during his two or three years of esoteric studies. It would suffice to say that after he mastered the esoteric sciences, he would be able to do a lot of things that the ordinary priestly class could not. His guru had been emphatic about him using his knowledge only for good ends. Kaśyapa hoped that soon Agastya too would be called upon to study the esoteric sciences. On his first day of instruction, the guru taught him the basics in front of Bhārgava and asked the latter to teach him some of the things that he had learnt.
Some days passed, with no news of an invasion by Menakā and her supporters. A general unease hung in the air. Vasiṣṭha, meanwhile, was busy organizing the new administration for Sudās; some of Turvaśa’s followers who owed fealty to the queen were removed and new ones were brought in; some of the better administrators chosen by Turvaśa’s father were retained. The guru gave the administrative officers frequent lectures about the policies of the new king.
Sudās also wanted to ensure that he had a large and well-prepared army ready. He summoned the commander and asked him about their readiness for battle. Yadu answered, ‘Sire, our standing army of two thousand and five hundred, spread among four garrisons, as you know, is always ready. Of these, around five hundred soldiers are already stationed in the northern city, thousand are in the southern city, five hundred in the western garrison and five hundred here, in the capital. We have another thousand men that we levied before and have not yet disbanded. So, in total, we have at our command around three thousand and five hundred soldiers, of which two thousand can be made available immediately on the northern front, assuming we leave behind thousand soldiers in the southern city and five hundred in the capital.’
Sudās asked, ‘What about the western front? If we move the soldiers from there to the north, will it not be left unprotected?
Yadu said, ‘Right now, we do not see any danger from the west. However, we can keep a close watch and, if required, levy some soldiers there.’
Sudās nodded and Yadu went on, ‘These three thousand five hundred soldiers are fully armed. Of these, two thousand soldiers are planned to be deployed in the northern city ready to face the invasion. We have five hundred expert bowmen. Each of them will carry at least two spare bows in addition to their regular bow. We have more than fifty thousand flint-tipped, feather-fletched arrows in our armoury, which have a range of around twenty-five pauruṣas and can penetrate leather armour from five pauruṣas. The arrows can be dipped in poison before discharge. The bowmen are also armed with stone clubs and maces, or axes. We have six hundred horses ready with leather armour and saddles. We have small bows for use by our cavalry. These soldiers can also carry axes, maces and spears. We have over five thousand flint-tipped wooden spears in our armoury. Around three hundred of our soldiers are specially trained in spear-throwing and in cavalry-stopping techniques using spears. We can penetrate enemy armour at about three pauruṣas. We can dip our spear points also in poison before throwing.’
He continued, ‘We also have a few hundred stone caltrops that we can throw before the enemy’s charging cavalry to impede their progress. Our army is well trained. We have started a regime of training and exercises to ensure that our soldiers are fit for battle. In a crunch, we can move at least half of our standing army of thousand soldiers from the southern city to our capital, and thence to the northern city. They all carry similar weapons and are well trained and ready.
Sudās asked, ‘How many soldiers will we need?’
‘We feel that the queen may be able to bring together around eight thousand soldiers from the kingdoms supporting them. But since these soldiers owe fealty to different kings, it will be difficult for them to put together an effective fighting force. So, we will need only around six thousand soldiers.’
He continued, ‘Your father-in-law, the Dasyu king, will send us two thousand soldiers, along with the necessary horses, bows, arrows and other arms. He will also send us arms to equip another two thousand soldiers. Some of our captains are already in villages and towns to conscript young men. We will thus get around thousand more men. Many young men will join by the promise of loot after the battle, some may need to join due to feudal and clan obligations and many may need to be forcibly conscripted. The two vassal kings between the Vipāsa and the Paruṣṇī will be able to provide us around two hundred and fifty soldiers each. They will be fully armed. The other vassals will provide us another five hundred soldiers.
‘So, in about two to three months’ time, we will have a strong army of at least six thousand soldiers. Of these, about seven hundred will be expert archers, five hundred will be cavalry men and the remaining will be foot soldiers, including five hundred specially trained spearmen. All our soldiers will have armour and will carry shields made of wood and leather.’
Sudās asked, ‘What about support staff?’
‘Yes, sire. Drivers, porters, servants, cooks and other supporting staff required for the campaign are also being recruited. We are gathering food, fodder, livestock and other provisions to see us through four months of waiting and a one-month campaign. We can send the ox-carts with food and provisions when we get news of the invasion, and have them strategically positioned along our route.’
Yadu continued, ‘We will leave around five hundred soldiers in the capital to ensure that there are no untoward incidents here when we are at the battlefront. We also have the standing army in the southern city to protect us against any misadventures from that side.’
‘What about the logistics of the movement of the soldiers to the front?’
‘We will be moving the soldiers towards the northern city in batches. Very soon, we will have sent the thousand soldiers back to the northern city. As we levy people, we will train them and send them too. The soldiers and supplies being sent by the Dasyu king will be sent to the northern front directly.’
*
Some more days passed. Kaśyapa had not made much progress in his investigation after returning from the northern city. Agastya and he were talking, trying to clear their thoughts through conversation. Kaśyapa said, ‘I feel a bit foolish now for thinking that Vāyata could have been the murderer.’
Agastya said, ‘Do not be so quick to write him off. He may have been the murderer, but maybe he was killed for a different reason?’
‘Yes, that could be true.’
‘I think we should re-examine each of the suspects’ situation and add the motives and opportunity for Vāyata’s murder to the mix?’
‘We need to find the connection between the three deaths. I strongly feel that there is something we are missing. If we can find the connection, we can establish the motive and identify the killer.’
‘You are right. My worry is that if the killer was heartless enough to kill these three people, he may strike again. If we can find the connection, we should be able to predict who the next intended victim might be. Maybe we can prevent another death. Our guru has left you with a great responsibility.’
‘Of the three murders, won’t it be easiest to establish the circumstances of the killing in the northern castle? The murder of Vāyata? If we can arrive at the motive in his case, considering our circle of suspects is smaller now, we will know who the murderer is.’
‘Yes, that is true. We can, for a start, use the murder in the castle as a baseline.’
‘Oh, there is a lot of information to store and process. If we are not careful, we may forget some important aspect that may have a bearing on the crimes.’
‘Of
course, the fact that we are both in possession of the information about the three murders reduces that risk.’
‘Yes, it does. However, we will need to devise some method to keep track of the people and facts involved. The mind is a difficult instrument to control.’
‘Sometimes I wonder whether we control our minds or the other way around?’
Kaśyapa had always wondered if the mind was formed before life entered the foetus? Where is the seat of the mind? Is it in the heart? Or is it coursing through the body in the blood? And where, indeed, is the seat of life? Will humankind ever find answers to these questions? He quickly shifted his focus back to their problem. ‘Coming back to the issue at hand, we have to fashion some sort of mnemonic to remember all the facts and our analyses and conclusions.’
‘Maybe we can follow the time-honoured method and create verses that can be memorized to store the information we have. If only we knew how to use that technique to represent ideas and sounds with pictures or drawings, it would have been useful. But anyway, that night at the castle there were the two kings, the old and the new, our guru, Yadu, the two queens, Ghoṣā and her servants, Bhārgava, Jaraduṣṭra, Vāyata, Dīrghaśravas, Veśa, many guards and retainers, staff and servants, and you and I.’
‘Yes, of course, we have to clear our names too.’
‘Don’t forget the vassal kings.’
‘Of course. But I am not inclined to think that they have a role. Why would they take the risk? And to kill Vāyata of all people?’
‘I agree.’
‘All of these people had the opportunity to execute the murder.’
‘Yes. And I suppose we do not even have an exact figure for the number of servants in the castle that night? Any one of these, or many of these, could have committed the crime on behalf of their master or mistress.’
‘Well, in that case, we should look for the master or mistress responsible. But can we depend on any of these people to tell us the truth?’
‘I think, at this point, we have to shift focus to two things: analysing the motive and their characters. We can then arrive at the exact opportunity they used as corroborating evidence.’
They thought of the principal actors in this great drama and spent a considerable amount of time analysing the circumstances of each murder, the possible motives of the principal suspects and their roles and characters. However, they came to no conclusion.
Kaśyapa was dejected. ‘We are nowhere near solving the murders. Either all the suspects could have committed the murders or none could have!’
Agastya said, ‘Don’t worry. We may not have been able to decide who committed the murders, but at least we have some idea. This is a big step.’
‘Yes, you’re right. All this thinking seems to have cleared our minds a little bit.’
*
While they were talking, they could see that Bhārgava was standing some distance away, talking to one of the junior students. Kaśyapa could, however, make out that he was listening to their conversation. He suddenly turned to face them and came charging at them. ‘You boys are missing something very important and have not considered some crucial evidence.’
They were rattled. What had they overlooked?
Bhārgava went on, ‘There is one person who has a strong motive for all the three killings. He was at all the three murder sites and therefore had the opportunity to kill all three. I know that he certainly had a big motive to kill Atharvan, though . . . ha ha, you seem to trust him enough to not be suspicious at all.’
‘Who is it? What do you know?’
‘You are both intelligent enough to figure this out. Let me not influence you.’ With this, he walked away, snickering.
Kaśyapa asked, ‘Who was he talking about?’
‘Well, he was not very clear. But . . . Veśa?’
*
The next day, Kaśyapa went to his guru and gave him a summary of his deductions. Even though he had not come to any definite conclusion, the guru was quite happy that he was able to organize his thoughts to arrive at this analysis. He said, ‘To unravel this web, you have to look more closely at the people involved. As you say, all the suspects had the chance and the means to do so, either directly or through their servants. But there is clearly some motive that you have not yet been able to think of.’
He explained a little the method Kaśyapa could use. While he was talking, Kaśyapa’s mind wandered elsewhere. Something had been nagging him for the past few days. Something that he should have done but did not. Something that someone had said . . .
Vasiṣṭha was saying, ‘Our mind is one of the most unreliable sources of information. Sometimes it senses and sees things—or believes it sees things—where, in fact, there was nothing. You must guard yourself against this. However, sometimes, it remembers things you wouldn’t remember memorizing.’
This was valuable advice, but the problem was being able to tell the difference between imagination and reality. Kaśyapa told his guru that he would keep his advice in mind and walked away, still lost in thought.
Some more uneventful days passed.
26
Another Death Is Reported
It happened on the morning of the first day of the month of Ūrja, the two hundred and sixty-seventh day of the year. Kaśyapa woke up when it was still dark. The full moon hung low in the western sky, Jupiter was high up in Citrā and Venus was rising in Viśākhā. He went out to relieve himself and was on his way back when he realized that somebody was following him. He could hear soft footsteps. He heard the person suck in their breath and, on an impulse, ducked and heard the swish of a club going over his head. If he hadn’t ducked, he would have been coshed! He turned his neck, but there was no one to be seen.
Suddenly, Kaśyapa felt scared. He ran as fast as he could, back into the house, and dived under his blanket, still trembling. He realized that he needed to be careful when he went out in the dark. Vasiṣṭha had warned him. The murderer may have worked out that he was investigating the deaths and would not want him to let out the truth.
He decided not to tell anyone about this incident. He was worried that if Vasiṣṭha came to know, he might be asked to stop his investigation. But things were moving fast now.
*
On the tenth day of the month of Ūrja, the lengths of the days and nights were equal. That morning, Kaśyapa finally realized what had been bothering him. It was the old man in the northern castle, the caretaker’s father—he remembered the garrulous man.
He knew that he had completely omitted the old man from his considerations—the poor, senile man who nobody was willing to listen to. He remembered how the man claimed to know who Vāyata’s murderer was and decided to ask about him. Perhaps they could talk some time. If he remembered correctly, he was almost eager to part with information.
Later that day, he approached a merchant who frequently travelled to the northern city for business to ask after the caretaker and his father, and whether it would be possible for Kaśyapa to accompany him and talk to the old man. He also wanted the traveller to find out about the old man’s condition. Was he really ill? Was he worse off now than when they were there? Had his dementia incapacitated him? He requested that this information be kept confidential. If the trader brought back good news, Kaśyapa planned to speak to his guru so that Agastya and he could make another trip to the northern city to investigate further.
Kaśyapa eagerly waited for the trader to return; he was away for about ten days. Kaśyapa was worried that he may not have remembered to talk to the old man, so as soon as he learnt that the trader was back, he went looking for him. When he found him, he ran up to him and asked, ‘Sir, how is he? How is the old man?’
‘I did not get to talk to him. It seems that he died some time ago. In fact, I think his son said he died on the very day that you started on your journey back home.’
Kaśyapa was shocked.
The trader went on, ‘I talked to his son. It seems that the old man died of poison
ing that evening. It was very unfortunate. In his state, he was in the habit of eating whatever he thought was edible. He must have eaten something toxic, or some herb or plant that had proved to be poisonous. The physician in the castle tried to give him some antidote, but nothing helped. They buried him the next morning.’
Kaśyapa shuddered. He knew that this was no accidental poisoning, but he did not say anything. The old man was talking to everyone and telling them that he knew who had murdered Vāyata. The poor fellow must have walked up to the murderer himself and said this and, hence, had to pay the price. Though the others did not take the old man seriously, the murderer clearly had. After all, he or she could not risk being identified. The murderer would also then have known him enough in order for the poisoning attempt to look so convincing.
This painted an entirely different picture of the murderer. He or she was willing to kill to keep the secret. He had to tread carefully but move quickly. If an innocent old man could be killed with such impunity, clearly anybody else who posed a threat to the person would also be killed! Somebody had already tried to kill him once, even though he was still far away from knowing the truth. He would be in grave danger the moment he learnt the truth. So would Agastya. They had to be careful. He needed to warn Agastya, his guru and Sudās too. The same people who were suspects could also be potential victims.
Kaśyapa immediately went to Vasiṣṭha and told him of this new development. He requested him to make sure that all the people involved in the great drama were protected. Based on Vasiṣṭha’s advice, Sudās decided that he and his family would move to the king’s palace quickly, now that he was the reigning king. The royal palace was better guarded. Vasiṣṭha was also asked to move around with guards. While Kaśyapa, Agastya and Bhārgava were not provided with any guards, they were told to be extra vigilant. The others were duly warned, but it was assumed that they, like the commander, could take care of themselves.
The First Aryan Page 19