The Mahabharata Secret

by Doyle, Christopher C

  Shukla made the discovery. ‘Here,’ he called out.

  They quickly hurried to the far side of the stupa and found him standing before the only ornamentation on the structure.

  It was a stone column that extruded around six inches from the stupa, parallel to the ground. The base of the pillar, where it met the stupa, was ornately carved with miniature lions. But it was the face of the pillar that was visible to them that bore the unmistakable sign of the Nine, within a circle of lions.

  The nine-spoked wheel.

  They looked at each other excitedly, almost forgetting that they were surrounded by terrorists.

  Farooq and Murphy came up to them and stared at the pillar. Murphy looked at Vijay. ‘Well?’

  The pillar was profusely carved and to anyone not familiar with the sign of the Nine it was difficult to comprehend the nature of their discovery.

  ‘It’s here.’ Vijay looked around. What did the sign mark? If it indicated an entrance, then where was it?

  ‘How can you be sure?’ Farooq eyed him with suspicion.

  Vijay ignored him. ‘Keep looking,’ he instructed his companions. ‘It has to be here somewhere.’

  They wandered among the broken columns and pillars scattered around the stupa, probably remnants of some other ancient structure that had stood here. But there was no sign of anything that would indicate an entrance to the cavern within the hill.

  Shukla stopped at a short stone cylindrical pillar and stared curiously at it. It was three feet in height and resting on a stone base that rose up from the ground to a height of three inches. Near the tip of the pillar were small, hollow stone loops.

  Vijay and Colin saw his interest in the pillar and joined him in examining it.

  Did it offer any clues?

  Colin looked back at the horizontal column on the stupa which had the wheel engraved on it.

  The same thought struck all three of them together.

  It was pointing straight at the circular pillar Shukla had stopped by. The horizontal column was fixed at exactly the same height as the height of the circular pillar. This had to be more than a coincidence.

  ‘Lights!’ Vijay called out and the LeT men trained their flashlights on the stone pillar.

  ‘It’s built to slide.’ Colin pointed at the thin stone slab that formed the base. The pillar seemed to be mounted on grooves and if they could slide the pillar along the grooves, they were certain that beneath the base of the pillar, they would find another entrance to the cavern of the Nine.

  ‘We need ropes.’ Vijay looked at Farooq, who barked orders once more.

  The LeT men ran thick ropes through the stone loops on the pillar. They then tugged hard at the ropes.

  The pillar didn’t move.

  More men joined the effort, straining every muscle.

  But the pillar refused to budge.

  Vijay frowned and squatted, examining the grooves on which the pillar was mounted. ‘The pillar can’t be slid in this direction,’ he announced after a few moments. There’s an edge of rock wedged in between the grooves, locking it in place. Try pulling in the opposite direction.’

  The LeT men now moved to the opposite side and heaved on the ropes.

  This time, the pillar moved with a jerking motion, shuddered and then toppled over to the ground with a soft thud.

  Carved into the stone base was a hollow, forming a sturdy stone handle. It had been concealed beneath the pillar.

  Ropes were looped through the handle and pulled. Slowly, the base stone began to rise as centuries of dirt and mud fell away from its edges. It finally fell over, exposing a dark hole in the ground.

  Flashlights were immediately trained on the opening, revealing a stone staircase that descended into the depths of the ground and disappeared into darkness.

  Farooq motioned to two men who obediently disappeared down the stairway. A few moments later, a muffled shout reached their ears. They were quickly herded forward, led by Farooq and Murphy.

  In the light from the flashlights they noticed that on either side of the staircase were bare stone walls polished smooth, though not as finely as the walls of the caves they had seen at Barabar.

  The stairway took them deep under the forest floor. As they stepped off the final stair, they stood in a square chamber and looked around, in awe. It was large enough to accommodate at least a 100 people. Whoever had built the chamber had taken pains to burnish its appearance, polishing the walls to a high degree of smoothness. The roof was about 30 feet above their heads.

  The LeT men spread out.

  Shukla gazed around, wondering why the chamber had been built. He knew this question would remain unresolved, the answer hidden in the mists of time.

  There was a shout from one of the LeT men who had gone ahead to explore.

  Farooq and Murphy stalked over to him, followed by the others. The light of the torches revealed openings in the rock wall opposite the rocky stairway entrance.

  ‘Not another riddle.’ Colin groaned.

  They stared at the sight before them.

  Nine archways had been cut into the rock wall. Each arch rose to a height of 10 feet and bore an inscription above it. But this time the telltale wheel was of no help.

  Each arch bore an engraved wheel above the inscription.

  ‘What does this mean?’ Farooq demanded angrily. His tension was palpable. He hadn’t been expecting the final stage of the journey to be this challenging.

  But it was clear that the Nine hadn’t meant their secret to be discovered so easily. Even if someone solved the clues and made it this far, they had to go through further tests before they achieved their goal.

  Shukla had been studying the arches. ‘I’ve read about tricks like these,’ he said softly, his eyes still gleaming. The excitement of treading a path that hadn’t been trodden for over 2,000 years, of finding the only existing structures built in the time of Asoka the Great, and of being so close to finding the secret of the Nine, had momentarily overcome his fear and apprehension of being held hostage by LeT. ‘Entrances like these were built to ensure that only a select few could access them. Enter the wrong doorway and you could find yourself in a trap, a maze, or worse.’

  ‘So, which one is the correct doorway?’ Murphy’s gaze bored into Shukla.

  Vijay looked at the old scholar, hoping he could make sense of the inscriptions above each archway. They were unintelligible to him.

  ‘The inscriptions are in Magadhi.’ Shukla gazed fervently at the engravings, straining to read them. Farooq noticed this and ordered the flashlights be trained on the inscriptions.

  ‘Can you read them?’ Vijay urged Shukla. ‘I mean, are they still legible?’

  To his relief, Shukla nodded. ‘They’ve been sheltered here for a long time, protected against the elements, so they’re in good condition.’ He pointed to each inscription, as he read them out from left to right.

  ‘Isvara, Jeevas, Prakriti, Samay, Karma, Dukkha, Samudaya, Nirhodha, Marga.’

  Colin frowned. ‘I recognise the first five. I remember you telling me about the five basic truths of the Bhagavad Gita. But what are the others?’

  Shukla looked at him. ‘The four basic truths of Buddhism; Dukkha (the truth of suffering), Samudaya (the truth of the cause of suffering), Nirhodha (the truth of the end of suffering), Marga (the truth of the path that frees human beings from suffering). Together, these nine words represent the foundation of Hinduism and the basis of Buddhism, the two major religions that originated in India. If there was any doubt that Asoka was responsible for this or connected with this structure in any way, this removes that doubt.’

  ‘Good.’ Murphy walked up to Shukla, ‘Then you can also figure out which one is the correct doorway.’

  Shukla shook his head. ‘I have no way of knowing which one to choose. There are no clues here.’

  Farooq strode up to Shukla, a hard look on his face. ‘We have not come this far to fail. We must find the path to enter.’

 
Then, without warning, he suddenly lashed out and struck Shukla in the face with his gun. The elderly man crumpled to the rocky floor of the cavern, blood streaming down his face.

  Vijay opened his mouth but before he could speak, help came from an unlikely source.

  ‘No.’ Murphy stepped forward swiftly and placed a hand on Farooq’s arm as he had taken a step forward, as if to kick Shukla who was lying prone on the ground. The Pakistani was venting his frustration on the weaker man, but Murphy knew that Shukla was a valuable resource.

  ‘We may need him.’ Murphy warned. ‘There may be more inscriptions that only he can read.’

  Farooq’s face was a mask of fury as he turned on Murphy. For a few moments, the men seemed to be engaged in a battle of wills. Then, with a visible effort, Farooq composed himself.

  ‘Fine. But I want this puzzle solved. Now.’

  Colin stepped up. ‘I think I know the answer.’

  Farooq looked at him, his scepticism showing in his face. If a scholar like Shukla couldn’t solve this riddle, what chance did an American have? ‘You do?’ He didn’t trust him. ‘Then tell me what it is. And just to be sure that you won’t try anything funny, your friend here can go through the arch first. You and the old man will remain with us. If you’re wrong or lying, then you’ll have sealed your friend’s fate. But if you’re right, he’ll be back to guide us through.’

  Colin stared at the brutal mask that leered at him. He had no doubt that Farooq meant every word of his threat.

  He swallowed and looked at Vijay, less confident now. What if he was wrong? Vijay nodded back imperceptibly, reassuringly, and Colin faced Farooq once more.

  ‘I don’t know much about the Gita or Buddhism, but I remember the emails Vijay’s uncle sent to him.’ He turned to Vijay. ‘What if your uncle had hidden a clue to this in his emails? We now know that he was a member of the Nine. What if he had left a clue to help you make it through this stage?’

  Vijay frowned. ‘You could be right. There was a lot in the emails that we initially thought was redundant and had been put there just to confuse anyone reading them. But I can’t think of anything that could relate to these inscriptions.’

  ‘The second email,’ Colin urged.

  Vijay thought hard. What had the second email said?

  Everything isn’t always the way it looks. Sometimes you need to look deeper within. Study, the Bhagavad Gita, it is the source of much knowledge. The subject of the Gita, though mixed up, is a mark upon us for our future lives, and will lead you through the door to knowledge, which you must unlock. In an ocean of maya, there is always an island of satya.

  He shook his head.

  ‘The same clue that led us to the key.’ Colin pointed to the central arch and at the inscription above it. He silently prayed that Vijay would arrive at the same conclusion as he did and corroborate his line of reasoning.

  Vijay gazed at the arch, still uncomprehending. It was flanked by four arches on either side. Fatigue lurked on the fringes of his mind, threatening to overpower it. He fought it, concentrating on Colin’s words. What had Shukla said the fifth inscription was?

  Isvara, Jeevas, Prakriti...Samay...Karma...

  It struck him like a brilliant flash of light; like the flashbulb of a camera going off in the dark. It had to be the central doorway. Colin was right.

  He felt a new surge of energy course through his body, washing away all his exhaustion.

  ‘Karma,’ he said aloud and Colin beamed at him, jubilant.

  Vijay stepped forward and extended his hand for a flashlight. One of the men handed him one.

  Colin walked up to join him. ‘You’re not going in there alone.’

  Vijay smiled at him gratefully.

  Farooq watched as the two friends made their way towards the central archway. They paused at the threshold, then, with a backward glance and a deep breath, they plunged into the darkness.

  43

  Day 11

  The forests near Sitagarha Hill

  Radha watched admiringly as the commandos methodically organised themselves in dead silence. No words were spoken, not even in whispers. The entire formation was complete in seconds, using just sign language.

  Weapons were checked and the men split up into groups. A thrill coursed through her as excitement mixed with apprehension; a potent cocktail that made her heart race.

  But the men around her seemed devoid of emotion, oblivious to danger—another day, another mission!

  They had reached a part of the forest that was reasonably near their goal but still distant enough for them to remain undetected. The trucks would remain here while they proceeded on foot. In the centre of the formation, created by the teams of commandos, were Radha and Imran. The men were invisible in the darkness and barely audible except for the occasional rustle of undergrowth. There were no flashlights. Each commando was equipped with night-vision goggles.

  Silently, slowly, like a gargantuan many-headed monster, the commando force made its way towards the goal.

  It is All an Illusion

  Vijay and Colin walked down the passage, shining their flashlight ahead. The bare stone walls that stretched before them were unpolished and unadorned. The rock floor however was level and flat.

  As Vijay walked, he wondered if Shukla was safe with the terrorists back in the chamber. He didn’t trust Farooq, and the flashes of anger the LeT leader had recently displayed suggested that he was losing his grip on himself. Vijay also knew that each of them was safe only as long as they were useful to Farooq.

  They stopped as two archways appeared. Engravings in the rock above each arch jumped out at them as the two trained their flashlights on them.

  Vijay frowned. The archway on the right appeared to be carved into the rock and meant only as decor. ‘This doesn’t make sense,’ he said.

  Colin agreed. ‘After all we’ve seen of the Nine, why would they create two archways when one of them can’t be used? Now, if they’d given us a choice between the two and we had to decipher a clue to make that choice, I’d have been happier.’

  Slowly, cautiously, they entered the archway on the left. It was a straight passage that sloped downwards after a while.

  Vijay frowned. ‘This seems to be going deeper underground. Wonder why.’

  They continued along the corridor, careful to keep their elbows and hands from brushing against the jagged walls. The passage had narrowed considerably since they had entered it, and despite their cautiousness they had picked up a few bruises and scrapes from the rough walls.

  They followed the turns of the passage until they reached a lone doorway.

  Vijay stared at the arch suspiciously. What lay beyond?

  Colin shot him a glance. ‘What do you think? I smell something.’

  Vijay grinned. ‘Probably dead rats. There must be scores of them here. But I have to agree with you. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.’

  ‘We can’t go back. Farooq will kill us. And that’s not a joke.’

  ‘On the other hand, it’s just a feeling we have. There must be something beyond that archway.’

  ‘I’m not sure I want to find out what. In Hollywood movies there’s normally a mummy or dragon or some frightening beast that lurks beyond archways like this one. And, in case you haven’t realised by now, that’s not an encounter I’d relish.’

  Vijay smiled. Even at a time like this, Colin managed to be humorous. ‘Ancient Indians never mummified their dead. So there won’t be any mummies here. And dragons are found in Chinese lore, not Indian mythology.’

  ‘What about demons?’ Colin countered. ‘I recall Dr. Shukla saying something about demons in the Mahabharata.’

  ‘Yes,’ Vijay agreed gravely. ‘There are loads of demons in Indian mythology. All kinds. Asuras, Rakshasas...’

  ‘Save the names and descriptions,’ Colin interrupted him hurriedly. ‘I think I’m better off not knowing.’

  He poked his head beyond the archway and stood looking for a few mome
nts. Then, he withdrew and grinned at Vijay. ‘This you’ve got to see.’

  Vijay flashed his torch through the archway and walked through it, into an enormous cavern. The darkness of the cavern was impenetrable as far as his eyes could see.

  He raised his eyes to the roof of the cavern, and his jaw dropped.

  While the roof was cloaked in darkness, the blackness itself seemed to be alive with a million dots of twinkling light. Had they not known that they were deep underground and now stood in a chamber carved from the bedrock, they would have easily believed that they had emerged from the confines of the rock and into the open, under the starlight.

  They switched off their flashlights for a few moments and savoured the beauty of the sight. It was like gazing at the night sky from the top of a mountain, with no clouds or smog to obscure their view, no city lights to dim the brilliance of the stars.

  ‘It’s a replica of the night sky,’ Colin murmured, outlining with his hand the constellations he knew. ‘Look, there’s the Great Bear—the Big Dipper is clearly visible. And that’s Orion—there’s his belt.’

  They stood gazing for a while, identifying a few more constellations, wondering at the skill and ingenuity of the builders of this cavern. Who had they been? How had they created such an amazingly life-like representation of the night sky? And why?

  Finally, they tore their eyes away from the spectacle overhead and turned their attention to their surroundings. All around them stretched an opaque canopy of darkness. The beams of their torches only scratched the skin of the darkness but failed to cut through its flesh.

  ‘D’you think this is it?’ Colin whispered, overawed. ‘The cavern of the Nine?’

  They looked at each other and then moved forward together, slowly, cautiously. Who knew what the Nine had planted in this cavern to safeguard their secret?

  Suddenly, they stopped. Something was visible in the torchlight. They crept closer until they could see it clearly, though it was still some distance from them.

  It was a pillar, four or five feet tall and black in colour, which was why it was not easily discernible. It had blended in with the darkness of the cavern until they were close enough to it to see it in the light of their torches.