URVI'S RETURN TO KALAPINI
Shri
The two women galloped as fast as they could, to escape from the soldiers pursuing them. Urvi noticed that Queen Mahishi was getting tired. She knew she needed to find the gateway which had to be close by as they had passed all the landmarks which gave directions. Now, she only had find the big black boulder which was in the shape of an egg and go around it and follow the path into the jungle. Suddenly , the big boulder came into view and Urvi swung her horse close to the queen's horse and jumped onto the queen's horse and quickly turned around the boulder. Her horse galloped straight ahead and she hoped their pursuers followed her horse. They reached a thicket of trees as they entered the forest and suddenly there was darkness due to outgrowth everywhere. Urvi was searching for the big banyan tree in the middle of the forest, she noticed the short but wide banyan tree a few feet away. Stopping the horse in front of the tree she jumped down, signaling to the queen to alight from the horse. The queen had a perplexed look on her face, but Urvi motioned her to be quiet. She tapped around the tree and pulled certain low branches and suddenly Lo! there was a clicking noise. She pushed a portion of the tree and a door opened to give way inside the tree. Queen Mahishi was surprised but kept quiet. Urvi motioned to the queen to enter the passage and followed her closing the door behind them. They walked for five minutes in the dark, and reached a large clearing with a little visibility. Urvi took out a torch from the floor and lit it with the flame of a small lamp which was kept there, allowed the queen to rest for five minutes and beckoned to the rani to follow her. Instinctively she figured that the Rani Mahishi had a lot of questions to ask her .
Before the queen could ask She looked up and said," We are safe and in a tunnel which will take to the house of friends in the nearby village. We will get help there and will ride towards the south from there. As of now you need to know only so much Raniji, we need to hurry lest the soldiers come in search of us". The queen nodded and got up and they started walking in the tunnel, the air surprisingly being fresh. They walked for a long time and they reached something which looked like steps carved from rocks. Urvi climbed the steps when they found a trapdoor. She pulled certain levers and the door opened revealing more stairs, both women climbed the stairs and they reached a darkened room and sat there. Urvi offered water from the jug kept there to the thirsty queen and then drank quenching her thirst. As they sat she asked 'You have many questions" Rani Mahishi nodded. "Let me tell you a few things which will probably satisfy your curiosity. I have been your bodyguard and I have been privy to the knowledge of a few secret passages and ways to escape. We were trained by your Prime minister Vishwajit and the general of the King's army. I have not used any of those secret escape routes as Viswajit knows about them and he has probably stationed soldiers at these secret passages to capture you. This is a secret hideout known only to a few souls who are loyal to the kalapini ashram. These are the few people who maintain this tunnel and also keep the lamp burning so that anyone in need can use it. We are in one of small villages near the border of the Panchala kingdom. This is house where I have friends who will help us go towards the kalapini ashram ,which is towards the south of the vindhayas mountains, near Mahishmati. We will be safe there and will be taken care off. Nobody would think of searching for you there. "The maharani nodded and kept quiet . After sometime there was a soft knock on the door and a voice said," Om namo bhagavtey Vasudevaya". Urvi answered to the knock by a prayer in the kalapini ashram" Om Katyayini namaha." The door opened and an old man entered, he took both the women to the inner sanctums of the house which was hidden from outside. They freshened up and changed clothes and ate the food the old man brought. The old man waited, then said , " Soldiers have camped a few koshas from the village and they are searching door to door. What is it you want?" Urvi told him "We need to go to Kalapini so please make arrangements." The old man nodded and left. The queen was surprised that he did not ask any questions. Urvi explained that in their situation the less the other person knows the better so that they have no information to give if questioned and this was the procedure.
After three days arrangements were made. They disguised themselves as sanyasinis' and they rode at dawn in the morning. Urvi was thankful that the queen could ride a horse or they would have been slowed down by the use of chariots and soldiers at the borders would have been curious, which would have defeated their escape. A map had been given to Urvi by the old man, this helped them avoid crowded places and soldiers and dacoits. They rode for three days and three nights stopping only for food and water for their horses and themselves. On the third night they came to the outskirts of the forest and saw a few huts. Urvi motioned the queen to stop and wait as she rode into the cluster of huts to spot any enemies. A while later she motioned to the queen to come out of hiding towards the huts. As the Rani came close a number of sanyasinis approached her form the huts and helped her to dismount . Pointing to the sannyasins' Urvi said "they are friends and will help you with clothes , food and show you a place to rest .I will come after sometime after talking to the high priest." The tired Rani nodded glad to have fresh clothes and food. After getting refreshed the queen tried to make conversation with the sanyasinis as to the whereabouts of the place, but the sanyasinis were not very communicative .In the end, the tired queen just slept. The next morning the Maharani woke up to see Urvi sitting on the mat and reading a map. The curious queen sat next to her and observed. Urvi smiled and said," I know you have a lot of questions and before you ask, let me tell you about the place. We are already far away from Panchala, Matsya and we have crossed Malwa and we are close to the foothills of mountains called Vindhayas. Sage Agastya had crossed the Vindhayas and had gone to the south to the Dronagiri hills in the south. This place is called Bhojapura and this ashram is a sister ashram of The Kalapini ashram, where we are headed. "Kalapini "ashram is near the Saptashringi mountains which to the southwest of vindhayas and soldiers of Panchala will not look for you in the ashram. I was a student there and I know the people there will help."
The Maharani looked grateful.
The next day at dawn they along with a few other people started galloping towards the Kalapini ashram. With a continuous pace they reached the outskirts of a thick forest where a lot of women from the kalapini ashram had gone to welcome them. Urvi had a lot of sakhis in the ashram. Seeing them Urvi raised her hand in acknowledgement and started galloping very fast towards Kalapini ashram with a lot of evident excitement. Suddenly there was a lot of confusion, and dead bodies of the fellow travelers just fell down and the queen was not to be seen anywhere. Nobody knew what happened.
All of the women present rushed to the spot where the dead bodies had fallen and tried to make sense of what was happening. All of the women returned to the ashram in a daze from the earlier events .They thought that they could get help from the people of the ashram, but as they entered the ashram they were forbidden to talk about it.
Urvi came to know about the massacre and was distressed to know that the queen had disappeared. She immediately went to meet the Acharya Avantika, who was the chancellor of the ashram. Acharya Avanti commanded her to leave the ashram and go into hiding giving no explanation. The only thing Acharya said was 'your life is in danger. Leave the ashram immediately and conceal yourself .I will contact you when everything is in order and you are safe. Urvi was confused ,and wanted to ask the Achraya many things, but Acharya waved her off.
Thus Urvi went into hiding.
YOU ARE READING
The Kalapini Warriors
Historical Fiction"Women have always been considered as the weaker section of the society. They were never given the opportunities to grow and develop equally alongside men." Throughout the history of mankind, it was always the men who were remembered for their knowl...
