‘Yes. If I had known they had weapons when we started, my strategy would’ve been different. I would have gone for Tanveer first, not Amba. What happened there? How did they suddenly get their weapons?’ Arjun paused, suddenly remembering something that had slipped out of his memory in the rush of activities over the last week. He had seen exactly the same thing happen on the night of the battle with Shukra’s monsters. Both his mother and Virendra were unarmed when they had left the SUV, but when the black fog appeared, their weapons, too, had appeared out of nowhere. In fact, Virendra had possessed two swords, one of which he had given to Arjun that night.
‘There’s a simple answer to that question,’ Virendra told him. ‘And it is time I taught you about carrying weapons. Or, rather, not carrying them. I will start by reiterating the basic principles of Kshatriya mantras, which you already know, but which bear repeating. And don’t roll your eyes.’
‘I’m not rolling my eyes,’ Arjun protested.
Virendra studied his nephew for a moment. He had fully expected Arjun to groan and complain, as he usually did when Virendra repeated things too often for Arjun’s liking. But Virendra saw something in Arjun’s face that he had not seen before. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but for just that fleeting instant, Arjun had reminded Virendra of his brother, Rudrapratap.
Something inside Virendra stirred. Was the prophecy finally coming to fruition? When he had stated to the Mahamati Council that Arjun would be ready very soon, he hadn’t felt as confident as he had sounded. Virendra had not wanted to dampen the hopes of the Mahamatis ; not when so much was at stake. Of course, he believed in Arjun’s potential, but not in his readiness to take on the responsibilities that would be his as Yayati’s true heir.
But now, as he gazed upon his nephew, he couldn’t help feeling hopeful. Maybe the boy would be ready sooner than anyone expected.
Which was good. It would only strengthen the plan.
‘Sorry.’ The hint of a smile crossed Virendra’s face. ‘It’s just that I’ve got accustomed to you protesting when I repeat basic principles which you already know.’ His face grew serious as he resumed his explanation. ‘As you learnt in your first lesson at the Gurukul, it is not only the Rishis who use mantras. Every Kshatriya who is accepted into the Gurukul also has the power to use mantras, though the mantras we use are very different from theirs. Now, tell me, what are the three main categories of Kshatriya mantras that I have taught you?’
Arjun’s face was a study in seriousness as he replied, remembering the theory class at the start of his first lesson with Virendra at the Gurukul. ‘The first category comprises mantras that are used to activate weapons. These are not in use today but were actively used in ancient times, especially while deploying celestial weapons — the weapons of the Devas. These weapons were operated by the sound of the mantras.’
‘Very good. The second category?’
‘Mantras used in battle as an aid to increase speed, strength, stamina and other physical actions that can reinforce our physical attributes.’
‘Correct. As all five of you did today. Your application was especially brilliant since you had just a few days to practice the use of the mantras. Though I did notice that Amba held back on using any mantra that could have helped her increase the impact of her blows. I guess she was going easy on you today. Expect more trouble in future sessions with her. And the third category?’
‘Mantras that are used to consecrate our weapons to reinforce their strength, accuracy and effectiveness.’
‘Brilliant. And today you saw the application of theory in practice.’
Arjun nodded. He had learned today that the theory that Virendra had been teaching him over the last week was not just academic in nature. Everything had real, practical applications and could mean the difference between life and death in a real combat situation.
‘There is a fourth category that I didn’t tell you about earlier, because it is not associated with the use of weapons or in providing aid in battle. It pertains to the storage of our weapons. Every Kshatriya who is capable of using the three categories of mantras that you have already learned about, is also capable of creating their own, personal, storage space for their weapons. There is a mantra for that which I will teach you. Every weapon that we possess has a mantra to recall it from the storage space; to summon it into our grasp, quite literally. It is like having your own code or password to open a locker in which your weapon is stored.’
Understanding dawned on Arjun. He remembered a story from the Mahabharata which DJ sir had narrated to them. It concerned his own namesake from the epic, the supreme archer, Arjuna, who had been tasked with the protection of the women and children of the Vrishnis, after the departure of Lord Krishna from Bhu-lok . The group he was supposed to protect had been attacked by dacoits. At the most critical juncture, however, Arjuna failed to remember the mantras that would summon his weapons to him, as the result of an earlier curse.
Arjun had always wondered what that meant. How could Arjuna summon weapons using a mantra anyway? DJ sir had never explained. Now, however, he understood what the Mahabharata had referred to. Arjuna could not summon his weapons because he had forgotten the mantras to open the ‘locker’, as Virendra had described it, where the weapons were stored.
‘And your second question,’ Virendra continued, ‘is regarding Parth and his disappearance during the fight.’
Arjun nodded, trying to focus on what Virendra was about to say now, even as the revelation about mantras used to summon weapons continued to occupy his thoughts.
‘It is quite simple,’ Virendra explained. ‘Let me show you.’
Chapter Sixty-four
Secret Plans
That night
The Gurukul
Arjun opened the door of the cottage, which housed his dormitory, and looked around cautiously.
It was past eleven o’clock and the Gurukul was draped in a cloak of darkness, slumber and silence. Nothing stirred. Even the glowing orbs of light that usually lit up the central avenue and public areas had been extinguished.
He stood there for a few moments, making sure that no one was around, then looked back and nodded to Varun, Agastya and Tanveer, who were standing behind him, waiting.
‘Let’s go,’ Arjun whispered to them and the three boys slipped out, shutting the door silently, and made their way down the central avenue to another cottage on the opposite side of the avenue.
They stopped in front of it.
Arjun frowned. ‘This is not a good idea.’
‘Then you can tell her yourself.’ Varun rapped lightly on the door. It flew open immediately and a girl came out. She was Varun’s twin and, though they were not identical twins, the resemblance was obvious.
She beamed at the three boys as she shut the door of the cottage behind her. ‘This is so exciting!’ she whispered.
‘Go ahead,’ Varun grinned at Arjun. ‘Tell her.’
‘Tell me what?’ the girl looked enquiringly at Arjun.
Arjun shook his head in exasperation. ‘Nothing, Adira. It’s just that I didn’t think I had the right to ask you to join us tonight.’
‘Oooh, good one,’ Varun chuckled.
Adira put her hands on her hips. ‘I get it. You don’t want me to come along with you. Because it’s too dangerous? Because I’m a girl?’
Varun chuckled again, clearly tickled by this exchange.
‘Zip it!’ Arjun told him, then turned to Adira. ‘Look, you’re one of the best fighters in the Gurukul. I’m sure you could whip Varun’s butt any day.’
‘Hey!’ Varun was indignant.
Arjun ignored him and carried on. ‘So I’m not worried about your safety or anything like that. In fact, it’s great to have you come along. I’ll feel safer. Honestly. But it is also true that I really don’t have the right to ask you to come along with us tonight. This is my mission, not yours. I really shouldn’t be involving you at all.’
‘And what about these low life guy
s?’ Adira gestured to Arjun’s three dormitory mates. ‘How come you can involve them and not me?’
Tanveer muttered something under his breath, but Adira ignored him.
‘I didn’t have a choice,’ Arjun grinned. ‘You know how they are. Pile-ons.’
‘Well, if it helps ease your conscience, you really didn’t ask me to come along. When Varun told me what you guys were planning tonight, I told him I’d be a part of it. I didn’t ask.’
‘That’s true,’ Varun agreed. ‘She virtually arm-twisted me into being included. She wanted . . .’
‘Shut up, Varun.’ Adira shot him a glance that made him grimace, even in the darkness.
‘Okay, enough talk,’ Arjun said. ‘Maya must be waiting for us. Let’s go.’
The five youngsters made their way down the central avenue, heading towards the rock that barred the way in and out of the Gurukul.
Maya was indeed standing there, waiting. She looked surprised when she saw that Arjun was not alone.
‘I had to tell Varun, Agastya and Tanveer about our plan,’ Arjun confessed to Maya. ‘They’re my dorm-mates. They had to know.’
‘And we decided that this was too great an adventure to let you both carry on by yourselves,’ Varun chipped in.
‘And when Varun mentioned it to me, I wanted to come along too,’ Adira added.
Arjun shrugged. ‘Well, there you are. Anyway, Varun and Agastya are two of the few guys who know the mantra that will allow us to walk through this rock here.’
Maya looked doubtful. ‘AJ, there is a reason I am doing this in secret and didn’t want to involve too many people. I don’t know if I’m right or wrong. I’m just acting on a hunch. We could all get into trouble.’
Arjun looked around at the others. ‘There’s still time to go back. Varun, you can help us get out and then return.’
‘I’m not going back.’ Varun sounded determined. ‘And if I do, who is going to let you back in?’
‘I’m not leaving either,’ Tanveer chimed in.
‘Wild horses et cetera,’ Adira said, apparently bored with the drama.
‘You need a Rishi along,’ Agastya added, grinning wickedly. ‘You can’t depend only on Kshatriyas to protect you if you encounter the bhutagana .’
Varun snorted in response.
‘Well, then,’ Arjun looked at Maya. ‘It’s settled. Let’s go.’
‘Vikurute vyapaniya !’ Varun intoned, then gestured for Arjun to lead the way.
They walked through the hillside and into the clearing where they had battled Shukra’s monsters just a few days ago.
A full moon lit up the sky above them and its silver light bathed the clearing in a soft glow, enhanced by the soft light from the millions of stars that twinkled in the sky beside it.
With Arjun in the lead, they crossed the clearing and entered the forest beyond, which was in pitch black darkness on this side of the hill. Unlike the forest in which the Gurukul was built, the trees here densely crowded together, blocking out all light.
‘How are we going to find our way through the forest in the dark?’ Maya asked in dismay.
‘Like I said. What would you do without me?’ Agastya chuckled. ‘Vidyutate ,’ he intoned, with a flourish. A softly glowing sphere of light appeared before them, hovering in the air, floating before them as they walked, lighting their path and a few feet of the forest before them.
‘What was that?’ Maya was curious. It hadn’t sounded like a mantra.
‘Laghu mantras,’ Agastya replied. ‘You wouldn’t have learned them yet. They teach them to you at a pretty advanced level. And a mantra like this is one of the higher mantras. It isn’t magic, you know. Really more a manipulation of matter, just like the mantra that allows us to pass through the rock. Only, in this case, the mantra energizes matter and it is the excitation of the particles of matter that the mantra touches through sound that produces the light you see,’ Agastya finished, enjoying his little lecture.
Maya remembered what Jignesh had told her in the lessons she had had over the last few days.
‘There is no such thing as magic,’ he had assured her. ‘No one can make something out of nothing. Not even the Devas. There are always ingredients that are consumed, a process that consumes the ingredients in some form, and an output, which is a physical manifestation of the process. Mantras are the trigger for the process. You could say they are the switch that needs to be flipped in order to start the process. Mantras are not magic. Every mantra has a process by which it achieves what it is designed to do. Anyone can use mantras. But, in the hands of a powerful yogi, they can be used to accomplish anything.’
Maya understood. ‘You mean laghu mantras are really shortened versions of full mantras?’
Agastya nodded. ‘Like mantras on speed dial.’
‘I’d like to try them,’ Maya said.
‘If Jignesh hasn’t taught you laghu mantras yet, then you aren’t ready for it,’ Agastya said, sounding doubtful. ‘You’ve only been here a few days, after all.’
‘Still,’ Maya insisted. ‘I want to have a go at it. Tell me the mantra again.’
Agastya shrugged. ‘Sure. Vidyutate .’
Maya stopped walking. She wanted to be able to concentrate. In her second session with Jignesh, he had told her that concentration was the key to harness the power of mantras.
‘You have learnt the importance of sound, of correct articulation of the mantras. That is the foundation to recite an effective mantra. But the key to making a mantra work is the application of the mind while reciting the mantra. That is why some people use mantras more effectively than others. Your thoughts need to be focused completely on what the mantra needs to achieve. Without that, the mantra will not be completely effective. And that is why, even sadhs can recite mantras and obtain some benefits from them — peace of mind, calmness, protection from evil spirits. But only a yogi can effectively use the other five classes of mantras.’
The others stopped and watched as Maya closed her eyes and tried to empty her mind of clutter, as she had learned to do in the meditation classes. She tried to focus on the light that she wanted the mantra to produce. Agastya had said that the excitation of the particles of matter produced the light. That was what she needed to focus on. The sound of the mantra energizing matter. But it was hard. It was like trying to hold onto a slippery rubber ball.
‘Vidyutate! ’ she intoned, ensuring that her articulation matched Agastya’s.
She opened her eyes. The ball of light that Agastya had created still illuminated the forest around them. There should have been a second ball of light. But it wasn’t there.
‘What happened?’ she asked. ‘Did anything happen?’
‘There was a flicker of light,’ Varun told her. ‘But just for a moment.’
‘Maya, that was pretty good!’ Agastya sounded impressed. ‘Your enunciation of the mantra was perfect. But it isn’t easy to manipulate matter. You need practice. Try again.’
Maya closed her eyes and tried a few more times, but it was the same result every time. The others reported a brief flicker of light that lasted for barely a second before it went out.
Only on the final try did she make some progress. When she opened her eyes, a ragged ball of light hung before her eyes for a fleeting instant, before winking out.
‘I did it!’ Maya was exultant.
‘Yes, you did,’ Varun agreed. ‘Look, I’d love to stand around and watch you create one of those glowing thingummys, but we don’t really have all night, you know. We need to be back before anyone discovers we’re gone or else we’ll be in hot water. And as good as Ags is at making mantras work, there’s no mantra in the three loks that will save us if that happens.’
‘Oh yeah, sure, sorry,’ Maya couldn’t disguise the delight in her voice. One thing was clear to her now. She would not be leaving the Gurukul. A question bothered her, though.
‘If you guys can create light, then why were flaming torches being carried when you battled Sh
ukra’s monsters? Wouldn’t it have been easier to have lights like this one all over the place — they would have been brighter and would have lit up a larger area.’
Agastya smiled. ‘You know, that’s a good question. The answer is pretty simple. When we were told by Maharishi Ratan about what was happening in the clearing, we all rushed out chanting the Narsimha mantra. We couldn’t possibly chant any other mantra at that time, and our priority was protecting the Gurukul. Yet, we needed light to be able to see what we were up against. So the novices were told to carry torches while the advanced Rishis chanted the Narsimha mantra.’
Maya nodded and the group continued on their way. In the light thrown off by the glowing orb that hung before them, Arjun tried to read the expression on Maya’s face. It was a mix of hope, fear and apprehension. He knew what she was trying to accomplish. He didn’t understand her reasons, and when she had come to him earlier that day, after dinner, and told him of her plan, he had initially tried to dissuade her. When she had remained obstinate, he had decided that he would accompany her. There was no way he was going to allow her to carry out her crazy plan on her own. Now, as they all walked together, he was grateful for the company of his friends. He realized that Maya hadn’t really made any friends in the Gurukul. She wasn’t a part of any classes, remaining confined with Jignesh for all of her training. Her free time was spent in homework and preparation, so she never had an opportunity to mix with the other students. Hanging out with the others would be good for her, thought Arjun, even if it was on a risky mission like this one.
‘Okay,’ Maya took a deep breath, as they reached the forest path where Virendra had parked the Land Cruiser a few nights ago; from where they had made their dash towards the clearing and the Gurukul. ‘Here we go. Let’s see what lies in store for us.’
The six of them began the long walk through the jungle, down the forest track.
Chapter Sixty-five
Back to the Gandharva Valley
The Pandava Falls
Madhya Pradesh
Son of Bhrigu Page 22