Kaalika-The Rise of Rakthbeej

Kaalika-The Rise of Raktbeej

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Poonam Desai

Author

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In the previous chapters, we saw Hiranya Kashyap and his aide Swarbhanu discover the

resurrection stone at Kalimath and manage to find the blood stones. They resurrect demon Raktbeej while Sharvari, Dhaigham, Kasar and Dilan fail to stop them. As Raktbeej comes to power, chaos reins in the entire country. Mr. Raghav Sinha from the disaster management office is contacted by Hiranya under guise of Bija financials. The PM asks Mr. Sinha to contact DIG Pandey. They have a meeting with Sharvari and Kasar. Mr Sinha and DIG Pandey are shocked to learn about who was behind Raktbeej. They are now banking on Dilan and Dhaigham to find a solution. Meanwhile Hiranya and the demon Raktbeej have raised the bar.

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Chapter 15

Dilan and Dhaigham had spent days and nights going through the scriptures of the great battle and all the history of Mahasimha, but not one gave them the answer to how they could defeat Raktbeej. At the lunch table, Dilan picked at his food. Dhaigham had noticed that after their phone call with Sharvari, Dilan had become pensive. He caressed Dilan’s head and said, “Don’t worry yourself so much. When the time comes Devi Maa will guide the way.”

“At the temple, despite the powers the Devi bestowed upon me, I couldn’t stop Hiranya. He was able to raise the demon because I failed at my duties. Look at the mayhem he is causing around our country. How are we ever going to rise from this calamity?”

Dhaigham looked at the pictures of his ancestors on the wall of their old house. “They all awaited their destiny, but only you got the opportunity to fulfil the vows they took. That is an honour and you at your tender age have done your best to face this challenge. But every battle has its path. The skirmishes will turn to war and there will be a lot of collateral loss. Then the war will taper and one side will lose. But the side that wins also isn’t spared. They also suffer loss and injury and need time to come to terms with the victory.”

Dilan pursed his lips.

“If you are cheering me up, you aren’t doing a very good job.”

Dhaigham smiled at his grandson, “I am not here to encourage you or put you down. I am here to tell you that the path is already paved, walking down the length is your duty. Dealing with whatever happens alongside and not leaving the path is your strength.”

Dilan got up, his food still untouched. “I need some air.”

He stormed out of the house and ended up at the temple. He leaned into the walls. The cold black stones were a relief to the burning anger within him. He sat there till the sun set and darkness began to fall. Just beyond the temple walls a small light shone. It was like a flame. It formed and dissipated like a mirage. Dilan reached out to touch it but it moved away. It appeared again into the woods on the border of their village. He followed it. The flame kept disappearing and reappearing as if directing him.

The flame finally stopped near an old Banyan tree and hovered burning brighter than before. Dilan hadn’t walked through the woods before. He had not seen the tree before. As the flame shown he saw a small shrine buried into the dangling roots of the tree. He pulled at the roots. It was stone carving of a Narsimha, sitting in a meditative mudra. He dusted the statue and peered under the light of the flame. In front of the meditating form, lay a page and a inkpot, and two astras – Parashu (axe) and Trishul (Trident). While he pondered on the depiction, a light wind blew away the leaves lying before the stone. The earth there had claw marks.

“That is weird, no one has been here in ages, where did the claw marks come from?” Dilan

wondered. The light that had hovered above now floated down and began beaming over the soil.

Dilan raised his eyebrows.

“Anyways, we crossed over ‘weird’ way before,” he said and began digging.

An hour later he found a scroll, the head of a trident and the blade of a Parashu buried within. He collected the things, carried them back to his house. Dhaigham was sitting on the Verandah waiting for him.

“Where had you disappeared?”

Dilan put the objects on table in the living space and sits. He narrates the whole incident to Dhaigham. They both sit in silence staring at the objects.

“Now what?”

Dhaigham picks the scroll and answers, “Lets read the scroll.”

नवरात्रि-उत्सवस्य सप्तमी-तिथि-दिने, मोम-चन्द्रस्य सप्तमी-दिने, यदा अराजकता तस्य चरमसीमायां

भवति, अन्धकारः च पृथिव्यां राज करोति, तदा रक्तबीजः स्वस्य शक्ति-शिखरे भविष्यति। माँ

कालरात्री उत्थाय तस्याः त्रिसुल परशुना सह रक्तबीजस्य प्रत्येकं बिन्दुं पिबन् मारयिष्यन्ति।

(On the Saptami tithi of the navratri festival, the seventh day of the waxing moon, when chaos is at its charamseema and darkness reigns earth, Raktbeej will be at the peak of his power. Maa Kaalratri will rise and with her Trisul and Parashu kill Raktbeej drinking every drop of his blood.)

“Maa Kaalratri will rise? It happened before, will it happen in today’s world? And who is the Avatar of Durga now?” Dilan wondered. After a moment of silence they both stared at each other.

“Sharvari?” they said in unison.