AJAYA I -- Roll of the Dice

by Unknown

  "This young man is arrogant; does not follow the rules or taboos of our holy smritis; moves around with low-castes and pollutes the palace. He is argumentative, opinionated and adamant in his foolish ideas. He finds pleasure in questioning the holy books. With his puny intelligence, he tries to argue with scholars and thinks that he can teach the pundits. Before entering the temple, he offers money and food to the dirty beggars who throng and pollute our holy places. Many times, I have received complaints from the Priests of various temples. He laughs at the Priests who say it is a sin to help these beggars. He does not understand that by trying to help the poor, he is interfering with the laws of karma and that people are poor or rich, Brahmin or Pariah, by virtue of the karma of their previous lives."

  "What are you rambling about, Dhaumya?" The entire Court was shocked. Nobody interfered with a Brahmin when he was speaking. Bhishma was getting crankier with age.

  "Your Excellency, you must allow me to speak and prove my point." Dhaumya glared at the Grand Regent.

  "This is not the temple auditorium. Reserve your sermons for where they belong. This is the Court of Hastinapura. We are here to discuss a serious allegation of murder. The accused is the Crown Prince and we need proof, witnesses, and not your complaints about Suyodhana not kow-towing to your ways of thinking. As far as the Court..."

  "As per scriptures, the charac-" Dhaumya was stopped short by Bhishma's searing glare.

  "Sri Dhaumya, you are a great scholar and we respect your knowledge of the scriptures and the Vedas. However, I must make two things clear. The first is that when I am speaking, you will not interrupt. The second is that, with all due respect to what has been written in the smritis, this Court will go by the presence or absence of proof. That is how decisions in Court are made. If that is a sin, I am ready to pay the price for my bad karma in this life or in any life hereafter. The question is do you have anything to prove Suyodhana killed Bhima? This session is most premature. It has not yet been ascertained that Bhima is dead. He has been missing for two days. He is not a child. He is almost eighteen and boys of that age have minds of their own. He could have just run off to see the world."

  Kunti stood up angrily. "Lord Bhishma, why do you speak in this way? I will never get justice. Here, there is neither respect for the scriptures nor value for great scholars like Dhaumya. But why am I surprised? Your heart has become as hard as a rock, Lord Bhishma. You do not know what a mother feels. You have never married nor do you know what children mean to their parents."

  There was perfect silence in the Court. Suyodhana could see that many of the women watching from the balcony were wiping their tears. Why did Uncle Vidhura not interfere? Suyodhana tried to catch his eye but the Prime Minister did not look at him. He was observing Shakuni.

  Yudhishtra stood up. Bowing in turn to the Court, Dhaumya, Drona, and then the assembly of Brahmins, he requested permission to speak. The Brahmins blessed him. He then bowed to the King and Queen, and Bhishma, who looked irritated at this elaborate show of reverence. The eldest Pandava spoke slowly, in a soft voice. In this way, he ensured everybody listened to him. It was difficult to hear him and everyone in the sabha was compelled to concentrate on what he was saying as he projected himself as a humble man without ambition: "I am saddened to see my cousin Suyodhana implicated in the murder of my brother, Bhima. I have always loved my cousin and thought him to be an honourable man. If there was no witness to the ghastly act committed by my cousin, I would have refused to believe him capable of such a crime. But someone did see him. If your Excellency permits, we can present the witness."

  Suyodhana lifted his head in surprise. A witness? What was this?

  "If you have a witness, present him. What are we waiting for?" Bhishma asked irritably.

  "The witness is a... err... he is an Untouchable and cannot enter the palace and sabha to testify," Yudhishtra murmured.

  "Prince Yudhishtra, I am surprised at you. Why should his caste matter?"

  "Swami, his presence will pollute the palace and sabha. He is of the lowest of low castes, a Nishada. They are not even allowed in the roads that lead to the palace. So how can he enter here and testify?" Dhaumya said loudly. The group of Priests nodded their heads in agreement.

  "If you cannot provide any proof and do not allow your own witness to enter this Court, I will have no choice but to dismiss this case and declare Prince Suyodhana innocent. I cannot..." Bhishma stopped in mid-sentence, looking at Dhaumya in irritation. The Priest had stood up to speak again.

  "We have discussed the matter and the learned scholars are of the opinion that the Untouchable may be allowed in as an exceptional case. There are provisions for it in the shastras. But the King will have to do penance for this sin. A thousand Brahmins will have to be fed and gifts given to them..."

  "The King will do no such thing," Bhishma pronounced, his voice shaking with anger. "If you wish to bring forward a witness, do so without conditions attached..."

  Kunti stood up and started walking away. "My sons, there is no point to this. We are never going to get justice here." Her four sons stood up to join her.

  Eyes glittering with rage, Bhishma stood up. However, before he could speak, the King spoke in a soft voice. "I agree to the penance. I will do whatever the Brahmins ask. Let the truth come out. If my son has indeed committed murder, I will not spare him."

  Bhishma sat down wearily and gestured to the guards to bring in the witness. They dragged in a dark boy of about seventeen. He was small for his age and his ribs showed clearly through his skin. He had curly hair and thick lips. But what arrested the attention of everyone was a horrible disfigurement. The left side of his body and face was burnt and the skin had turned a dull, rippled gold, while the rest of his body remained dark. He looked around the Court in terror. The luxury of his surroundings overwhelmed him. He did not know who the King was but bowed deeply with his eyes lowered.

  "Do not be afraid. No will harm you. Answer my questions honestly and you will soon be free to go. What is your name?" asked Bhishma.

  "Jara," the boy whispered. A guard prodded him with a stick and hissed in his ear that he should cover his mouth with his hands when he spoke to his superiors. Jara's hand immediately went up over his thick lips. He was shivering with fear.

  "Remove your hands, stand up straight and answer me, Jara," Bhishma barked.

  Jara dropped his hands and stood up as he had been ordered. There were angry whispers all around but Bhishma ignored them and continued, "Son, what did you see? Explain clearly."

  "Swami, two nights ago, I was near the temple that sits on the rock... near the river."

  Immediately the court erupted into disorder. Some Priests shouted out asking how a Nishada had dared to go near a temple, while others lamented loudly that dharma was wilting and the age of Kali was near. Jara looked terrified by the ruckus he had caused.

  Bhishma waited for the shouting to die down and then said to Jara, "Do not be afraid. You have done nothing wrong. Why were you there in the first place?"

  "I went there for food, Swami. You know that every day the temple feeds thousands of Brahmins. Swami, they do not eat everything served and waste a lot of food. The waste bins overflow with leftover food, really delicious food. I go there on most nights. Sometimes other people like me go too and then there is a fight for the leftovers. Dogs and rats fight for the food too. I am always hungry so when everyone has gone to sleep, I go there to forage for food. That night I was alone, Swami." Jara paused and looked around. Many turned their faces away or covered their mouths to avoid any contamination from the Nishada.

  "How disgusting!" Dhaumya commented. Jara gave the man who found him so repulsive, a black-toothed smile.

  Bhishma nodded to Jara, gesturing for him to continue. "I saw a very tall and well-built man sitting on the rock near the temple; close to the river... he was with someone wearing a white shawl. They were drinking. After some time, the big man began singing in a horrible voice. He was sitting dangerously close
to the edge of the rock and the man in the shawl pushed him into the river with a splash. I was afraid to remain any longer and ran away since I was in a place I was not supposed to be. I was afraid the man with the white shawl would kill me too, if he saw me. The guards caught me, Swami. They saw me running from the temple and thought I was a thief. For the last two days they have thrashed me," Jara finished.

  Suyodhana stood in the middle of the sabha, looking shocked. He was wearing a white silk shawl like any other day. Hundreds of eyes had already pronounced him guilty. The King had turned pale and Queen Gandhari was gripping her hands together. Bhishma called to Vidhura to consult with him and the Court erupted in frenzied discussion.

  Before Vidhura could move, Dhaumya stood up. "Your Excellency, do we need any further proof?"

  Bhishma addressed Jara again. "Can you identify the person in the white shawl?"

  Jara scanned the crowd slowly. Shakuni went pale with fear. Everything had gone according to plan and Takshaka would return the packet any time now. He had not pushed Bhima into the river to kill the Prince. That would have been too easy. He had been playing for a much higher stake - to seal the enmity between the sons of his sister and their cousins. If the Untouchable identified him, it would upset all his plans. The touch of using Suyodhana's shawl had been a last minute addition to his plan. He had reasoned that any overzealous guard on the alert that night would conclude it was Suyodhana taking a stroll with his cousin and let them be. In fact, he had been counting on one of the guards being witness to 'Suyodhana' and Bhima leaving the palace in the dead of night. But he had not accounted for a witness like Jara.

  Jara's eyes rested on Suyodhana and his characteristic white shawl. There was a collective sucking in of breaths in the Court. Bhishma looked at Vidhura, who gravely nodded his head. The entire Court waited expectantly for Bhishma's words. At that moment, there was a commotion at the far end of the hall and every head turned towards the main door. A group of guards was trying to push away the throbbing crowds. But what caught everyone's attention was the huge figure of Bhima amidst the guards, gazing at the assembly with a lopsided grin.

  "What the..." Dhaumya stopped the curse that was on the tip of his tongue by biting his lip.

  Kunti ran towards her son and hugged him as if she would never let go. Bhima looked pleased and embarrassed at the same time. When the confusion died down, Bhishma spoke again, asking Bhima where he had been.

  Bhima looked at the assembly and the hostile eyes all around and winced. His experiences over the last two days had been fantastic but he was not sure whether they were in fact true or part of a drug-induced fantasy. He began talking and the elite assembly listened to the impossible story with a growing sense of wonder, scepticism and finally, amusement. It was evident that Bhima was stoned from the moment he opened his mouth. He spoke of the wonderful world of the Nagas. Two nights ago, a Gandharva had called him in his dreams, to fly over the Ganga. The creature had offered him a special potion, saying it would give him magical powers. Bhima had taken the potion and the Gandharva had pushed him into the river. Bhima had flown over the Ganga for some time and finally fallen into a sea of milk and honey. The Nagas had saved him from the sweet-smelling nectar and taken him to their magical world. He had met the Naga King, Takshaka, who had been a charming host. Bhima had met the most gorgeous women and had a good time. When Bhima began describing his exploits with the Naga women, Bhishma lost his temper and banged his hands on the armrest of his chair. That stopped Bhima's flight of fancy and brought him back to the real world.

  He looked around to see the hostile eyes of the Brahmins and wondered what he had done wrong. His brother Yudhishtra was hanging his head in shame, as were Arjuna and his other siblings. Sushasana and Aswathama were grinning, while Suyodhana was looking at him with relief, pity, and revulsion. Kunti was biting her lip nervously. Suddenly Gandhari began to laugh. Dhritarashtra joined in with a chuckle, and then the entire assembly broke into laughter. A smile twitched on Bhishma's lips and grew into a rare smile when he saw Dhaumya's face turn red with embarrassment. Only Vidhura remained grave as he observed Shakuni's reaction. He did not like the look of relief on the Gandhara Prince's face. Vidhura was sure that somewhere in this farce lay the deadly hand of this foreigner.

  "My son is tired and traumatized by what he has gone through, Pitamaha," Kunti pleaded.

  "I agree Kunti. He is not normal," Bhishma said with wry humour. Some of the assembly roared with laughter. Vidhura's grave face lightened at last.

  "Swami, Bhima has undergone the trauma of near death and he is afraid of Duryodhana. I am sure we will get the facts if we have this trial tomorrow," Dhaumya broke in.

  Vidhura collected the palm leaf strips from every member of the Council of Ministers. Vidhura stamped them with the Royal seal and handed them over to the Grand Regent. Bhishma took his time to read each one. He put eight of them on one side and two on the other. Then he looked up and said, "Sri Dhaumya, what Bhima needs now is some antidote to whatever drug he has taken. The Court does not have time to hear the drug-induced fantasies of a stoned man. There will be no trial tomorrow. I am passing judgement now. His Highness, the King, will take action as he deems fit on the advice I give. The Council of Ministers has voted, eight to two, that Prince Suyodhana is innocent of all charges. The Council advises the Court be dismissed for the day. It shall reconvene tomorrow to discuss matters of State."

  "So be it." King Dhritarashtra stood up and assistants rushed to help the blind couple from the dais.

  There were angry protests from the Brahmins but Dhaumya kept his cool. He knew when to keep a low profile. He walked over to the Pandavas. A few Brahmins followed the King to remind him about the penance of feeding a thousand Brahmins. The tired King wearily agreed and walked to his chamber with his wife.

  ***

  Sushasana and Aswathama joined Suyodhana and hugged the Prince joyfully. As the Court emptied, Vidhura tapped Suyodhana on the shoulder and informed him that the Grand Regent was waiting for him. The Prince followed Vidhura with a sinking heart, bracing himself for a tongue-lashing from his granduncle. As he entered Bhishma's private chamber, he was surprised to find a guest there. The man looked to be in his late twenties but his composure, confidence and calm, belied such a young age. The way the Grand Regent was treating him told Suyodhana he was in the presence of a remarkable man.

  The man stood up with a smile when he saw the Prince. Bhishma too, acknowledged Suyodhana by raising his right hand in blessing. The Prince bowed to the Grand Regent and stood reverently as Vidhura took his place to Bhishma's right. Bhishma smiled and said, "Suyodhana, meet Balarama, Head of the Yadava Council. He is a close friend and a man of great wisdom and distinction. I have called him here for a purpose."

  "Sir, you embarrass me with your kind words," Balarama said with a smile that lit the whole room. "Suyodhana, I have heard much about you. I am a mere cowherd and not a King. There are no Kings among the Yadavas. We are a republic and I am the elected Head. I hold my position at the will of my people."

  Impulse rather than cold logic always defined Suyodhana's response to people. Now he felt an instant liking for the Yadava leader and beamed at him.

  "When Vidhura told me Balarama was passing through Hastinapura on his way to Kashi, I thought I would request his help for you, Suyodhana. Your lack of confidence, your habit of getting into trouble with powerful people, and your constant fights with your cousins, worries me not a little. Drona too, is not fond of you and says you are rebellious and do not show him respect. With Sushasana, I will tolerate such complaints, but not with you. You are going to rule this land one day and such habits are not going to make you a good King," Bhishma said, coming to the point as usual.

  Suyodhana felt annoyed at being humiliated before a stranger. But Balarama smiled and said to Bhishma, "Sir, you are too harsh. I first heard about Suyodhana when the travelling singers visited my new city of Dwaraka. They sang about the greatness of Arjuna, the middle Panda
va Prince. They narrated the now famous test Guru Drona set his students, asking them what they saw in a parrot on a tree. Everyone found Arjuna's answer admirable - that he saw only the target, the eye of the bird. It was spoken like a true warrior and the bards were full of praise. My brother Krishna declared in our assembly that here at last was a young warrior all of India could admire. But the bards also spoke derisively about Suyodhana's reply - that he saw love in the parrot's eyes and refused to shoot the bird, which Arjuna then shot down so brilliantly. When I heard the story, I thought Arjuna might perhaps be the warrior India wanted, but Suyodhana was the man India needed."

  Suyodhana blushed as he looked at this uncommon man. The answer had come naturally to him and he had suffered a great deal of mockery from his peers and elders for his unmanly reply. Though he was sure he would say the same thing if asked again, he also wished the incident to be forgotten.

  Bhishma suppressed a smile and said, "Balarama, I do not know what to do with this boy. Sometimes I see myself in him, as I was in my youth. The emotions he expresses, the sympathy he shows, are all qualities I admire. However, I never allowed my heart to rule my head, not even in my teens. The poor will always suffer oppression; what they will not forgive is the patronizing attitude of those better off. I had the wisdom to know that acts of charity would not change anything and that we would have to work slowly to change the system, not toppling it in haste. I despise the caste system but I have always been careful to take a balanced view. This boy is impulsive and incorrigible. He fights with the wrong people for the right reasons and is making powerful enemies. I cannot let it continue... he is growing up to be a kind-hearted fool.