Shiva was stunned. Like someone had cruelly destroyed one of his most precious memories.

‘My Lord? What is it?’ asked Ayurvati.

Shiva, looking furious, abruptly turned around. ‘Nandi! Bhadra! Come with me.’

‘My Lord, where are you going?’ asked Parvateshwar.

But Shiva was already walking away. Followed by Nandi, Veerbhadra and their platoon.

‘PANDITJI!’

Shiva was in the Kashi Vishwanath temple. As ordered, Nandi and Veerbhadra waited outside, along with their platoon.

‘PANDITJI!’

Where the hell is he?

And then Shiva realised he didn’t need to shout. All he needed to do was transmit his thoughts. Vasudevs! Are any of you listening?

No answer. Shiva’s anger rose another notch.

I know you can hear me! Will one of you have the guts to speak?

Still no answer.

Where did you get the Naga medicine from?

Absolute silence.

Explain yourself! What relationship do you and the Nagas have? How deep does this go?

No Vasudev responded.

By the holy lake, answer me! Or I add your name to the enemies of Good!

Shiva didn’t hear a word. He turned towards the idol of Lord Rudra. For some strange reason, it didn’t appear as fearsome as he remembered. It seemed peaceful. Serene. Almost like it was trying to tell Shiva something.

Shiva turned around and screamed one last time. ‘VASUDEVS! ANSWER ME NOW OR I ASSUME THE WORST!’

Hearing no answer, Shiva stormed out of the temple.

Chapter 9

What is Your Karma?

‘What happened, Shiva?’

The little boy turned around to find his uncle standing behind him. The boy quickly wiped his eyes, for tears were a sign of weakness in Guna men. The uncle smiled. He sat down next to Shiva and put his arm around his diminutive shoulder.

They rested in silence for a while, letting the waters of the Mansarovar lake lap their feet. It was cold. But they didn’t mind.

‘What ails you, my child?’ asked the uncle.

Shiva looked up. He had always wondered how a fierce warrior like his uncle always sported such a calm, understanding smile.

‘Mother told me that I shouldn’t feel guilty about...’

The words stopped as tears choked Shiva. He could feel his brow throbbing once again.

‘About that poor woman?’ asked the uncle.

The boy nodded.

‘And, what do you think?’

‘I don’t know what to think anymore.’

‘Yes, you do. Listen to your heart. What do you think?’

Shiva’s little hands kept fidgeting with his tiger skin skirt. ‘Mother thinks I couldn’t have helped her. That I am too small, too young, too powerless. I would have achieved nothing. Instead of helping her, I would probably have just got myself injured.’

‘That’s probably true. But does that matter?’

The little boy looked up, his eyes narrowed, tears welling up. ‘No.’

The uncle smiled. ‘Think about it. If you had tried to help her, there is a chance that she would still have suffered. But there is also a chance, however small, that she may have escaped. But if you didn’t even try, there was no chance for her. Was there?’

Shiva nodded.

‘What else did your mother tell you?’

‘That the woman didn’t even try to fight back.’

‘Yes, that may be true.’

‘And mother says that if the woman didn’t try to fight, why would it be wrong for me to do the same?’

‘That is an important point. The sin was being committed against her. And yet she was accepting it.’

They kept quiet for some time, staring at the setting sun.

‘So, even if the woman didn’t fight back,’ said the uncle. ‘What do you think you should have done?’

‘I...’

‘Yes?’

‘I think it doesn’t matter if the woman didn’t fight to protect herself. No matter what, I should have fought for her.’

‘Why?’

Shiva looked up. ‘Do you also think I should have been pragmatic? That it wasn’t wrong to run away?’

‘What I think doesn’t matter. I want to hear your interpretation. Why do you think it was wrong for you to run away?’

Shiva looked down, fidgeting with his skirt. His brow was throbbing madly. ‘Because it feels wrong to me.’

The uncle smiled. ‘That is the answer. It feels wrong, because what you did was against your karma. You don’t have to live with the woman’s karma. What she did was her choice. You have to live with your own karma.’

Shiva looked up.

‘It is your karma to fight evil. It doesn’t matter if the people that evil is being committed against don’t fight back. It doesn’t matter if the entire world chooses to look the other way. Always remember this. You don’t live with the consequences of other people’s karma. You live with the consequences of your own.’

Shiva nodded slightly.

‘Does that hurt?’ asked the uncle, pointing at the blackish-red blotch on Shiva’s brow, right between his eyes.

Shiva pressed it hard. The pressure provided some relief. ‘No. But it burns. It burns a lot.’

‘Especially when you are upset?’

Shiva nodded.

The uncle reached into his coat and pulled out a small pouch. ‘This is a very precious medicine. I have carried it for a long time. And I feel you are the correct person to receive it.’

Shiva took the pouch. Opening it, he found a reddish-brown thick paste inside. ‘Will it make the burning go away?’

The uncle smiled. ‘It’ll set you on the path of your destiny.’

Shiva frowned. Confused.

Pointing towards the gargantuan Himalayas extending beyond the Mansarovar, the uncle continued. ‘My child, your destiny is much larger than these massive mountains. But in order to realise it, you will have to cross these very same massive mountains.’

The uncle didn’t feel the need to explain any more. He took some of the reddish-brown paste and applied it on Shiva’s brow, in a neat vertical line, up from between his eyes to his hair line. Shiva felt immediate relief as his brow cooled down. Then the uncle applied some paste around Shiva’s throat. He took the remaining portion of the medicine and placed it in Shiva’s right palm. Then he cut his finger lightly and dropped a little bit of blood into the paste, whispering, ‘We will never forget your command, Lord Rudra. This is the blood oath of a Vayuputra.’

Shiva looked at his uncle and then down at his palm, which cradled the strange reddish-brown paste mixed with his uncle’s blood.

‘Put it at the back of your mouth,’ said the uncle. ‘But don’t swallow it. Massage it with your tongue till it gets absorbed.’

Shiva did that.

‘Now you are ready. Let fate choose the time.’

Shiva didn’t understand. But he felt the relief the medicine gave. ‘Do you have any more of this medicine?’

‘I have given you all that I have, my child.’

‘The Vasudevs had the Naga medicine?’ asked a shocked Sati.

She had intended to speak to Shiva about the disturbing conversation with her father in the morning. She was still stunned that a back-up manufacturing facility for the Somras existed and that no one knew about it. But that was immediately forgotten on seeing Shiva’s enraged face.