Queen Alli - Beloved of Arjuna

EPILOGUE

I had hoped against hope that a stay with me aided by my constant emotional support and several puja ceremonies would ease Arjuna's heart a little. I was wrong and I understood that when Arjuna appeared before me to tell me that he would be leaving for Hastinapura.

He had received a letter from his brother asking him to join his other brothers on a pilgrimage and to leave behind the kingdom to their worthy descendant - Parikshith. Arjuna looked happier than he had in days since I saw him again in Kudiramalai.

It wasn't an easy decision to make but I learnt with a heavy heart that I will have to let him go for his own good. The day I bid him farewell was one of the most painful days of my life. It broke my heart to see father and son part so soon, I could see unshed tears in Arjuna's eyes and tears streamed down my son's face. Somehow, my instincts kept telling me to not let him go on a pilgrimage but I silenced my instinct.

I shouldn't have done that, if only I had listened to my gut feeling, Arjuna might have been alive today.

One Week Later

When Meena rushed into my chambers, I did not think anything was amiss until I saw the tears on her face and the scroll in her hand.

"Arasi!" She began, choking on her words but I could understand from her eyes that it had to be about Arjuna. I rushed to her and took the letter from her hands. When I read it, it was as if the earth gave way under me, I swayed unsteadily and Meena steadied me.

Arjuna was dead. He died when he fell off a cliff on his travel to the pilgrimage. When I recollected his miserable face the last time I saw him, I wondered, did Arjuna even try to do his best to stop his own fall? Did he simply surrender to the fall and allow himself to crash on the depths of rocks below?

"Based on what Lord Yudhisthira has got to say, it seems Arjuna did not even resist the fall, not even a tiny bit. He let himself go..." whispered Meena.

Arjuna! Oh Arjuna! How could you be so heartless to me? Did you not think about me or your son at all? Why did you, the wielder of Gandiva bow, the valiant warrior allow life to be taken away from you?

I crumpled onto the floor and broke into tears, I cried for three days and nights and then, made my son perform his last rites.

"I know, a war with a cousin can be devastating!" I wept, "but I fought with my cousin too, I even killed him in battle. How can the great warrior allow his heart to become so vulnerable?"

Even before Meena answered, I knew the answer to that question myself. Despite his outward show of pride, Arjuna was a very emotional person. Killing his own brother with his own hands and waging a war on his own cousins took a terrible toll on his emotional health.

"He is not as hard-hearted as you are, Alli" Meena reminded me.

"He should have been" I said, bitterly, "If only he had been, he would have been here with us today"

"I have more bad news" sighed Meena.

"Yes" I asked, bleakly, wondering what other news could shake me as much.

"Lord Krishna is dead"

For a moment, I wished I could travel back in time, I wished I could go back to just an hour ago when I was blissfully ignorant of these horrible pieces of information.