THE CURSE OF BRAHMA (4 page)

Vasudev paused in his pacing. The battle with Somdatta was scheduled one week from now. Somdatta was a mighty warrior who had won several battles against innumerable kings and princes. Some people had lately begun comparing his abilities to that of Bheeshma, the warrior who had once defeated the great Parshurama himself. His prowess was likened to Jarasandha, the undefeated King of Magadha and brother-in-law of Kansa, and his valour on the battlefield was comparable to the mighty Kansa.

But none of this scared Vasudev. Vasudev himself had been trained by the best gurus and he had full faith in his abilities. He could handle a sword as well as Kansa and he could ride a horse more swiftly and deftly than anyone else in Bateshwar. It was not the thought of being fatally wounded or losing the battle that bothered Vasudev. He was more worried about the soldiers on both sides, dying to satisfy the ego of one man, Somdatta. He had pondered over this matter for the last few days, ever since Kansa had apprised him of what had transpired in the discussion with Somdatta and King Vahlika.

Vasudev had also sought his father’s views on it. Surasena’s judgement had been clear. ‘Fight Somdatta, defeat the upstart and bring Devki home,’ Vasudev turned around as he heard the light tap on his door. Sini Yadav, his closest friend and confidante entered the war room and stepped around the huge table where Vasudev was standing. ‘My prince!’ Sini Yadav bowed slightly as a mark of reverance towards his future king and then smiled and embraced his dearest friend. Vasudev grinned back at him. He was glad he had called Sini. Merely having him around lifted Vasudev’s spirits. Sini was not only his closest friend; he was also the most accomplished warrior in Bateshwar and the youngest senapati (commander-in-chief) of their army. He was about five years older than Vasudev and had been trained by the same guru in the art of warfare. But where Vasudev showed more interest in the philosophy of war, Sini was a natural warrior. He could kill without compunction as long as he knew he was fighting for the right side. Yet Sini would be the first person to concede that if and when Vasudev decided to enter the battlefield, the young prince of Bateshwar would prove to be a formidable warrior; because there is no one more fearsome than one who fights only when he has to fight, and then too only for the right cause. Such a man never breaks down in battle, and knows no fear once the decision to fight has been made in his mind. Sini Yadav knew Vasudev was one such man.

‘Thanks for coming at once, Sini,’ Vasudev said in his characteristic gentle voice. He knew Sini had been busy taking the entire army of Bateshwar through daily maneuvers, getting them prepared for the upcoming battle with Somdatta and the army of Bahlika. Even though Vasudev had not yet confirmed to Somdatta that he had agreed to the battle, Sini wasn’t one to take any chances. Like the thorough senapati that he was, he had begun preparing the army as if the battle was already on.

‘You called for me prince,’ Sini said quietly. ‘That was enough for me to come right away. Have you decided what you want to do?’

‘I am still not sure,’ Vasudev said softly. I love Devki as no man would love a woman but I don’t want our marriage to be based on the slaughtering of thousands of soldiers from two different nations.’

Sini waited patiently. He knew Vasudev was talking more to himself, than to him; trying to come to a decision that he could live with, after everything was said and done.

‘I wish there was some way of handling this without staking the lives of so many innocent people,’ Vasudev sighed in frustration.

‘What do you have in mind, Vasudev?’

‘I want you to go to Bahlika and convince Somdatta to fight me in single combat, instead of engaging the two armies. That way no innocent lives need to be sacrificed.’

Sini sighed. He had expected Vasudev to come up with something like this. Surasena had also anticipated this and had discussed it with Sini. The senapati knew what he had to do and say. His voice was firm now as he spoke to Vasudev. It was no longer the friend and confidante speaking. It was the voice of the commander-in-chief of the army of Bateshwar; the second most powerful man in the kingdom after the king.

‘Prince, I cannot allow you to fight Somdatta in single combat.’ He lifted his hand to stop Vasudev from interrupting and continued. ‘Your intentions are noble and I respect you for this, but this will set the wrong precedent for the future. What happens if tomorrow a powerful king covets the wife of another king? Will he not invite the weaker king in single combat? And once he defeats him, what happens to the hapless wife? Or for that matter, if a king envies the prosperity of another and invites him to single combat and wins over his kingdom? Are we to let one man decide the fate of an entire kingdom, Vasudev? This is not possible. Nations have armies so that they can protect the sanctity and sovereignty of the people from lustful kings and invaders. Today, even if a king is mightier than another, he thinks twice before he attacks a nation, because he knows his people will have to face an entire army. Even if they win the war, there will be massive casualties. And this prevents wicked rulers from waging unnecessary wars. If you agree to fight Somdatta in single combat today, you may defeat him, but what if other kings or princes elsewhere don’t have your valour or your prowess? Can we afford to set up a precedent that will become a curse for other kings and their nations?’

Sini paused to catch his breath. Vasudev looked closely at his friend. He realized why his father had appointed Sini as the senapati of Bateshwar over so many other older veterans of war. Sini had exceptional insight and sensitivity that was rare not just in Bateshwar, but perhaps in all of Bharat. He smiled and for the first time in several days, it reached his eyes. His voice was firm as he spoke to his friend and senapati of Bateshwar. ‘Prepare for battle Sini. Let Somdatta know we shall meet him at the crack of dawn seven days from now.’

Sini Yadav bowed to his friend and left the room. Vasudev sat down to study the battle formations Sini had suggested earlier. He knew what they had to do. They would win, and there would be minimum bloodshed.

The battlefield looked like an ocean with waves of blue colliding against a mighty brown mountain. Somdatta and his Bahlika army were dressed in their conventional blue war dress. Sini was at the head of the Bateshwar army, all attired in their traditional brown. Somdatta had brought along a large force of ten thousand infantry, three thousand cavalry, eight hundred war elephants and fifteen hundred archers. Sini Yadav’s army was miniscule in comparison and consisted of six thousand infantry, one thousand cavalry, and a little less than five hundred archers. His army had no war elephants.

The sun had barely crept up the horizon and the darkness of the night was just beginning to give way to a new day. Yet the heat was already suffocating. Rivulets of perspiration flowed down the faces of man and beast, alike. Flies had begun to settle on the stock-still bodies of the horses and elephants, and it wouldn’t be long before they decided to bother the soldiers too. The battle had not started yet but the vultures had started hovering overhead, in sweet anticipation of the death that would surely follow. The armies waited for the sun to complete its journey to the tip of the horizon, so that the battle could be declared open. Slowly but surely, the ball of fire crept up, and then all at once the sun was over the horizon. Both sides simultaneously blew their shanks (Conches) and the two armies prepared for battle.

Somdatta was flanked on his right side by his trusted aide, Damodara. The two had fought alongside in more than thirty-two battles earlier and he had saved his prince’s life on three occasions already. He was a giant of a man, almost as tall and heavily built as Kansa. Having Damodara next to him, made Somdatta feel better. Today, however, all the preparation they had put into this battle seemed wasted.

‘Their force is less than half of ours, sire. They don’t even have a single war elephant. What kind of a strategist is their senapati?’ mumbled Damodara in his deep, halting voice. He didn’t receive an answer, and looked at Somdatta, who seemed to be looking intently at the opposing army.

‘What’s the matter, sire?’

‘I can’t see Vasudev,’ growled Somdatta. Damodara peered closely in the same direction.

He could see Sini Yadav standing at the head of the Bateshwar army but there was no sign of Vasudev.

‘That coward has shown his true colours,’ Somdatta gnashed his teeth in frustration. ‘I was looking forward to cutting off his hands and legs and presenting it to his lover Devki, before I marry her. But that yellow-blooded rascal did not have the courage to show up. Never mind, we will destroy their army first and then decide what to do with him.’

Somdatta looked ahead and his expression grew grim as he saw that Sini Yadav had organized his forces in the Kamal Vyuha (lotus formation). This meant that archers were placed in the centre and the infantry and cavalry formed ‘petals’ around them for protection. This was the ideal formation for an army that did not have any war elephants. Somdatta would have used the same strategic arrangement for his own troops, but with his oversized elephants, the Kamal Vyuha was not possible. He instantly knew what he had to do. He indicated to Damodara to quickly get their entire force into the Matsya Vyuha (fish formation).

Damodara flashed an evil smile. He knew the Matsya formation was a deadly pattern and even large armies faced great difficulty in standing up to this particular arrangement. An army as small as Sini Yadav’s would be completely routed. Moreover, the Matsya Vyuha was the best way to combat the Kamal Vyuha selected by Sini Yadav for his troops. Somdatta had chosen the formation well. As the name suggested, the Matsya Vyuha involved aligning the troops in the shape of a fish. The lighter-armed infantry would be placed in the centre of the formation and continue forward where they would give way to the cavalry, which formed the mouth of the fish formation. The sides of the structure would comprise the war elephants, and behind these huge beasts, the archers would hide and let fly their deadly arrows. The rear end again comprised the remaining infantry troops. Their fish formation would smash through Sini’s lotus formation like an iron rod through a sheet of paper.

‘Charge!’ roared Somdatta standing at the mouth of the Matsya Vyuha, with Damodara by his side. The entire formation moved forward as one large entity and it was astounding to see thousands of men and beasts surging ahead as if bound by one invisible thread.

‘Stand firm!’ Sini Yadav shouted at the other end of the battlefield. His troops stood at their place, awaiting further commands from their senapati. The entire Bateshwar army resembled a gigantic lotus waiting for the mammoth fish-like structure rushing towards it in what seemed an attempt to completely devour it.

‘Steady men, steady!’ Sini said to his people, as he saw soldiers and animals getting nervous, waiting for the gigantic enemy force to hit them where they stood. The tension was palpable. It appeared that the Bateshwar soldiers had forgotten to breathe for a brief moment.

‘If we stand still, we can handle their onslaught better,’ Sini said turning to the archers in the middle of their formation. ‘Aim for the sky. Make sure every arrow rains down from the sky and hits their elephants like a thunderbolt. That will keep them occupied for a while.’

His next command was to the cavalry. ‘Spears at the ready, men. Keep them pointed towards the enemy.’ All cavalry troops had arms of steel and the power of iron in their veins. They would impale the enemy’s first charge on the tip of their spears, and they wouldn’t waver. Sini knew this with the same certainty as he knew the names of each of his soldiers. To the infantry he instructed, ‘Swords at the ready. Take down the first man to come in front of you. The rest will be easy.’

Sini wished Vasudev had been with him. His friend’s presence had the same calming effect on him as his own had on his friend. But he had agreed with Vasudev’s almost last-minute decision to not be with him at this moment. ‘I hope you were right in deciding not to be here with me, my friend,’ he thought grimly.

Meanwhile, Somdatta had not been idle. He knew the skill of the Bateshwar archers, and he realized that if he had been in Sini Yadav’s position, he would have used his scant forces to try and wreak the maximum damage possible.
Our attack has to be swift and ruthless
, he thought grimly, as he ordered his soldiers arranged in the Matsya Vyuha to increase their speed. His cavalry rushed ahead with the speed of lightning. Somdatta’s first charge resulted in the instant deaths of scores of his best riders as they were mercilessly impaled on the spears of the Bateshwar horsemen. However, by the time Sini’s cavalrymen had recovered from the first onslaught and could re-arm themselves with another spear, the second wave of Somdatta’s outsized cavalry was upon them and large patches of Sini’s cavalry were cut down into pieces. The Bateshwar infantry tried their best to fight the enemy soldiers rushing over them on horseback, but their task was made difficult as they stumbled over the dead bodies of the fallen cavalrymen. The foot soldiers were no match for the high-perched cavalry of Somdatta’s army and within moments, hundreds of dead bodies were scattered all around. Most of these soldiers were simply ground under the hoofs of the Bahlika steeds.