Yakshagni - An odyssey of unbroken devotion - II

21) The Heart has its Reasons

Shankaran Murthy was delighted to receive a mail from Dushyant Bhadera and felt privileged to accompany his friend to dig into the archives of the old library in Thanjavur. Saraswathi Mahal library, established in 16th century by one of the ruling Nayaks had on display some of the rarest palm leaf manuscripts. Shankaran was elated that he would have a chance now to find his way into the vault of ancient knowledge.

When there was no response from Maurya regarding his visit to Avadhi, Shankaran made a call to the younger man's office, and learnt that Maurya was in hospital. He wasn't certain about the nature of the accident but he was worried for the younger man.

A week later, he met Dushyant in Thanjavur. Dushyant briefed Shankaran about his father's advice; that he would find some lead in the scripts that were eternalized for succeeding generations in one of Asia's oldest libraries.

"So Dushyant, what is the topic that I should look for?"

"Ancient kingdoms, rivers... or cities that had been built on the banks of rivers that flow no more. You know, some hint about a secret that guarded a kingdom or a river."

The two men spent the entire day, attempting to read as many manuscripts as possible but soon, it was time for the library to close for the day and they had to make an exit.

Late evening, when Shankaran and Dushyant met for dinner, the latter spoke about the ancient dynasty, about which, his ancestors had narrated to their descendants.

"You know Shankaran, there was this belief then that a prophecy about a love had brought down the powerful kingdom."

"What kind of a prophecy?"

"From what I understood, it was about an innocent love between an unmatched pair that had spelt doom for the kingdom."

"So, what about the forest that was burnt down? You said that its inhabitants cursed the kingdom."

Dushyant answered with a sigh, "There are so many tales that I have heard, Shankaran. I don't know which is real and which is myth. All I know is that I have to find a secret that had guarded the dynasty and let our posterity live in peace."

"But Dushyant, you must have some idea about the topic."

"What I am searching for, is a manuscript pertaining to ancient rivers in India. Apparently, this river holds the secret that would release the curse of the prophecy. My forefathers believed that the kingdom was home to many types of tribes. One of the tribes who worshipped rivers as their deity lived in the forest and they had something to do with the downfall of the kingdom."

"Good, at least now I know what I am looking for."

Next morning, Dushyant and Shankaran were the first ones inside the library. By mid-afternoon, they had various manuscripts and books spread on the table. They poured over each one and took notes from some. The palm leaf manuscripts had to be handled very carefully. Photography was prohibited inside the library; hence they took as many notes as possible. One manuscript written in Nandinagari script interested Dushyant.

"Shankaran, this is written in Nandinagari script. I remember that you used to translate this script to Mahendran sir."

Shankaran nodded, reaching for the manuscript. He read the first few leaves and said, "This document is about the significance of water and how we should conserve it. It talks about the divinity of water and how in Vedic times, water was thought to bring happiness, peace, good health and wealth. Oh wait! It is only one of the many volumes. This one is called 'Water and Universe'. Dushyant, there are many volumes here. This is volume -3. Let us search for others."