AJAYA - RISE OF KALI (Book 2) (53 page)

Khatotkacha sneaked a peek at his impassive father. Bhima sat polishing his huge mace. He had not spoken to his son since his arrival at the Pandava camp.

“Go talk to your father.” Krishna patted Khatotkacha’s shoulder.

The Rakshasa moved towards his father with hesitant steps, afraid he would be snubbed. He just stood there, awkward and tongue-tied. Finally, Bhima looked up and smiled at his son. Khatotkacha dropped to the ground and bowed his head. Would his touch pollute the Kshatriya?

Bhima’s strong arms lifted him up. “How you have grown!” he said and abruptly walked away.

Was that all? Khatotkacha had imagined this reunion so many times. Bhima had not even inquired about his mother.

***

The next morning was colder than usual. Kurukshetra stretched far and wide. Khatotkacha felt a shiver of anticipation. He was going to fight Kshatriyas. In doing so, his father was bestowing a great honour on his Rakshasa son. Soon, he would face mighty warriors like Karna, Suyodhana, Kripa, Aswathama, and others. Katotkacha was nervous. He had to make his father proud. He looked again at the vast battlefield and shuddered. This time it was not the chill that made him shiver. The gory face of Iravan stared back at him. The Rakshasa gripped his stone mace and prayed, “Oh Shiva, give me the courage to face the mighty.”

***

The war took an ugly turn after the Nishadas and Rakshasas under Khatotkacha joined the Pandava side. The forest dwellers jumped from elephant to elephant and darted through the cavalry. Their wild cries made the beasts run wild. They climbed chariots with monkey-like agility, shot their poison-tipped arrows and vanished like magic. Their recklessness shattered Karna’s classical war formations.

Seeing Shakuni once again near his friend, Aswathama rushed to Suyodhana. “It seems your friend is not fighting with his heart,” the Gandharan was saying.

“If Karna does not fight for me, no one ever will,” Suyodhana retorted with complete conviction.

Shakuni eyed Aswathama and suppressed a smile. “Your trust in the Suta is touching but he is not worried about you; he is after glory.”

Suyodhana turned to his uncle in irritation. “Can you not see how Karna is struggling to save us from that Rakshasa?”

“Oh certainly, but ask him why he spared Yudhishtra and Bhima today. He cut off their bows and mace, yet he didn’t kill them.”

Aswathama saw a frown crease Suyodhana’s face as he prodded his charioteer towards Karna. Aswathama was shocked to learn that the Pandavas had been spared. Could there be a greater traitor than Karna? He had to warn Suyodhana. When he reached his friends, they were arguing.

“No more arguments, Karna. I want the Rakshasa dead,” Suyodhana said, finishing his tirade.

“Suyodhana, I will not lie. I spared Yudhishtra and Bhima’s lives today. My fight is with Arjuna, and I will kill him.”

Karna’s charioteer howled with laughter. “The Suta had the chance to kill the twins too, but he did not. What a fool I carry in my chariot!”

Suyodhana ignored Shalya and turned to Karna. “This war is not about your personal vendetta. We are fighting for a cause. Why did you give your armour away? Why are you not using the so-called magical weapon Indra gave you?”

“Suyodhana, I have kept the
Shakti
for Arjuna.”

Shalya smirked. “This Suta will die still hugging that stupid
astra.
No one has even heard of it. I am afraid it will burst behind my back at any moment. Dream on, Suta, but if you want to win this war, use the
ageneya astra
and finish off all the Pandavas. Throw away that stupid thing given to you by that Asura.”

“Sir, I must ask for your silence,” Suyodhana said to Shalya.

“Alright, if you do not value my advice, I will not give it. Once a Suta, always a Suta.” Shalya cracked his whip and laughed.

Suyodhana felt like smashing his mace on Shalya’s head but controlled himself. He said to Karna, “That Rakshasa will have finished us all long before you reach Arjuna. I am disappointed in you, Karna.”

Suyodhana moved away in his chariot, leaving behind a devastated Karna. Did Suyodhana suspect his loyalty after all he had done?

Aswathama watched Karna lift the
Shakti
and put it into the
yantra
to launch. “Traitor!” he hissed.

“The Brahmin said it right. You are a coward and a traitor.” Shalya whipped the horses and the chariot hurtled towards Khatotkacha at breakneck speed. Karna cranked the
yantra,
tightening it to launch the
Shakti astra.

“Watch out Suta, it is going to burst in your face,” Shalya shouted into the wind over the rattle of the chariot.

Karna looked for Khatotkacha and pointed the
yantra
at him. He was throwing flaming torches at the Kaurava cavalry with both hands. The Rakshasa would never know what hit him, thought Karna, tightening the tension another notch.

Khatotkacha saw a ball of fire coming towards him at great speed. People screamed and ran in all directions but he stood paralyzed as the
astra
whistled through the air towards him. He knew this was the end and his mind was strangely calm. The earth shook with a loud explosion and he was thrown into the air.

When Khatotkacha opened his eyes, the severed limbs of men and beasts were still raining down around him. He did not feel any pain. He tried to get up, but it felt as if he had no body. When the soot and smoke cleared, he saw many faces peering down at him. They all appeared to be standing at a great height. Where the
Shakti
had touched the ground, a huge crater had formed and Khatotkacha was lying in it. The look of horror in their eyes confirmed his worst fears. He saw Bhima staring down at him from the edge of the crater and tried to get up to greet his father, but he could not feel his arms.

“He has no limbs left,” someone said. Khatotkacha blinked and waited for his father to come down and talk to him. He could hear the Kauravas celebrating his fall. He heard other voices and saw his uncles join his father. They looked somehow relieved.

“Karna used the
Shakti
on Khatotkacha. Now he has nothing, Arjuna,” remarked Yudhishtra.

“All Rakshasas have to be killed one day or the other, Bhima. It is good he is dying for
dharma,”
Krishna said and Bhima blinked.

‘You would have killed me because I am a Rakshasa, Father? I don’t know what
dharma
is, I am just a forest dweller. I did my best for you.’ Gradually, Bhima’s face faded away. The sounds of celebrations died. His mother had been right – this was not their war.

As the celebrations continued on both sides of the great field of Kurukshetra, darkness cloaked the Rakshasa in silence.

***

Suyodhana lay awake in his tent, wondering if Karna had betrayed him. What right had he to give away his armour, to make promises that could lose them the war? Was not his friendship enough? Suyodhana felt bitter for having placed all his trust and hope in Karna. Bhanumati had been right, the Suta had ditched him when it mattered the most. His mother was right; he had been a fool. Who else would cheat him? He wondered if he should order Karna’s arrest and try him for treason. No... surely his Karna could never betray him? Had he not used the
Shakti
on the Rakshasa boy? Was he not inviting his own death by giving away his armour? There had to be some reason for Karna’s strange behaviour.

Battered on all sides by accusations of evil doing, Suyodhana had for some time wondered about their truth, following the madness of trying to disrobe Draupadi. He had often drawn strength from his own noble action of making a Suta a King. It had defined him. It had convinced him that he was not the evil man hungry for power that his opponents made him out to be. Suyodhana needed to believe in Karna’s sincerity in order to find meaning in his life. No, he could not believe Karna did anything for selfish reasons. He would win the war for them. They all shared a common dream of a better tomorrow for Bharatavarsha – he, Aswathama and Karna. If one of them betrayed another, life would not be worth living anymore. He had to bury all doubts. If Karna proved to be a self-serving man, what then was the point of winning?

*****

70
   
D
EATH
OF
A
M
LECHA

THE NIGHT WAS DAMP WITH THE PROMISE
of much awaited rain. It was the seventeenth day of carnage in the temple of
dharma.
Among the thousands crying over the loss of loved ones, one heart-wrenching cry stood apart in its poignancy. Krishna, four of the Pandavas and Draupadi, stood huddled near the fire, too numb to speak, while Bhima sat in the darkness, his howls of grief rising above the howling wind, almost primeval in their intensity.

“Bhima, please understand that he was a Rakshasa. This is a war and warriors die. It is hard, but that is how life is,” Krishna said. Bhima let out another howl.

Bhima had been silent until they brought up Khatotkacha’s inert body from the crater. But all hell had broken loose when he was asked to light his son’s funeral pyre. Since then, the second Pandava had not ceased his wordless crying, an agonised howling that went on and on. With words, they tried to reason with him. With pain, he answered them back.

“It is useless to talk to him,” Krishna said in a tired voice, sitting down near Arjuna.

“Watching him before, one would never have thought he cared for his Rakshasa son. He did not even speak two words to the boy. But the agony of a silent man is the most painful to watch,” Arjuna said. Bhima’s wails rose again and they all shuddered. “Krishna, is the war worth all this?
Dharma
has given us only misery. I am not even sure who is righteous and who is evil.” Arjuna shook his head. Far away, smoke from the funeral pyres snaked towards heaven.

“I explained everything to you before the war. If you do not have the answers even now, I have nothing more to say,” Krishna replied.

“Krishna, I admire your wisdom. Great men will praise those words. Alas, men like Bhima and I do not possess the intelligence to understand your meaning. We are neither rishis nor scholars. I wish I could have cried as he is doing, when I lost Abhimanyu. It is hard to be detached about what I do, Krishna. Why should we fight our own cousins and lose everything?”

“It is your duty to fight, Arjuna. Don’t worry about the results.”

“The outcome scares me, Krishna. When all that gives meaning to life is lost, what use is victory? Tomorrow will be terrible. I am not afraid Krishna, but Karna will be a tough opponent, with or without his armour.”

“Arjuna, just do your duty, the rest will take care of itself. You must take advantage of the slightest opportunity that presents itself.”

“Karna may be a Suta, but he is a great warrior. Krishna, I wish to win fairly against him, unlike what we did to Pitamaha or Guru...”

“How naive you still are, Arjuna my friend,” Krishna said with a smile. “Once you win, everything will be considered fair.”

***

Suyodhana had instructed the Brahmin never to leave Karna alone, even for a moment, and to support him in finding Arjuna. But he had other plans. Karna was capable of looking after himself. There was a bigger enemy Aswathama had to take on – one within their own ranks. He should have done it long ago.

Aswathama rode towards Shakuni. The Gandharan was watching something with unwavering concentration. He had to get the wily foreigner alone. Aswathama assessed his chances of shooting Shakuni, as if by accident. No, Suyodhana would see through it. Besides, the Gandharan wore heavy armour and was a formidable warrior. He ruled out special
astras
since the casualties on his own side would be huge. That was something the Kauravas could not afford. No, he would not shed the blood of innocents for the sake of one Mlecha.

“Hiding in the rear, coward?” Aswathama taunted, hoping to provoke Shakuni.

“Ah, my favourite Brahmin boy!” Shakuni turned around smiling.

“Sahadeva is looking for you, Mlecha. Remember, the youngest Pandava has vowed to kill you. It’s just as well you are hiding here at the rear to save your thick skin.”

“Hmm, but what is it that you are doing here instead of supporting the Suta? Today is the day he is taking on Arjuna. Don’t you want to watch Karna die?” Shakuni chuckled.

“You scoundrel! Traitor! You are not even fit to speak his name. What has the Gandharan army done for the Kauravas other than to stuff their stomachs?”

“Grand words, Brahmin, but see what is happening to your Suta friend. Krishna has laid a trap and Karna has fallen right into it. Can you see where they are going?” Shakuni asked, shielding his eyes with his hand and gazing into the distance.

Aswathama followed Shakuni’s gaze and saw two chariots racing away. One flew the flag of Hanuman and the other chasing it had the emblem of Surya. Was Karna chasing Arjuna or was Krishna leading Karna into the swamps of the Ganga? Something was wrong, terribly wrong. Aswathama jumped into Shakuni’s chariot.