King Prahast was devastated and immediately consulted his remaining council ‘Samundram’ and his other sons. Samundram was practical and advised his King to negotiate and give away the armour. He reasoned well and said, “Nector told us that this is the army of the Son of Indra, and I believe that he is right, Indra is the strongest of all gods and we can’t fight Indra. We are just men; we can’t offend the gods by fighting with their army! We were ordered to safeguard the armour by our ancestors and we did that but we can’t fight an army belonging to a god son. Maybe the god wants them to have the armour, if the two princes could not cause any harm to them, then this must be god’s will. I think we should give away the armour and make peace with the Army of Indra. Let’s call for peace and send emissaries.”
“I think you are right, may be this is the god’s will,” acknowledged the King, he then asked his son Chandrajeet to go and lead the negotiation.
The white flag was raised and after half an hour, five emissaries emerged out of the fort, in a wagon pulled by slaves. They were accompanied by one hundred soldiers and fifty slaves who pulled along carts containing gold, silver and rarest of the rarest gems. Agastya and his cavalry approached them with the other ‘Manuastra’ warriors, the rest stayed behind. Agastya sent Malamb to go and instruct the soldiers to drop their swords and shields.
As per instructions, the emissaries & the soldiers abandoned their weapons and approached Agastya. Once close enough, the emissaries stepped out of their carriage. The young prince, Chandrajeet bowed down first, followed by others. He was a smooth talker and knew his task well and it was he who initiated the dialogue.
“We have witnessed your strength, you people are no ordinary warriors, you are divine. We lay down our arms and surrender. You are indeed the deific army of Indra. Nector told us that you came here for the armour. Come inside and take it, It is yours. But please drop your hostilities and enter the Kingdom of Prahast as guests. Our hospitality is impeccable and we have plenty to offer.”
“We came as friends, but you tried to poison us,” replied Agastya.
“It was my elder brothers’ decision. I never supported it, now they have gone to heaven while I am alive and the rightful heir to the throne. I am here to fulfil all your requests,” replied Chandrajeet. He then looked at Agastya and asked, “Who are you people and where do you come from?”
“I am Agastya and we belong to the largest empire of the world, Mahaverna. We serve and represent our King, ‘Taraksh’, the son of Indra. I have come to this island with six of the ablest warriors on earth. The display of which you have just witnessed,” answered Agastya.
He then pointed at Jairudh and continued with his words, “A single arrow, from Jairudh’s bow can crush your gates in to pieces. We have men with the power to crumble your walls with a single impact of their shoulders. As you said, we are not ordinary……and we have come this far to claim what rightfully belongs to our King Taraksh – The Armour of Surya.”
Chandrajeet remained calm and composed; he had a natural ability to flatter people, “It is yours my lord, all yours, please come inside and give us an opportunity to showcase our friendship and loyalty.”
“We would! But first ask your leftover army to come out without any arms. I don’t want an army inside when we enter your city. They will remain arrested outside the city walls under the guard of my troops. They will be released only when we will come out with the armour. Ask your men to install camps outside,” ordered Agastya.
Chandrajeet was asked to please the invaders at any cost and he agreed. Soon an army of around twenty thousand men stepped outside without their arms and armour. They all surrendered and were handcuffed. Jivraj stayed behind with around three thousand men, guarding the captives while the rest prepared to march inside their newly conquered city.
Chandrajeet had arranged for royal chariots for the principle warriors, since they had no horses; they were pulled by slaves. The victors were taken inside, the city was beautiful with wide roads and dwellings made up of clay and stone all painted in white. The people of the city wore coloured clothing which contrasted well with the white surroundings. The people gathered on to the streets to look at the invaders, many watched the procession from the windows and balconies of their residences. They all looked awestruck as they beheld the cavalry.
The winners were escorted to a gigantic palace, beautifully designed, neatly carved, embellished with gems and creative sculptures. The palace had multiple floors, the ground floor of which consisted of a massive King’s court. Agastya’s troops were made to relax in a gigantic hall inside the court while the six great warriors were taken to the other corner containing the King’s throne along with small thrones for courtiers. They were offered fruits and wine. Before consumption, the hosts were cautioned of dire consequences, should the feasting lead to poisoning.
Once they had settled, King Prahast entered the chambers with his guards. He greeted Agastya and then took off his crown and placed it at Agastya’s feet. As he did that, the alien army cheered, but Agastya displayed surprisingly fine diplomacy. He bent down, picked up the crown and placed it back on Prahast’s head. He then hugged him and apologized for their hostility and then promised to return without any further violence if the king helped him with the armour. The King was placated; he embraced Agastya and offered his most beautiful daughter, ‘Mirsana’ to him in marriage. Agastya was stunned by the beauty of his daughter and graciously and quite readily accepted. The King also offered his ten other daughters and twenty five percent of the royal treasure as a gift to Taraksh, the Son of Indra.
After few meetings in regards to the armour, Prahast called for the head priest and explained the whole scenario to him. The priest was sensible and was quick to adjust; after all he wanted to live and in a fraction of a second changed his allegiance to Indra. He touched the feet of the ‘Manuastra’ and took their blessing as they represented the ‘God of Thunder’.
The head priest along with others immediately announced that the people of Rabocin from now onwards would pay homage to only Indra, the elder god. He further promulgated that all temples of the city would be replaced by temples of Indra.
The royal announcers publicized that the thunder god will be the new protector of the city, the King declared celebrations and free feasting and wine for five days. This was enough to make the people forget their older god.
The ‘Manuastra’ warriors rested in the palace for the remaining day and the night that followed. Jivraj and the troops outside did not consume food & wine from inside and stayed on high alert, their job was to ensure that the intentions of the Army of Prahast remained virtuous. They prepared their own food, though they accepted the camp comforts and the tents offered by the Rabocins.
Agastya on the other hand was smitten by the beauty of Mirsana. The otherwise untamed Agastya was gentle with her, he was enchanted by her beauty, he gave due respect to her, discussed matters with her and once she was comfortable, he made love to her. The princess on the other hand, also seemed enamoured by the young commander.
Agastya knew that the armour was the top priority but he wanted to repose for a few days and thought it would be good for his army as well; hence they halted for two days. The army was happy by the decision and cheered for Agastya. He also asked the King to open the royal bordello for his soldiers so as to keep them satisfied. The army was pleased and so were the chosen warriors. Oniata, Nismibh and Tung spent most of their time in the royal harem of the departed princes while Jairudh cherished moments with Vinashki; they were inseparable and appeared deeply in love.
After relaxing for two days, Agastya reverted to his prime responsibility; he called for Chandrajeet and asked him about the armour.
Chandrajeet bowed to Agastya and began explaining, “The Great One! The armour will be handed over to you by Surya himself at the divine ‘Agni Kund’ after you perform the ‘Surya Devo Manthan’ ritual.”
Chandrajeet looked inquisitively at Agastya for a response, when he d
idn’t get any, he probed, “Do you know how to perform the Surya Manthan?”
“We do know about it. Tell me more about the armour,” asked Agastya.
“The legend says that the replica of Surya himself protects the armour and you might have to defeat him in a battle in order to obtain the armour. The Avatar of Surya is considered to be strongest in the three realms but I am sure you would be able to handle him,” responded Chandrajeet.
“I will like to face the god now, escort us to the temple,” stated Agastya.
Chandrajeet followed instructions and soon the ‘Manuastra’ and one thousand men departed for the temple. The temple was at the top of a hill. It looked marvellous, similar to what Oniata had witnessed earlier, adorned with various kinds of gems and gold. The passage leading to the main entrance had multiple statues of soldiers, lions and dragons.
Inside the temple, stood two colossal statues of Surya. The statues were carved in gold and were around fifty feet tall. The chosen ones were amazed to see the structures. Chandrajeet, who was leading, then escorted them to a covert stairway leading to a cellar. It seemed as if the entire passage was carved inside the hill. The remaining armed squad was told to wait outside while the chosen ones entered inside.
The basement was dark but the moment Chandrajeet, who carried a torch, ignited a lamp, all other lamps lit up. The lamps were specially designed and were interconnected with each other. The place indeed looked mystical; the basement had another door which led to a mysterious tunnel. This door was sealed with a massive ancient lock.
“The lock was put here by the gods. We cannot open the lock, you must do it yourself,” said Chandrajeet.
Agastya looked at Nismibh and asked him to break the lock.
“My pleasure,” replied Nismibh, he firmly held the lock in his left hand and slammed it with his right hand but to everyone’s amazement, the lock remained intact, it didn’t break. Nismibh tried to pull the lock apart but it was of no use.
Everyone was surprised, the lock was huge but Nismibh was one of the strongest men in the world. He had the power to push and pull elephants down with ease; his failure to break the lock left everyone astonished. Agastya asked the strong man to relax and looked at the great archer and asked him to give it a try, “I guess we need your divinely powered arrows to break the lock.”
Jairudh acknowledged and took an arrow from his arsenal, but before he could proceed forward, Vinashki intervened, “Let me try.”
She moved towards the lock, closed her eye and stretched her hands and started chanting mantras and in few seconds magnetic balls started appearing over her palms. When they grew to the maximum size, she directed these two energy balls inside the keyhole of the lock. The energy went inside the lock and in a second a ‘Clitch’ sound was heard and the lock broke. The door was opened and the ‘Manuastra’ were ready to move in.
As the chosen ones advanced, Chandrajeet stayed behind, “I will not be able to go further. I cannot confront the gods like you. I will stay here, you move forward until you find a boat. You then need to row the boat on to the other side of the stream which will take you to the ‘Valley of Surya’, there you will find an everlasting flame, the ‘Agni Kund’ near a ‘Peepal’ tree.
I’ll reiterate, you need to sit around the fire and perform ‘Surya Devo Manthan’ ritual, once completed, Surya will appear from the flames and will hand over the armour.”
Agastya gazed at Chandrajeet with suspicion and then looked directly into his eyes and spoke with authority. “Better not put us in a trap. Your people are under our army’ protection, if anything happens to us, none of you will be spared, we will burn the city. We will make pyramids of human heads and the damage will be so devastating that people will remember it for centuries to come.”
“Don’t mention that again and again. I am aware of your capabilities. I have lost my brothers and most of my army. I just want you to have the armour and remain merciful towards us.
I would request you to proceed. I’ll wait for you here. Remember! You will have to defeat Mahayogishm, mirror image of the God’s Avatar on earth and the protector of the armour before performing the ritual.”
Chapter VII
Mahayogishm
After all the clarifications were made, the ‘Manuastra’ moved ahead until they came across a small boat. They sat in the boat and rowed it towards a light that appeared from the other end. The team was prepared, alert and powerfully shielded with weapons poised, to face and fight the mighty ‘Mahayogishm’.
After fifteen minutes, ‘Manuastra’ reached the other end into a small valley, surrounded by hills. Right in the centre, a huge ‘Peepal’ tree could be seen and the ‘Manuastra’ proceeded towards it. An eternal oblation fire was lit below the tree, the place looked sacred and the group thought of moving towards the fire.
“Where is Mahayogishm?” questioned Vinashki.
“Nowhere, let’s perform the ‘Yajna’ and let’s see what happens,” replied Jairudh.
As Jairudh said this, there was a movement within the earth some forty feet away. The earth trembled and rocks started erupting from the ground, as this happened, a hand came in to view pushing rocks and mud off the surface, this was followed by a human figure, a warrior, all dressed in silver, around ten feet tall with three pairs of hands. The warrior looked fierce and godly. He was none other than the avatar himself, the mighty…..the legendary….. Mahayogishm.
The warrior held a bow, two axes and a mace in his hands. A thin sword was placed inside a holster next to his waist and a heavy one was placed on his back protruding from above his left shoulder. He also had a bunch of arrows on his back on the right shoulder. He walked like a wild elephant swinging from side to side, looking at ‘Manuastra’ fixedly, his breath could be heard even forty feet away and he looked furious. On the other hand, the six warriors collectively known as ‘Manuastra’ prepared their defences.
‘Manuastra’ together on one side and Mahayogishm on the other, six versus one, but looking at the godly personality of ‘Mahayogishm’, they appeared evenly matched. The six chosen warriors did not panic; they stood together and assumed a defensive stance. Oniata took out his sword and his small circular shield, Agastya drew out his twin axes, Tung took out his thin sleek sword, Jairudh pulled an arrow from his case and placed it on his bow. Nismibh, the brawniest warrior was a little slow in his movements and hence he stood behind others. Vinashki herself moved to the back as her power of generating ‘energy balls’ required time and concentration. They waited for their opportunity.
On the other hand, Mahayogishm, remained in his intimidating stance, not charging, as though he was analysing the opponents, but after a few minutes, he suddenly stopped pacing and took out his bow and arrow, aimed at ‘Manuastra’ and started firing arrows at an extremely fast pace. But the ‘Manuastra’ retaliated well, most of the arrows were blocked by Jairudh and the rest were cut by Agastya and Tung. As this happened, simultaneously, Mahayogishm started beating the ground with his heavy mace, this created ripples on the ground and made ‘Manuastra’ wobble and lose their balance. While others were able to control their fall, Oniata and Tung were unable to maintain balance; seeing an opportunity, Mahayogishm charged at the fallen warriors while shooting arrows continuously. But Jairudh and Agastya did a great job by blocking the incoming arrows. As Mahayogishm came closer to ‘Manuastra’, Jairudh and Vinashki stepped away so as to maintain distance from the ‘Avatar’, they needed this in order to fire arrows and shoot energy balls respectively. Meanwhile Agastya and Nismibh were on high alert and became defensive; protecting the fallen warriors and themselves. Tung recovered quickly and jumped back to his original stance. Oniata on the other hand was slower as compared to Tung and was half way up when he received the first onslaught from divinity but Oniata, the undefeatable, blocked the attack well using his shield, the sound of the collision made the sky quiver.
As Mahayogishm attacked, the others also started attacking the Avatar. But Mahayogishm kept
on fighting, it seemed like he had as many brains as his hands, there were no mix ups, he used his heavy mace to protect the assault of Nismibh. He used his axes to fight Agastya, bow and arrows to fight Jairudh, his light sword to fight with Tung and his heavy sword to fight with Oniata. He was agile and fantastic. He was as strong as Nismibh, as fast as Tung and as skilled as Jairudh and other ‘Manuastra’. The contest so far appeared even but for one small thing. Mahayogishm was not able to concentrate and create energy balls like Vinashki as he was fighting continuously. Meanwhile, Vinashki was ready and was just waiting for an opportunity to fire, the moment she got one she fired the energy ball at Mahayogishm. The energy ball which had the potential to temporarily paralyze a person could only stun Mahayogishm for a second but gave an opportunity to Tung to slash and cut Mahayogishm’s hand, the only armour less area. The cut made Mahayogishm howl in pain and now since he was outnumbered, he thought of retreating. Using somersaults, he quickly moved back but even a retreat did not stop the mighty warrior from attacking. While in air, in an acrobatic style, the warrior suddenly threw his axes on Tung & Nismibh who were charging at Mahayogishm, this happened so fast that it came as a surprise to the charging soldiers. Tung being more attentive and extremely fast, escaped the attack, but Nismibh being slower could not escape the path of the axe completely. He did try to move down but the projectile pierced through his armour, and wounded his upper chest towards his shoulders. The impact, though not fatal, made the strongest warrior fall down in pain thus making him temporarily immobile. At that instance, Mahayogishm in an instant placed an arrow on his bow to fire at Nismibh, but in the blink of an eye, an arrow came and broke his bow, it was Jairudh, who was all set for his turn. Now Jairudh had the opportunity and without wasting any time, fired his favourite arrow, the fastest arrow in the world, ‘Lakshati’, but to Jairudh’s surprise, Mahayogishm easily sliced it using his sword. Jairudh then started firing multiple arrows and in between gaps fired ‘Lakshatis’ in order to confuse the replica of the mighty ‘Avatar’ and the great warrior did fall in to the trap. Mahayogishm misjudged the speed and the fastest arrow struck him in his abdomen. The arrow which could cause death in an instant to any mortal marginally pierced his armour. Mahayogishm was in pain and blood could be seen pouring out of his wound, he looked destructible now.
Vedic Warriors Page 11