THE CURSE OF BRAHMA (36 page)

Jarasandha took the letter from Rabhu’s hand. He was glad he had spies on his payroll in every major kingdom including Madhuvan. He asked Rabhu to wait while he took the letter with him to his anukta kaksha. He wanted to read it in peace and without anyone else watching. He took the letter out of the scroll, and his hands trembled with excitement as he began to read what was written:

My son
,

I hope you have found the peace you were searching for, when you left your home. I sincerely hope so, because I haven’t had one moment of peace in my life ever since you left. I know you feel I have let you down somehow. And perhaps I have
.

You asked me a question the other day when I told you about your birth. And I did not answer the question. Perhaps my inability to give you an answer made you imagine things differently than how they were. Your question was whether I, too, like your mother, ever felt like killing you when you were a baby. I couldn’t answer this question that day because it breaks my heart to even think of such a thing for you. The truth is that the first time I laid my eyes on you, as you huddled close to that attendant while your mother was trying to kill you, I loved you in that instant. It didn’t matter that you were born from another man. I accepted you as mine…as a gift from the gods. I gave you all my love and you returned more than I ever gave you. It saddened me sometimes that I couldn’t give the same love to your other brothers and sisters because all my love went to you and Devki. But your affection and regard for me, more than made up for everything else
.

I am writing this letter to you today, because I need your help. Madhuvan and its people need their Prince to return. And no one desires that as much as I do
.

I would not be exaggerating if I said that the entire land of Bharat and other lands in Mrityulok are in danger. There is a conspiracy afoot. Pataal Lok has sent asura assassins that have breached the borders of several kingdoms and spread all over key locations in Mrityulok. These assassins are lying in wait for a signal from their commanders in Pataal Lok. At the first indication, they will start spreading chaos all over our world. And then…we believe that when the chaos reaches its zenith, Pataal Lok will launch a full-scale attack all over Mrityulok. We don’t yet know why they are doing this. But Maharishi Narada—yes, Narada himself told me all this—believes that this attack could happen anytime in the future
.

We need to defend ourselves against this imminent danger. Narada is personally travelling to various kingdoms to caution them and advise them to assemble special covert task forces to search out these assassins and destroy them. Airawat has already started preparing such a task force at Madhuvan and both he and I are looking forward for you to come and lead this as the Madhuvan commander-in-chief. Meanwhile, Vasudev has gone to Bateshwar to ask Sini Yadav to build a similar task force there. I mentioned to Airawat that Vasudev would lead the Madhuvan task force till such time that you return, but I know that won’t really be necessary. Because I have no doubt that as soon as you read this letter, you will take the swiftest horse available in Magadha, and return to your father and your home
.

Meanwhile, do not mention any of this to Jarasandha. I know he is your friend and brother-in-law but he could be involved in this conspiracy
.

Come back soon my son. Your motherland and your old father both need you here
.

While I know you will come as soon as you can, do send me a brief reply about your arrival through Rabhu, the messenger I sent along with this letter. I will accordingly let Airawat know when he can welcome back his commander-in-chief at Madhuvan
.

Your father
,
Ugrasena

Jarasandha’s eyes gleamed with a strange fusion of anger and elation as he finished reading the letter. He was furious and perturbed that Ugrasena knew about the Dark Lord’s plan, and that Narada was already on his way to caution other kingdoms. But he was delighted that he had confiscated this letter before it fell into Kansa’s hands. The implications of Kansa reading this letter were not lost on Jarasandha and he shuddered at the consequences. Not only would it have pitted Kansa against him, but reading this letter would have ensured his immediate departure for Madhuvan. The fact that the letter would have also brought a reunion between the father and son was an additional concern. Jarasandha couldn’t afford any of this.

I have to destroy this letter
, he decided. It was too risky to have it lying around, waiting to be discovered by someone, especially Kansa. Jarasandha looked around the anukta kaksha. The fire place had not been lit in days. He debated whether to call one of the attendants to start the fire, and then decided against it. Jarasandha never ever asked for the fire to be lit unless it was extremely cold, and the weather right now didn’t warrant one. It would unnecessarily make the attendants suspicious. But then he didn’t need a full-fledged fire to burn the letter, he considered. Jarasandha walked towards his table, his eyes intent on the exquisitely shaped lamp kept there. The flame from the lamp would be sufficient to incinerate the letter completely. Jarasandha rolled it up like a pipe and held it at one end, careful not to burn his hand. For a brief moment, he faltered at the thought of destroying the one thing that could provide peace to Kansa’s tortured mind. But the thought of compromising the plan and risking everything that had been done till now made him steel his mind and ignore whatever scruples he may have had.

Jarasandha watched the flame leap up from the lamp to consume the letter. In the blink of the eye, the note was reduced to cinders. The words from Ugrasena that could have rescued Kansa from certain disaster were lost forever; scattered as ashes, a sign of death and destruction that was bound to occur as a result of events beyond human control. Destiny was playing out its hand.

Jarasandha found Kansa sitting by the lake adjacent to the palace. The prince of Madhuvan seemed oblivious to Jarasandha walking towards him. His eyes looked glazed as if he was lost in his own world, where reality and dreams had ceased to exist separately. He jumped with a start as Jarasandha touched him lightly on his shoulder. The fear in his eyes was palpable and he looked like a caged animal who knew he was trapped in a prison from where there was no escape. He stared, blinking rapidly at Jarasandha and his body seemed to relax a little as he saw who it was. ‘You startled me!’ he said softly, trying to sound natural, but his voice had lost its gentle quality. Somehow, it sounded strained and harsh.

‘I am sorry, brother; I didn’t mean to come up on you like that. I didn’t realize you were lost in your thoughts,’ Jarasandha said, trying to help Kansa in making his reaction appear normal.

Kansa looked confused. ‘I wasn’t lost in my thoughts…’ he started to say, and then stopped. ‘I…uh…I don’t recall how I reached here. I remember waking up and then…nothing else…’ His voice trailed off, uncertainty and puzzlement evident on his handsome face.

Jarasandha looked anxiously at his brother-in-law. He badly wanted to be the undisputed master of Mrityulok but not at the cost of anything happening to Kansa. He didn’t want his sisters hurt either; he knew they couldn’t live without him. Moreover, Kansa in this state wouldn’t be of any use to him to do what needed to be done in the days to come.

‘Brother, you need to get a grip on yourself,’ Jarasandha said in a gentle tone, hating himself for what he knew he was going to do next.

‘I am trying,’ Kansa said in a whisper. ‘But I don’t know what’s wrong with me.’ He hesitated, as if unsure whether to share his fears with Jarasandha, then continued. ‘I keep getting these dreams…more like nightmares, where I am being killed…by a child…born of Devki.’ He paused, a stricken look was on his face, ‘And every time the child kills me, Devki just stands there laughing…and thanking the child for killing me!’ Kansa’s voice broke as he choked on the last few words.

The svapnasrsti used by the Dark Lord is beginning to affect his mind
, Jarasandha thought to himself. ‘It’s nothing, brother. It’s just your mind playing games with you,’ he said aloud, trying to make light of the whole thing.

‘No it isn’t. It seems so real. When I get up, it feels like my chest is actually gushing out blood…where that child had pierced my torso with his sword. And Devki’s reaction…that, too, feels so real…as if it was happening right in front of me,’ Kansa shivered as a wave of nausea swept over him.

Jarasandha held him by his shoulders. ‘Look, all this is because you are away from home. And…’ He paused, knowing he had to put this in the right manner for Kansa to take the bait. ‘…and also because lately you have been having issues with your father.’

‘What does that have anything to do with my nightmares?’ Kansa snapped.

Jarasandha kept his voice calm. ‘You are feeling isolated because of the strain your relationship has undergone with your father. And you are away from home, so you probably feel that others in your family—like Devki—have also forsaken you.’ Jarasandha waited for this to sink into Kansa’s mind before continuing, ‘And this is affecting your psychology; making you feel as if those closest to you don’t care about you. Your nightmares are an exaggerated manifestation of the stress you are going through.’

Kansa seemed to take in all of this. Then the same look of helplessness covered his features. ‘What do I do? What do I do, dammit? This is driving me insane!’ he uttered a muted scream, full of agony.

Jarasandha knew Kansa might never be so vulnerable again. This was the time to strike. ‘I think you should write to Ugrasena. Let your father know how you feel. I think writing to him and opening your heart to him will make you feel better. And who knows…perhaps he will write back to you and things will be better between the two of you,’ Jarasandha said in as casual a voice as he could muster. It was imperative that Kansa did not suspect his intentions.

‘You think that will work? Kansa looked uncertain. ‘I don’t see how it will stop all the nightmares. And what if Father says something that will take us further apart?’

Jarasandha shook his head impatiently. ‘What is there to lose in this, Kansa? I think it will help your mind to share what you are feeling with your father. At least try it. Anything is better than just sitting around like this!’ He spoke the last words with greater feeling than he had wanted to, worried that Kansa may decide against writing to Ugrasena. It was imperative that he did.

After what seemed like an eternity but was no more than a few seconds, Kansa seemed to make up his mind. ‘Alright! I will send him a brief letter,’ he said. To his surprise, he suddenly felt a lot better, just having decided to do this.
Maybe Jarasandha is right. Perhaps I will feel better after sharing my feelings with Father
, he thought with a weak smile.

Jarasandha was ecstatic. ‘Wonderful!’ he exclaimed. ‘Write a letter to him now, and I will personally make sure it reaches him before the day comes to an end tomorrow.’

Kansa hugged Jarasandha with warmth.
I am blessed to have you close to me, my friend
, he thought to himself. He failed to notice the triumphant smile on Jarasandha’s face.