Rajiv Menon -- ThunderGod (49 page)

Although the Devas had grown up on ballads about these celestial nymphs, they realised now that the words of the bards had failed to capture the true essence of their beauty. The Apsaras were now dancing suggestively around them. The magnificent contours of their bodies were draped in sheer silk, leaving very little to the imagination. With eyes that were filled with promises of forbidden pleasures, they took the Devas by the hand and led them into the dance. Vashishta watched these rough warriors abandon all reserve and prance about with the nymphs to the divine music.

As the song reached a crescendo, Indra watched the nymphs lead some of his men into little antechambers located on the sides of the great hall. Just then he heard a husky voice in his ear.

'Come, my lord, let me remove the weariness of travel from your body.'

He turned to look into the eyes of Urvashi, the queen of the Apsaras. She was draped in white silk, which drew attention to her marvellous body that was the colour of burnished gold. Her dark hair and soft brown eyes were fixed on him. Her full lips, coloured a bright red, were twisted in an enigmatic smile. She was impossibly beautiful, and for one brief moment Indra lost all reason and like a child allowed her to lead him into one of the antechambers.

When they were alone, she fell into his arms, her mouth hungrily reaching for his. As Indra tasted her sweet lips, he felt light-headed. He wanted to lose himself in her arms forever. However, he used every ounce of self-control in his possession to push her away. Her eyes hardened and one of her perfect eyebrows went up in surprise. This was not something she was used to. Then she smiled and bowed slightly.

'I am at your service, my lord. I will be right here if you need me.'

Indra threw himself on the comfortable bed and closed his eyes, enjoying the few brief moments of solitude. His mind was racing as he processed all the information he had got from Vashishta. He could not believe how he had handed the reins of his destiny into the hands of Manu and his Rishis. He and the Devas were now in a prison, albeit a gilded one.

He racked his brains for a way out of this predicament, but there was none forthcoming. He had led his men into a honey trap from which there did not seem to be a way out. There is always a way, he told himself determinedly. Manu had weaved a masterful plan, but he had made one elementary error in his judgment of Indra. He had assumed the Deva king was a savage barbarian filled with lust, and hoped that the pleasures of this magic land would dull his senses and make him toe the line. The Lawgiver had insulted the Deva king's intelligence and thrown him a challenge.

There was only one way Indra knew how to respond to a challenge: to stand up and fight. If the Rishis had found a way to move in and out of Swarga undeterred, so would he. Manu was going to be in for a surprise. He heard the sound of soft footfalls as Urvashi entered with two other nymphs.

'Your presence is required in court, Your Majesty.'

She and her companions led Indra to a warm bath filled with rose petals. They washed his body and gently massaged his limbs. Then, decked in a robe of purple silk, his body adorned with jewels, they led him back into the hall to the throne. Standing by were Manu and six Rishis. Pulastya had stayed away.

As he walked to the throne, Indra noticed Manu's gaze on him. He realised that the Lawgiver was trying to read his mind. Indra used a technique that Mitra had taught him to empty his mind of all thought. It was something that Mitra had impressed upon him to master. Indra had never felt any use for it until now. He walked up to the throne and took his seat. Cheers went up in the hall.

Manu waited for the applause to subside before he approached. In his hands he bore a glittering golden crown studded with gems, befitting the king of the gods. As he scanned Indra's mind, he found himself hitting a blank wall. A furrow appeared on his brow. This level of mind control was an art that took even an adept like him several years to master. It was not something he'd expected from Indra. Was there more to this barbarian than met the eye? Manu dispensed the thought from his mind as he placed the crown on the Deva king's head. The Rishis took up the chant.

'Hail Indra! God of Thunder! Sovereign lord of Amravathi! Liberator of the clouds and waters! Bringer of rain! Slayer of Vrtra! King of all gods and men!'

The chant began to echo through the hall. Indra was calm as he watched the glee on the faces of his companions. It had been a long while since he had seen them this happy. Manu made a sign for the dancing and revelry to continue.

Indra did not participate in the festivities. He sat on his throne and watched his jailors, an inscrutable expression on his face, as Manu and his Rishis bowed low to him and walked out of the hall. He would wait, bide his time and gather his strength.

If the Lawgiver thought that he would be able to hold the Deva king in this gilded cage and use him like one of his breeding bulls, he was in for a surprise. Indra would not rest till he washed his bloodied weapons in the waters of the southern ocean and completed his conquest of the land. The world of men had not seen the last of the one they would know and fear as the Thundergod.

Epilogue

As the blizzard abated, the frozen Himalayan plateau had an eerie stillness to it. The storm had raged on for months and now as far as the eye could see, a thick blanket of snow covered the ground. In the middle of the plateau stood a mound of ice, breaking the monotony of the bleak, flat landscape. Although the storm had subsided, thick clouds still hung over the sky like a pall of gloom.

The wind began to pick up. It brushed the fresh powdery snow off the mound revealing the top of a block of ice in the shape of a pyramid. Within the confines of the icy block stood a man, his arms raised and hands joined in prayer. His face was tilted up to the heavens as he stood on one leg in the yogic tree pose.

It was the man once known as Mitra, unrecognisable, however, in his current state of existence. The rigours of his penance had caused his body to completely waste away. His silver hair and beard were matted and hung in thick clumps around what was once a serene, handsome visage. It now resembled a grotesque mask, like the face of a badly preserved mummy. The skin was grey and crinkled like thin parchment. It had split in several places revealing dried up tissue and bits of his skull. Only his eyes were alive. Deep within their sockets they blazed with a manic intensity as he stared up at a fixed point in space.

Suddenly his body started to shiver and twitch uncontrollably. The icy confines of his prison began to crack and slowly break off and fall to the snow. The man dropped his foot to the ground and brought his arms down as he tried to make sense of what was happening to him. Then he felt an intense heat, deep within his lower abdomen in the region where his inner thighs met. His body began to convulse violently and his eyes rolled back up into their sockets. He felt the heat now move upwards into the area between the base of his spine and his loins.

The man began to see visions of beautiful women, scantily garbed, their eyes filled with longing, enticing him with lewd gestures. He found himself transported into the middle of an orgy with hedonistic music and dancing. He felt the arousal in his loins and was ashamed at his own inability to control it. His body continued to shake and he felt himself ejaculate violently. Now the visions began to change, the beautiful faces started to turn demonic. They abused and taunted him, increasing his sense of shame and revulsion. He opened his mouth to scream but no sound came out. The visions disappeared and he now found himself looking down into a narrow, dark tunnel. He suddenly realised that he was looking into his own body from the head down to his abdomen along the spinal column. From the bottom of this tunnel he saw a fiery serpent begin to rise up till it reached the area around his navel. The brightness of its flames now forced him to look away into darkness.

He now felt an intense hunger and thirst. He stuck his tongue out, lapping up the air, craving to taste something. Strange sounds began to emanate from his mouth. He felt a sense of foreboding that turned to fear and slowly transformed into pure terror. He began to sob uncontrollably. A myriad negative emotions like jealousy, anger and hatred rushed through his mind. As the heat began to course upward through his chest and throat, the agitation in his physical body began to subside. He felt a deep connection with all other life forms. A great sense of love and compassion for the Universe engulfed him and he began to revel in it.

Then the force began to push itself up into his head. The man's eyeballs returned to their normal position and he found himself floating in an infinite white void. He felt nothing but a supreme sense of calm. As he opened his eyes, he saw an intense beam of light like a golden spear burst through the top of his head, pierce through the thick clouds and make its way into the heavens. As he looked down at his body he realised he was no longer flesh and blood, but a creature made up of pure light. As he looked up again, the clouds seemed to explode soundlessly, turning the sky into a vibrant gold that shone with the brightness of a million suns.

That was the last vision of Raja Mitra, the warrior sage and ruler of the Adityas, before he fell to the ground, lifeless. How long he lay there he did not know, then from somewhere within the dark recesses of his mind he heard the voice of his Master, clear and strong.

'You, Mitra, have been destroyed and resurrected. You are no longer a seeker of the Light but a part of the Light itself. Rise, Rishi Vishwamitra! Go forth and illuminate the world.'

Vishwamitra opened his eyes and found himself lying in the snow, curled in the foetal position. He picked himself up and made his way across the frozen landscape; naked as the day he was born. His body had returned to its prime physical condition and it cast a warm glow that could be seen for miles across the endless plateau.