Kartika and Ashwani were enjoying their stay at Avanti. Two days went by, and they almost forgot their true purpose of the visit. They were rather distracted by the presence of Rohini. The small meetings, including the family dinner, kept them really engaged.
Kartika didn’t want his stay to end. On the third day of their visit, they were to meet some sages and Brahmins of Avanti. They went to the sacred village of Sthiravana, where they met many sages and Brahmins. Some of them had migrated from other kingdoms. It was a beautiful tradition where the sages and Brahmins were never stopped from entering any territory because sacred knowledge was not a slave of any kingdom.
There were a few sages who had their roots in the Ashwasena kingdom. A sage named Adi Gautama invited the king and the prince to his abode. He was quite old, probably in his 70s. Kartika and Ashwani paid their respects to the sage.
Kartika asked him, “Maharishi, why did you leave Ashwasena?”
Rishi Adi Gautam smiled and replied, “I have never been to Ashwasena. My great-grandfather lived there. His entire family belonged to the great kingdom. But they left some 300 years ago. Since then, Avanti has been our home. We have visited many places, but none of my ancestors dared to go back to Ashwasena. Even I refrained from making any visit.”
Kartika was taken by surprise. He was disappointed to hear all that.
He asked the sage, “Why did you and your ancestors not visit Ashwasena? It’s your birthplace.”
The sage replied back, “It is indeed! But we have some bad memories from that land. We lost a lot in Ashwasena!”
Kartika enquired further, “What are you talking about?”
The sage looked him in the eyes with utter seriousness. He realized that Kartika was clueless. And he had guessed the reason as well. He said, “I understand why you might not know about the sins of your ancestors, my King!”
Kartika’s heart was now clouded with fear. Was there something he was missing? He kept silent.
The sage continued, “You know if things had been right, then you or your father might never have got the throne. It’s a long story, my king!
Some 300 years back, your great-great-grandfather King Pradyumna took the throne. You share his blood! The thing is that Pradyumna was not meant to rule. He was the younger son. His older brother, Shrutakirti, was the ruler before him. Shrutakirti had two children. A son and a daughter. He was a just and unbiased ruler. He was loved by his people and admired by sages.
His rule was blessed until the great drought took over the kingdom. The Gods were unhappy, and we faced the greatest calamity in a 1000 years. That summer brought great misery. The rivers dried up, and there was no harvest. By the end of the year, the king had to feed all his subjects from the royal granary.
But the rain God was not yet pleased. The drought continued, and three years passed in this manner. The nearby kingdoms couldn’t help anymore, and the royal stock was almost over.
The king consulted the greatest sage in the kingdom, by the name of Aranya. Sage Aranya went through all ancient scriptures and found a way to please the Gods. He told the king that a huge sacrifice must be made before the Gods. The king must practice a strict fast without food and water for 7 days. 300 sages would perform a great yagya while the kings fasts and meditates. At the end of the sacrifice the king would serve food and water to the Brahmins before ending his fast.
Pradyumna always loathed his elder brother. He had his eyes on the throne, but unfortunately, he was the younger brother, and even his children were younger than the children of the king.
He found an opportunity in all this! He waited for the great yagya. The yagya went on for 7 days as decided, and the great king Shrutkirti sat without food and water for seven days in front of the sacrificial fire. The 300 sages kept chanting mantras, day and night, for the sake of the kingdom. On the seventh day, the Gods were pleased, and the sacrifice came to an end as rain poured throughout the kingdom. People cheered for their king.
Now was the time for the great feast. The king served food to all three hundred sages sitting the sacrificial chamber before breaking his own fast. Little did he know that the food was poisoned by his younger brother Pradyumna.
The three hundred sages died on the spot. The king could not take this. He was dumbstruck. The people praising him started cursing him for the death of the Brahmins. The king felt responsible and jumped into the fire that was still burning. As it happened, Pradyumna smiled with joy. He thought his scheme was successful.
A few days later, the son of the late king died. He was murdered in his sleep. The daughter had disappeared into thin air. Some believe that she ran away with the help of a few confidantes of the late king. No one knows for sure! Pradyumna took over the throne. And that is when things started getting scary. People began hearing voices and bad omens.
King Pradyumna fell seriously ill. It is believed that he was in intense pain. He had boils all over his body, and he would bleed from everywhere. His situation got so bad that he begged for death from his attendants.
My great-great-grandfather was a well-known sage. He went to see the king. It was in front of him that King Pradyumna confessed to all his crimes. He told the sage that he was hearing the voices of the 300 dead sages. Voices that told him that he and his entire bloodline were cursed. None of his children who would sit on the throne would live for long!
The King begged in front of my great-great-grandfather. He wanted forgiveness, but his crime was unforgivable. Just being in his presence for an hour caused a great deal of trouble to my great-great-grandfather. He lost all his knowledge and power. All the mantras, chants, and wisdom accumulated over the years were gone!!!
That is when our ancestors moved away from Ashwasena. We never headed back.
From what I hear, the king died after a lot of pain and agony. He was succeeded by his elder son, who also died within a year. It was the younger son of King Pradyumna, named Shaurya, who somehow controlled the ghosts of Ashwasena and caged them somewhere. Many believe he could have sent them into the forbidden forest. It was the last place where Prince Shaurya went before his disappearance. But these are just speculations.
The voices and the hauntings did stop, though. The curse was lifted, or perhaps it merely escaped, because of Shaurya’s sacrifices. Yet the forests remain doomed, continuing to torment the citizens of the surrounding villages. What an irony: people paying the price for the sins of your ancestors.”
Kartika was filled with deep grief. He was nowhere close to his greedy and sinful ancestor. But he was the bearer of a great debt. It was his sole responsibility to protect his subjects. And he would do that at all costs.
Read all chapters. Jump to Chapter 1.
Read short stories and articles on Astrology.