The Oath of the Vayuputras: Shiva Trilogy 3

Chapter 28

Meluha Stunned

‘What is it, Parvateshwar?’ asked Kanakhala.

She had seen the Meluhan general’s face turn white as he read Vidyunmali’s message. Before Parvateshwar could answer, they found themselves at the door of Daksha’s office.

No sooner had Parvateshwar and Kanakhala entered the emperor’s chamber, than Daksha unleashed his fury. ‘Parvateshwar! Are you in control of the army or not? What in Lord Ram’s name have you been up to?’

Parvateshwar knew what the emperor was talking about. He also knew that speaking with the emperor on this topic was a waste of time. He wisely kept silent, saluting the emperor with a short bow of his head and his hands folded in a Namaste.

‘Bad news, General,’ spoke Bhrigu. ‘Mrittikavati has been attacked and conquered by Shiva.’

‘What?’ asked a stunned Kanakhala. ‘How did they even reach Mrittikavati? How could they get through the defences of Lothal?’

Lothal was an exceptionally well-designed sea fortress. Its defences were so solid that an attacker would have to fight overwhelming odds to have any hope of conquering it. It was also known that Lothal was the gateway to south-eastern Meluha, and an attacking army would have to cross this city to be able to march up to Mrittikavati.

Bhrigu raised five sheets of papyrus. ‘This is from the governor of Mrittikavati. Apparently Chenardhwaj has pledged loyalty to Shiva. The traitor!’

‘That swine!’ growled Daksha. ‘I knew I should never have trusted him!’

‘Then why did you appoint him governor of Lothal, Your Highness?’ asked Bhrigu.

Daksha lapsed into a sulk.

Bhrigu turned to Parvateshwar. ‘Your suspicions about Lothal were correct, Lord Parvateshwar. I should apologise for not having listened to you earlier. Had we perhaps sent Vidyunmali to Lothal promptly with a strong force we would still be in control of that city.’

‘We cannot undo what has happened, My Lord,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘Let’s concentrate on what we can do now. I’ve received a message from Vidyunmali.’

Bhrigu looked at the letter in Parvateshwar’s hand. ‘What does the Brigadier say?’

‘It sounds like an intelligence failure to me,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘He says Lord Shiva took them by surprise as he appeared at the gates of Mrittikavati with one hundred thousand soldiers. Vidyunmali put up a brave defence with a mere twenty-five thousand, but was routed.’

Kanakhala understood the strategic significance of Mrittikavati. ‘Mrittikavati houses the headquarters of the Saraswati fleet. And Vidyunmali had taken what was left of our warships as well. If the Lord controls Mrittikavati, he now controls the Saraswati River.’

‘Shiva is not a Lord!’ screamed Daksha. ‘How dare you? Who are you loyal to, Kanakhala?’

‘Your Highness,’ said Bhrigu, his calm tone belying the menace beneath.

Daksha recoiled in fear.

‘Your Highness, perhaps it would be better if you retired to your personal chambers.’

‘But...’

‘Your Highness,’ said Bhrigu. ‘That was not a request.’

Daksha closed his eyes, shocked at the immense disrespect being shown to him. He got up and left his office, muttering under his breath about the respect due to the Emperor of India.

Bhrigu turned to Parvateshwar, unperturbed, as if nothing had happened. ‘General, what else does Vidyunmali say?’

‘The entire Saraswati fleet is under the Lord Neelkanth now. But it gets worse.’

‘Worse?’

‘The people of Mrittikavati have now pledged loyalty to him. The survivors of Vidyunmali’s army have been held prisoner in Mrittikavati. Fortunately for us, Vidyunmali managed to escape with five hundred soldiers and send this message.’

‘So the Neelkanth has stationed himself in Mrittikavati for now?’ asked Bhrigu, careful not to use the term ‘fraud Neelkanth’ in Parvateshwar’s presence. ‘Because he will have to commit his own soldiers to guard ours, right?’

‘No,’ said Parvateshwar, shaking his head. ‘Our army is being held prisoner by the citizens of Mrittikavati.’

‘The citizens?!’

‘Yes. So the Lord Neelkanth does not have to commit any of his own soldiers for the task. He has managed to take twenty-five thousand of our soldiers out of the equation but he still has practically his whole army with him. He has commandeered our entire Saraswati fleet. I’m sure he is making plans to sail up north even as we speak. Vidyunmali also writes about a fearsome corps of exceptionally well-trained elephants in the Lord’s army, which are almost impossible to defeat.’

‘Lord Ram, be merciful!’ said a stunned Kanakhala.

‘This is worse than we’d ever imagined,’ said Bhrigu.

‘But I don’t understand one thing,’ said Kanakhala. ‘How does the Lord have an army of one hundred thousand in Meluha, when a hundred and fifty thousand of his soldiers were in Ayodhya a few weeks back?’

‘Ayodhya?’ asked a surprised Bhrigu.

‘Yes,’ said Kanakhala and proceeded to tell him about the message she had just received from Ayodhya about the siege and the destruction of the Magadhan forces.

‘By the great Lord Brahma!’ said Bhrigu. ‘This means the Ayodhya army cannot sail past Magadh. They will have to march through the forest, which means it will take them forever to come to our aid.’

‘But I still don’t understand how the Lord Neelkanth has so many soldiers in Meluha,’ persisted Kanakhala. ‘The Branga and Naga armies together don’t add up to this number.’

The truth finally dawned on Bhrigu. ‘The Vasudevs have joined forces with Shiva. They are the only ones outside of the Suryavanshis and the Chandravanshis who can bring in so many soldiers. This also explains the presence of the exceptionally well-trained elephants Shiva used in the Battle of Mrittikavati. I have heard stories about the prowess of the Vasudev elephants.’

Bhrigu was not aware that the strongest strategic benefit of the Vasudevs was not their elephant corps, but their secretive Vasudev pandits hidden in temples across the Sapt Sindhu. These pandits were the eyes and ears of the Neelkanth, providing him with the most crucial advantage in war: timely and accurate information.

‘Lord Shiva will be here soon with a large army,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘And the three hundred thousand soldiers of Ayodhya will not reach us in time. He has played his cards really well.’

‘I do not have a military mind, General,’ said Bhrigu. ‘But even I can see that we are in deep trouble. What do you advise?’

Parvateshwar brought his hands together and rubbed his chin with his index fingers. He looked up at Bhrigu after some time. ‘If Ganesh decides to enter Meluha from the north, we are finished. There is no way we can defend ourselves against a two-pronged attack. Our engineers have been working hard at repairing the road that was ruined by the Yamuna floods. I’ll immediately send them instructions to leave the road as it is. If Ganesh chooses to cross from there, then we must make the journey difficult for him. Marching a hundred and fifty thousand strong army on a washed-out road is not going to be easy.’

‘Good idea.’

‘The Lord Neelkanth could be in Devagiri in a matter of weeks.’

‘It’s a good thing you have engaged the army in training exercises and simulations,’ said Bhrigu.

‘The Lord will not win here,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘That is my word to you, Maharishiji.’

‘I believe you, General. But what do we do about the Vasudev elephants? We cannot win against Shiva’s army unless we stop his elephants.’



‘What do you think, Shiva?’ asked Gopal.

Gopal, Sati and Kali were with Shiva in his chamber at Mrittikavati, conferring. They were re-evaluating their strategy in the light of the news received from Panini.

Kali was clear in her mind. ‘Shiva, I propose that you leave Mrittikavati and sail out to Pariha. If you can convince the Vayuputras to give you a lethal daivi astra, say the Brahmastra, this war will be as good as over.’

‘We cannot actually use these daivi astras, Your Highness,’ said Gopal. ‘It will be against the laws of humanity. We can only use such weapons as deterrents to make the other side see sense.’

‘Yes, yes,’ said Kali dismissively, ‘I agree.’

‘How long will the journey to Pariha take, Panditji?’ asked Shiva.

‘Six months at the minimum,’ said Gopal. ‘It could take even nine to twelve months if the winds don’t favour us.’

‘Then the decision is clear,’ said Shiva. ‘I don’t think going to Pariha at this stage makes sense.’

‘Why?’ asked Kali.

‘We have momentum and time on our side, Kali,’ said Shiva. ‘Ayodhya’s army cannot come into Meluha for another six to eight months at least. Ganesh and Kartik can reach the northern frontiers of Meluha within a few weeks. We will have a six-month window with two hundred and fifty thousand soldiers on our side against just seventy-five thousand on the side of Meluha. I like those odds. I say we finish the war here and now. In the time that it will take me to go to Pariha and return, the situation may have become very different. Also, don’t forget, all we know is that the Vayuputras are not with Maharishi Bhrigu. That does not necessarily mean that they will choose to be with us. They may well decide to remain neutral.’

‘That makes sense,’ agreed Sati. ‘If we conquer Devagiri and destroy the Somras factory, the war will be over regardless of what the Vayuputras choose to believe.’

‘So what do you suggest, Shiva?’ asked Gopal.

‘We should divide our navy into two parts,’ said Shiva. ‘I’ll move up the Saraswati and then north, up the Yamuna with a small sailing force of twenty-five ships. I’ll meet Ganesh and Kartik as they march down the Yamuna road and we’ll board their soldiers onto my ships. By sailing, we can get to Devagiri quicker, instead of waiting for them to march to the Meluhan capital. In the meantime, Sati will lead the other contingent of the navy, carrying our entire army from Mrittikavati up the Saraswati to Devagiri. Sati should leave three weeks after me so that we reach Devagiri around the same time. With two hundred and fifty thousand soldiers besieging Devagiri, they may actually see some sense.’

‘Sounds good in theory,’ said Kali. ‘But coordination may prove to be a problem in practice. There could be delays. If one of our armies reaches Devagiri a few weeks earlier, it may leave them weakened against the Meluhans.’

‘But Shiva is not suggesting that we mount an attack and conquer Devagiri as soon as either one of us reaches,’ said Sati. ‘We would just fortify ourselves and wait for the other. Once we have joined forces, only then should we attack.’

‘True, but what if the Meluhans decide to attack?’ asked Kali. ‘Remember, anchored ships are sitting ducks for devil boats.’

‘I don’t see them stepping out of the safety of their fort,’ said Shiva. ‘The army that I will lead will have a hundred and fifty thousand soldiers who have just destroyed the mighty Magadhans; the Meluhans will not attack us with only seventy-five thousand soldiers. Sati’s army will have a hundred thousand, and don’t forget, she will also have the Vasudev elephants. So you see, even our separate armies are capable of taking on the Meluhans on an open field. General Parvateshwar has a calm head on his strong shoulders. He will know that it’s better for them to remain in the safety of their fort, rather than marching out and attacking us.’

‘But I get your point, Kali,’ said Sati. ‘If I reach early, I will encamp some ten kilometres south of Devagiri. There is a large hill on the banks of the Saraswati which can serve as a superb defensive position since it will give us the advantage of height. I will set up a Chakravyuh formation with our Vasudev elephants as the first line of defence. It will be almost impossible to break through.’

‘I know that hill,’ said Shiva to Sati. ‘That is exactly where I will camp as well if I happen to reach before you do.’

‘Perfect.’



‘There is no respite from the speed, is there, My Lord?’

Shiva and Parshuram stood on the deck of his lead ship, battling to keep their eyes open against the onslaught of the wind upon a speedily moving object.

The fleet was racing up the Saraswati, skeletally staffed as it was, with just two thousand soldiers, not giving any opportunity for the Meluhans to launch small strikes. While none of the cities on the Saraswati were prepared for naval warfare – since the Meluhans never expected such an attack – Shiva had decided to not tempt fate. The Meluhans were not wanting in honour and courage. As an additional precaution, he had also inducted many of the courageous Naga soldiers into his navy. Kali, the Queen of the Nagas, was travelling in the rearguard ship of the convoy.

Shiva smiled. ‘No Parshuram, there will be no respite. Speed is of the essence.’

In keeping with Shiva’s orders, there had been no breaks in the rowing. Four teams had been set up on gruelling six-hour shifts. The timekeepers, beating on the drums to set the rhythm for the rowers, maintained it at battle-ramming speed. Shiva did not want to trust the unpredictable winds with determining how fast they moved. In the interest of fairness, Shiva had also added his own name to the roster for rowing duties. His six hours of rowing for the day were to come up soon.

‘It’s a beautiful river, My Lord,’ said Parshuram. ‘It’s sad that we may have to kill it.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘My Lord, I have been researching the Somras. Lord Gopal has explained many things to me. And an idea has struck me...’

‘What?’

‘The Somras cannot be made without this,’ said Parshuram, pointing to the Saraswati.

‘Brahaspati tried that, Parshuram... He tried to find some way to make the Saraswati waters unusable. But that didn’t work, remember?’

‘That’s not what I meant, My Lord. What if the Saraswati didn’t exist? Neither would the Somras, would it?’

Shiva observed Parshuram closely with inscrutable eyes.

‘My Lord, there was a time when the Saraswati, as we know it today, had ceased to exist. The Yamuna had started flowing east towards the Ganga. Saraswati cannot exist without the meeting of the Yamuna and the Sutlej.’

‘We cannot kill the Saraswati,’ said Shiva, almost to himself.

‘My Lord, for all you know, maybe that’s what Nature was trying to do more than a hundred years ago, when an earthquake caused the Yamuna to change its course and flow into the Ganga. If Lord Brahmanayak, the father of the present emperor, had not changed the Yamuna’s course to flow back into the Sutlej and restore the Saraswati, history would have been very different. Maybe Nature was trying to stop the Somras.’

Shiva listened silently.

‘We don’t have to think the Saraswati would be dead. Its soul would still be flowing in the form of the Yamuna and the Sutlej. Only its body would disappear.’

Shiva stared at the Saraswati waters, perceiving her depths. Parshuram had a point but Shiva didn’t want to admit it. Not even to himself. Not yet, anyway.