अन्तः अस्ति प्रारंभः।
The end is the beginning.
A caterpillar dies, to birth a butterfly. Water evaporates to rain down. Dead carcasses fill the stomachs of vultures.Life gives way to death and death to life. In a vicious circle of different karmas...
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Shock can come in many forms, Mihira realised as she stared at the shining dagger still at her feet, steadily reflecting the light of the moon and dangerously glinting. As if calling to her.
She didn't look away from the dagger, somehow mesmerized. So much power. For a moment, ideas ran free in her mind and she ached to pick up the dagger. She had been forced quit her fighting lessons almost half a decade ago but she still knew all the weak points of a body— of a human body.
She could fight, not murder, Mihira reminded herself with a stern thought. Also, she knew enough about adharma to recognise it a hundred miles away.
"No."
The soldier did not react much except for a raise of his eyebrows and a quirk of his lips as if he was challenging her answer.
Incredulity flashed through Mihira and she answered once more, "No, I shall not bring you a sacrifice. Killing innocent animals for nothing but a mere, momentous sense of gratification is against Sanatan Dharma. As I am sure you must be aware, Shri Krishna calls this behaviour full of Tamas Guna in Shrimad Bhagwat Geeta. Moreover, He tells Arjun that humble people who are not envious of other living beings—which include the animals you want me to kill— who does not think himself as the proprietor of everything is very dear to Him."
She took a deep breath, trying to calm the pinpricks of anger that was dancing on her mind before she spoke again,"Yes, Mahoday, I am a Hindu and yes, of course, I can pick up a weapon. However, I shall only ever pick up weapons to protect my Dharma and behead the horrid Mlechas, not to attack innocent animals whom we worship as mounts of our dear gods and goddesses."
The soldier rolled his eyes, as if he were hearing her words for the hundredth time. Mihira resisted the urge to say something particularly horrendous about the man who was getting on her nerves now.
"And why do you think Lord Ram went after that deer on the whim of his wife? Do tell." He asked with a resigned sigh as if she was the wrong one in the conversation.
Mihira bristled and narrowed her eyes at him, having had the same argument with multiple people various times. Certainly more times than she had wished to. She replied,"According to the Ramayana written by Saint Valmiki, in the Aaranya Kaand, the first four shlokas express the beauty of the deer that Mata Sita had seen and she called Prabhu Shri Ram and Lakshman ji to look at it. The fifth shloka, Lakshman ji shows his suspicions that the deer is no one but the demon Mārich in the disguise of a deer.
Then, Mata Sita says that if the deer was to stay with them, it would make their hut more beautiful and they would take the deer back to Ayodhya after the year, since it was their last year of vanvaas. She said that everyone in Ayodhya, including Shri Bharat and Rani Kaushalya would be impressed at seeing the deer. Later in the thirty-eighth shloka, Prabhu Shri Ram tells Shri Lakshman that if the deer was a disguised demon, it was their duty to kill him. Moreover, in the fourty-seventh shloka, Prabhu Shri Ram says that their duty is to protect Mata Sita and hence he would follow the deer. He would either capture the deer alive or kill him."
