‘Are you sure of that your Highness? Has the area been checked? Has this been discussed with the Chandravanshis’ representative in your empire?’

‘Are you trying to say that we are lying?’ countered Parvateshwar. True Suryavanshis don’t lie!’

‘Parvateshwar!’ scolded Daksha angrily. ‘The Lord was not implying anything like that.’

‘Listen to me, Parvateshwar,’ said Shiva politely. ‘If I have learnt something from the poindess batdes of my land, it is that wars should be the last resort. If there is another solution possible, there is no harm in saving some young soldier’s life. A mother somewhere would bless us for it.’

‘Let’s not fight! Wonderful! What a great saviour we have!’ Parvateshwar muttered under his breath.

‘You have something to say Parvateshwar?’ barked Kanakhala. ‘I have told you before. You will not insult the Neelkanth in my presence!’

‘I don’t take orders from you,’ growled Parvateshwar.

‘Enough!’ ordered Daksha. Turning to Shiva, he continued, ‘I am sorry my Lord. You are right. We shouldn’t just declare war without being sure. That is why I have avoided a war till now. But look at the facts of the case. The flow of the Saraswati has been slowly depleting for the last fifty years.’

‘And the last few years have been horrible,’ said Kanakhala as she controlled her tears at the slow death of the river most Meluhans regarded as a mother. ‘The Saraswati doesn’t even reach the sea now and ends in an inland delta just south of Rajasthan.’

‘And the Somras cannot be made without water from the Saraswati,’ continued Daksha. ‘The Chandravanshis know that and that is why they are trying to kill her.’

‘What does the Swadweep representative say about it? Has he been questioned?’

‘We have no diplomatic relations with Swadweep, my Lord,’ said Daksha.

‘Really? I thought having representatives of other countries was one of your innovative systems. It gives you an opportunity to better understand them and maybe avoid jumping into a war. I had heard of a diplomatic mission from Mesopotamia coming in two days ago. Then why not have this with Swadweep as well?’

‘You don’t know them, my Lord. They are untrustworthy people. No follower of the Suryavanshi way will dirty his soul by even speaking to a Chandravanshi willingly’

Shiva frowned but didn’t say anything.

‘You don’t know the levels they have sunk to my Lord. Over the previous few years they have even started using the cursed Nagas in their terrorist attacks on us!’ said Kanakhala, with a disgusted look.

‘Terrorist attacks?’

‘Yes, my Lord,’ said Daksha. Their defeat kept them quiet for many decades. And because of our overwhelming victory in the previous war, they believe that they cannot overpower us in an open confrontation. So they have resorted to a form of assault that only repulsive people like them could turn to. Terrorist attacks.’

‘I didn’t understand. What exactly do they do?’

‘They send small bands of assassins who launch surprise attacks on non-military but public places. Their idea is to attack non-combatants — the Brahmins, Vaishyas or Shudras. They try to devastate places like temples, public baths — areas where there may not be soldiers to fight back — but whose destruction will wreck the empire’s morale and spread terror.’

‘That’s disgusting! Even the Pakratis in my land, a bunch of complete barbarians, would not do that,’ said Shiva.

‘Yes,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘These Chandravanshis don’t fight like men. They fight like cowards!’

‘Then why don’t you attack their country? Finish this once and for all.’

‘We would like to my Lord,’ said Daksha. ‘But I am not sure we can defeat them.’

Shiva observed Parvateshwar seething silendy at the insult to his army, before turning towards Daksha. ‘Why, your Highness? You have a well trained and efficient force. I am sure your army can defeat them.’

‘Two reasons, my Lord. Firsdy, we are outnumbered. We were outnumbered even a hundred years back. But not by a very significant margin. But today, we estimate that they have a population of more than eighty million compared to our eight million. They can throw a much larger army at us — their sheer numbers will cancel out our technological superiority.’

‘But why should your population be less? You have people who live beyond the age of two hundred years! Your population should be higher.’

‘Sociological causes, my Lord,’ said Daksha. ‘Our country is rich. Children are a matter of choice, more than a duty. Parents would adopt children from the Maika system in small numbers, may be one or two, so that they could devote more attention on their upbringing. Fewer and fewer mothers are giving birth at Maika as well. In Swadweep, for the poor, children are bonded labour to supplement a family’s income. The more children they have, the less poor the family. So that country as a whole has a far larger population.’

‘And the second reason for avoiding war?’

The second reason is something that is under our control. We fight with “rules of war”. With norms and ethics. The Chandravanshis do nothing like that. And I fear that this is a weakness in us that our ruthless enemies can exploit.’

‘Rules of war?’ asked Shiva.

‘Yes. For example, we will not attack an unarmed man. A superior armed person like a cavalry man will not attack an inferior armed person like a spear wielding foot-soldier. A swordsman will never attack a person below his waist because that is unethical. The Chandravanshis don’t care for such niceties. They will attack whomsoever and however they find expedient to ensure victory’

‘Begging your pardon, your Highness,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘But that difference is what makes us who we are. like Lord Ram said, a person’s ethics and character are not tested in good times. It is only in bad times that a person shows how steadfast he is to his dharma.’

‘But Parvateshwar,’ sighed Daksha. ‘We are not under attack by people who are as ethical and decent as us. Our way of life is under assault. If we don’t fight back in any which way we can, we will lose.’

‘My apologies once again, your Highness,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘I have never said that we should not fight back. I am eager to attack. I have been asking repeatedly for permission to declare war on the Chandravanshis. But if we fight without our rules, our codes, our ethics, then “our way of life” is as good as destroyed. And the Chandravanshis would have won without even fighting us!’

At the ringing of the prahar town bell, the conversation was halted, as everyone said a quick prayer. Shiva turned towards the window, wondering if Sati would be dancing today.

Daksha turned to Shiva expectantly. ‘Do you need to leave my Lord?’

‘No, your Highness,’ said Shiva, hiding the pain and confusion he felt inside. ‘I don’t believe I am expected anywhere at this point of time.’

At this, the smile on Daksha’s face disappeared with his hopes. Shiva continued, ‘If it is alright with you, your Highness, may we continue our conversation? Perhaps we can have our lunch a little later.’