Devika - A journey unbound by time

28: Parchment

Devika was worried. She was continuously pacing the room up and down in the afternoon. 'It has been three years since I got this divine yantra. Three years I have spent merging together with it and yet I am at the first level. What is going on? How do I increase the level of merging? What am I doing wrong? I wish Grandfather Nala gave me more instructions on how to use this device.'

Frustrated, Devika went to the palace library. An old servant was cleaning the books in the library. When he saw Devika, the servant bowed in greeting. Devika smiled and gestured him to stand up. "Is today the day when the library is cleaned?"

The servant nodded and said, "Yes Princess, today is the day we clean the library. Are you looking for some special book? I can immediately retrieve it for you so that you do not have to stand in the dust."

"Actually I just came here to browse the books. I didn't have any special book in mind. This library is quite vast, isn't it? There must be thousands of books here on various topics and I thought I could browse through them to find something to read." Devika said.

"Yes Princess, this library is quite old. In fact it is as old as the kingdom. The founder king of our kingdom, King Nala had placed in here a personal collection of his books." the old servant replied humbly.

"There's a collection of our founding father here. Can you show me where it is? How do I access it?" Devika asked her eyes shining brightly.

"That collection is very well preserved and it is not readily available to everyone. King Nanda's  permission is required to access those books. However you are the princess and you can easily access if you want." The old servant replied.

Devika thank him and left the library quickly. She hurried to find her father and seek his permission to access King Nala's book collection. After securing permission Devika went to her father's study and ask the servant over there to hand over the book collection of King Nala.

Devika found that it was not a book collection but instead rolls of parchment stacked together. Handling the rolls of the parchment quite carefully, Devika checked each and every one of them till she found a drawing of the divine yantra on one of the parchment's handles. She quietly separated that parchment from others and ask the man servant in the study to place the rest of the collection safely.

Opening the roll of parchment Devika began studying it. There were detailed meditation poses and breathing techniques drawn in the parchment. There was also a drawing of the chakra meditation.

Chakra meditation essentially involves a transfer of energy throughout the entire body. The body possesses hundreds of chakras, but there are essentially 7 core chakras (energy centers) within the body. Each of these chakras is regarded as the ultimate focal point linking your emotional, physical and spiritual energies.

After studying the parchment in detail Devika understood that there are 7 levels of merging between the mind and the divine yantra. These 7 levels are connected to the seven energy centres in the body. If Devika practiced Chakra meditation she would gradually be able to merge her mind with the divine yantra completely.

Each seven levels of the divine yantra exposed a new power of the yantra as well as increased the size of the room. Devika quickly entered the yantra and began copying down the instructions on the parchment to a blank book in her storage. It took about a whole day by the time Devika was done. However in the outside world only a second had passed. Devika returned the roll of parchment to the man servant and left her Father's study.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't notice Prince Dev and his nanny coming down the corridor. It was only when she was hugged by the little prince that she noticed him.

"Sister... where were you? I was searching for you all over. I searched the whole Palace for you. You promised that you wouldn't ever leave me alone. But it has been days since you last played with me." Prince Dev whined in his baby voice.

Devika picked him up in his arms and said, "Little liar. How can you come up with such a lie? You didn't search the Palace for me or you would have found me in the library."

Prince Dev simply giggled when Devika caught his lie and nestled comfortably in her arms, placing his head on her shoulder. "You play every day with Brother Veer and you both forget about me. If I am a little liar then you are a big liar." he mumbled disgruntled.

"Aww... Is my baby brother feeling left out? Don't worry, I have planned out an entire day of fun with you. I know that you must be feeling lonely. Let's spend tomorrow having fun, you, me and Veer. How about it?" Devika asked him.

"Really? Sister is the best. Let's go and have fun tomorrow." Dev said enthusiastically.

Eh? You must have been really lonely  to be so excited. Why don't we go and ask mother and father to give us a new brother or sister?" Devika suggested.

"No! No! Not allowed. I don't want a new sister or brother." Dev protested.

"Huh!? Why not? I thought you would be happy to have a new sister or brother. You would be able to play with them all day and take care of them like I take care of you." Devika asked surprised.

"But if I have a new sister or brother then I will have to share your affection with them. And... and... I don't want it. I don't want to share you with anyone." Dev said his eyes brimming with tears.

"Ah... I understand. Okay okay.. Don't cry. You won't have to share me okay?" Devika said to him. Dev wiped away the unshed tears from his eyes and gave a shy smile.

"Princess, Little Prince must be getting heavy for you. Do you want me to pick him up? Your arms will get tired." the nanny following both of them said.

"No. I want to stay with my sister." Prince Dev refused before Devika could say anything and burrowed deeper into her arms.

"Little Prince is being naughty. Is Little Prince still a baby to stay in your sister's arms? Here I was thinking I could bring you out to play tomorrow. But apparently Little Prince is a baby and wouldn't be able to leave the Palace." Veer said. Dev whipped around to see that Devika had brought him out to meet Veer. Dev was in awe of Veer and usually listened to everything the older boy said.

"No. No. Dev is not a baby. Dev is older. Sister put me down quickly. Your arms must hurt." Dev demanded.

Devika put him down with an amused smile and shared a look with Veer.

"How are you Princess? Have you made preparations for a small outing in the capital?" Veer asked her.

"Yes. I have discussed everything with Mother and Father. We will be going around the capital with a few soldiers accompanying us. It is the capital and we will be touring around in broad daylight. I doubt anyone would be foolish enough to attempt harming the royal family in the capital. Still I have planned to carry enough food and drinks for us. It is but an extra precaution." Devika said.

Veer nodded and looked at the boy peeking at him from behind his sister. He gave the boy a brilliant smile and patted the child's head as if to say that he was a good child.