A man has many identities, Panditji.

The Pandit narrowed his eyes.

‘Were you born a Vasudev?’

‘Nobody is born a Vasudev, Lord Neelkanth. You earn it. There is a competitive examination, for which Suryavanshis or Chandravanshis can appear. If you pass, you cease to be anything else. You give up all other identities. You become a Vasudev.’

‘But you were a Chandravanshi before you earned your right to be a Vasudev,’ smiled Shiva, as though merely stating a fact.

The Pandit smiled, acknowledging Shiva’s statement.

Shiva had many questions he wanted answered. But there was a most obvious one for this particular Vasudev.

‘A few months back, the Vasudev Pandit at the Ramjanmabhoomi temple had told me that my task is not to destroy evil, but to find out what evil is,’ said Shiva.

The Vasudev Pandit nodded.

‘I’m still digesting that idea. So my question is not on that,’ continued Shiva. ‘My query is about something else he said. He had told me that the Suryavanshis represent the masculine life force and the Chandravanshis represent the feminine. What does this mean? Because I don’t think it has anything to do with men and women.’

‘You can’t get more obvious than that, my friend! You’re right, it has nothing to do with men and women. It has to do with the way of life of the Suryavanshis and Chandravanshis.’

‘Way of life?’

‘Prince Ugrasen has been killed?’ asked Bhagirath.

‘Yes, Your Highness,’ said Siamantak softly. ‘The news is from a source I trust implicitly.’

‘Lord Ram help us! This is all we need. King Mahendra will think Ayodhya arranged the assassination. And you know how vengeful he can get.’

‘I hope that he doesn’t think that, Your Highness,’ said Siamantak, ‘It’s the last thing we need.’

‘Their spies have been following us,’ said Nandi. ‘I’m sure they have a report of our whereabouts and movements since we have entered the city. We cannot be blamed.’

‘No, Nandi,’ said Bhagirath. ‘King Mahendra can also think that we hired assassins to do his son in. By the way, where are the spies?’

‘Two of them,’ said Drapaku, pointing with his eyes in the direction of the spies. ‘They are quite amateurish. That tree doesn’t really hide them!’

Bhagirath smiled slightly.

‘It could be Surapadman,’ said Siamantak. ‘Everyone in Swadweep is aware that the younger Magadh Prince is ruthless. He could have arranged the killing to claim the throne.’

‘No,’ said Bhagirath, narrowing his eyes. ‘Surapadman is by far the more capable son of King Mahendra. For all his faults, the king of Magadh does respect capability, unlike some other rulers I know. Surapadman practically has the throne. He doesn’t need to kill his brother for it.’

‘But how come there is no public mourning as yet?’ asked Drapaku.

‘They’re keeping the news secret,’ said Siamantak. ‘I don’t know why.’

‘Maybe to arrange a credible story to give at least some respectability to Ugrasen’s memory,’ said Bhagirath. ‘That idiot was quite capable of stumbling upon his own sword!’

Siamantak nodded before turning towards Drapaku. ‘Why does the Lord want to spend so much time in the temple alone? It’s quite unorthodox.’

‘That’s because the Lord himself is quite unorthodox. But why are we keeping his identity secret in Magadh?’

‘Not everyone who believes in the legend is a follower of the Neelkanth, Drapaku,’ said Bhagirath. ‘The present king of Magadh does not follow the Neelkanth. And the people here are loyal followers of the King. The Lord’s identity is best kept undisclosed here.’

‘You know what makes humans special when compared to animals?’ asked the Pandit.

‘What?’ asked Shiva.

‘The fact that we work together. We collaborate to achieve combined goals. We pass on knowledge to each other, so every generation begins its journey from the shoulders of the previous generation and not from scratch.’

‘I agree. But we are not the only ones who work in a pack. Other animals, like the elephants or lions, do it as well. But nobody does it on the scale that we do.’

‘Yes, that’s true. But it’s not always about collaboration. It is sometimes about competition as well. It’s not always about peace. Many times, it’s also about war.’

Shiva smiled and nodded.

‘So the key point is that we humans are nothing individually,’ said the Pandit. ‘Our power flows from all of us. From the way all of us live together.’

‘Yes,’ agreed Shiva.

‘And if we have to live together, we must have a way of life, right?’

‘Yes. Some method for all of us to collaborate or compete with each other.’

‘Most people believe there are many hundred ways of life in the world,’ said the Pandit. ‘Every civilisation thinks that it is unique in some way.’

Shiva nodded in agreement.

‘But if you actually distil the way people live, there are only two ways: The Masculine and the Feminine.’

‘And what do these ways of life mean?’

‘The masculine way of life is “life by laws”. Laws that could be made by a great leader, perhaps a Vishnu like Lord Ram. Or laws that come down from a religious tradition. Or collective laws decreed by the people themselves. But the masculine way is very clear. Laws are unchangeable and they must be followed rigidly. There is no room for ambiguity. Life is predictable because the populace will always do what has been ordained. Meluha is a perfect example of such a way of life. It is obvious, therefore, why the people of this way of life live by the code of Truth, Duty and Honour. Since that’s what they need to be successful in this system.’

‘And the feminine?’

‘The feminine way of life is “life by probabilities”. There are no absolutes. No black or white. People don’t act as per some preordained law, but based on probabilities of different outcomes perceived at that point of time. For example, they will follow a king who they think has a higher probability of remaining in power. The moment the probabilities change, their loyalties do as well. If there are laws in such a society, they are malleable. The same laws can be interpreted differently at different points of time. Change is the only constant. Feminine civilisations, like Swadweep, are comfortable with contradictions. And the code for success in such a system? Unmistakeably, Passion, Beauty and Freedom.’

‘And no one way of life is better?’

‘Obviously. Both types of civilisations must exist. Because they balance each other.’

‘How?’

‘You see, a masculine civilisation at its peak is honourable, consistent, reliable and spectacularly successful in an age suitable for its particular set of laws. There is order and society moves coherently in a preordained direction. Look at the Suryavanshis today. But when masculine civilisations decline, they cause horrible turmoil, becoming fanatical and rigid. They will attack those that are different, try to “convert” them to their “truth”, which will lead to violence and chaos. This especially happens when an age changes. Change is difficult for the masculine. They will cling even more rigidly to their laws, even though those laws may be unsuitable for the new age. Masculine civilisations enforce order which is welcome when they are strong, but is suffocating when they decline. The Asuras, who were followers of the masculine way, had faced similar problems when their power started waning.’