37
THE PROPHECIES
[Vyuha is a Sanskrit word. It means Formation, especially in battle. The Chakravyūha was a very special Vyuha mentioned in Indian epics. It was an unpenetrable maze, impossible to pass through. Knowledge of how to penetrate it was limited to only a handful of warriors on the Pandavas' side. Abhimanyu, Arjuna, Krishna, and Pradyumna knew how to pass through that circular maze, of which only Abhimanyu was present when the Kauravas used Chakravyuha on the battlefield. In the Indian Epic, it is mentioned that Abhimanyu learned about the Chakravyūha and how to enter in all seven sections of the maze while in his mother's womb but he wasn’t able to hear how to escape the formation.]
It’s the tenth night of the training, I dream that the temple is falling, how I don’t know but I see it falling, breaking in uncountable parts. I see Devatas crying for help and the creator escaping to save himself.
I’m also in the dream. On a white horse and curved sword in my hand, fighting with Demonic soldiers (whom we have believed devata)
I’m sweat-soaked and angry. My horse leads me inside the maze and I feel as if I know the maze and its patterns. I know how and why the maze changes its pattern.
I look at Nirbhaya leader who is on another horse beside me, and shouts, “This is according to Chakravyuha. This is the same maze that had killed Abhimanyu. Total seven sections and each section has different danger.”
All the sections have words written randomly. We roam in the maze but can’t make it. We can’t pass it to reach the tower. We spend days in the maze (in my dream) but all we can know is each section has hundreds of halls looking same to each other and having the same number of the door- seven. Each hall had seven doors and all lead to the same section. We are in first KOTHA (the easiest section) but we can’t make it to another section. There is no way which leads to second KOTHA (second section of the maze) and my dream ends.
I wake up soaked in sweat like my dream, still feeling I’m in a maze. Dampness in the air is lingering around me.
My body aches so badly it hurts to breathe.
The sun is little above the horizon. It’s time to be on the practice ground.
I unbuttoned my shirt and stare at my bare side, it’s patched with bruises. Deep blue and dark brown bruises are webbing my body. I change as fast as I can and let my shoulder length hair hand loose. I imagined today’s training. Last day Tarun has told my next fight will be against him, not my friends.
I take bath and eat chapatti and fish and some seafood. My mother has backed some vegetables but I don’t try them.
I prepare mentally myself for today’s fight while eating and leave my hut. I jog to the practice ground. It’s an hour far from my hut, deep in the forest. When I reach, Tarun is standing at the front of the trainers. Teena is away from them, setting up targets on the tree trunks.
“Today we will learn shooting arrows,” Tarun says and hands each trainee a bow and quiver full of arrows.
“Listen,” Tarun says, “you will fight with the sword but the said is that the bow and arrow would be your secondary weapons.”
“Does prophecy tell everything about my life?” I ask. I do still not believe I can be in a prophecy but my dreams of the tower force me to believe. Though, I haven’t told anyone about my dreams. There isn’t any meaning of telling them until I learn the way to make the tower fall or how to pass the maze around it. I’m waiting for more dreams.
“I don’t know if anything is not written in the prophecy,” he says, “just we know is little.”
I nod and think that the bow and arrow is my weapon. I’ve spent a fair time with them while hunting in the woods with Padhma.
“The sword is always good but the bow and arrow need when you have to face a faster enemy or Devatas.”
“Why Devatas?” Daxa asks.
“you can’t fight a devata hand to hand, even a small scratch of his nail or a bite from him can kill you so you need to fight with them from far and for it bow and arrow is the best,” he adds, “as my advice we shouldn’t face devatas until we know secret of their magical weapons.”
“Now the time of archery,” He shouts as Teena come back setting up targets.
I look at my bow, it isn’t something made of a wood as my old bow. It’s half metal, half plastic, and materials I can’t even name. Arrows with features cut in flawless uniform lines.
First of all, Teena teaches us how to string a bow. We all do as she taught and then we sling the quiver of arrows over our shoulder as she did. Teena has made human-shaped targets with wet lime on the tree trunks. The targets aren’t too far.
I walk to the circle made with dry lime powder from where I have to pick my target. I pick the target – a white silhouette on a Neem-tree trunk. I pull back on the bow. It’s odd. Not easy like my hunting bow. The string is tighter than the one I use for hunting. The arrow is lighter. I pull the string with all my strength and release the arrow.
It misses the target by a couple of inches. The second arrow missed and I feel humiliated, then the third and fourth and fifth also miss and it makes me angry. I continue till I get the feel of these new weapons. The tenth arrow pierces in the heart of the target.
“Tenth Avatar,” Both Traun and Teena shout with joys but I can’t understand what good I’ve done. I have missed constant nine arrows and still, they are happy with my aiming.
My friends also start to shout, “Tenth Avatar, tenth Avatar.”
And I don’t know what happen to me hearing these sounds. I pull out an arrow, without thinking, and send it straight to the next target. The arrow pierced the tree trunk and passes through it, making everyone surprised as the tree trunk was dual broad than the human body and impossible to pierce through by an arrow.
By the time of the evening, my arms ache from holding the bow and my fingers are hard to straight by pulling tighter string uncountable times. I massage my fingers and rub my shoulder to release them from the pain.
We all gather at my teacher’s hut for dinner. Daxa sits at my left and Rakesh is to my right. Across us sit Tarun and Teena. It isn’t the first time we are eating with Nirbhaya. We feel something unique when two Nirbhaya persons eat with us. How strange!
Two good Nirbhaya persons can eat with us why others can’t.
Pavan moves rice to everyone. For Tarun and Teena our seafood was a wonder, they haven’t any sea beyond the wall so no sea foods except lake fish in their food.
“Were you all students of the same teacher?” Tarun asks through a mouthful.
“Yes, we are.” Daxa answers after swallowing the content in her mouth, “we are together since we were children.”
“Friendship and mutual trust are most important in a fight.” Teena says, “When you are fighting you should trust your companion to secure your back and that trust can increase if the man watching your back is your childhood friend.”
“We all Sunyas trust each other,” I say.
“Not this type of trust,” Tarun commences, “when they know about the training they will declare death warrants for Teena and me. They will send troops of Nirbhaya to kill you all and these troops will be under the effect of biological processes so not like men but like machines.”
“Suppose they won’t know till the training ends,” I ask.
“I hope too,” he says, “then we will go beyond the wall and try to reach Himalayan Mountains to get help from real devatas. If real devatas are with us we will attack the tower.”
“We can’t,” I say.
“Why?” Teena asks. She has finished her dish.
“We can’t pass the maze.” I say, “I have many dreams about the tower or the temple whatever is it but it has made and it’s unbreakable. I have roamed in this maze for days in my dreams but there is no way to pass the first section.”
“Is it has sections?” Tarun ask.
“Yes, it’s circular in shape and has hundreds of same halls with seven doo gaps without doors. It’s made of the same stone blocks like the wall and it changes its pattern.”
“How can you know too much about it without seeing it?”
“Each dream gives me more details about it. Now I know the maze is nothing but Chakravyuha described in Mahabharata by which Kaurava had killed Abhimanyu. But I don’t know who Abhimanyu is. In the last dream, I have told your father the maze is made in the same pattern of Chakravyuha and it has seven sections (Kothas) and impenetrable.”
“We need to get that book,” Tarun says, “Mahabharata.”
“Yes, my father says it has a war named KOTHAYUDHDHA and it describes how Kaurava has set the maze to kill Abhimanyu.”
“But from where we can get the book?” Tarun says, “Such books have been disappeared since Pralaya.”
“From real devatas,” I suggest, “Maybe they would have old books.”
“Maybe but it isn’t easy to reach them.”
“But we have to find the book and learn how to pass the maze without it we can’t break into the tower.” I say, “If we trust my dreams.”
“We trust your dreams. Everything depends on you.” Teena says, “That is the second prophecy. The avatar would foresee the tower and secret of its fall.”
“Still some prophecies are remaining like the Mimic bird and white horse of avatar isn’t with him...”
“Wait…” I cut him off, “is the horse white?”
“Yes,”
“And its name is Devadatta?”
“Yes.” He almost shouts, “How do you know?”
“I see the horse in a dream. When I roam in the maze the horse is with me and a sword shining with blue light is in my hand.”
“Means my father is right. The avatar has come.” Tarun bow his head, Teena also bows and the rest of my friend do so.
“You all are my friend,” I say, “we Sunya don’t bow to friends.”
“But we bow to the real god.” My teacher says and bows.
I sat there and wonder what to say.
***
to be continue...
