Short stories · Faith & Inspiration
Is there any life after death? This is a question that has intrigued humanity since time immemorial. But, most of the Hindus and Buddhists believe that life after death exists and a soul reincarnates in a different body.
A few among millions were able to recall their previous life incidents and a few among billions were able to recall their creepy or restful experiences of Yam planet.
If the theory of life after death is true, we all might have experienced it before we were born on the earth. We all might have visited heaven, hell, and Yam planet more than once. We generally fail to recall the experiences of our past lives. Had we been able to recall our past sins and consequences thereof, we would certainly have thought 100 times before committing any sin during the present lifetime.
Is it possible for a person to tour hell, heaven, and Yam planet for a few days in the present life? Even if a person tours to all these places for a few days, can he recall those incidents? In most of the cases, no one can recall.
In 925 AD, a person, who voyaged all those after-life planets, was able to recall those incidents. But, could anyone believe his discourse on life after death?
• CHAPTER 2 •
Pilgrims Visiting Bharmuar
A minibus with 12 pilgrims reached Bharamaur of Chamba district in Himachal Pradesh. After deboarding from the minibus, all the pilgrims moved to see the Yamraj temple.
The sky was bright. The cold wind was blowing in the atmosphere. Black crows were sitting on the pine trees and cawing.
Many pilgrims are accustomed to visiting the Bharmour town of Himachal Pradesh every day. One of the priests, who was acting as a guide was showing them various places in the temple premise.
‘As an important ritual, everyone is expected to bow in front of Chamunda Goddess at first’, the priest pointed to a small temple in the premise. All the pilgrims bowed with folded hands in front of Chamunda Goddess.
‘Chamunda Goddess is my Kul-Devi (family-deity). Before touring different temples in this premise, we first get blessings from this deity’, the priest told the visitors. Here ‘Kul-Devi’ means the diety of lineage or deity of family.
‘This is the temple of Dharmeshwar Mahadev. Dharmeshwar Mahadev is also known as Dharmraj or Yamraj. It is believed that the departed soul of a person goes to Yamlok (Yam’s planet), where his minister Chitragupta pronounces the judgment based on its Karmas. As Pushkar temple in Rajasthan is the only dedicated temple for Lord Brahma, Bharmaur temple is the only temple dedicated to the king of Yam, Yamraj’, the priest gave the introduction.
‘If Yamraj has a separate planet, then why is this temple called Yamraj temple?’, one of the pilgrims asked.
‘This place is thought to be the gateway for Yam planet. All the departed souls from all over the world except Kashi come to this place first before starting their new journeys, where the verdict is pronounced to the soul, based upon its virtues and sins’, the priest explained.
‘Why not Kashi?’, one of the pilgrims asked curiously.
‘Because Kashi does not fall under Yamaraj’s purview. Whoever dies in Kashi (Benaras) city does not come to this place because Kal-Bhairav pronounces the verdicts for that person. Kashi is the blessed city by Lord Shankar’, the priest explained further.
‘You can see, Yamraj’s or Dharmaraj’s deity is sitting in the form of a phallus (ling)’, the priest remarked while pointing towards Yamraj temple. All the pilgrims entered the Yamraj temple. They stayed there for around 10 minutes and prayed in front of Yamraj with folded hands. They bowed in front of the deity as a sign of reverence.
‘What is the difference between Yamraj and Dharmraj?’, one of the pilgrims asked.
‘They both are the same’, the priest answered.
After that priest led the pilgrims to Dhai-Paudi place within that premise.
‘This premise has a corridor named Dhai-Paudi, which means two and a half steps. One step is for heaven and another step is for hell the third half step is for the departed souls who die prematurely without completing their assigned life span. The prematurely demised souls will reside there till the completion of their assigned life span’, the priest explained pointing at the Dhai-Paudi place.
‘The premise has 84 temples of Siddh-Navnath (Shiv-Ling or Phallus of Lord Shiva). It is believed that visiting all these temples will give you salvation from recurring births through 100 thousand different species. Alternatively, a person can also orbit around the temples’ premise for one time to avoid entering the birth and death cycles of 100 thousand different species. The soul will not acquire the body of 100 thousand species out of 8.4 million species after that. It is a belief’, the priest explained.
On the premise, there was one square-shaped platform, each side measuring about 2 meters, and surrounded by iron grills. That platform was called Chitragupta’s court. The priest led the pilgrims to the Chitragupt’s court.
‘This is Chitragupta’s court. Chitragupta is the minister of Yamraj. He decrees based upon the person’s sins and virtues. Chitragupta’s deity is sitting in this court as a phallus (ling). You can see the two steps engraved in the stone in front of Chitragupta. The engraved steps are pointing outside. It is believed that the soul’s spirit has legs in the reverse direction. On the left side of Chitragupta, there is a stone in the shape of a book. It is believed that Chitragupta’s book has all the details of everyone’s Karma. Karmas are designated as good or bad depending on the good or bad deeds of a person during his lifetime’, the priest explained.
‘The temple premise is believed to have four invisible doors, made up of iron, copper, silver, and gold’, the priest explained further.
A narrow channel of water was flowing across the temple premise. The iron grill was kept above that channel. Its water was coming from a nearby river, Arddha Ganga.
‘This narrow water channel is the Vaitarini river. It looks too narrow here but very frightening when a spirit crosses this river on its way to the city of Yam. When sinful souls visit the City of Yam through the southern gate, it falls on the midway’, the priest explained.
‘Ohh! Is it?’, one among the pilgrims exclaimed.
‘Who made all these temples in the premise?’, one of the pilgrims asked.
‘All these temples in this premise were made by king Meru Varman in the 7th century. However, all the Shiv-Lings (Lord Shiva’s phalluses) were self-manifested and self-appeared’, the priest remarked.
‘Is there any way, a person can go for a sojourn to Yam planet? I mean, if this place is the gateway to Yam-planet, can a person visit Yam-planet for 10 to 15 days only and return?’, one of the pilgrims asked.
Everyone started laughing at him. But this question stunned the priest. He could not utter a single word for about half a minute. His lips quivered. He never imagined that someone would ask that kind of question.
‘What makes you think that there might be a short footpath to reach the Yam planet for a short stay?’, the priest asked in a trembling voice.
‘If this place is gate-way to Yam-planet, then I thought there might be a short path too for a short journey’, that person answered.
Other pilgrims were silently listening to their conversation.
‘No, this is not a silly question. This is a secret that is known only to very few persons’, the priest informed all the pilgrims surrounding him.
‘Earlier, it was possible. That sojourn was not for pleasure or adventure. It should not be called a sojourn. If you are visiting another planet, it should be called a voyage. This voyage was for 12 days and its purpose was to cleanse and purify a person from his current life’s sins. Whoever visited Yam planet for a purgatory voyage, returned on the 12th day. One day was for entry, the last day was for the exit and the remaining 10 days for atonement or expiation of his sins. That was called purgatory voyage’, the priest explained further.
‘You mean, it is not possible now’, one of the pilgrims wanted some more clarification.
‘Yes, it is not possible now’, the priest informed.
‘Why?’
‘The tunnel cave for purgatory voyage no longer exists’
‘Has that tunnel disappeared?’
‘Yes, It was closed at 926 AD’, the priest replied.
‘How?’
‘It is a long story’, the priest told.
‘Has anyone undertaken this voyage, before?’
‘Yes’, the priest answered.
‘How?’ all of the pilgrims said in unison
‘It is a long story. Do you want to listen?’, the priest replied.
‘Yes’, all said in unison again.
The priest started narrating the story.
‘This story was narrated to me by my parents and grand-parents based on their memoirs. The same story was passed down from generation to generation for around 1100 years in this town’, the priest started narrating the story.
It was the time when Sahil Varman was the king of Brahmpura. In 920 AD, he shifted his capital to a new city on his daughter’s request. His daughter’s name was Champawati. So, the new capital and kingdom were also named as Champawati.
At the same time, Bindu Dev Varman was the king of Jujhoti-Khand. There was one village, Mahavati Nagar in Jujhoti-Khand.
In 925 AD, Jujhoti-Khand was facing drought calamity…’
• CHAPTER 3 •
Kali’s Village Talk
‘Digg, diga, Digg, dig, diga, dig … ‘, two drum thumpers started beating the drums. Listening to the rhythmic beating, the nearby villagers gathered around drummers. The children, women, men all came towards the drummers to listen to the announcement. They all wanted to listen to the new announcement from the kingdom. They all knew that the kingdom was suffering from drought. They wanted to listen to some relief announcements from the king. All were very curious. But, for children, it was fun. They were very happy to listen to the sound of drum thumping and songs from Bhat singers. Bhat was a singer community who were assigned the task of singing songs in praise of the king.
On listening to the drummers’ beats, the exhausted blacksmith threw the hammer aside and moved forward to pay attention to the Bhats and the drummers. The potter stopped the moving wheel and stood to listen to the announcement carefully.
‘Listen, Listen, Listen, … As you all know that our kingdom is suffering from a drought for the last 5 years. The king did all that he could do to come out of this drought situation but to no avail. So, the king has decided to go for ten days of purgatory voyage to Yamraj temple in Brahmpura to seek forgiveness of the sins committed by the people of this state. Our king is very virtuous and kind. It is believed that drought is an expression of divine wrath against people’s sins. All of you are instructed to pray for the king’s welfare in his purgatory voyage’, announcer addressed loudly.
The Bhats started singing heroic and somewhat exaggerated songs in deep baritone voice and their singing was supported by drummers. Some of the verses of heroic poems were as follows. Those poems used so many metaphoric words.
‘The throne of King, in which the king is sitting, is so high
That cloud is left only one and a half hand’,
‘The king is such a great warrior,
That swords have already accepted their defeat against his valor’ …
The band of drummers and Bhats started moving towards another end of the village. Children followed the group of drummers.
Some of the drummers and Bhats were permanent employees of the king. They were tasked to convey the king’s message from one village to another. Almost every week, they conveyed some message to the public. The group of drummers and Bhats were divided into different bands. Each band consists of two drummers and two singers. The villagers were also habitual of listening to the Suo Motu suggestions or messages from the King weekly.
Those were summer days. The sun’s fury was torturous. That was a village named Mahavati-Nagar. The gang of around 9 millennial villagers was sitting on a round platform under a neem tree on the street corner. The gossiping was their past time. They also listened to the announcement. The band thus moved ahead slowly and later went out of the sight of the gang. All of the 9 members of the gang started their discussion. Everyone was enthusiastically participating in the discussion.
‘Brahmpura! Is king going there to perform any ritual or worship?’ said a tall lanky man, called Kali who joined the group.
‘No, as far as I know, it is called purgatory voyage. I heard about that. Yamraj’s temple is in Brahmpura but this voyage does not simply mean visiting that temple and performing any religious ritual’, another countered.
‘So, what does it mean?’
‘It means, the king will enter inside a mysterious tunnel for 12 days. The first day for entry, last day for the exit, and 10 days for voyage’
‘Is it for ten days? What will he do for 10 days?’
‘It is an unsolved puzzle. No brave person has been born yet to solve it. No one knows what happens during these 10 days’ voyage. But people believe that it is a purgatory voyage. It is believed that whoever goes to Yam planet after entering inside a mystery tunnel, he comes out on the 12th day after spending 10 days on Yam planet. But he could not explain what happened inside’, one among them explained.
‘What is the benefit of going inside that tunnel?’, another asked.
‘It is believed that whoever goes inside that tunnel with some desire or wish, he will be blessed and his wish will get fulfilled. But for that, he would have to atone for his sins for ten days. King has vowed to bring the state out of the drought. That is why the king decided to go for purgatory voyage’, one who was a bit familiar with the purgatory voyage explained.
‘Then, that mystery tunnel should be crowded!’
‘No, only a very few people could show the courage to go inside because it is believed that person is sent to different hells where he is tortured for his committed sins. Only, one or two persons are going inside every month’
‘Whoever enters that cave might have fallen unconscious for 10 days’
‘But, do you think the drought is because of King’s sins?’
‘Cannot say, but how can it be punitive action against people’s sins?’
‘We are public. We are not aware of King’s sins. But villagers are toiling with water crisis amid calamity’
‘But King was doing so much of charity. How can he go to hell?’
‘King has committed so many sins. But those are not known to others. No-one can dare to bring those sins in public’
‘shh… Walls have the ears too. Don’t say anything like this’
‘King has a good reputation in the state. He is doing so much of charity. So, how can this drought be because of his sins?’
‘Drought should be because of the king’s sins only’
‘How?’
‘Because it is difficult to believe that Almighty will punish the king because of people’s sins. In my opinion, natural calamities occur because of the king’s sins’
‘But people are also committing sins’
‘Yes, you are right. But it is the king’s responsibility to maintain the order by punishing the culprits. If the king lets the criminals walk free without punishment, then it is his fault or sin. It means that he is encouraging criminals. If corruption and crime are rampant in the state, it is either with the king’s behest or his connivance. And, you might have heard much news where persons were looted by rowdies and barbaric persons while moving from one town to another in this state. The hooligans flourished for many years in this state’, one person opined.
‘Yes, the passers-by are still vulnerable to the hooligans’ attack while moving from town to another’
‘Drought might be the punitive action from Indra, king of Devta for people’s sin’
‘Do you not think that this voyage concept wholly fallacious?’
‘Have you heard about Ahalya and Indra?’
‘Yes, yes, we heard about that’
‘Do you know what was the curse?’
‘Not in detail, please explain’
‘You might be knowing that Indra went to Ahalya disguised as her husband. Ahalya fell prey to Indra's trickery and Indra seduced her. Later Ahalya and Indra both were cursed by Gautam sage, husband of Ahalya. Gautam sage cursed Indra to lose his testicles and cursed Ahalya to become a dried-up stream and invisible’, one, who had some knowledge of Hindu mythology explained.
‘Yes, I knew about his curse to Ahalya but was not aware of his curse to Indra’
‘Indra was cursed to bear half the sin of every rape ever committed on this earth. Gautam sage also cursed that earth would have many adulterers. Since then, adultery is a common practice’
‘What do you mean by this story?’
‘What I mean is whatever King will do, his citizens will also follow the same. Indra was the King of this earth and heaven. He committed adultery, so adultery became a common practice in this earth. Similarly, if our King is committing adultery, people will follow the same. You all know that King is a womanizer. So, you should not expect faithfulness and fidelity from spouses in this state’, that person explained
‘You are right. Adultery was randomly or infrequently committed in our state, earlier. But, now we can see many cases of adultery. King has lax in character. This may be because of this’, one person opined.
‘Is Indra still without testicle?’
‘Later, sheep’s testicle was transplanted on Indra’
‘Oh…, interesting’
‘So, you mean to say, if someone commits rape, half of its sin would get accumulated to Indra, and one-fourth of it would get accumulated to King’s account and only one-fourth of the sin would be accumulated to the culprit’s account’, another person jumped into the discussion with his interpretation.
‘If you let the culprit go unpunished, you are sinning. That was what I mean to say’
‘But King is doing so much of charity too. What will happen to that?’, another asked.
‘He will surely be awarded for his charity but it will not relieve him from his sins’
‘Many of the persons died because of water-borne diseases like diarrhea, dehydration’, one of them lamented.
‘Notwithstanding the drought calamity in the region, the king has been busy in drinking liquor and enjoying the dances’, one person remarked.
‘Do you mean that the king’s behavior was bringing wrath upon the state and the calamity had been unleased because of the king’s sins?’
‘Yes, Something like this’
There was some pause for around 30 seconds. Kali was engrossed thinking about the purgatory voyage. He had some rational thinking. He silently heard their conversation.
‘What are you thinking, Kali? Are you thinking about purgatory voyage?’, one person asked.
That sentence broke Kali’s chain of thought. Kali nodded his head in agreement.
‘Someone should go for purgatory voyage along with the king. So that he could see what punitive measures would be taken against King in Yamlok’, Kali opined.
‘But, no one can memorize what happened to him during purgatory voyage’
‘If it is true, then I will surely go for purgatory voyage even if I have no desire or wish to get fulfilled’, Kali said.
‘But, why do you want to go there?’
‘I want to know about the king’, Kali added, ‘I want to know whether this drought is because of people’s sins or King’s sins. I want to discern the mystery of purgatory voyage’.
‘Okay, would you be able to memorize what happened in the purgatory voyage?’
‘I will try. And, how can you say with surety that a person cannot memorize the incidents that happened during the purgatory voyage? It always fancied me to explore the world after death. I would be happy to explore it for 10 days in the same life’, Kali explained.
The king was accustomed to trumpet some messages weekly. That trumpeting worked as the King’s connect to the people. It was his way of outreach.
‘King’s messages are sometimes ridiculous.’, one gang member changed the subject.
‘Yes, but many times the messages were related to some moral’
‘Sometimes the messages were informative’
‘That was the way for the king to connect with people of the state’
‘I remember, about one year back, drummers and Bhats conveyed a funny message’
‘what was that?’
‘It is informed to all the citizens of Jujhoti-Khand state that the king Bindu Dev Varman advised all the people of the state to get up early in the morning at the time of dawn, chant the holy name of God for 30 minutes, and pray for the happiness, prosperity, and victory of the state. The king also advised people of the state to pray to Indra Dev, the King of Devta, to bless us with rain so that we get rid of the drought’, one of among the audience mimics the Bhat announcer.
Everyone laughed at him.
‘I too remember one funny message conveyed a few months back.’
‘What was that?’
‘It is informed to all that the king Bindu Dev Varman decreed to bestow upon the people of the state to pay less tax this year because of drought and less production of grains’, another person mimics the Bhat announcer, which made all the gang members laugh.
‘If you remember, around two years back, the king conveyed his suggestion to observe the Ekadashi fast on the eleventh day of each fortnight through these message conveyors, Bhats. He thought that observing fast would surge the accumulated virtues of the state and alleviate the impact of sins and it would ultimately lead to rain. But the sins were severe. Many in this village observed the Ekadashi fast for about a year but did not yield any rain. I don’t know whose sins are troubling us?’
‘A few years back, when there was no drought, some messages of morality were conveyed by these bands’
‘Do you remember any such message?’
‘Yes’
‘May you repeat that?’
‘It is informed to all of the citizens of the Jujhoti-Khand state that the king, Bindu Dev Varman decreed to assign additional charges of cow welfare to the minister Krishna Dev. He will build cow sheds and barn in towns and villages. All the cow owners are urged not to allow their cows to stray. All the stray cows will be captured and put inside state cow sheds’, one person of the gang mimics the band. All the gang members laughed again.
‘That was hilarious’
‘Kali-Das’ aka (also known as) Kali was a poor man living with his wife, ‘Sharada Devi’, and a teenage son, Kartikey. People often call him as Kartik. Kalidas (Kali) had a small agricultural land. He was a great devotee of Goddess. After getting free time from his agriculture work, he liked to spend his time in chanting mantras (verses) and meditating on God. He was very much satisfied and happy with his present life but he was still curious to know the mystery of Karma and its cause and effect. He wanted to know, how a person’s present life was influenced by virtues and sins that ultimately led to happiness and suffering. He also wanted to know the reason for the Jujhoti-Khand drought, whether it was because of people’s sins or because of the king’s sins.
‘All these are the king’s populist tactics and rhetoric. We want rain and water’
‘Rain is not in the king’s control’
‘But the king is the scourge of the problems. Why should we be deprived of rain, if it is the king’s fault?’
‘There should be a holistic approach to fight with drought calamity. Spiritual and material endeavors should be carried in tandem’
In this village, many of the domestic animals like cows and buffalos were freed by untying them from stanchion to survive by their luck. Many of the persons migrated to the neighboring state to find the job and earn for their survival. Some of them were begging in temples. Whoever was left in the village is somehow managing to survive with meager water supplied for quenching their thirst from the Mandakini river of the Chitrakoot. Chitrakoot was within the Jujhoti Khand region and Mandakini, an endeavor river of ‘Sati Anasuya’, wife of sage Atri was blessed to flow all the time. The Jujhoti-Khand region became arid. For the last 5 years, villagers eked out a measurable living from scarce water. But this might not go for long. People were fed up with that long haul of uncertainty. The lethal combination of migration and surging food prices was the double whammy for the villagers. The king was made a subject of public backlash because of his inability to deal with the situation. Many of the villagers were lampooning him.
The purgatory voyage may be a superstitious way to bring good luck, but there was no other way. However, Kali was firm on his resolve. He wanted to go for a purgatory voyage too.
After that tasty discussion and spat, people went back to their respective homes. The discussion was predominantly about the spiritual and supernatural reasons for the drought.
After about half an hour, some horse carts arrived in the village. It had some wooden and iron jars filled with drinking water. There was a sudden appearance of a large number of women coming out of their homes. They rushed to collect their share of drinking water from those horse-carts. One man from King’s court acted as a policeman and distributed the water to women’s earthen pots. Women were guzzling the water and filling up their pots. But that water was still scarce’
People were somehow managing to live with available wheat flour and lentils. The state government was also providing wheat and lentils every month. All these measures were not enough. People in large numbers migrated to different states in search of livelihood. All the nearby wells and ponds already dried up. The state was facing an acute water shortage.
People had nothing but to lambast upon the king. The calamity had ravaged the economy. Neither the genesis of drought calamity nor its proper handling was known to anyone.
• CHAPTER 4 •
King’s Drought Talk
The seven days before drumming the trumpets in each village, the king called the minister to have some conversation.
The King was feeling quite restless and on that day in the evening, he was casually pacing steps inside the fort in a very pensive mood.
King was restlessly walking here and there in the fort in the evening time.
‘Maharaj’, By hearing this very familiar voice, the king suddenly lost his rhythm and thought.
It was the voice of the King’s Minister, who was also his close confidante. The minister came nearer to the king.
‘The kingdom has been suffering from a drought for the last five years. The state has a negligible harvest during this time. The water is supplied from the neighboring state. The farmers are not able to pay taxes. Importing food grains and water from the neighboring state is costing huge money from the national exchequer. All these events had already depleted the royal treasury of the state. Near zero tax collection has loosened the purse strings. I cannot impose new taxes too. The public is clamoring for rain and it is not in my control. If it continues for some more time, I will no longer be the king of this state. Either this state will be invaded by another neighboring state or people of the state will revolt against me and dethrone me. Public backlash is growing against me and my popularity is on the wane. The state is teetering on the brink of political and economic collapse. The state is known by my grandfather’s name. But I am not sure whether it would be known by the same name in future’, the king narrated his pain to the minister.
‘I know you are so much worried about the people of this state. I am worried too. I know that nature wreaked havoc in Jujhoti-Khand. I have heard about a religious ritual which if performed, can fulfill any desire or wish that a person may harbor’
‘I already performed so many rituals but in vain. It is a pity that those rituals did not yield the desired results. A few months back, a group of priests chanted Vedic hymns and performed some rituals to ward off evil effects from this state. Before that, I performed worship to Goddess Sakambhari to bless the state with rain. But all these were a damp squib’
‘No, this ritual is different.’
‘How?’, the king asked while resuming his slow-paced steps.
‘It is not a ritual but a kind of voyage’
‘Is it? How will it benefit?’
‘Himachal has a place named as Brahmpura in Champawati kingdom. There is the only temple of Yamraj (King of Yam) in the world. It is believed that after death, every soul is first brought to this place, before proceeding its journey further. This temple is the gateway of Yam planet’, the minister described.
‘Okay, but I can go there after death only’
‘No, you can go there live’
‘How?’
‘On the right side of this temple has a tunnel in a nearby hill. It is believed that the tunnel leads to the Yam temple. Anyone can visit the Yam planet for twelve days going through this tunnel. It is called a purgatory voyage for ten days. One day is for entry and one day for the exit, rest of the ten days are for purgatory voyage’
‘But, how will this purgatory visit benefit us?’
‘If someone wants to get absolved from his sins, he can go for the purgatory voyage. Whoever goes for this purgatory visit with some desire or wish to get fulfilled, his wish would get fulfilled. The purgatory voyage is touted as the ultimate way of getting success’, the minister explained.
‘Had anyone visited this tunnel before?’
‘Yes! And, their wishes got fulfilled too’
‘How?’
‘It is believed that a person who goes for this purgatory voyage, manages to get rid of his sins’
‘But, how are you relating it with drought?’
‘The drought may be the punishment of our sins.’
‘Are these our sins? Do you think that drought is because of my sins?’
‘Not your sins. But it may be the public’s sins’
‘So, whom do you think should go for purgatory voyage?’
‘You’
‘Why?’
‘Because you are the king and custodian of this state’, the minister clarified.
‘Hmm…, let me think’, the king paused for a while.
‘I know one childless couple from a nearby village. They did not have any child for ten years. The husband went for a purgatory voyage and he was blessed by a son next year. Another person who was suffering from leprosy went for a purgatory voyage. When he came out of the voyage, he was cured. Similarly, I heard a few other stories related to this voyage too. This voyage is not very common. It is rare. But I am dead sure that it will solve our state problem of water scarcity’, the minister tried to persuade the king.
‘If it is so, why does everyone not going for a purgatory voyage to get cured and find the solution to their problems? Why are they visiting doctors for an ailment? Why are people visiting astrologers to get the remedy of the weak planets in their horoscope? What is the guarantee that the tunnel goes to the Yam planet only? If someone dies because of fear and suffocation, what will happen to him?’, the king asked doubting the efficacy of the purgatory voyage.
‘Only a strong-hearted person can dare for this voyage because it is the scariest. Firstly a person must travel for one kilometer in a dark and fearful tunnel. Many of the persons returned from the mid. Everyone cannot dare to go for this voyage. To date, I do not hear any news about any person’s death. Also, no one can memorize what treatment was meted to him during those 10 days’, the minister clarified.
‘Whoever completed his voyage could only explain his entry and exit from the tunnel but he/she could not explain what happened after entering inside the tunnel. It was believed that the person was treated based upon his karma of virtues and vices’, the minister updated.
‘Do you think, I would be able to complete that journey?’
‘Of course, many persons had completed purgatory voyage. I did not hear any unpleasant news, yet’
‘Let me think’
After one hour of pondering all the options, the king agreed to go for the purgatory voyage.
‘Okay, I will go for the voyage. Call all the drummers and order them to broadcast about my purgatory voyage to all the villages within this state’
‘All right, I will do that’
‘Let the people of this state know what I am doing for the welfare of the people. Although it looks risky to me, still I will undertake the voyage for the sake of my people’
• CHAPTER 5 •
King’s Visit to Brahmpura for Purgatory Voyage
The king ordained his trusted minister as a caretaker of his state. The king of the Champawati (Chamba), Raja Sahil Varman was notified about the king’s purgatory voyage by sending a messenger by horse. The king of Champawati made all the necessary security arrangements.
Kali wanted to go for the purgatory voyage too. He wanted to see the king and how the king would be treated in Yam planet. Kali decided to accompany the convoy going to Chamba.
Kali joined the group of persons visiting Brahmpura. The colorful procession riding on horses started their journey to the Chamba state in Himachal Pradesh. Around 500 persons riding on 100 horse carts took part in the procession. The king was accompanied by some of his ministers along with army men. Some singers from the Bhat community also accompanied the procession. King lavished heavily on his journey, even though the state was facing a financial crunch. King squandered that money at the time of adversity for self-pride, evoking national sentiments on his favor, and prestige.
It took around 10 days to reach the Brahmpura. After reaching Brahmpura, all took rest in the night. As per the priest, the next day was auspicious, so the next day was decided for the commencement of the king’s purgatory voyage.
It was a great celebration outside the Yam temple. After that King, accompanied by his men reached the cave, which was the gateway to Yamalok. Kali reached the cave too for his 12 days of sojourn.
Pundit read the Sankalp, before King’s entry inside the tunnel. The Sankalp was the solemn vow or will statement or resolution that was generally read before performing any rituals among the Hindus.
‘Om Vishnuh Vishnuh Vishnuh …
I (Bindu Dev Varman)
In Brahmpura village of Champawati kingdom
At White Boar (Shwet Varah) named kalp,
Vaivaswat named Manvantar,
At the first part of the Kaliyug era
In Baharat Varsh (India) country of Jambu Dweep (Asia) continent descent of Jujhoti-Khand region of India
At Pramadicha named Samvatsar
When the sun is passing in North (Uttarayan)
In Spring (Basant) season (Ritu)
At Brighter fortnight (Shukla Paksha, fortnight between New Moon Day and Full Moon Day)
At Shravan Hindi Month (July-August in English months)
At 4th (Chaturthi Tithi) moon day based upon the waxing period of the new moon
On Monday (Vasar)
When the sun (Surya) is in Cancer (Kark),
When Moon (Chandra) is in Leo (Simha),
When Mars (Bahaum or Mangal) is in Pisces (Meen),
When Mercury (Budh) is in Gemini (Mithun),
When Jupiter (Guru) is in Sagittarius (Dhanu),
When Venus (Shukra) is in Taurus (Vrishabh),
When Saturn (Shani) is in Capricorn (Makar),
When Constellation (Nakshatra) was Purvaphalguni
Born in Kashyap Lineage (Gotra),
Belonging to Ray Varma caste, and having the name as ‘Bindu Dev Varman’
going to perform this ritual and requesting you to grant rain to my state Jujhoti-Khand, in due abundance and sufficient.
I am going to accomplish a short term purgatory voyage to Yam planet to resolve the problem of rain in my state Jujhoti-Khand’
King’s voyage was consecrated by the rituals performed by pundit (priest). After reading the will statement, the king went inside the cave.
Kali jostled with the crowd. He elbowed his way to the front of the crowd and reached the cave. He got past the scare by a whisker and slipped inside the stone cave just after the king. Kali went inside without declaring any will statement and performing any ritual.
The king and Kali both were inside the tunnel. For about 50 to 100 meters it was somewhat visible. Suddenly, Kali saw a few lurking bats flying out of a cave. The cave was damp and cool. It was completely dark. He fumbled the path for some distance in the tunnel. It was a fearsome situation. He went ahead for around 300 meters. The foul smell like rotten vegetables was emanating inside the cave. He had some puking sensation.
‘Have I committed a mistake by dismissing the fear for my peril? Will it be dark all the way? Should I return? Is there any danger looming over me?’, Kali thought.
‘But if the king can dare to go ahead, why should I not dare?’, Kali thought. He subdued his fear and went ahead.
The same was the story for the king. Coming out of the cave was not an option. The voyage was like an examination and no one wanted to flunk out. Especially when so many persons were waiting out to know the outcome.
‘If I go out of the cave without completing the voyage, people would think that I was a coward. They were singing songs on my valor and skill. What would they think, if I prematurely come out without completing my voyage?’, the King thought.
• CHAPTER 6 •
King’s Exit After Purgatory Voyage
It was the 12th day of the purgatory voyage. A crowd thronged the cave. Many citizens of Jujhoti-Khand along with some locals were eagerly waiting for the king’s exit from the cave. The crowd, gathered outside the cave was discussing different possibilities with each other.
‘Do you think the king will come out?’
‘He should come out.’
‘Do you think, he might have survived the dark and fearful tunnel for such a long time?’
‘But it is believed that whoever went inside, was able to come outside after completing his purgatory voyage’
‘There might be some snakes too, inside this tunnel. I am worried about the King’
‘What, if he did not come outside?’
‘For how long should we wait?’
‘At least wait for today, after that we will think about a later course of action’
As the speculations went wild, so did the crowd.
The citizens of Jujhoti-Khand, who accompanied the king from Jujhoti-Khand to Brahmpura were inhabiting nearby locations of Brahmpura. Some of them even visited many nearby temples, praying for the welfare of the King. Some of them visited nearby picturesque places. For many of them, it was a trip to the hill station. They enjoyed the cold of hilly areas.
That was a nail-biting moment. Suddenly, the king came out of the tunnel. It was a great surprise to many citizens of Jujhoti-Khand. They were overjoyed. They all shouted in unison, ‘Wow’, and burst into wild cheers. The king was greeted with rapturous applause. Drummers started beating the drums and twirling the batons with fast frequency. There was a great uproar. The euphoric crowd wanted to see the king. They shouted slogans to hail the king. The crowd gave a great reception to the king. The Bhats started singing songs in the king’s praise in loud voice. The king waved his hand. The people rampaged from the Brahmpura town while making a massive celebration.
The king went inside the tunnel to absolve the sins, which was accomplished. But to absolve whose sins? No one wanted to say that it was the king’s sins. Everyone was saying that it was the people of Jujhoti-Khand’s sins. Everyone expected that the good and rainy days of Jujhoti-Khand was in the offing.
Kali was behind the king. So, he also came out of the tunnel after one minute. But his lanky appearance was unnoticed by the crowd. The crowd had encircled the King by the time Kali came out of the tunnel. When King took the center stage, Kali was neglected and was not noticed.
After half an hour, drummers stopped beating the drums. Still, the babel of voices could be heard. The procession started moving slowly towards the town with commotion.
Kali was still standing steadfastly outside the tunnel dejected and very quiet. He was hooked in his thought. The rabble of noisy persons could not unsettle his concentration.
The crowd had already moved quite far and the relative peace had descended the place. One local villager, who noticed him coming out of the cave approached him.
‘Hello!’
This spooked Kali, breaking the chain of his thought process.
‘Had you gone to purgatory voyage too?’
‘Yes’
‘Many persons had visited Yam planet through this tunnel. But, to date, no one could recall what happened inside. Do you remember?’
‘Yes’, Kali answered.
‘You remember. How can it be?’
Kali did not answer that question. It appeared from his composure as if he was awakened to the mystery of birth and death and the mystery of virtues and sins. Kali started moving towards the crowd. He wanted to be part of that procession as he needed to return to his home state.
The local villager kept looking him from the backside with surprise.
‘He might be lying’, that local villager thought.
Kali joined the procession. Many of the citizens were discussing the king’s purgatory voyage in the procession.
‘King might have enjoyed Heaven during these 10 days’
‘Going for purgatory voyage is a courageous job and our King is courageous’
‘Now, we are sure that we would get rain in our state, and drought would end’
• CHAPTER 7 •
Kali Returning to Home After Purgatory Voyage
The procession reached Jujhati-Khand state. Kali got out of the horse cart and headed towards his village. It took around two hours for him to reach home. He was too much exhausted. It was evening time. Kali knocked on the door. His wife, Sharada opened the door. Sharada and her son, Kartik both were happy to find Kali returning home safely.
‘How was your journey?’, Sharada asked after some basic formalities.
‘It was very nice’
‘Had you gone for purgatory voyage?’
‘Yes’, Kali nodded.
‘Were you able to go for the purgatory voyage?’, Sharada asked again with surprise.
‘Yes’, Kali replied.
‘Can you recall the incidents that happened during that purgatory voyage?’, Sharada asked again.
‘Yes’
‘So, you mean to say, you still remember all those events. I heard that no one could recall those incidents’
‘Yes’
‘How could it happen? You are lying’
Kali did not respond to that. ‘It will be better to keep quiet. Even if I narrate the story, she will not believe me’, Kali thought to himself.
‘Please let me sleep, first. I will let you know all these later’, Kali requested.
‘Yamraj might have punished the Bapu with some stick’, Kali’s son, Kartik mocked his father. But Kali did not feel bad about his mocking.
Sharada laid the cot down inside the courtyard of the house. It was a summer night.
Kali laid down on the bed and his teenage son also laid down on his side. The cool breeze was caressing him with some comfort. He could see many stars twinkling in the sky.
Kali wanted to tell all these to the King. ‘Should I narrate all these to the king?’, Kali thought, ‘But, how can I narrate all these to the king? Meeting with the king itself is not that easy’.
‘Is it my moral responsibility to apprise king about his treatment in Yam planet and awaken him from the dark and illusion? What if he misconstrues my intention? Let me try once without fearing about the consequences, even if it is fraught with risks’
Kali went into deep thought and later fell into a sound slumber.
• CHAPTER 8 •
Rain and Kali’s Determination to Visit the Kingdom
It was morning time. At around 5:00 AM, Kali heard the thundering sound of clouds. The streak of lighting intruded into his morning dose. Kali awoke to listen to the drizzling sound of rain. It was a great surprise for him. Everyone in the village was very happy. They saw the rain in five years. It was raining heavily. The downpour lasted till the evening. Till that time, people waited for turning the tap off from their homes. In the evening, the rain subsided and it was sawdust drizzling only. Bare-headed people could be seen coming out of their homes to bask under the warm afternoon sun. Kali came out of his door too.
Children were rejoicing by playing and dancing in wet clay and waterlogged soil. Colorful insects and earthworms appeared in the wet soil. A stream of water was gushing out in the mid of the road. Children were flowing water boats in the water stream. All the villagers were so happy. Kali moved to the street corner. His old friends were sitting there and discussing the king’s valor and generosity. The king was a highly touted person in those days. Most of the friends were rather drenched because of the drizzling. They started discussing the king’s purgatory voyage.
‘If it were raining a few months back, we would not have celebrated Holi dry’, one of Kali’s friends opined.
‘Yes, I can recall. Dyers were distributing dry Holi color, Kesari, extracted from Palash flowers door to door. But we did not have enough water to play Holi.’
‘We even did not collect the Kesari. We crushed the Palash flowers into the powder and then played Holi with that saffron-colored powder. Jujhoti-Khand has an abundance of Palash (Butea Monosperma) trees’
‘Although many people might think that the cause of the drought was the sins committed by the King, I do not believe it to be true. The king has a good reputation in his kingdom. He has done so many charities for the poor and downtrodden people’
‘But the question is whether the king was absolved from his sins or people’s sins’, Kali intrigued. Kali wanted to know their stances about the king.
‘Whose sins would it be? You tell us’
‘You also went along with the king. Had you gone for purgatory voyage too?’
‘Yes’, Kali replied.
‘I am not asking about your journey to Brahmpura. We all know that you went there along with the King’s caravan. My question is whether you went inside the tunnel for purgatory voyage’, that person clarified the question.
‘Yes, I went there’, Kali affirmed.
‘Okay, did you remember any incident of purgatory voyage?’, one among them asked.
‘Yes’, Kali nodded in affirmation.
‘Did you remember?’
‘Yes’, Kali proclaimed.
‘How can it be? If no-one can remember, then how can you remember?’
‘Okay, if you remember, let us know any incident’, another person jumped into the discussion.
Kali kept quiet. The king's purgatory voyage imbued a sense of his integrity to the state and his valor.
‘You are lying’
‘My question is the same. Whether the King was absolved from his sins or peoples’ sins. I don’t question his integrity to the state’, Kali changed the subject to know their stances about the king.
‘Of course, it was people’s sins’
‘How can you say so?’, Kali asked.
‘Because the king was a very virtuous person. We were suffering from a drought for the last five years. King’s purgatory voyage ultimately bore the fruits’, one person, who was one of the king’s outspoken critic said.
‘No, no, my question was different. How can you say that the king was a virtuous person and he did not commit any sins?’, Kali contended.
‘Because rain started after his purgatory voyage.’
‘As I know, purgatory voyage has a 100% success rate. So, the rain was assured after the purgatory voyage but who was responsible for these 5 years of drought? No doubt, the rain is a miracle and full credit goes to the king. But you cannot garb his sins too. Had we not been reaping the bitter harvest of king’s sins for the last 5 years as drought?’
‘It was people of this state, who had committed so many sins. The drought was only because of those sinners and criminals’
‘So, why did the king go for purgatory voyage? Why did not all those sinners and criminals go for purgatory voyage?’
‘I heard so much shocking news about the king too. He had committed so many sins and crimes. But ultimately, it was the king who brought us out of the drought. So, no one wanted to look at his fault’
‘There is a difference between sins and crimes’
‘What is the difference?’
‘Sins are defined and judged by God whereas crimes are defined and judged by the judiciary which is headed by the king.
‘So, if the judiciary is headed by the king. How can the judiciary act against the king?’
‘That is true. But so many crimes and sins were committed by the people of this state too’
‘So, what was the king doing? Was it not the king’s responsibility to curb the crime and sins and book the goons?’
‘Rein on your language’, one among the blind followers and supporters of the king shouted, ‘You cannot tarnish the king’s image only because some of the rumor mongers spread some false news about the king’
That statement miffed Kali. Kali did not want to embroil in a dirty fight. He realized the question he raised was uncalled for.
‘If water is flowing in one direction, no one should try to float his boat in a reverse direction. People have a propensity to favor the winner’, Kali thought, ‘Everyone in this gathering except me is a blind king’s supporter. Saying anything against the King will have a boomerang effect and it will backfire towards me. The purgatory voyage did a great deal of favor to the king's already plummeted reputation’, Kali thought.
‘I do not want to enrage or annoy anyone. I want to have a healthy discussion on that. I want to know the actual reason for that drought. Everyone is entitled to express his opinion. So, what is the fuss about it?’, Kali tried to cool all other persons down.
‘No, but you are blaming the King. King spared no effort to save us from drought’
‘It is the travesty of public opinion that persons who were reproaching and taunting the king for not doing enough for rain, are not willing to hear anything against him now’, Kali thought.
No one favored Kali on that discussion. Kali drew a blank in his favor. ‘I don’t want to disregard or offend any persons. My views were only for a healthy discussion. Nothing more’, Kali tried to calm them down.
‘This is the class of our friend, Kali. He always has a bizarre way of perceiving things. This is corroborative evidence. Everyone knows that this rain is because of the King’s purgatory voyage. We should be grateful to the king. But Kali has a different view’, One among the group mocked Kali.
‘No, I did not question the King’s sincerity to solve the state issues. You misinterpreted me’, Kali justified his arguments.
Kali kept quiet after that. He could not dare to argue more. Everyone slammed him for his argument. He no more participated in their discussion. He did not want to squabble and trade barb over some unimportant subject. Kali was rather astonished to see the earlier vocal critics were now talking in full praise for the King. However, he made a sneaky plan to narrate his purgatory experience to the King.
Kali pondered a lot about narrating his purgatory voyage experiences to the King and its consequences.
‘Would I win any accolade? Or would I be punished?’, Kali thought. His apprehensions were not unfounded. He knew how crazy the King was.
‘It is my moral responsibility to apprise the king about my experiences. It will be a gambit’, Kali pondered again. He did not want to unfold his plan to anyone else.
‘I gained some great knowledge about Karma during my purgatory voyage. I should not be myopic. I should share my experience with others. It will benefit the others too. I should not share it with the common men because the king accompanied me during the voyage and I know so much about him too. I should first share it with the king’, Kali thought.
• CHAPTER 9 •
Celebration of Nine-Nights Festival
More than a month elapsed since the King’s purgatory visit. Intermittent rain lashed the state during that time. The state observed satisfactory rain. The whole of the state was celebrating the rain.
A fair was organized in the capital city of the kingdom. The preparations were afoot to celebrate the festivals and organize fair in the capital. The fair was planned from 1st day of the brighter fortnight (Shukla Paksha) of Ashwin month till the 2nd day of the brighter fortnight (Shukla paksha) of Kartika month. So, the fair was supposed to start from 1st day of the winter nine-nights festival of Goddess (Sharadiya Nav-Ratri) and its duration was a little over a month, which included Dassehara as well as Deepawali. That fair was to masquerade the King as a champion of people’s cause. The king who could go to any extent to save his citizens from God’s ire. And God’s ire was because of those people’s sins.
Since Kali returned from purgatory visit, he was very cautious about his every action. He thought twice or thrice about the consequences of each action. He wanted to make sure whether it would account for his sins or virtues. It was even noticed by his wife too.
‘Since you returned from purgatory voyage, I found that you have changed’, said Sharada.
‘Why do you say so?’, Kali asked.
‘I saw you most of the time sitting in loneliness and lost in some thoughts’, Sharada explained.
‘The gist of my purgatory voyage was to never commit sins because it will be returned to you’, Kali answered.
The celebrations of festivals were dampened for the last five years because of drought, but it was not the case that year. On the first day of the nine-nights festival, all the houses installed urns. The urns were filled with Gange’s water with some herbs mixed on that. All the deities were invited to stay on those urns during the nine-nights festival by the recitation of Vedic or Puranic verses.
Sharada installed the urn too and invited the deities. The soil was put around that urn and barley seeds were sowed on that soil. Sharada sprinkled water over barley seeds and soil daily. The barley seeds germinated and on a ninth day, the plants grew 12 inches in height.
‘As high as the plant grows, so high would be your fortune’ was the proverb often said in that village.
During these nine-nights, Goddesses were worshiped by reciting verses, singing devotional songs, and narrating the stories of her heroic fight with demons. Many persons observed fast during those nine nights. They only ate fruits for nine days. Many chanted seven hundred verses of the Goddess Chandi. Drummers were coming to each house and beat the drums. It was to awaken the person at the nine-nights festival. Later those drummers were paid by each house.
On a ninth day, after completing the Goddess worship, it was time for dissolution and to ask all the deities to return to their native place. So, Kali shook the urn a little bit and plucked the few plants of barley. This was a symbolic ritual of dissolution. Kali put some of the plants on his ears.
After that, it was the time for the immersion of the clay model of the Goddess deity and grown-up barley plants. The barley plants with mud on its roots were clubbed together and lifted as one entity and put on the girl’s head.
‘I want to put barley plants on my head’, Kartik requested his mother.
‘But this is the girls’ job. As you don’t have any sister, I will put this barley plants on my head’, his mother answered.
So, it was his mother who put the barley plants on her head and joined the procession. All the girls and women gathered in a queue with barley plants on their heads and moved slowly to the nearby pond while singing the devotional songs. Kartik accompanied his mother for some time.
There was another parallel procession of men where many men pierced their one side of the cheek with the iron made dart. That dart was sharp on one side and blunt on another side with a trident shape. Each pierced man was accompanied by one or more supporting men, who were holding another side of the dart. Some iron darts were short in length but some of those were long.
A procession of all those girls went to the nearby pond and all the barley plants were immersed inside the water of the pond. A small fair was organized on the pond side. All the piercings were removed from men’s cheeks. Pierced men were asked not to eat salt for a few days and sleep on the earth floor to minimize scarring and to heal the wound. After that, it was time for the evening swim. Many of the villagers jumped into the pond to enjoy swimming.
One woman in the village claimed that the Goddess’s spirit was accustomed to possess her body during the nine-nights festival of Goddess. When the Goddess’s spirit entered her body, she started screaming with hands thumping her head and breast. She started moving towards the Goddess temple near the pond. Many villagers gathered to see her. Some of them dared to ask questions related to their family problems. That was fun for Kartik. The villagers were waiting to witness that event at the nine-nights festival every year.
That year, during that nine-nights festival, all those incidents happened again. It was evening time, villagers gathered outside a temple near the pond. Some of the singers were singing devotional songs and some of the musicians were playing with their instruments. Many women, accompanied the gathering and started clapping their hands. Incenses were burned. The Goddess was worshipped by burning camphor. The surroundings and aroma of burning incense and camphor triggered the Goddess’s spirit. In the middle of singing devotional hymns, that woman came under the Goddess’s spirit possession. Her body started trembling. She started loosening her hair. Her eyes started rolling and her body started twisting. She started running towards the temple by throwing her arms out.
These dramatic changes in the behavior of the woman indicated, as per the belief of the villagers, that the Goddess’ spirit had taken possession of the woman’s body. Nearby women started smearing sindoor all over her body. Some of them garlanded her with flowers. The villagers started performing some rituals to worship that woman. Some of the villagers came forward, touched that woman’s feet, and sat to ask questions related to their family issues.
Kartik also accompanied the gathering and visited the Goddess temple on every evening. All the country-men of that village celebrated the nine-nights festival of Goddess with religious fervor.
After that, people of that village celebrated the Dussehra festival by burning the Ravan's mannequin or effigy to mark the victory of Ram over Ravan in war as per the Ramayana epic.
• CHAPTER 10 •
Celebration of Deepawali
Now it was the time to celebrate the Deepawali, the day Ram returned to his home town Ayodhya after completing his banishment. Everyone in the village made his home clean to welcome Goddess Laxmi for wealth and Lord Ganesh for good fortune. Sharada had been toiling to clean her house. She white-washed the walls of her house and pasted cow-dung on the floors.
They had a tradition of making Surathu and Surathi. These were drawn on a piece of Bhoj-Patra (The bark of Himalayan Birch) by drawing many Swasthiks and combining them in a pattern. Surathu had 9 squares inside, symbolizing nine planets and worshipped as Lord Vishnu, whereas Surathi had 16 squares inside, symbolizing 16 types of decorating items and worshipped as Goddess Laxmi. It was the Priest’s responsibility to distribute Surathu and Surathi drawn in the white Bhoj-Patras to each house. Everyone could not draw Surathu and Surathi because it was time-consuming and a bit difficult. But Kali wanted his son to learn that tradition.
‘Draw Surathu and Surathi on the white Bhoj-Patras with red ink. You might be knowing how to draw Surathu and Surathi. If not, I would help you. You should learn and hone this skill’, Kali instructed his son.
‘But the priest would be coming with Surathu and Surathi pictures’, Kartik apprised his father.
‘But I want you to learn that’
Kartik picked a pen and reluctantly started drawing Surathu and Surathi in the white Bhoj-Patras.
‘Remember, you should first make two parallel rows with 10 Swastiks in the mid of a Bhoj-Patra for Surathi. After that, in consecutive upper and lower rows you should keep decreasing the number of Swastiks; one on the left side and another on the right side. Similarly, for Surathu, you should make two parallel rows with 8 Swastiks in the mid of a Bhoj-Patra’, Kali explained.
Kartik started drawing Surathu and Surathi.
‘Thak, Thak’, Someone knocked on the door.
Kartik heard the noise and rushed to open the door. He thought it would be the priest.
‘If the priest delivers Surathu and Surathi, I need not do this tedious and boring job’, Kartik thought.
But to his disappointment, it was blacksmith, who was hammering the nail on the main door.
Jujhoti-Khand had some unique traditions practiced by its people. A blacksmith would go to each house on Deepawali day and hammer the nail against the front door. It was believed that the hammered nail would save the house from all the evils for the entire year. That year, a blacksmith came to Kali’s home again and hammered the nail, and Kali paid him the money.
Kartik resumed his assigned task.
‘Knock, knock’, Again someone knocked on the door after about 15 minutes. Kartik rushed again to open the door but to his disappointment, it was not the priest but it was a potter.
He handed over deities of Ganesh and Laxmi made up of clay. He also handed over a clay elephant along with around 50 clay lamps to Kartik. Kali paid him some coins.
That was another tradition followed in Jujhoti-Khand. The clay elephant was also worshipped along with the deity of Goddess Laxmi. People used to draw lotus on the floor with turmeric powder and place the clay elephant. Gaj-Laxmi was one out of eight forms of Laxmi and she was worshipped along with the elephant. It was believed that a person could come out of poverty if he worships Gaj-Laxmi. She was the provider of animal wealth and the power of royalty.
Kartik resumed his job.
‘Knock, knock …’, after 15 minutes, someone knocked again. That time Kartik did not rush. Kali opened the door.
But that time, it was the priest of the village who knocked.
He visited Kali’s home and gave him two Bhoj-Patras with Surathu and Surathi drawn on those with red ink. Kali paid money to the priest too.
‘Now, you got Surathi and Surathu. Let me go outside to play’, Kartik told his father and rushed outside.
Kali watched the Surathu and Surathi very carefully and fixed them on the wall for evening worship and rituals. He drew pictures of Ganesh with trunk turning on the left side under it using orange ocher. Ganesh is the son of Goddess Parvati and worshipped for good fortune. He also drew pictures of cow, calf, and seven horses under Surathi. Those seven horses were the symbol of money and prosperity. Besides Ganesh's picture, Kali also drew the picture of Laxmi. Now, his room of worship was ready for evening rituals.
Outside his home, the young and old men of the village were dancing in a group with the packs of peacock feathers, and bamboo sticks in hand. Kali’s son also joined the Carole dancing with a pack of feathers in his hand to celebrate Deepawali. Drummers were turning the great drums. Chanters were singing Deewali songs.
Kali came out too. He was thrilled to see the celebration. The villagers were rhythmically vibrating their bodies with the music of drums. Kali could not stop himself. He lifted his bamboo and joined the Carole.
After that, it was time to show fighting skills. The fighting with bamboos was a kind of martial art. Young and some aged persons were accustomed to playing that game known as Deewali during the Deepawali festival. Here one person would act as a protector and another person would act like an attacker. The protector would tightly hold his bamboo stick with his two palms dividing the bamboo into three equal parts and lift it above his head to protect himself from the bamboo attacks. The attacker would hit on the mid part of the bamboo. After a few hits, an attacker would turn around to hit on the left-hand side of the protector and the protector would also position his bamboo on his left side. After a few hits on the left side, an attacker would turn around again to hit from the right-hand-side of the protector and the protector would also position his bamboo on his right side. The protector was supposed to save himself from all the hits.
While villagers were vibrating themselves rhythmically in Carole, one of the villagers came in the mid of the circle by firmly holding the bamboo by his two hands and shouting. That was an indication from his side that he was ready to protect. That was the way to challenge any attacker. One attacker readied himself for attack and shouted too. All the other villagers gave them room and made the circle bigger so that more and more persons could see the fight and both fighters could get enough space to fight.
The fight started. The attacker attacked on the protector’s bamboo. As per the rule of the game, the attacker was not allowed to hit on the protector’s palm, however, he could only hit the bamboo. The protector was supposed to show his skills by protecting the attacker’s hits by bamboo. A more skillful protector would show some extra moves. Like, he would turn around too while protecting the hits. Sometimes, the protector would tilt on his left and right sides. Attackers should closely watch the protector’s moves and hit accordingly so that the protector could not be hurt and injured.
Kartik saw his father shivering with excitement with bamboo on his hand. Kali was preparing himself to play that martial art game.
Every round of the game was followed by rhythmic movement in Carole.
After a few rounds of the game, Kali came inside Carole and shouted to challenge the attackers. It was the indication that Kali was ready to protect. One attacker accepted the challenge and came inside. All the persons moved backward to provide them enough space to play. Kartik was looking with holding breath. An attacker attacked Kali and he protected all of his hits. Kali also showed some extra moves like turning around while playing the game.
The many rounds of games were played without any accident. But, suddenly in one game, when the protector was protecting the hits, bamboo hit on his left hand and he fell with a howling sound. The blood was oozing from his hand. The nearby people rushed to hold him. He was taken to a nearby house for treatment. The mixture of turmeric and lime was applied to his wounds.
‘I am sorry for what happened but it happened by mistake’ The attacker apologized for his fault.
The villagers were discussing whose fault it was. Was it the attacker’s fault or the protector’s fault?
‘It was the attacker’s fault. He did not hit upon the right place. He should hit on bamboo and not on his hand’, one person opined.
‘No no, it was protector’s fault because he could not save the hit properly. Bamboo hit his hand when he moved the left side. Moving your bamboo on the left and right side by turning around is a dangerous stunt. You should desist from these stunts if you are not expert on these moves’, another villager explained.
The villagers kept discussing whose fault that was. But that accident did not stop the Deewali game. It continued till the dusk.
From sunrise to twilight, it had been a tumultuous day. In the evening time, they all lit up the lamps and worshiped the deities of Ganesh and Laxmi.
• CHAPTER 11 •
Kali’s Visit to the Kingdom
Kali decided to visit the kingdom on the next day of Deepawali. His decision to visit the kingdom to narrate his experiences was well-considered but undeterred by a possible setback.
On the next day of Deepawali, Kali mounted on the horseback and moved to the capital city. Before starting his journey, he penned a short memoir of his voyage on a Bhoj-Patra. He could feel the cold in the air. As he moved a few kilometers, he saw some of the farmers sitting on the field and baking their hands in stubble fire. After about two hours journey, Kali reached the kingdom.
The fort and whole of the kingdom were decorated with tree leaves and flowers. A benevolent Dharmashala (hotel cum restaurant) named Dharmpur in the capital city was hosting all the visitors. All the visitors were served food for free. They were given free of cost suitable accommodation too. This was the charity provided by the king.
The fair received an overwhelming response from all over the state. Even, people from different states participated in that fair. The great variety of artisan work was on display.
The fair was crowded. Many tribal groups in different colorful attires were entertaining and enthralling the audience by their dances and songs. Group of Bhats was paying tribute to the king’s valor and generosity by singing his heroic saga songs. The visitors were electrified by seeing all these events. Some king’s men were distributing a bag full of swag.
The fair had many shops from skilled craft workers, showing so many hand-made items like decorative items, furniture, potters, clay toys, sculptures, clothing, food items, jewelry, and gems. Many restaurants prepared several types of tasty meals and catering to the people. All the artisans were enthusiastically participating in the fair as it was organized after a long time.
Kali found some of the pundits sitting in another corner of the fair chanting and narrating different religious textbooks like Ramayan, Mahabharat, Purans. If someone felt tired from walking in the fair, he could take rest and listen to the narration of religious books. Some of the horoscope readers were also present. If someone wanted to ask for his future predictions and horoscope matching of girls and boys, he could approach all those horoscope readers. Kali saw some of the persons sitting with some Pundits and they were divulging the details of debilitated and exalted positions of planets in their horoscope and the consequences of those positions. The pundits were also suggesting means and ways to perform certain rituals to get rid of the adverse and harmful impact of planets’ positions. Kali loved the expensiveness of the fair. He was so much impressed by the grand spectacle of the fair.
While visiting the fair, Kali found some placards attached against the walls and poles. Kali went nearer to a placard to read. It was read as ‘Because of the king’s valor to go for purgatory voyage and save the state from the calamity of drought, the name of the state is henceforth changed from Jujhoti-Khand to Bindu-Khand’.
It was the first time, he got to know that his state name had been changed. It would no longer be known as ‘Jujhoti-Khand’. It would be known as ‘Bindu-Khand’.
‘When was our state renamed?’, Kali asked a nearby person.
‘Yesterday’
‘But why?’, Kali asked again.
‘King thought that he gave a new lease of life to this kingdom, so he should be considered as the father of this kingdom. So, henceforth the kingdom should bear his name. If the Ikshvaku dynasty can be renamed as the Raghu dynasty, so why not Jujhoti-Khand be renamed as Bindu-Khand. That was the King’s argument to vindicate his stand, that person explained.
‘But it was not notified to us’
‘The drummers will visit all the villages next week to notify all’
After visiting the fair Kali decided to visit the King’s fort next day and rested in Dharmpur lodge. The next day, after completing daily chores, having a bath and breakfast, Kali moved towards the fort.
King’s court was open to listening to public grievances. The time was set for listening to the grievances from morning 9 AM to 10 AM only. That was the time when the king was adorned by his assistants. His assistants would massage his legs and comb his hairs to make the King look more attractive. Only after that king would go for public appearance. That was another way of king’s outreach.
It was around 9:30 AM, Kali reached the fort and requested gatekeepers to go inside.
‘I have one grievance to convey to the king. Please allow me to go inside’, Kali requested.
‘Already 10 persons are inside and the king has only one hour. Can you come tomorrow at 9 AM?’, the gatekeeper informed.
‘But my grievance will not take more than a few minutes. Yesterday, I came here and today evening, I will move to my hometown’, Kali requested again.
After some requests and palm greasing, the gatekeeper frisked Kali and allowed him to go inside.
• CHAPTER 12 •
Kali’s Discourse on the Purgatory Voyage
Kali reached the king’s court. King was sitting on a throne, decorated with gems, pearls, and precious stones, gloating his successful purgatory voyage. He had a great achievement to boast himself. He had given rain bonanza to farmers and businessmen. He already defeated his nemesis and critics and proved them untrue. The rain already smashed his old bad reputation. He felt mighty big and strutted about.
Kali was the last person of that day to visit the king for the public hearing.
‘What is your grievance?’, the king asked.
‘Your Majesty, I want to tell you something in secret’, Kali requested.
‘What do you want to tell me?’
‘When you entered inside the tunnel for purgatory voyage, I immediately followed you too on that eventful day. I want to tell you about those 12 days of voyage in Yam planet’
‘About purgatory voyage! Do you know about it? How do you know about it?’, King intrigued.
‘Yes, I know’, Kali answered.
‘Noone could remember any incident of his 12 days voyage. It remained shrouded in a mystery. Even, I cannot recall any incident’, the king added, ‘How can you recall the incidents about my voyage in Yam planet?’
‘You do not remember but I am blessed to remember’
‘Is it?’, the king asked in disbelief.
After a few seconds of pause, Kali embarked on a discourse about his purgatory voyage.
‘Yes, I was intrigued to know the cause of drought for a few years. So, I also went for a purgatory voyage along with you. I ventured into different hells and had flaky encounters with horrible Yamdoots I shuddered to contemplate’
‘So, I can articulate what happened inside Yam planet’, Kali added after a few seconds of pause.
‘Okay, tell me what you saw there’, the king allowed him to narrate the purgatory voyage.
‘Your Majesty, I have profound respect for you. Whatever I would narrate is based on my memories of Yam planet. It should not have any ramifications. My purpose for narration is to make you aware of the causes and results of different sins. You should ensure to spare me from any capital punishment. I would mince no words in stating my voyage experiences’
‘Okay, you can continue. Be assured. I never decreed capital punishment to anyone for his narration from this platform. Even though their narrations were sometimes satirical and critical of me. This is the custom of this state’, the king allowed him to narrate.
‘When you entered inside the tunnel, I also slipped inside that tunnel within a minute. No one cared about me because you were the whole attention of the mob.
It was dark from inside. I continued for around 800 meters more. After that, I saw some light coming out from another side of the tunnel. When I moved ahead, I was mesmerized by seeing a new world on another side of the tunnel. I had an uncanny feeling. It was my long-cherished dream to see life after death on another planet and that dream came true. It was an eye-popping scene. The mystery of Yam planet was tantalizing for me.
It was Yam planet. I saw Yamdoots walking here and there in the light. Yamdoots were emissaries. You can call them court-men of God of death or messengers of Yama. It was a mystical experience for me. Yamdoot had a black complexion like a black crow with hairs on his head bristled. There were nails in the fingers so big that they looked like some strange weapons. They were not wearing any cloth. They were nude. Their eyes were yellowish and they were fearless and frightening. They looked quirky, similar to Halloween. I got scared of those Yamdoots.
As you entered first, I saw a Yamdoot asking you to go to a big castle. Yamdoot ushered you to move on to the left corner side using his hand signal. You entered and after a few minutes, I saw a thumb-sized man coming out of that room. It was you in the form of a thumb-size spirit (Jeevatma) that departed out of your mortal body. That spirit was a mix of your soul and body of suffering.
The same Yamdoot instructed me to go inside that room. I went inside that room too. There were some pool-lanes. I saw your mortal body lying on an oil pool lane. I could see your bright clothes, shoes, and valuable ornaments kept aside. The emissary (Yamdoot) asked me to wear off the clothes and lie on the side-by lane of the oil pool. I followed his instructions. I wore off my clothes and shoes and kept them aside. I laid down by the side lane close to that oil pool. When I was lying down, I felt intense pain for about a minute. It felt as if I was stung by hundreds of scorpions in different parts of the body. After that my spirit also came out of that body. I realized that it was the thumb-sized Kalidas aka me who came out of that mortal body of Kalidas. My thumb-sized spirit could see my and your earthly mortal bodies lying on the poolside. The soul shelved its body and transmigrated to a new thumb-sized body.
‘Why did I come out of my actual mortal body?’, thumb Kalidas aka I asked Yamdoot.
‘Your thumb-sized body is the body that will go for purgatory voyage’, Yamdoot explained.
When I looked at your thumb size body, I was stunned to notice that my thumb size body was taller than yours. Your thumb size body might be around four and a half inches tall. However, my body was around nine inches tall. So, my body was around two thumbs tall.
One Yamdoot lifted us by his thumb and index finger one by one and tied our necks with ropes. That rope was Yam’s noose called Yam-Pash. He placed us on the Yam planet and held another end of the ropes. There was so much difference between our height and Yamdoots’ height. The ropes were like strong threads for Yamdoot. Each of the Yamdoots was holding a strong stick, known as Yam-Dand. That stick (Yam-Dand) was used to lash the spirits.
‘Now, as you both shrugged off our mortal bodies aside for the next 10 days, your virtues, sins, and your devotion to God will only go beyond your mortal bodies’, one of the Yamdoots clarified.
Two Yamdoots accompanied us. We moved bare-footed in a sandy place. After moving a few steps along a corridor, I saw a large desert without any tree or shadow. I saw many spirits moving with their neck tied by the ropes. They were accompanied by Yamdoots. Yamdoots were ruthless. The spirits were frightened by Yamdoots’ savagery. Some of the spirits were trembling with fear. I gazed in a state of awe over the landscape. It was piercing hot sun and the hot wind was blowing. The sand of the desert was too hot.
‘While moving ahead, I had some conversation with the Yamdoot’, Kali told the King while narrating the story.
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