“We’ll take our chances.” Rakshasa said. “Maybe the Greeks will not attack. Maybe they will be afraid of our large army.”
“Have you heard about the man who leads the Greeks?” I asked him. “He is afraid of no one.”
“Maybe not him.” Rakshasa said. “But his subordinates will be. His soldiers will be. They are so far away from home, after all.”
“Still, if I could talk to Maharaja Dhanananda,” I said, “maybe I could convince him.”
“No!” Rakshasa said firmly. “What do you think of the Maharaja? He is a Nanda! Don’t you know anything about the Nandas? I am the sanest man you shall meet in the palace, Chanakya. I am glad you came to me, and not to anyone else because otherwise who knows what would have happened with you.”
“I just can’t give up and go back.” I said. ‘I have come such a long way.”
“I am sorry, my friend.” Rakshasa said. “But this is just as it is. Believe me; you don’t want to meet the Maharaja. You’ll just be insulted in the process. I have a piece of advice for you. Go back to where you came from, or just stay here in Patliputra. There are plenty of opportunities in this city.”
His words rang in my ears as we stood up and took our leave. I walked out of the place without looking back.
Hanuman and I were walking along the walls of the gardens again, going back to his shop in the marketplace. I stopped midway.
“There has to be a way to get to the Maharaja.” I said. If Patliputra indeed was a city with so many opportunities, then there had to be another way.
“No.” Hanuman said thoughtfully, “I’ve told you, the Maharaja only speaks with recommended people, women and….”
Hanuman smiled.
It was pitch-dark at midnight. Captain Shesha and two of his men strolled along the garden walls. The two men had torches in their hands.
“I hate garden duty,” Captain Shesha said gruffly. “It is too cold at night.”
“At least we have had a good day, Sir.” One of the guards said. “The money we took from the jeweler’s shop was a good haul.”
“Yes.” The other one agreed.
“Shut up you two.” Captain Shesha said. “You are satisfied easily.”
They kept walking along the walls until they reached the gates.
“What’s the point of guarding these gardens anyways?” He said. “Who is going to dare to kill the Maharaja’s deer?”
There was a rustle on the other side of the gates. The three of them turned to look at its source.
“What is it?” Captain Shesha asked.
“Maybe a deer.” A guard said, waving his torch to see in the dark.
“Yes, let it be.” Shesha said, sitting down on the ground. “I am tired of all this walking.
The other two sat down too. There was more rustling. Yet none of them moved.
“I could have been fucking a fine whore by the side of a warm fire.” Shesha complained.
“This is all the doing of Minister Rakshasa.” One of the guards said. “He is the one who insists on these patrols.”
“Yes, that bastard.” Captain Shesha said. “Maybe we should patrol outside his house too sometimes.” There was an evil grin on Captain Shesha’s face.
There was rustling again, and quite loudly. Captain Shesha got to his feet.
“Enough.” He shouted. “Let’s scare this deer away.”
They opened the gates and entered with their torches. The sound was coming from behind a tree. As they neared it, Captain Shesha realized it was not a deer. As they drew closer, he realized it wasn’t an animal.
It was a man, a young Brahmin with his hands raised, and a knife in them. They raised their swords.
I watched them approach me with glee. Finally, I was going to see the Maharaja.
Asoka
Vidishanagri, 271 BC
Though darkness had fallen, he could not recognize the same building from the day, for earthen lamps were everywhere. The guild building was decorated immensely, and guards stood on the outside, with their spears out.
He and Kanaka approached from the front side.
“We’re late,” Kanaka said. He was dressed in beautiful silk fabric.
Asoka hadn’t had anything to wear other than his soldier’s clothes and armor, so Kanaka had lent him his own silk clothes. Asoka felt funny in it; he never had worn anything like that his entire life. The fabric was coarse too, rubbing into his skin.
“Don’t play too much with your dress,” Kanka said. “It will ruin the folds.”
Asoka let go of the dress.
“Now you’re looking like a prince,” Kanaka said.
They entered through the vast wooden doors and walked up to the same big room where they had been in the afternoon.
It looked nothing at all like the afternoon. The vast empty room was now filled with people in silk dresses standing in groups. A table was in the center. Food was laid out on the sides. “The who’s who of the city is here,” Kanaka whispered in his ear.
Hardeo walked up to welcome them.
“Finally royalty graces our guild,” he said, handing them goblets of wine.
“I already graced the guild in the afternoon,” Asoka winked.
“But it is only now that you look like royalty,” Hardeo winked too. Asoka laughed.
“Please, let us go to the tables.” Hardeo led them.
Food was already laid on the table in places. Hardeo introduced Asoka to everybody. Everybody bowed. Asoka felt a little embarrassed.
“You don’t have to bow or anything,” he said.
“Most of us aren’t used to royalty,” Hardeo said, “because we aren’t allowed around one.”
Asoka sat down. Kanaka sat down beside him and Hardeo opposite him.
“So all of them are Buddhist?” Asoka asked, looking at all the other people.
“Most of them are,” Hardeo said, “they will be anything they can. As we can’t find respect in order, they find it through money.”
“And what about you?” Asoka asked “How do you earn respect?”
Hardeo laughed. “I gain it through power.” “How’s my army being raised?” Asoka asked.
“Bit by bit,” Hardeo said. “It will be ready in a week.”
“You said three days in the afternoon,” Asoka said.
“Sure my Prince, but you must understand,” Hardeo said, winking. “It’s the foundation day of the guild.”
“Oh you’re a perfect merchant,” Asoka exclaimed, drinking his wine, “and a perfect ruler. How does this arrangement between you and the Raja work?”
“You must have been misled,” Hardeo said. “There is no arrangement of any kind. I am merely an advisor to the Raja.”
“Oh come on,” Asoka said, “even I am not simple enough to believe that.”
“What Asoka means is,” Kanaka said, “what was the great wisdom through which you managed to take over the control of the city when the odds are so heavily against you?”
Hardeo smiled. “You should learn flattery from your friend here, Prince. Sometimes only sweet words can open the lips of a person.”
“I am yet to see them work,” Asoka winked.
“You mean to ask how a man of the wrong Varna and the wrong religion managed to rule the city,” Hardeo said.
“Precisely,” Asoka said.
“I was lucky,” Hardeo said “Raja Utamacharya does not have any heirs. It is much easier to control old men than young.”
“Did the Raja not have any sons?” Asoka asked. “Or did they all happen to die in accidents?”
“Oh no, no, my Prince,” Hardeo waved his hand. “We believe in the way of the Buddha, we believe in non-violence.”
“And luck?”
“The Buddha told us to make our own luck,” Hardeo said.
“It’s basically like this,” Kanaka said. “The one who controls the guards controls the city. And the one who pays the guards is the one who controls the guards.”
“It’s not ex
actly like that,” Hardeo pointed out. “But you can say it started like that.”
“Surely the Raja can pay the guards too,” Asoka said.
“He could,” Hardeo winked.
“I don’t understand,” Asoka said.
Hardeo smiled.
“The Raja got greedy,” Kanaka said. “He saw all of us merchants making money, and he wanted to make some money too.”
“The Raja used money sent from Patliputra to trade against us,” Hardeo laughed. “It was obvious he wasn’t going to survive.”
“So the Raja lost all the money that was meant for paying the guards?” Asoka asked.
“Yes.” Hardeo said. “First he lost his money, then he lost his hearing. So he was left with no option than to approach me.”
“But you approached the guards first.”
“I figured out that if I was going to give money to the Raja and the Raja was going to give it to the guards, why couldn’t I give it to the guards directly? Cut out the middleman.”
“What if Patliputra investigates this matter?” Asoka asked.
“Raja Utamacharya would deny it fervently,” Hardeo said smiling.
“Because accepting that would mean telling the truth about the money he pilfered too,” Kanaka said.
“It’s a win-win situation here,” Hardeo said. “The Raja gets his dignity, and much less headache, and I get much more headache, but well that’s even for power.”
“So that’s how it all began?” Asoka asked.
“Yes, though it has become much more complex now,” Hardeo said.
Asoka sat up a little straighter. “The Raja is very old.”
Hardeo’s eyes became larger and he was going to say something, when the usher loudly announced the beginning of the dance.
Everyone stood up to clap including them as several women dressed in colorful clothing arrived from a side.
“We will continue our conversation later,” Hardeo said. “Now my daughter dances. I must clap for her.”
“Your daughter is a dancer?” Asoka asked.
“My daughter is a lot of things, but she dances well too,” Hardeo said proudly.
Asoka looked at the dancers.
“There she is,” Hardeo pointed, “in the middle in the blue attire.”
Asoka looked and almost swore. The woman in the center was wearing a beautiful indigo saree. Jewels adorned her from top to bottom. The attire had drastically changed, but there was no mistaking the beautiful face.
“Devi of Vidisha,” Hardeo gladly said.
Asoka kept mum as the musicians changed from one tune to another and the dancers changed from one step to another, all in synchrony. Devi was dancing with skill. Asoka was looking at her, transfixed. The ends of her saree moved in circles along with her. The long braid which she had done her hair in was also moving. All of it looked enchanting. The ghungru on her feet rattled in beat with her movements as she bounced on her legs one by one. And suddenly, the music changed, and now she was moving from side to side, with a smile fixed upon her face.
“My daughter is trained in this dance form called Avanti,” Hardeo explained. “It is one of the most ancient dance forms of this region.”
“She looks quite well versed in it,” Asoka said, folding his arms and leaning back. She had not yet seen him yet from the stage and was completely engrossed in her dance.
“Yes indeed,” Hardeo smiled, the pride showing upon his face. “She has been training in it since she was a little girl.”
Devi was stealing away the grace of all the other dancers. It was very clear that she was the leader on the stage as all the other women followed her movements. Her face shone due to the candlelight reflecting upon her. She looked much more beautiful than when he had first seen her. Much fairer, her hair much better made, the mudra smile resting upon her lips.
“And what about medicine?” Asoka asked. “Has she been training in that since childhood too?”
It broke Hardeo’s trance as he turned his head away from the stage and looked at him. “How in the world do you know that my daughter is a Vaidya?” He asked, surprise clearly showing on his face.
Asoka bit his lip. Kanaka was looking at him too. How was he going to explain this?
He opened his mouth to speak, but he was saved by the musicians who finished the music.
Slowly, the music finished as the dancers stopped dancing.
Devi walked up to them, towards her father. Hardeo was looking at her with pride. She took some time to recognize him in his exorbitant clothing.
“Asoka?” She gasped.
“How do you know each other?” She and Hardeo said at the same time.
“We met in the forest,” Asoka said to Hardeo first, “I was injured. Your daughter practically saved my life. That is how I know that she is a Vaidya too.”
Hardeo was dumbfounded.
“You dance as well as you dress wounds,” Asoka said, turning to her. She was dumbfounded too and kept looking at him, but she recovered fast.
“And you look as good in this attire as you looked in your armour.” She said. Kanaka was silent too, as he veered from side to side.
“So this is why your arrival was late.” Hardeo had finally found his words.
“I was dying.” Asoka said. “Poisoned arrow.”
“Fired by whom?” Kanaka asked
“I still do not know.”
“He recovered much faster than I had expected,” Devi said.
Soft music had now started playing in the room, and the dancers on the stage had found young partners amongst the merchants to dance. Devi dragged him by the hand
“Let’s dance.” She said.
Both of them slowly moved away and started moving to the slow beat, as Kanaka and Hardeo watched them.
“What in Lord Buddha’s name?” Asoka heard Hardeo saying to Kanaka. Then their voices died. The music was becoming louder. He smiled.
Devi smiled too. Her rosy cheeks glowed in the shimmering light of the candles in the room. Her eyes looked brilliant, adorned by black kajal. They were so close to each other; Asoka could see her dilated pupils eyeing him with desire.
He felt her palms run softly over his shoulders and felt a shiver run through his body.
“My chambers are upstairs.” She whispered.
“So you live in the guild building?” He asked foolishly, though he knew exactly what she was implying.
In return, she gently stamped on his foot.
“Ouch.” He said.
She smiled again. He could have sworn to keep looking at her smile forever. She was so fair, so beautiful.
Hardeo, Kanaka, the hall, it all seemed to fade away into the background. It was just the music, her and him, moving to the slow beat.
“My chambers, upstairs.” She said again.
This time, she tugged his hand, pulling him. He let himself be pulled.
She led him to a door with a staircase. It was dark. Out of the corner of his eye, Asoka saw Hardeo and Kanka staring at them. Then they went out of sight as she pulled him inside and closed the door behind them.
She was so close; it was hard to control himself now.
It was dark of the night with the eerie chirping of crickets that filled the air and half a moon shone in the sky. The streets of Vidishanagri were almost deserted.
One single horse shot out of the city in the dark. No one stopped him. It was Hardeo. His head was covered by a black hood, and the rest of him by a black cloak. It camouflaged him in the night. Even the horse he was riding was black, and he was almost invisible in the darkness.
He rode through the dusty road that led out of the city. Soon his horse was off the beaten track. Hardeo was entering the forest.
He maneuvered his horse through the thick of the trees in the moonlight that was available. Soon he was near a rock towering high in front of him.
He could see smoke emanating from the perch of the rock and a single tent propped up. Hardeo’s hose climbed the steep rise labori
ously.
Three men were sitting by a fire, upon which a deer was roasting. They saw him coming, but did not move an inch. The smoke rising from the fire and the meat made Hardeo unable to see them. He got down from his horse and walked near.
One of the men stood up. He was the rebel leader.
“Hardeo of Vidisha,” he said, “Guildmaster of the merchant’s guild and my secret ally, are you sure you weren’t followed?”
“Shiva, of Avanti, leader of the rebellion, and son of Maharaja Avarak,” Hardeo said, steering clear of the smoke, “I rule the whole city. Who would follow me?”
“Maybe some of Asoka’s men?” Shiva had moved away from the rest of the two, and walked up to the edge of the rock.
“Impossible,” Hardeo said, unclasping his hood, “they are fast asleep outside my walls, enjoying my hospitality.”
Shiva’s lips twisted into a smile exposing yellow teeth. “What of Asoka himself?”
“He is asleep with my daughter,” Hardeo said.
“Your daughter?” One of the men near the fire laughed. “You merchants would sell anything for a profit!”
“Be careful of how you speak!” Hardeo said sternly. “I too am a ruler of a city.”
“A city under Patliputra.” The man retorted, standing up. “While we are the free folk of Avanti now.”
“Sit down.” Shiva ordered. “Be careful of how you speak. You were speaking about his daughter after all.”
“Yes, General.” The man sat back down. Shiva turned to Hardeo.
“So how many nights will Asoka spend at Vidishanagri?” He asked.
“More days,” Hardeo said. “He seems smitten by my daughter. The last I saw, he was following her, his tongue sticking out like a hungry dog.”
“Good.” Shiva laughed. “My army will be here tomorrow. Then we can attack when Asoka and his men are asleep.”
“Indeed you can,” Hardeo said.
“You want some deer?” Shiva moved the roasting stick.
“No, I just ate,” Hardeo said.
“A pity.” Shiva said. “There are great deer in Vidisha. Good taste.”
“You know I don’t eat meat,” Hardeo said.
“Oh yes, I forgot.” Shiva said, looking back at him. “So you Buddhists don’t drink wine either, do you?” He pointed to a leather cask kept at a side. He picked it up.
The Prince of Patliputra Page 15