Shatru Sesham: Sequel of Baahubali ✔️

Chapter Seven

After some while at the secret hideout,
Bijjaladeva spoke to Kalanemi in a highly flustered tone, "I thought our game was up when Kattappa discovered us. Is he dead?"

Kalanemi spoke, "Yes. But it was your foolishness that led him here. He came here tailing you. The success of all our schemes depend on Mahendra being unaware of my true identity."

Bijjaladeva agreed, "What I and Bhalla failed to do the previous time, you my grandson, Subahu are doing. We killed Amarendra but failed to take away his memories from the hearts of the people. I thought I was all alone. But one day, years back, you came into my life. It seemed as though my own Bhallaladeva had come back with redoubled vigor. You have the guile, the intellect and viciousness you inherited from your father, Bhallaladeva, and the brute strength, power, wickedness and sadism you inherited from your mother, the Kalakeya Princess, Kamaroopi. Mahendra will be hated and overthrown by the very people who mean the world to him."

Kalanemi asked, "Did you succeed in sowing discord in the mind of Rani Shodasi Devi about Mahendra? Will she fall in line with our plans?"

Bijjaladeva lamented, "Unfortunately not. She is too good and just for that."

Kalanemi spoke, "In that case, you must assasinate her and take control of Vijayapuri with the help of Vijayamarthanda and his army at the earliest possible. Open the gates of the fortress for him, and Vijayamarthanda will do the rest. Shodasi Devi still trusts you and believes that you are on her side. (With a hint of sneer in his voice) Vennu potu meeku baga vachchina kala kadha! (Stabbing in the back is an art you have perfected to perfection!) Apart from Kattappa, she is the only person who is aware of my true identity and can thwart our plans by exposing us to  Mahendra."
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Near a mountain range in the vicinity of the drought afflicted parts of Mahishmati,
King Mahendra Baahubali was supervising the construction of the water canal that would irrigate the western parts of the kingdom with the waters of Bhagiradhi, the life-giving River and alleviate the drought situation and give succor to the people of those regions.

"How long will this take?" asked Mahendra to one of his ministers.

"Approximately another six months. The Sapthagiri mountains run parallely like this intersecting our whole kingdom into two, the Eastern and the Western regions. The river course of Bhagiradhi lies towards the east of this mountain range irrigating all the Eastern parts of our kingdom. So we have fertile, alluvial lands to this side of the Sapthagiris while the side to the west is completely untouched. In the event of the failure of the rains as has happened for two consecutive years, they become severely drought-hit with no possible alternative" explained the minister.

"This means that a canal across the mountains is a long-term alternative and not an immediate solution. What has been done to provide immediate succor to the people and provide potable drinking water to them?" said Baahubali.

The minister said, "All the wells in this vicinity have completely dried up. We have summoned Tripura, the gifted Water Diviner. He has earmarked a particular spot. He says that that if we go down a thirty feet below the surface of the earth, there is a big and vast source of drinking water that will never dry up. Our men have been incessantly working on this day and night. We are at twenty-eight feet. Hopefully, our men must have finished digging the well by now."

Mahendra enthusiastically said, "This is the first piece of good news I have heard in quite a while. Let us go there!"

Mahendra started riding along with the minister and his soldiers to the place where the workers were digging the well. When they arrived there, they found all the workers were terribly exhausted. They hadn't progressed beyond the twenty-eight feet. They had encountered a thick layer of black stone which was literally impossible to break. All the people of that region who had come to witness the digging of the well were desolate and dispirited on watching this.

One of the workers who was toiling away asked Tripura, "People say you can divine water. But all we found is stone, stone and endless stone. I really doubt if there is water at this spot! I really wonder if you even know water divining. You must be bluffing!"

Others who were standing nearby and working on digging the well joined the chorus. Tripura was a bit hurt that his learning and gift were being questioned in this manner. He reiterated, "Neeru undhi......Rendu adugula lothulo....Ee banda rathi kindana.....Yentha neeru ante motham Mahishmati daaham teerchetantha....Idhi naa medha aana......Naku ee varam ichchina Paramasivuni medha aana.......Ee rendu adugula bandarathi cheelche monagaade leda? (Water is there.....Just two feet down.....Under this black stone.....So much water that the thirst of the whole of Mahishmati can be quenched with its help.......I swear on this......I swear on the Supreme Lord Siva who gave me this gift.......Is there no man worth his name to break this two feet of black rock?)

Just then Mahendra threw off his kingly robes and jewels. He tied a towel round his head to protect himself from the sweltering heat. With a supreme effort of strength he stuck the pick axe against the rock. Everybody looked expectantly for something to happen. But nothing did. However unfazed by this failure, he stuck again with the cry, "Jai Mahishmati!" This chorus picked up volume, doubled, tripled, quadrupled and swelled like an ocean chanting the same slogan in unison, "Jai Mahishmati!.....Jai Mahishmati!"

All the spectators, common folk, soldiers, ministers jumped in and started working alongside the workers. The drifting morale of everyone was uplifted. Mahendra, thinking about all the countless sufferings his people were undergoing due to lack of water, applied his whole heart and soul as he lifted his pick axe to strike again with the resounding cry of "Jai Mahishmati!" again on his mouth. Wasn't he the same one who had lifted the Shiv Ling single-handedly for his foster- mother, Sanga? Wasn't he the same one who held the 100 feet golden statue of Bhallaladeva from falling down to protect the innocent people from being crushed beneath it? If he could do that, he could do this too.

This time the mighty rock cracked up near the surface. The crack gradually started widening further until it reached the bottom of the rock that was obstructing the water present beneath the rock. The water bubbled up the small crack till it reached the surface. From the aperture, the water gathered momentum until it rose up like a geyser.

All the people cried tears of joy. Their dark days when they had slept with their thirst  unquenched had ended. They danced as the water fell all over them wetting all of them. They sipped and tasted the sweet water of the water source to their heart's content. One among the public lifted Mahendra on top of his shoulder and paraded with him, while the rest kept shouting with mad frenzy, "Baahubali....Baahubali.......Baahubali!"
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Three months later,
The very same Mahendra walked off along with his wife, Avanthika, daughter, Bhagiradhi, and newly-born son, Gajendra, in simple attire, bereft of all royal attire, finery and jewelry. Except the clothes they were wearing, they took nothing with them except a painting of Rajmata Devasena with a flower garland around it. Mahendra had abdicated his throne. The royal couple looked veritably like Lord Sri Ram and Mata Sita walking towards their exile in Dandakaranya. But they had no Ayodhya to walk along with them, follow them, or mourn for them. All the doors of the houses were shut tight. None of the inmates of Mahishmati came to stop them. Rather, they seemed happy that they were going away.

End of Book One: The Rise of Enemies