Parvateshwar was stunned. He recognised the Saptrishi Uttradhikari. He knew that despite wielding tremendous influence, Bhrigu had never interfered in the workings of Meluha. He found it hard to believe that Bhrigu could involve himself in mundane matters of the material world.

‘I am taking a huge risk in meeting you face-to-face,’ smiled Bhrigu. ‘I had to be sure that you were alone.’

‘What are you doing here, Maharishiji?’ asked Parvateshwar, bowing to the great sage.

‘I’m doing my duty. As you are doing yours.’

‘But you have never interfered in earthly matters.’

‘I have,’ said Bhrigu. ‘But only on rare occasion. And this is one such.’

Parvateshwar remained silent. So Bhrigu is the true leader. He was the one who had sent the joint Meluha-Ayodhya fleet to attack Lord Shiva’s convoy by stealth outside Panchavati. Parvateshwar’s respect for Bhrigu went down a notch. The great sage was human after all.

‘You already know what you have to do,’ said Bhrigu. ‘I know that you will not support the fraud Neelkanth in attacking your beloved motherland.’

Parvateshwar bristled with anger. ‘Lord Shiva is not a fraud! He’s the finest man to have walked the earth since Lord Ram!’

Bhrigu stepped back, astonished. ‘Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps you do not love Meluha as much as I thought you did.’

‘Lord Bhrigu, I would die for Meluha,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘For it is my duty to do so. But please don’t make the mistake of thinking that I despise the Lord Neelkanth. He is my living God.’

Bhrigu frowned, even more surprised. He looked into Parvateshwar’s eyes. The normally restrained sage’s mouth fell open ever so slightly. He realised that he was looking at a rare man who spoke exactly what he thought. Bhrigu’s tenor changed and became respectful. ‘My apologies, great General. I can see that your reputation does you justice. I misunderstood you. Sometimes the hypocritical nature of the world makes us immune to a rare sincere man.’

Parvateshwar remained silent.

‘Will you fight for Meluha?’ asked Bhrigu.

‘To my last breath,’ whispered Parvateshwar. ‘But I will fight according to Lord Ram’s laws.’

‘Of course.’

‘We will not break the rules of war.’

Bhrigu nodded silently.

‘I suggest, Maharishiji,’ said Parvateshwar, ‘that you return to Meluha. I will follow in a few weeks.’

‘It would not be wise to remain here, General,’ said Bhrigu. ‘If anything were to happen to you, the consequences for Meluha would be disastrous. Your army needs a good leader.’

‘I cannot leave without taking my Lord’s permission.’

Bhrigu thought he hadn’t heard right. ‘Excuse me? Did you say that you wanted to take permission from the Neelkanth before leaving?’

He was careful not to say ‘fraud Neelkanth’.

‘Yes,’ answered Parvateshwar.

‘But why would he allow you to leave?’

‘I don’t know if he will. But I know I cannot leave without his permission.’

Bhrigu spoke carefully. ‘Uhhh, Lord Parvateshwar, I don’t think that you realise the gravity of the situation. If you tell the Neelkanth that you are going to lead his enemies, he will kill you.’

‘No, he won’t. But, if he chooses to do so, then that will be my fate.’

‘My apologies for sounding rude, but this is foolhardy.’

‘No, it’s not. This is what a devotee does if he chooses to leave his Lord.’

‘But...’

‘Lord Bhrigu, this sounds peculiar to you because you haven’t met Lord Shiva. His companions don’t follow him out of fear. They do so because he is the most inspiring presence in their lives. My fate has put me in a position where I am being forced to oppose him. It’s breaking my heart. I need his blessings and his permission to give me the strength to do what I have to do.’

Bhrigu’s slow nod revealed a glimpse of grudging respect. ‘The Neelkanth must be a special man to inspire such loyalty.’

‘He is not just a special man, Maharishiji. He is a living God.’

Chapter 16

Secrets Revealed

‘I think we’ve achieved what we came here for,’ said Sati.

Gopal, Sati and Shiva had retired to their chambers in Surapadman’s palace. As a mark of goodwill, Surapadman had persuaded them to stay on for a few days and allow him to ready a few weapons for Shiva’s army.

‘Yes, I agree,’ said Gopal. ‘Surapadman’s offer of weapons, though token in nature, is symbolic of his having allied with us.’

‘Not one other person from the Magadhan court has visited us though,’ said Shiva. ‘I hope that King Mahendra doesn’t prevail upon Surapadman to do something unwise.’

‘Do you think he may prevent our ships from passing through to Ayodhya?’ asked Gopal.

‘I can’t be sure,’ said Shiva. ‘It’s most likely he will cooperate, but it depends on how his father reacts.’

‘Let’s hope for the best,’ said Sati.

‘What about my proclamation, Panditji?’

‘It will be ready and distributed in a few weeks from now,’ said Gopal. ‘Vasudev pandits from across the country will give us constant updates as to the reaction of the people as well as the nobility.’

‘But what if the Vasudev pandits are discovered?’

‘No, they won’t. The royals may know that the Vasudev tribe has allied with the Neelkanth, but they will never know the identity of the Vasudevs within their kingdoms.’

Shiva let out a long-drawn breath. ‘And so it shall begin.’

Bhagirath arrived in Kashi late in the evening and proceeded directly to the palace. On reaching there, he was informed that Shiva had gone to Magadh to explore an alliance with Surapadman. Bhagirath, therefore, met Ganesh and Kartik to share his news with them.

‘The Ayodhyans seem to have a back-up plan,’ said Bhagirath. ‘They expect Magadh to block their ships from carrying their soldiers onwards up the Ganga and towards Meluha. Hence, they intend to cut through the forests and have their army move north-west, right up to Dharmakhet. From there, they can cross the Ganga and then use the newly-built road to march to Meluha.’

‘That’s logical,’ said Ganesh. ‘But it will be slow. It will be many months before they can cut through the dense forests and reach Meluha. The war may actually be over by that time.’

Bhagirath agreed. ‘True.’

Ganesh leaned forward. ‘But I can see that there is more.’

Bhagirath could hardly contain himself. ‘I know the identity of the one who leads our enemies.’

‘Maharishi Bhrigu?’ suggested Kartik.

Bhagirath was amazed. ‘How did you know?’

‘Baba’s friends, the Vasudevs, told us,’ answered Ganesh.

Bhagirath had heard stories about the legendary Vasudevs. ‘Do the Vasudevs really exist?’

‘Yes they do, brave Prince,’ said Kartik.

Bhagirath smiled. ‘With friends like them, Lord Shiva doesn’t need followers like me!’

Ganesh laughed. ‘He could not have known when he agreed to your suggestion, that the Vasudevs would reveal the identity of the main conspirator.’