Kairavi

Chapter 36

Lord Vishwakarma erected a breath-snatching fort out of bricks and the lifeless maati of Khandavprasth. The townspeople fell on their knees, seeing literal magic happening before their eager eyes. 

The palace was absolute grandeur. He included many unique architectural elements in the building, making it one of a kind. Such a masterpiece was beyond the wildest imaginations of the world’s best architects combined.

The Pandavs, Panchali, Kairavi, and Krishna joined their hands to express their gratitude towards the God of architectonics. 

“Jyeshth bhrata, this is your new home, the place from where the tree of dharm will spread its branches to the entire Bharatvarsh.” the possessor of Sudarshan connoted.
Averting his eyes from his beautiful, newly constructed capital, Yudhishthir nodded at Govind.

The fort was equally whimsical from inside. The royal family breathed life into the mansion by stepping in it. Khandavprasth began to feel like a home to them as well as the immigrants.
Business and trade started flourishing by leaps and bounds, and within an year, it reached the remote corners of the country.

People from Hastinapur started to abandon their old residences and filled in the voids of Khandav; and out of insecurity, yuvraj Duryodhan forbade his subjects from vacating his kingdom. Because let’s be honest, if he didn’t put a bar, he would’ve been left with goats and cows to rule over.

One day, a brahmin came weeping to the rajmahal seeking help. Some thieves had stolen his cows, thus depriving him of his only source of income. Yudhishthir was in his wife's chamber, so he couldn’t attend to his predicament. 

“Maharaj! Maharaj!” He ran on the jute carpets lying on the floor. To his dismay, there was nobody to listen to his pleas. The guards held him back when he tried to enter the courtroom without the king’s permission.

Arjun heard the commotion from the balcony of his room and came downstairs instantly. His blood began to boil upon hearing what was happening in his dominion.

He wanted to go and drag those rascals to the court by their hair, 

But there was a problem. He was weaponless. He had left his bow in Panchali's room and if he went there to fetch it, he'd have to suffer an exile of 12 years.

He looked at the distraught man, who was going impatient by the second. "Rajkumar, it isn't appropriate for a kshatriya to turn down a brahmin's request." He reminded him.

Arjun wasn't going to let him curse his family, or spread a rumour that the Kuru princes are incapable of aiding the helpless.
Without another word, he started walking towards Draupadi's chamber. 

"Arya!" she yelped as her gaze spotted Dhananjay entering the bedroom with the eldest pandav playing Dyut with her.
He didn't say anything, just picked up his bow and left straight for the stable to get his horse.

Yudhishthir and Panchali were speechless. 

He was successful in retrieving the stolen animals from the burglars. The villager returned satiated from the Rajmahal and Yudhishthir's grace was saved.

Arjun stopped in his tracks upon seeing all of his family, waiting for him in the meeting room.

"Pranipat jyeshth and bhrata Bheem." He said but his greetings got ignored as Panchali rushed to him. "Why, Arya?" "I had no choice, dear. If I turned him down, he would've cursed the whole dynasty. And a brahmin's curse never goes futile."