Kali: Chapter 1: A Tale Retold

Incase you missed it, part one is here 🙂

Picture Credit : ArtStation

Meanwhile, a great city was falling apart. Unbeknownst to it- it was, in fact, moments away from nihilation.

At first, its people suffocated from the dust that spewed from its rapidly tumbling towers that had long been weakened by desire and envy. Then- the very earth on which it stood- ruptured at every fault line present within its boundaries, spewing magma- like a disinfectant to cauterise wounds inflicted by the commission of dishonesty and deception of her dwellers. And before anyone had an inkling of the occurring and its why’s, the city was subsumed by a monstrous tidal wave- high on vendetta-whiplashing bloated egos and decimating everything- perceptible and imperceptible- in its wake. In a matter of minutes, a most meticulous annihilation was carried out- it was, as if- neither the city nor its people ever existed- and the land that was once procured from the sea, had forcefully taken it back by it.

The event that befell this, once, heavily gated, and guarded gateway to the heavens or Dwarka- was attributed to the outcome of a post-war malediction on its tutelar Lord that sowed the seeds of its anarchic end- germinating when his people reached the nadir of their moral frailties.

The Lord had had his people forewarned to the eventuality as multiple portends materialised in the penultimate years. For instance, the demigods that once inhabited its mighty towers- vacated them and were followed swiftly by many ascetics and wisemen- all of whom were victimised by innumerable infractions, pranks, and mal-intents of the city’s residents. As they left, the supernal gems of incredible lustre and brilliance that bedecked their mansions and manors and towers and spires- fell at once to the ground, disintegrating as they did.

With the disappearance of these celestial beings and wisemen- that magnificent blooming jasmine of the night, the Parijata- a grand beauty of the city square, gifted by none other than the King of Heavens, wilted away from a lack of nourishment it begat from the most eclectic environment that had once prevailed. Soon, unheard of pestilence and infestation began creeping in every nook and cranny- much to the disgust of celestial birds and fauna- who simply vanished at their first sight. Their place was taken up by laughing hyenas and encircling vultures that feasted on the remnants of any virtue as decayedness propagated.

And finally, when no heed was paid to these horrifying omens- those seeds of malediction germinated a naïve looking but a malevolent mutation of grass, almost on prompt during the city’s penultimate years. This particular variant- was tall and slender and cut both ways like a duelling sword. It had begun proliferating like a weed on a small strip of land besides the sea that hemmed the city on its west. While no one had ever seen them sprout, but once a bunch of younglings of pastoral noblemen took a liking to it after an early morning spent idling by the sea on the outskirts of their city. They playfully braided the grass to resemble swords and duelled with them innocently at first -and then not so innocently. The heat of that afternoon’s Sun was unusually harsh and it short circuited rationality of the lads. In what followed- a battle of one-upmanship- one of them drew the first blood of his childhood friend laying him lifeless on the sand. And from here, It didn’t take long for a fight to ensue amongst the others and finish them all.  When the horror of the act reached the city, more bedlam was provoked. And soon when it was certain that the city was beyond redemption or repair, its Lord- with a calm countenance and his older brother- solemn in demeanour along with their erudite cousin- shaking in fear, departed into the night beyond the gates of the city. The older brother slithered out of the west gate into the sea, while the Lord and the cousin- to a dense forest that lay beyond its southern frontiers.

…………………….

“This is it… my most dear Uddhav”, the Lord spoke as they sat under the sacred fig on the banks of the Sarasvati that flowed deep in that forest. “Everything has been clockwork thus far-but it won’t necessarily be so henceforth!” he continued.

The cousin, confounded at the magnitude of the event unfolding, sputtered “but…but…but…my Lord… its madness out there and you are leaving?! Once again, I ask you, though you have explained me this before…still… still…must you leave me behind…what will I do…where will I go…who will be left to transmit your wisdom? Please pick someone else for your bidding and let me come with you!!”

“My beloved one”, the Lord spoke, gazing into Uddhav’s eyes “you are the closest to me, and so must I spell out why it is you that I have entrusted? Uddhav! You would be transmitting not just wisdom, as you say…but hope encoded in that wisdom…you will offer an unfailing hope that will enable those who will continue… to wade a most fractious of all the yugas. There is no one better suited than you. You appeal to their rationality and sensibilities – quite the currency of this coming yuga!”

Uddhav, could not bear to meet his Lords eyes anymore. Tears rolled down his eyes as he out gazed at the now rising Sun. He spoke “what do I do with this heart, that beats for you? will it beat after you choose to go? I will merely be a shell…awaiting my turn to merge into you…till then…I guess.. I will bide my time and I will do as you say.”

“Are you attached to my form or to me?” Quizzed the Lord, “You of all people understand this very well, no? If you are truly attached to me…you know this is not a goodbye…if I don’t leave now, how will this yuga pass the baton to the next? The snowball of this cyclic age will commence its final roll, anytime now…and I’m needed else place… on a different plane of existence…so that what must happen will…so that I can put in place the checks and balances needed for what will emanate. Detach and merge into me…I will await you. But for now- just go, don’t linger. I need to await my cue, my tryst with a hunter, who I met in the previous yuga…”

To be continued…

………………….

I offer this, humble offering of my writing, flawed as it is in many ways, at His and Her feet and the feet of my Master…who is everything to me.

I offer my deep felt gratitude to you, oh! reader…who’s time and patience offered for this reading keeps me going.

This is a work of “myth- fiction” and many creative liberties have been used & so I also seek forgiveness for doing so.