Beyond Great Darkness

Chapter 3 -The Adrika

Author's Note- Pandits and babas of the show happen to know everything but don't tell Bani anything. In my story they will do their job which is helping and guiding Naag-naagins as and when required. 

Chapter 3 –The Adrika.

Bani and Meera reach the naag temple. The first bow down to Lord Shiva and then take blessings from Panditain and Sapera baba.

Bani- "You called us here Panditain?"

Panditain – "Yes, aadinaagin, I wanted to talk to you about the.....'thing' that you asked me to find out about" She says with a glance towards Meera.

Bani- "Meera di is my sister and she has my full trust. You can speak freely in front of her."

Panditain – "Okay. You had us researching on ways to destroy Markaat permanently. I think I might have found a way."

Bani- "How?"

Panditain – "The Adrika Dagger." She shows them the book which has a sketch of the dagger. The handle was like a head of a snake and when the dagger was put in its scabbard, it looked like two snakes entwining each other.

Bani- "Please wait Panditainji. I think we should include Veeranshu in this." She calls up Veer after a nod from Panditain. "Hello Veeranshu."

Veer- "Are you fine Bani? Did anything happen?"

Bani- "No Veeranshu, everything is fine. Panditain ji says she has found a way to permanently get rid of Markaat and I wanted you to hear about it as well. She has just told us about a dagger. I will now put the call on speaker. Panditainji please continue."

Panditain – "So the Adrika Dagger. This dagger can be only used by females. Even a touch of the dagger can be harmful for males. The descriptions in the ancient texts leads us to believe that this dagger was made by the Druhyu tribe in around 1700-1500 BCE. It belonged to the matriarch of that tribe. The Romans described it in detail, even though they didn't actually capture it during the battle with her. It was retrieved by one of her daughters and it made the rounds of priestesses who served several different gods and goddesses for centuries. There are a lot of claims about where she got the dagger."

Sapera baba continued, "Some insist that it was a gift from Gods, some say that the Druhyu were excellent blacksmiths and they made it themselves. Its history is hazy for some time in the next few years before it came in the hands of Panchali, the princess of Panchal Kingdom. It is believed that Panchali used the dagger for her protection in the years of Vanvas and 13th year of Agyatvas.

Panditain- "Later, in King Janamejaya's Sarpa Satra (Snake Sacrifice), the dagger was offered as a peace offering between King Janamejaya and Takshak, the then leader of the naagvansh. It was promised that the dagger will be available to the Naagins for help in the times of great peril. Since then it has always appeared to the deserving Naagins", she paused while they took that in.

Sapera baba -"So continuing with the timeline, it was then seen in the hands of Madravati. Madravati was a warrior queen fighting for the lives of her people against the invaders. Saying that she was wielding a dagger given by Gods might have seemed a lot more impressive than just saying it was man-made"

"But the spells... making it dangerous for a man to even touch...it doesn't seem like the work of a tribe." Meera objected, she liked the idea of it being from a gift of Gods and didn't like to hear conflicting theories.

"They could have been applied later – when her husband died and the other kings invaded her land. Madravati was flogged and her daughters raped. She may have been in the mood to have the dagger she carried cursed against men by a local priestess." Veer answered reasonably.