It was late in the morning the next day when Shiva and Nandi entered the private royal office to find Daksha, Parvateshwar and Kanakhala waiting for him. A surprised Shiva said, ‘I am sorry your Highness. I thought we were to meet four hours into the second prahar. I hope I haven’t kept you waiting.’

Daksha, who had stood up with a formal namaste, bowed low and said, ‘No, my Lord. You don’t need to apologise. We came in early so that we wouldn’t keep you waiting. It was our honour to wait for you.’

Parvateshwar rolled his eyes at the extreme subservience that his emperor, the ruler of the greatest civilisation ever established, showed towards this barbarian. Shiva, controlling his extreme surprise at being referred to as the ‘Lord’ by the emperor, bowed low towards Daksha with a namaste and sat down.

‘My Lord, before I start off my monologue about the legend of the Neelkanth, do you have any questions that you would like to ask?’ enquired Daksha.

The most obvious question came to Shiva’s mind first.

Why in the holy lake’s name is my blessed blue throat so important?

But his instincts told him that though this appeared to be the most obvious question, it could not be answered unless he understood more about the society of Meluha itself.

‘It may sound like an unusual question your Highness,’ said Shiva. ‘But may I ask what your age is?’

Daksha looked in surprise at Kanakhala. Then turning back towards Shiva with an awed smile, he said, ‘You are exceptionally intelligent my Lord. You have asked the most pertinent question first.’ Crinkling his face into a conspiratorial grin, Daksha continued, ‘Last month I turned one hundred and eighty four.’

Shiva was stunned. Daksha did not look a day older than thirty years. In fact nobody in Meluha looked old. Except for the Pandit that Shiva had met at the Brahma temple.

So Nandi is more than a hundred years old.

‘How can this be, your Highness?’ asked a flabbergasted Shiva. ‘What sorcery makes this possible?’

‘There is no sorcery at all my Lord,’ explained Daksha. ‘What makes this possible is the brilliance of our scientists who make a potion called the Somras, the drink, of the gods. Taking the Somras at defined times not only postpones our death considerably, but it also allows us to live our entire Eves as if we are in the prime of our youth — mentally and physically’

‘But what is the Somras? Where does it come from? Who invented it?’

‘So many questions my Lord,’ smiled Daksha. ‘But I will try my best to answer them one by one. The Somras was invented many thousands of years ago by one of the greatest Indian scientists that ever lived. His name was Lord Brahma.’

‘I think there is a temple dedicated to him that I visited on the way to Devagiri. At a place named Meru?’

‘Yes my Lord. That is where he is said to have lived and worked. Lord Brahma was a prolific inventor. But he never took any of the benefits of his inventions for himself. He was always interested in ensuring that his inventions were used for the good of mankind. He realised early on that a potion as powerful as the Somras could be misused by evil men. So he implemented an elaborate system of controls on its use.’

‘What kind of controls?’

‘He did not give the Somras freely to everyone,’ continued Daksha. After conducting a rigorous country-wide survey, he chose a select group of adolescent boys of impeccable character — one from each of the seven regions of ancient India. He chose young boys so that they would live with him at his gurukul and he could mould their character into selfless helpers of society. The Somras medicine was administered only on these boys. Since these boys were practically given an additional life due to the Somras, they came to be known as the dwija or twice born. With the strength of the Somras, the training of Lord Brahma and the numerous other inventions that they collectively produced, this group became more powerful than anyone in history. They honed their minds to achieve almost superhuman intelligence. The ancient Indian title for men of knowledge was Rishi. Since Lord Brahma’s chosen men were seven in number, they came to be known as the Saptrishi?

‘And these Saptrishis used their skills for the good of society’

‘Yes my Lord. Lord Brahma instituted strict rules of conduct for the Saptrishis. They were not allowed to rule or to practice any trade — essentially anything that would have caused them personal gain. They had to use their skills to do the task of priests, teachers, doctors, amongst other intellectual professions where they could use their powers to help society. They were not allowed to charge anything for their services and had to live on alms and donations from others.’

‘Tough service rules,’ joked Shiva with a slight wink at Parvateshwar.

Parvateshwar did not respond but Daksha, Kanakhala and Nandi guffawed loudly. Shiva took a quick look at the prahar lamp by the window. It was almost the third prahar. The time that Sati would probably come out to dance.

‘But they followed their code of conduct stricdy my Lord,’ continued Daksha. ‘Over time, as their responsibilities grew, the Saptrishis selected many more people to join their tribe. Their followers swore by the same code that the Saptrishis lived by and were also administered the Somras. They devoted their lives to the pursuit of knowledge and for the wellbeing of society without asking for any material gain in return. It is for this reason that society accorded these people almost devotional respect. Over the ages the Saptrishis and their followers came to be known as the Tribe of Brahma or simply, the Brahmins’.

‘But as it usually happens with all good systems over long periods of time, some people stopped following the Brahmin code, right?’

‘Absolutely, my Lord,’ answered Daksha, shaking his head at the all too familiar human frailty. ‘As many millennia went by, some of the Brahmins forgot the strict code that Lord Brahma had enforced and the Saptrishis propagated. They started misusing the awesome powers that the Somras gave them for their own personal gains. Some Brahmins started using their influence over large number of people to conquer kingdoms and start ruling. Some Brahmins misused other inventions of the Saptrishis and Lord Brahma to accumulate fabulous wealth for themselves.’

‘And some of the Brahmins,’ interjected Kanakhala with a particular sense of horror, ‘even rebelled against the Saptrishi Uttradhikaris’.

‘Saptrishi Uttradhikaris?’ inquired Shiva.

‘They were the successors to the Saptrishis my Lord,’ clarified Kanakhala. ‘When any of the Saptrishis knew that he was coming to the end of his mortal life, he would appoint a man from his gurukul as his successor. This successor was treated for all practical purposes like the Saptrishi himself.’

‘So rebelling against the Saptrishi Uttradhikaris was like rebelling against the Saptrishis themselves?’

‘Yes, my Lord,’ answered Kanakhala. ‘And the most worrying part of this corruption was that it was being led by the higher chosen-tribe Brahmins like the eagles, peacocks and the swans. In fact, due to their higher status, these chosen-tribes were actually not even allowed to work under the Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, lest they get enticed by the lure of the material world. Yet they succumbed to the temptations of evil before anyone else.’

‘And chosen-tribes like yours, the pigeons, remained loyal to the old code despite working for the Kshatriyas?’ asked Shiva.