Vakṣaṇī Dharmā : The Song of Mahabharat

12| Transcendence

While reading the Mahabharata, Mrithika never for once had a thought of ever reliving the epic much less fraternising with the characters, especially the Pandavas for the fact, but fate does have a twisted sense of humour.

If one were to ever tell her that she would meet the preserver of the universe, Lord Vishnu's avatar, in a different yuga, she would cackle at their face and maybe even drop them off at the nearest mental asylum.

However, she was unable to do neither. Though she was glad at escaping the cruel world of 21st century , she was worried that all these may just be a fragment of her wild imagination or a dream that was in the guise of a beautiful lie.

To curb her anxiety, she pricked her finger on the sharp edge of her practising sword and watched with satisfaction as the pure red liquid bubbled at the skin surface. Pleasure rang through every inch of her body as the throbbing pain did not distort her surroundings.

It was all real.

The trees, the soil, the majestic palace of the Kurus, the azure sky, the pure air void of any pollution and of course, the abnormally calm Pandava in front her. They were all real.

"Ugh, my hand hurts. Can we take a break now"? Mrithika groaned as she massaged her shoulder joint from getting cramped due to the heavy sword. She had been practising how to swing it as a part of her balancing class.

She did not have the slightest idea on how ancient mortals managed to fight battles for hours whilst handling such heavy weapons. And according to Sahadev her sword was the lightest in the armoury. She internally scoffed at his words, 'Light, my foot'!

But she remembered how her late grandmother used to say that individuals from different eras or yugas varied in aspects of strength, morality and appearance. And she wasn't wrong, Mrithika could clearly see the difference.

Sahadev sighed and agreed, "Just ten minutes. That's all you get".

Mrithika scrunched up her face in distaste, "Just ten? Give me an hour at least! My arms have cramped up"!

"Do you want to learn or not? Because learning cannot be according to your convenience", He snapped.

"It cannot, but it should be done in comfortable circumstances", she shot back.

"I give up, go do whatever you want", Sahadev threw his hands in the air in defeat. He was tired of arguing with her and he never liked getting involved in one either, to him she was just too persistent for her own good.

He watched Mrithika's face light up with an eminent joy as he agreed to her terms, begrudgingly. He rolled his eyes internally at her stubborn nature, to him it was uncanny to see such a person , a woman, who had a persuasive and determined spirit with no malicious intent hiding beneath it.

Or does it?

Despite having an innocent exterior he knew that she might not be what she shows, especially with those cryptic answers and crafty smiles he could easily guess that there is more to her than she lets them know.

Sahadev had enough knowledge about his own skills and knew very well of what he was capable of. In spite of being the most silent among the Pandavas, he was skilled at observing and reading people.

For instance, he noticed how Mrithika stiffened at the mention of her father during their first lunch together and how minimalist she was regarding her familial life. Not to mention how she mumbled about someone not being able to find her anymore just hours ago.

On analysing his thoughts further he couldn't disagree nor agree with it. It was just conflicted. If she really was that dangerous, why would Krishna send a potential enemy right into the inner circle of their family? And she did mention herself of belonging to the sun clan, the very lineage of Shri Ram, the most pious person who ever walked earth.