THE DIVINE ASTRAS

Chapter 8

Vijayā was his adoptive sister, he had adopted her from the road, Jai was an orphan by birth, his blood parents were killed in the 1993 Mumbai incident. They had left him at a temple upon his birth, as the pandit(Hindu Priest) told him. He had adopted Jai, and had tried to do his best to be his father. Jai had absolutely loved him, he loved him till today.
He was 8 when he found Vijayā on the road, she was just laying there in a basket.
She might have been around 1, she looked
so weak, as if on her deathbed, as he saw her, his eyes welled up with tears, remembering what had happened with him. He could never forget it.
He picked her up and brought her home to his Bābā.
"Bābā, she is my sister," said he, "I don't know what to name her though."
"Jai," said Gopala.
"She will be Vijayā, your victory over your past. She will help you reclaim yourself, she shall be the best thing, best person in your life, son. Cherish her, and take care of her."
"I will bābā."
The next day, Gopala met with an accident.
He was impaled on the road by a truck, his skull crushed by the vehicle, brains lying smushed across the road, one leg amputated, another crushed, he was barely recognizable.
It was that day Jai vowed to himself to live for her, for Vijayā.

*

"Now, sir will help me get back Vijayā, she will be back, my baby sister will be back."
Tears of joy filled his eyes, he smiled, after a long time.
"Vijayā, my baby...I've succeeded you, I might have failed you before, more than once, but now we'll finally be together again!"
Shukra was drunk on his power, Kartik was looking tired. Shukra was dancing around like a maniac, he finally thought he had a chance to defeat the Three Supreme Gods, the Trimurti. The acquisition of his power had such a powerful impact on their surroundings, the sky had turned charcoal black, there was absolute darkness all around, numerous lightning bolts struck the land.
It was as if Chaos had taken birth.
Suddenly, Shukra stopped dancing.
"Why is the stone glowing?" said he.
"What do you mean, sir?" said Jai, vehemently.
"It should not glow!"  he growled.
"Why not sir?" enquired Jai with a look of surprise on his face.
It was a divine object, why would it loose it's shine?
"The true successor would transfer all it's power to me. He just might not be the One!"

*

Rudra was looking all around Delhi, frantically, he had no clue where to begin looking for his brother. He wanted to look again in his locality, he went to the alley near his house, and saw the shloka on the wall. He would see it daily and smile, it used to make him happy.
'Yadā yadā hi dharmasya glānir bhavati Bhārata,
Abhyutthānam adharmasya tadātmānam Srijāmy aham.'
It meant,'To deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I, Myself appear, millennium after millennium.'
His father had taught him that, he would always remember it, forever, throughout his life.
It did not make him smile today, he just felt incomplete, maybe it was just because of Kartik.
No one can help anyone, God also only helps those who help themselves. Rudra was walking around his area, when a thought struck him, he decided to go to the tea seller near his place, he would surely know if anyone new had arrived at that place.
He started walking at a quick pace.
'Definitely, he would know of something! I'm hoping.'
As he arrived at the place, he saw one old man, maybe the man's father, "Uncle, āpkā betā kaha hai?" (Where is your son?)
"Betā, woto bīmār hai, āpko kyā kām thā?"(He's ill, what did you want from him?)
"Kuchh pūchhnā tha."(I needed to ask something.)
"Kyā?"(What?)
"Kuchh din pehle koī āyā thā nayā yāhā?"(Did someone new come in here a few days back?)
"Hānji, ek sādhu aur uska betā āyā thā. Bahut ajīb log the."(Yes, a saint and his son came here. Pretty weird people.)
"Kis time āye the?"(What time did they come?)
"Ab aise to nahi yād, ho gaye kuchh din."(I don't remember the time, it has been a few days since then.)
"Okay, uncle."
What if they were those people?
"Kāhā thehre the?" (Where did they stay?)
"Betā, yāhā pās hi me ek hotel hai. Wāhā patā karlo." (There is a hotel nearby, you might want to check there.")
'At last, something to refine my search.'
"Thank you, Uncle!"
As he started walking towards the hotel, he thought, 'Maybe, just maybe if, I could just see these guys! Well, what can you do, let's just do some cold trail research. Before that, I should just sit down.'
He sat under the shade of a nearby tree, and closed his eyes.
He heard someone walking, no, it wasn't just one person, they were two!
'Could it be?'
As he opened his eyes, he got shocked!
It was as if everything was black, as if the world was black and everything inside it had contours of bright gold yellow! Despite this weird situation, it all seemed normal, save for two people, they were walking near him and not only were their contours yellow, they were fully yellow, save from the rest of the world which was made of black except with yellow contours!
As he looked closely, one of them looked like a sādhu! He couldn't really be sure, but, he knew it then, they were THEM!
He started running towards them and as soon as he came close to them, one of them turned behind and said, "Jai, move quick! We need to get the kid today!"