Looks and attitude of 'His Reverence' were odd and, perhaps, even fishy from the very first moment of meeting him at the riverside, however Karikalan had hardly ever imagined that he could be an imposter of an Anchorite! He was humiliated beyond belief that he had been so easily deceived.
There was another person in the past, referred to as Master of disguise! It was none other than, Kautilya Vishnu Gupta Chanakya - the great philosopher and wizard of diplomacy! Concealing his identity as a priest or peasant, the great philosopher used to enter the Nandhan fort, numerous times! Taking the name of religious rituals, he used to gather his men under one roof, to cause chaos in their capital city! Through all these diplomatic strategies, Chanakya fulfilled his pledge of overthrowing the Nandha dynasty, and to place his disciple, Chandra Gupta Maurya, on throne!
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While listening to the tales of Chanakya, Karikalan used to wonder whether such disguises and cheap tricks would really work out in real life. But that night, the Anchorite stood as a live example in front of his eyes, that Chanakya's wisdom was indeed sensible! The Anchorite's ingenuity in handling the wig and false beard was signifying his broad experience in such affairs! "Well, does this impostor of an Anchorite have a pledge to fulfill too?" wondered Karikalan.
Lying down like a log, he did his best to fake a sleep, and also to keep an eye on the Anchorite's activities, behind his back. The natural cruelty of the Anchorite's face was found to be multiplied to tenfold by his superfluous cautiousness at that moment. It was not an easy task for Karikalan to follow up with his actions in that dim lit room, thanks to that weakly flickering oil lamp at the corner of the room, for nothing! However, the very next move of the Anchorite made it easy for Karikalan.
The Anchorite got up, sneaked to the corner of the room, brought that small oil lamp and placed it near the bed. Then he closely crept over Karikalan's face, to find whether he was really asleep or quietly faking it. But that suspicion was averted by Karikalan's study and rhythmic breathing!
Then the Anchorite sat down on his bed and took his bag fondly. It was the very same leather bag, he was holding firmly on his heart, all the way walking to the monastery that evening. He untied it slowly, pulled his small water can out and placed it on the bed. He inserted his hand again into the bag and pulled out a sheathed dagger this time! His lusty eyes ran over the gemstones, engraved on its scabbard and on its hilt.
There was an evident pleasure in his eyes while unsheathing that dagger and while running his fingers through the double-sided blade! Intoxicated by the coldness of the blade, he spun it around artfully in the air.
The situation was undeniably sticky, however Karikalan continued to keep watching him cautiously. The affection, the Anchorite showed towards the dagger, was visibly expressing that he and the lethal weapon were soul mates forever! It was also understood that the dagger would undoubtedly pierce Karikalan's ribs, if he came to know that he was being watched all the time. So Karikalan spared no effort to keep him calm and composed.
Not only Karikalan, the Anchorite seemed to be well composed as well at that moment. He kept the dagger aside and put his hand into the bag again, but didn't show any haste in taking the next thing out. He had drowned in the ocean of his own thoughts! Minutes later, he nodded his head as if he finally had decided to do that so! He slowly pulled the 'next thing' out!
Daaaaash!!! A miracle of miracles boomed out in that room!!! In no seconds, that small room of Kudanthai Monastery was crammed with an intensive blood-red fluorescence!!!!
Laying on his back and facing up at the ceiling, Karikalan couldn't clearly take a view of the mysterious 'next thing' that was causing the intense luminance! All he could see was, the entire ceiling glowing in red! Not only the ceiling, but the walls, windows and the door, even his dress and the skin on his hands were glowing in brilliant red too, as if someone had poured red paint all over him, or as if he had transformed into a giant glow-worm!
Indeed, Karikalan was trained to have control on his senses, so what? His heart was skipping the beats by the miracle of those dancing lights! His eyes were involuntarily opening a bit more; even so, he couldn't have a better view on the source of that strange red radiance. His head was rung by a number of questions. "What is this sorcery? Is it red hot coal?? Or a piece of the morning Sun itself???"
There was a grand painting on the wall in front of Karikalan's bed, narrating an important event in Lord Buddha's life - In order to get relieved from worldly bondings, the Prince Siddhartha abandons his young consort and child, and walks out in the middle of the night.
