‘Did you see anyone come out of their room?’
‘I saw Veśa going towards his room. I also saw you come out.’ He pointed to Kaśyapa.
‘Veśa, I see,’ Agastya said. He went on, ‘There is a rumour doing the rounds, according to which you wanted the king to marry your daughter. Were you disappointed when he married the Dasyu princess instead?’
‘Well, I did have that hope, to be honest with you. My daughter would have made a good match for the king. It would have been a profitable alliance.’
‘I see. There is another rumour that you tried to get one of the students of the priestly class to cast a spell on the king to get him to marry your daughter.
‘Well, I am ashamed of it now . . . yes, I did think of it. But I did not go through with it, I promise.’
Meanwhile, with some of the pressing concerns taken care of, Sudās and his soldiers started back towards Parśupur three days after the battle, on the seventh day of the intercalary month, on the three hundred and sixty-first day of the year. The villagers would have been busy that day, harvesting and gathering the first barley crop. Kaśyapa had assured his guru and the king that he would solve the murders by the end of the year. They could expect to get back to the capital in five or six days. From then, he would have only eighteen days before the year came to an end.
Kaśyapa breathed a sigh of relief that the year had thirteen months.
32
Two More Deaths
They got back to Parśupur on the thirteenth day of the month. The citizens of the city who had stayed behind had arranged a great reception for the king and his retinue. Sudās had gone into battle as the king of Parśuvarta and overlord of a few small kingdoms, but he was coming back as the overlord of another large kingdom and many smaller kingdoms—a bigger empire than he had taken over. There were a few ceremonies planned to install Sudās as the overlord of these new kingdoms. Dates were set for the kings of these kingdoms to come to Parśuvarta to submit to Sudās. The celebrations continued for a few days. Parśuvarta was proud of Sudās.
Kaśyapa knew he was running out of time. He had been doing a lot of thinking on the way back and now had a few ideas. One idea seemed so far-fetched that he dropped it—that the murderer was someone they hadn’t suspected. Even though some of the evidence did point against that person, the motives were quite intricate. It was easier to go with his other theory. If only he had gone with that far-fetched idea and exposed the person, he could have prevented two unnecessary murders. But it was not to be.
Kaśyapa and Agastya sat down after their morning rituals to discuss their ideas; Kaśyapa wanted to propose a course of action. ‘In my opinion, there are three people who are most likely to have done these foul deeds. But this time, I need to test my theory before I can say for sure.’
Agastya said, ‘We first thought that Vāyata was the killer. See how that turned out even though we had a pretty strong case against him?’
‘Yes, I know. It came to nought. We assumed that Vāyata was conducting the esoteric sacrifices that morning outside the gate to expiate the sin of having killed Atharvan. But that is where we were wrong. Remember, Veśa told us that Vāyata was performing this esoteric sacrifice to create some obstacles to the Cows’ Walk sacrifice? I think he was nearer to the truth than us. It may have been just that.’
‘So, moving forward, you feel that you can eliminate all except the three you suspect? Could it also be that one person did not commit all the murders? Each may have been done by a different person?’
‘That is true. The person with the strongest motive to kill may have done that crime alone. The three murders did, after all, happen in vastly different ways. But why would they all be motivated around the same time? That would have been too great a coincidence. I think it must be the same person.’
‘You’re right. I think it has to be one person masterminding all the murders. It is highly improbable that we have more than one killer in our midst. We would have been able to catch at least one person then—not all of them could have been as adept as the first.’
‘Right. I think there is only one way to find out who the killer is.’
‘And what is that?’
‘We set a trap for the killer.’
‘Trap? With what bait?’
‘The queen, of course, was my first thought. She has been targeted before and recently too. Whoever the killer is seems especially motivated to complete his task.’
‘But we will be putting her life at risk.’
‘True, which is why I have been thinking about it. I fear that at this point, I have no choice but to act as bait myself.’
‘You? Why would they want to kill you?’
‘Because I am going to let on openly that I know who the killer is, but that I cannot name him because we have to sort out a couple things before we are sure. This will be an ideal provocation for the killer to try and get rid of me. You never know, he might be more eager than you take him to be. And we will be prepared to nab him when he attempts it.’
Agastya said, ‘That is right. However, you will be putting yourself in grave danger.’
‘I will just have to take care of myself. I will talk to our guru and the king to see if they would be willing to provide me protection. It is also important that there are some guards around so that the killer can be caught and brought under control. We need Ghoṣā’s help to execute this plan as well; I will talk to her. What do you think?’
‘The plan is good. But you must think very carefully about this.’
Kaśyapa and Agastya then went to meet the guru and the king at the palace. Kaśyapa outlined his idea before them. They were initially concerned about the danger that he may be exposing himself to, but he managed to convince them. Accordingly, the king created an occasion for all the people who could be connected to the murders to be present, including Kaśyapa’s three suspects. He made it known that he was conducting a sacrifice for the good of the child in the queen’s womb. Kaśyapa’s hope was that even if he was wrong about all of his three principal suspects, the bait being offered would be attractive enough to entice whoever the killer was. When everyone had assembled, Sudās asked Kaśyapa, loudly enough so all could hear him, ‘How is your investigation going?’
‘It is going well.’
‘Have you come to any conclusions yet?’
‘Yes. I am nearly there. I have some small questions that need answering. The killer won’t escape.’ Saying this, Kaśyapa cast a look around at all those who had assembled.
‘Have you narrowed down to one person yet?’
‘Yes, I have.’
‘That is brilliant. Let us quickly bring the killer to his well-deserved end.’
Kaśyapa turned to face his guru, who said, ‘Be careful. If the killer gets to know that you are this close to exposing his identity, your life may be in danger. What is the small thing that you need sorting out before you tell us who was responsible?’
‘I need to talk to a particular person about one of the circumstances of the murders. That person was a witness for one of the murders. Ghoṣā has said that she will arrange for me to meet this person at her house tomorrow night.’ Kaśyapa looked at Ghoṣā who nodded back.
*
It was the first part of the new-moon night of the intercalary month. It was quite dark. Kaśyapa and Agastya set out. They carried torches with them to ensure that they did not stumble or tread on a snake. It was a long walk to the courtesan’s house. Kaśyapa was sure that there were some guards, under the king’s order, on either side of the main road following them and making sure that they were safe.
They started off from their house, walked west along the south wall and reached the main road inside the south gate. They turned right and started their walk up the main avenue; the trap was ready. As they went up the road, they met Bhārgava coming down. Kaśyapa and Agastya were surprised to see him there. He said, ‘I came in case you needed any help. You know it can be dangerous.’
Kaśyapa said, ‘My hope is that the murderer will try something tonight. We will then be able to come down to one suspect.’
‘Good idea. I have asked the new leader of the Varuṇa worship group, Aṅgiras, to come to the intersection of the main avenue and the road going to the docks. You need all the support you can get. Nobody will succeed in doing anything when you have the three of us around.’ Bhārgava turned and walked up with them.
‘Oh, so Aṅgiras is the new Varuṇa group leader, is he? He is a good man,’ Kaśyapa said.
Though the avenue was well-lit, there were some dark patches too. They were glad that they had torches with them. There were not too many people on the road. A few servants were going on some errands, some carts were going about making last deliveries for the day, there were some soldiers and guards. Nobody bothered about the three student priests walking up the road.
Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, Veśa appeared from one of the darker, narrower side roads. They were taken aback. Bhārgava asked in surprise laced with suspicion, ‘What are you doing here?’
‘I just wanted to ensure that Kaśyapa was okay. He said he was going to the courtesan’s place to get some information about the murders. You know, it may not be safe at night.’
Kaśyapa said, ‘I am all right. You can carry on. We have Bhārgava with us.’
Veśa said, ‘Well, that may just be the problem . . .’
Bhārgava interrupted them, ‘We can protect him. Besides, Aṅgiras is also joining us. You don’t need to be here; we don’t need a servant’s protection.’
‘Oh, Aṅgiras is joining you? He better be warned.’
Veśa hurried on and turned into one of the small side roads. What was he talking about? What was his plan? They slowly walked up the road, alert but expecting to stay calm till they got to the courtesan’s house. When they reached the road that would take them to the docks, Bhārgava said, ‘Where is Aṅgiras? I had told him to come here. Wait, I will go look for him.’
Bhārgava went down the dark road that led to the docks. While he was gone, the two young boys recited the Sāvitrī verse ten times, just to keep track of the time. It was then that they heard someone shout. They quickly turned and followed the route he took. By then, a couple of the guards had appeared from amid the shadows, thinking that Kaśyapa may be in danger. They followed them to the place from where they had heard the shouting and saw Bhārgava standing there. He was saying, ‘He . . . he was trying to kill Aṅgiras. I could see them in the starlight. I threw a stone to his head while he sat on top of him.’
Veśa and Aṅgiras were both lying on the ground, perfectly still. Bhārgava bent over Aṅgiras. He said to them in alarm, ‘I think he is dead. The bastard servant killed him!’
One of the guards examined the bodies and said, ‘Sir, they are both dead.’
The trap was now immaterial. It had fizzled out and the killer had claimed two more lives. Aṅgiras and Veśa were lying motionless on the road, both bleeding heavily from the head. Agastya ran to tell the guru and others of the tragedy, while Kaśyapa and Bhārgava waited there.
Soon, the guru arrived at the scene with a physician; word of this latest misfortune would have begun to spread. They asked Bhārgava what happened. He said, ‘I had asked Aṅgiras to come to the intersection so that we could accompany Kaśyapa. Since he was not at the intersection, I told Kaśyapa and Agastya to wait and went looking for him, down the side road in complete darkness, except for starlight. I walked a little way, hoping to find him walking towards the intersection, but instead, I found him lying on the ground and Veśa standing over him with a stone in his hand. I did not know what was going on. I panicked and picked up a large stone lying by the side of the road. When I looked up, I saw him kneeling and hitting Aṅgiras on the head with the stone. I shouted out to stop him, but when he turned to look at me, I flung the stone in my hand at him. I was quite close. The stone hit him on the head and he immediately fell. But Aṅgiras had already stopped moving. I froze for a moment—I didn’t know what to do. I quickly pulled myself out of the trance and went over to Aṅgiras, hoping I could keep him alive till help arrived and shouted.’
Kaśyapa said, ‘And that’s when Agastya and I came running along with the king’s guards.’ He looked at Bhārgava; his hands and dress were soaked in blood. The sight brought back a nagging memory . . . he had seen something like this before. Where? Who? There was a large stone near Veśa’s body. That must have been the stone he used to kill Aṅgiras. But there should have been another stone nearby, which Bhārgava would have thrown at Veśa. He calculated, realizing it was possible that it rolled off to the side of the road after striking Veśa.
The physician examined the bodies. ‘The servant was struck with a large stone on the front of the head. The priest was struck from the front and side.’
Predictably enough, a crowd had started to gather. Yadu also arrived, with many students from Jaraduṣṭra’s school. Dīrghaśravas, who lived nearby, came to see if they needed any help. Dāsa, the chief servant, hearing that his assistant was dead, had also arrived. The physician sent for a cart to take the bodies away. It soon arrived and carried the bodies away for burial. Dāsa said that he would ensure that Veśa’s family was informed of the tragedy and Kaśyapa took the responsibility to send someone to inform Aṅgiras’s family. Kaśyapa and Agastya thought about Veśa’s mother who they had seen and talked to. Poor lady, how would she take the death of her son? And Aṅgiras’s parents? How would they bear with their loss? The murder eliminated one person from the list of three suspects; Veśa was dead. But there were still others who could have committed the gruesome murders. But the murders of the servant and Aṅgiras had changed everything. Who had the motive for killing the servant and Aṅgiras? Was Kaśyapa’s logic wrong all along? He was now certain that his other far-fetched idea may, after all, be right. The theory that was forming in his mind was quite unbelievable. But he needed firm corroboration and proof to support it before he breathed word about it to anybody.
33
Bhārgava Defects
It was the last day of the year. Kaśyapa had failed in the commission given to him by his guru. Though he had narrowed down on suspects, he was still nowhere near solving the mystery. His guru was not particularly unhappy with the outcome; he felt that Kaśyapa had done very well and displayed an immense amount of courage and intellectual prowess. Crime detection was, after all, not his area of expertise and this killer seemed more adept at leaving no traces than Kaśyapa was at catching criminals.
It was the last day of the Cows’ Walk sacrifice session. During the day, there would be the great observance sacrifice, which was a variation of the soma sacrifice, and at night would be the concluding overnight sacrifice. Vasiṣṭha had arranged for yet another Indra-Varuṇa debate that day as part of the two schools’ educational curricula. Since the Varuṇa group had a new leader, or rather, had one at the time that the debate was announced, Vasiṣṭha felt that it would be a good occasion for him to prove and even test his mettle against the traditional system of worship.
The guru had arranged for the two teams to meet in a shed in the sacrificial field. Since it was the last day of the sacrifice session, all students were required to be there the whole day, observing the rituals of the sacrifice. The debate was arranged around sunset, when all the rituals for the day would have been over and the rituals of the overnight sacrifice would not have started. Kaśyapa, Agastya, Bhārgava and two other students of the guru were speaking for Indra. The Varuṇa group was represented by five of Jaraduṣṭra’s best students. Vasiṣṭha welcomed the participants and explained the rules. It was easy to tell that he was worried, possibly at remembering how the events following the last debate they had organized had ended, when Atharvan had lost his temper.
Vasiṣṭha said, ‘The debate will start now and end when the overnight sacrifice is due to begin. The sacrifice master, the priest officiating at the Cows’ Walk, will be the moderator. He will
not speak. The Indra group will start first and, as before, their leader will need to introduce and justify their argument, after which the Varuṇa group leader will follow.’
He continued, ‘Then the others will talk one by one, alternating between the two groups. Each person can talk only for as long as it takes to render the Sāvitrī verse twenty-five times. After everyone has had a turn to speak, you can go around again randomly, in case there is any rebuttal. Each person can then talk only for ten Sāvitrī verse recitations.’
He added, ‘After this, we can start the open discussions. Any person here who wants to talk can raise his hand and may speak only if the moderator allows him to do so. Do not speak out of turn. When you talk, you will not address each other. You will only address the moderator. Speaking directly to another debater will lead to disqualification. Does everyone understand?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘If at any time the moderator feels that the speaker is deviating from the topic, he can stop the speaker. The total time we have for the debate is the time taken to recite the Sāvitrī verse six hundred times. When the moderator feels that the debate must end, he will gesture to the two group leaders to nominate someone to summarize the discussions and conclude the debate.’
Bhārgava was the leader of the Indra group. He started first, addressing the moderator.
‘Sir, Indra is the king of the gods. Our ancestors since many generations have recognized this fact. When the waters were locked up by Vṛtra, the vile serpent, and people were suffering without water, was it not Indra who killed Vṛtra and released the waters? Our whole civilization is dependent on the rivers, especially the Sarasvatī. Before Indra released the waters, the Sarasvatī was not flowing:
Indra is king of all that moves and moves not, of creatures tame and horned, the Thunder-wielder.
Over all living men he rules as Sovran, containing all as spokes within the felly.25
The First Aryan Page 24