Immortals of Meluha (52 page)
Walking towards her, he teased, ‘Are you always going to follow me around?’
‘I know when you need to be alone,’ smiled Sati. ‘And when you need me.’
Shiva froze suddenly. He could see a robe flapping behind the trees, a short distance from Sati. The light evening breeze gave away the position of the skulking man. Sati followed Shiva’s gaze and turned around. A robed figure, wearing a Holi mask, emerged from behind the trees.
It is him!
Shiva’s heart started beating faster. He was still a considerable distance away from Sati. The Naga was too close for comfort. The three stood rooted to their spots, assessing the situation, evaluating the others next move. It was Sati who moved first. Shifting quickly, she pulled a knife from her side-hold and flung it at the Naga. The Naga barely stirred. The knife missed him narrowly, slamming hard into the tree behind him, burying deep into the wood.
Shiva moved his hand slowly towards his sword.
The Naga reached behind, pulled the knife out of the tree and in a strange act, tied it tightly to his right wrist with a cloth band. Then he moved, quickly.
‘Sati!’ screamed Shiva, as he drew his sword and started sprinting towards his wife, pulling his shield forward as he ran.
…to be continued
| Agni: | God of fire |
| Agnipariksha : | A trial by fire |
| Angaharas : | Movement of limbs or steps in a dance |
| Arya : | Sir |
| Asura : | Demon |
| Ayurvedic : | Derived from Ayurved, an ancient Indian form of medicine |
| Ayushman bhav : | May you live long |
| Bhang : | Traditional intoxicant in India; milk |
| mixed with marijuana | |
| Bhiksha : | Alms or donations |
| Bhojan graham : | Dining room |
| Chandravanshi : | Descendants of the moon |
| Chaturanga : | Ancient Indian game which was the basis of the modern game of chess |
| Chillum : | Clay pipe, usually used to smoke marijuana |
| Choti : | Braid |
| Construction of royal court platform : | The description in the book of the court platform is a possible explanation for the mysterious multiple column buildings made of baked brick dis-covered at Indus Valley sites, usually next to the public baths, which many historians suppose could have been a granary |
| Daivi Astra : | Daivi = Divine; Astra = Weapon. A term used in ancient Hindu epics to describe weapons of mass destruction |
| Deva : | God |
| Dharma : | Dharma literally translates as religion. But in traditional Hindu custom, it means far more than that. The word encompasses holy, right knowledge, right living, tradition, natural order of the universe and duty. Essentially, dharma refers to everything that can be classified as ‘good’ in the universe |
| Dharmayudh : | The holy war |
| Dhobi : | Washerman |
| Divyadrishti : | Divine sight |
| Dumru : | A small, hand-held percussion instrument |
| Guruji : | Teacher; ji is a term of respect, added to a name or title |
| Gurukul : | The family of the Guru or the family of the teacher. In ancient times, also used to denote school |
| Hat Har Mahadev : | This is the rallying cry of all of Lord Shiva’s devotees. I believe it means ‘All of us are Mahadevs’ |
| Hariyupa : | This city is presently known as Harappa. A note on the cities of Meluha (or as we call it in modern times, the Indus Valley Civilisation): historians and researchers have consistently marvelled at the fixation that the Indus Valley civilisation seemed to have for water and hygiene. In fact historian M. Jansen used the term ‘wasserluxus’ (obsession with water) to describe their magnificent obsession with the physical and symbolic aspects of water, a term Gregory Possehl builds upon in his brilliant book, The Indus Civilisation — A Contemporary Perspective . In the book, The Immortals of Meluha , the obsession with water is shown to arise due to its cleansing properties of the toxic sweat and urine triggered by consuming the Somras.Historians have also marvelled at the level of sophisticated standardisation in the Indus Valley civilisation. One of the examples of this were the bricks, which across the entire civilisation, seemed to have similar proportions and specifications |
| Holi : | Festival of colours |
| Indra : | The God of the sky and believed to be the King of the Gods |
| Jai Guru Vishwamitra : | Glory to the teacher Vishwamitra |
| Jai Guru Vashishta : | Glory to the teacher Vashishta. Only two Suryavanshis had the privilege of having both Guru Vashishta and Guru Vishwamitra as their gurus (teachers) viz. Lord Ram and Lord Lakshman |
| Jai Shri Brahma : | Glory to Lord Brahma |
| Jai Shri ram : | Glory to Lord Ram |
| Janau : | A ceremonial thread tied from the shoulders, across the torso. It was one of the symbols of knowledge in ancient India. Later, it was corrupted to become a caste symbol to denote those born as Brahmins and not those achieving knowledge through their deeds |
| Karma : | Duty and deeds; also the sum of a person’s actions in this and previous births, considered to affect future fate |
| Karmasaathi : | Fellow traveller in karma or duty |
| Kathak : | Type of traditional Indian dance |
| Kriyas : | Actions |
| Kulhads : | Mud cups |
| Mahadev : | Maha = Great and Dev = God. Hence Mahadev means the greatest God or the God of Gods. I believe that there were many ‘destroyers of evil’ but a few of them were so great that they would be called ‘Mahadev’. Amongst the Mahadevs were Lord Rudra and Lord Shiva |
| Mahasagar : | Great Ocean; Hind Mahasagar is the Indian Ocean |
| Manu’s story : | Those interested in finding out more about the historical validity of the South India origin theory of Manu should read Graham Hancock’s path breaking book, Underworld . |
| Mausi : | Mother’s sister, considered almost equivalent to a mother |
| Mehragarh : | Modern archaeologists believe that Mehragarh is the progenitor of the Indus Valley civilisation. Mehragarh represents a sudden burst of civilised living, without too much archaeological evidence of a gradual progression to that level. Hence obviously, those who established Mehragarh were either immigrants or refugees |
| Meluha : | The land of pure life. This is the land ruled by the Suryavanshi kings. It is the area that we in the modern world call the Indus Valley Civilisation |
| Meluhans : | People of Meluha |
| Mudras : | Gestures |
| Naga : | Serpent people |
| Namaste : | An ancient Indian greeting. Spoken with the open palms of both the hands joined together. Conjoin of three words. ‘Namah’, ‘Astu’ and ‘Te’ —meaning ‘I bow to you’. Namaste can be used as both ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ |
| Nirvana : | Enlightenment; freedom from the cycle of rebirths |
| Oxygen/anti-oxidants theory : | Modern research backs this theory. Interested readers can read the article ‘Radical Proposal’ by Kathryn Brown in the Scientific American |
| Pandit : | Priest |
| Parmatma : | The ultimate soul or the sum of all souls |
| Patallok : | The underworld |
| Pawan Dev : | God of the winds |
| Pitratulya : | The term for a man who is ‘like a father’ |
| Prahar : | Four slots of six hours each into which the day was divided by the ancient Hindus; the first prahar began at 12 midnight |
| Puja : | Prayer |
| Rajat : | Silver |
| Ram Chandra : | Ram = Face; Chandra = Moon. Hence Ram Chandra is ‘the face of the moon’ |
| Ram rajya : | The rule of Ram |
| Rangbhoomi : | Literally, the ground of colour. In ancient times, stadiums where sports, performances and public functions would be carried out |
| Rangoli : | Traditional colourful and geometric designs made with coloured powders or flowers as a sign of welcome |
| Rishi : | Man of knowledge |
| Sanyasi : | Sanyasis are people who renounce all their worldly possessions and desires to retreat to remote locations and devote their time to the pursuit of god and spirituality. In ancient India, it was common for people to take sanyas at an old age, once they had completed all their life’s duties |
| Sapt-Sindhu : | Land of the seven rivers — Indus, Saraswati, Yamuna, Ganga, Sarayu, Brahmaputra and Narmada. This was the ancient name of North India |
| Saptrishi : | One of the ‘Group of 7 Rishis’ |
| Saptrishi uttradhikaris : | Successors of the Saptrishis |
| Shakti Devi : | Mother Goddess; also goddess of power and energy |
| Shamiana : | Canopy |
| Shloka : | Couplet |
| Shudhikaran : | The purification ceremony |
| Sindhu : | The first river |
| Somras : | Drink of the gods |
| Sutlej : | Known as Dhrishadvati in ancient times; modern name Sutlej is used for the convenience of readers. Many believe that the Sutlej was the main Saraswati river and when Yamuna, its tributary, merged into it, it became the mighty river of yore |
| Svarna : | Gold |
| Swadweep : | The Island of the individual. This is the land ruled by the Chandravanshi kings |
| Swadweepans : | People of Swadweep |
| Swaha : | Legend has it that Lord Agni’s wife is named Swaha. Hence it pleases Lord Agni, the God of Fire, if a disciple takes his wife’s name while worshipping the sacred fire. Another interpretation of Swaha is that it means offering of self |
| Tamra : | Bronze |
| Thali : | Plate |
| Varjish graha : | The exercise hall |
| Varun : | God of the water and the seas |
| Vijayibhav : | May you be victorious |
| Vikarma : | Carrier of bad fate |
| Vishnu : | The protector of the world and propagator of good. I believe that it is an ancient Hindu title for the greatest of leaders who would be remembered as the mightiest of gods |
| Yagna : | Sacrificial fire ceremony |
Episode from The Secret of the Nagas
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