Third Eye

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‘Did you bring the arrows?’ Asked the young man dressed in a white veshti.

 

‘Take a guess. I got all five’ whispered his lanky counterpart as both men attempted to climb a steep ledge.

 

Their feet, full of sores and yet they adeptly navigated the terrain.

 

‘Which one’s for the heart?’ Asked the tense man clad in white as he tried to grab the contents from his shoulder bag.

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‘Oh Indra, we don’t need your Vajra today. I have the Sankalpa for the heart’ 

 

‘Manmadha, do you even know whom we’re striking today?’ Shrugged Indra as he  unpacked a mystical glow stick from his satchel.

 

‘The brief I got was that of a reclusive sage. Who is this guy?’

 

‘Never mind. Let’s not get you anxious.’

 

The duo crouch behind a boulder atop the summit as they scan the terrain for their target. The journey to the Kailash peak was an excruciating trek - the mountain played its part in keeping the sage distant from the world.

 

‘Great moon today!’ Exclaimed a callous Manmadha as the beautiful crescent moon captured his gaze.

 

‘Look below that moon. That’s our target’ said Indra pointing to a jatamukuta under the crescent moon.

 

‘Ah! So that’s the sage. Why do you always target sages?’

 

‘Sages falling in love brings consequences; sages not falling in love brings even bigger ones. This one needs to fall today’

 

‘Specifics mitra?’

 

‘Shhaba! Fine. That’s the Neelakant right there. He’s gone into severe penance since his wife Sati passed away.’

 

‘Is he a close friend? Why are you taking so much effort to revive him?’

 

‘If only I could shoot those arrows, I would not have deal with this imbecile’s questions’ thought Indra. 

 

However, only Manmadha - the youngest son of Brahma - was blessed to yield the five arrows of love - Kama, Sankalpa, Rati, Vishya and Avesha. Each arrow was meant to strike a part of the human body and evoke the felling of love. Yielding the five arrows meant one could change the course of history and Manmadha was responsible with this great power. 

 

He had a moral compass that dictated whether or not he would shoot the arrows. Indra had come to understand this moral code over the years. He had to pass Manmadha’s test everytime.

 

‘The Devalok is dealing with a new Asura - Tarakasura’

 

‘What’s with the names? Please, I work for both the Devas and Asuras. There are NDAs you know’

 

‘Well, we can’t defeat this Asura who cannot be named. At least with the powers at our disposal. This Asura is the son of Kasyapa Maharshi. The same Kasyapa Maharshi who knows all our weaknesses. He’s apparently passed on the ledger to his favourite son’

 

‘There you go with the names again. No names mitra!’

 

Indra was loosing patience.

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‘We need a new weapon against this Asura and by new weapon - I mean a new deva.’

 

‘So that shouldn’t be hard?’ Winked Manmadha as he got ready to shoot his arrows at the Neelakant.

 

‘Not that easy. Vishnu says only Neelakant’s offspring can lay hands on Kasyapa’s son. Everyone else is indebted to the sage and are unwilling to incur his wrath. We need to awaken Bholenath from his penance so that he finds love and bears an offspring to defeat Tarakasura.’

 

‘So you choose the most eligible bachelor in town then?’

 

’Stop it. This is serious business. Five arrows at once - not a second apart. God I hope he does not hear us. Why couldn’t you ask these questions at the base camp?’

 

‘I was talking to Rati all the while up’

 

‘No wonder you’re calm. Send her my wishes’

 

‘How’s Sachi by the way? Long time.’

 

‘She’s doing ok. She misses her brother’

 

‘Of course she misses me. If it weren’t for me, you would still be single’

 

‘Debatable.’

 

‘Ask her next time you meet her. I’m quite literally the best wingman’

 

‘Agreed.’

 

‘Now where will you stand? I don’t want to be shooting you instead’ Manmadha asked as he precisely arranged the five arrows.

 

‘I’m going to the 5 O’Clock position from the target. You’re already at the 8.’ said Indra as he stealthily scrammed across the summit to his position.

 

Manmadha had his apparatus in place. He could see a visibly tensed Indra grabbing the Vajra.

 

‘Does this man not understand the consequences of our actions’ Indra wondered as he looked at the calm and joyful Manmadha. ‘The Vajra is not for my protection - I would happily die at the hands of the Neelakant. It is for protecting this fool against the wrath of Bholenath after he awakens’ Indra’s thoughts rattled as he gestured Manmadha to shoot on the count of three.

 

‘One…Two..’ and both young men let out a gasp at three.

 

‘Head, chest, lips, heart. Damn. Did I miss the eye?’ Manmadha wondered as he searched for the arrows on the target.

 

He looked across to find a visibly confused Indra. He slowly shifted his gaze back to the crescent moon figure only to find him missing. 

 

’Manmadha!’ Shouted Indra as he flung the Vajra in Manmadha’s direction, only for it to be dodged by the Neelakant standing behind Manmadha.

 

Manmadha turned around as he followed Vajra’s trajectory. He noticed a giant had creeped up behind him.

‘The arrows have hit their mark. Why is this man still angry? He should have fallen in trance by now and Why is it getting so bright!’ wondered a stunned Manmadha.

 

The giant figure plucked the arrow from his forehead and broke it in half with a flick of his thumb.

 

‘Wrong eye’ seethed the Neelakant. 

 

A bright light engulfed the Kailash summit.