3 years after Draupadi's Swayamvar
All the Pandavas still Brahmins, had good friendships with kings of different regions. One such newly made king was Anantaguna, king of Kanyakubja. He was tall, rough and tough and had a very well-built body. He wanted to have a good alliance with kings of the surrounding region. Though the Pandavas were in exile, Anantaguna knew that one day Yudhishthir was going to be the king of the Kuru Empire. So, he invited the Pandavas to his object gallery, where he collected things that were found at different places he visited and wars fought. He just picked them up and carried them to his gallery. Though there was something that he had picked up that could make time travel possible. Or rather one timeline to the other. It was a small wooden box-like structure that could store something in it.
Panchali was looking at each and every thing that was present at the gallery. She was especially fascinated by that wooden box that Anantaguna had in his collection. She started looking at it closely and opened it. As she was looking at it, she saw a piece of paper that suddenly appeared in that box. She opened the box and took that piece of paper into her hand. Seeing Panchali reading something, the Pandavas approached her. Sahadev asked her, “What are you reading Draupadi?” She replied, “nothing! I found this piece of paper in this box. I was about to read it.” Anantaguna heard their conversations and said, “What paper? There was nothing in that box.” They were puzzled. How can Panchali find a piece of paper in the box? But then Panchali started reading it. Bheemsen stopped her from reading it as he thought that something was not right with that paper. But Panchali couldn’t wait to read it. So, she started reading it. It read: “I am, when you don’t want to do something, yet I am also there when you’re having fun. I can go fast, yet I can go slow. For me, there’s only one direction – forward. As you read this, you will move forward by 35 steps.”
On Panchali reading that riddle, Yudhishthir could easily solve the riddle. It answered “TIME”. But he couldn’t understand the “35 steps” part. Suddenly a gigantic hole appeared. It was like a black hole. It was sucking the Pandavas, Panchali and Kunti Mata in it.
Anantaguna did not understand anything and ran away to get some help.
Panchali’s curiosity had taken all the 5 brothers, herself and her mother-in-law in a place that they knew but probably would not be able to identify. They were not just 35 steps but 35 years. They had time travelled.
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~Chapter 2 ends~
YOU ARE READING
The Destiny Of The Royals
Historical FictionMahabharat, the great epic written by Shri Ved vyas. The biggest war ever fought in the history of India. The victory of Dharma over Adharma. But have you ever wondered what would happen if destiny takes a turn and plays with time? This is the sto...
