Kurukshetra Vijayadhari

The Serpents

Hastinapur , the kingdom of the kurus is a serene kingdom on the banks of river Ganga . Notwithstanding the strife between the cousins , the  mighty kingdom that boasts of its rich glory is a fort that perhaps even the Gods fear to breach . However things weren't going to stay the same forever . The tension between the cousins had led to the deaths of three Kaunteyas and had also taken the life of the Incarnation of the serpent lord . What had begun with a mere recreation has turned around into a strained relationship between the Yadavas and the Kauravas with the connecting link being the reason behind .

The night sky of Hastinapur was pitch dark owing to the absence of the moon . The atmosphere was unnaturally quiet as if awaiting a new upheaval . The royals had fallen asleep without any hint of what was going to affect them next . And so were a few guards on duty who had wearied off soon . As the winds blew with them swept a few invaders into the palace silently . My instincts had alarmed me quite before due to which I hadn't yet retired to my chambers ever since I have returned from the banks of  river Ganga . And  probably this decision of mine was going to be a life saving one . From the corners of my eyes I could sense the approaching threat that was probably here for vengeance.

A commotion erupted as the soldiers guarding the night palace were alarmed by the sudden intrusion of serpents out of nowhere . Perhaps they had some illusions casted over them leading to the late reactions . Once the commotion started building up the maids serving the royals were terrified as a few serpents showed up before them as well . Chaos were prevalent everywhere as the fighting soldiers and the screaming ladies seemed to wake up the whole sleeping palace . The Kauravas were out of their chambers and so were their elite ancestors . Everyone was getting involved to tackle the situation so as to avoid disturbing the king . But the noise that they produced was enough to startle even the lord of the three worlds out of his customary sleep .

All I was doing was trying to find out the chief of the serpents as these weren't looking like something real . I could even get a glimpse of a few approaching towards the place I was in as well as a group proceeding towards the chambers of the royal ladies . Perhaps now it was time for my intervention as I identified the portal of the entry . I summoned the divine bow gifted by the sixth Incarnation of the Preserver and  launched a single arrow focusing on the central part of the portal from which the intrusion occurred that demolished the illusions altogether. At once the serpents disappeared leaving behind a few souls who had fainted owing to extreme horror .

The residents of the palace had just breathed a sigh of relief when a shower of serpents came pouring from the skies . This was probably the resultant effect of  involvement of an archer and my mind immediately calculated to zero down onto the person who was behind all this chaos . These group of serpents were launched by the missile of the serpents , the Nagapasha . The motive of the assailant seemed to be clear that he was here with a purpose and was working accordingly . I launched arrows after arrows cutting through the serpent ropes from the middle . Those who had been captivated by the effect of the missile too were rendered free as my arrows nullified it completely .

The portal and the shower almost gave out the position of the assailant and hence with a swift stride , I struck down  the mystical son of Arjuna out of his hiding . No sooner had the grandson of serpent King been exposed , a complete battalion of real serpents came to sight this time . The patriarch ,  the prime minister as well as the reigning king and queen had been present to witness the sight of the Nagas besieging the fortress of Hastinapur . The commander of the Nagas being the son of their beloved Arjuna and this was evident both from his looks and his prowess . The emotional great grandfather appealed  the son of his grandson to give up the fight and so did his grand uncles .

However , Iravan wasn't ready to surrender. He was here to challenge me and this wasn't difficult for me to guess as probably he was the one who had followed me to take his revenge . On his command the real serpents attacked the residents of the city . This was the last straw as now the king had to order his troops to defend . The reluctant president and prime minister were bound to comply and defend the city . I jumped from the arena forwards lurching myself towards the invaders . My sudden move erupted gasps from the ladies corner as I started firing powerful arrows on my way to defend all by myself .

I fired a few arrows even behind to thwart the attempts of a few snakes to scare the ladies . As the number of the serpents started growing  , I took a giant leap to summon the Garudastra . A gigantic eagle emitting fire illuminated the night sky to form a barrier between the serpents and myself . The eagle unleashed its wrath demolishing its eternal foes into pieces as the entire battalion was reduced to a handful . The remnants despite frightened advanced to meet their fates at my hands as I created a cloud of fire that sucked in each of them barring the son of Arjuna .

Iravan , now entered the battle showering numerous arrows which I repelled quite easily to overpower him . The overwhelmed Naga resorted to illusions creating mirages which were effortlessly dispelled by me . He fired numerous shafts and spears next each of which were bisected symmetrically . My  frustrated nephew fired the deadly Nagastra aimed towards myself . With a smirked adorned in my face , I summoned a missile created by myself . The fire emitting serpent missile came approaching venomously only to be countered by a devastating Vishanashakastra created out of anti snake venom .

The summoned antidote created a blinding illusion taking the shape of a cosmic shield that surprised even the son of Ganga . The shield first absorbed the Nagastra then transformed itself into a golden arrow to advance towards the grandson of Kunti . The widened eyes of the serpent prince turned red in fury as he tried to change his form to escape easily . Midway between the transition , the arrow caught hold of the grandson of Kauravya burning him into ashes . The night sky loomed over the dead bodies of the serpents as the poisoned ones recovered when my invention exploded to counter the venom. As I returned back towards the palace , once again I was greeted with the warmth not only from the Kauravas but also the citizens of Hastinapur who kept on showering flowers all the way .