TRAYI

The story of how it all began

2/10/2013 Debabrata

PROLOGUE
I am time; Unstoppable, emotionless and restless. I am without death or destruction, nothing stops me. I only I can laugh in the face of death because it cant ever touch me. It is I who brings it in time to others.From the moments after the big bang I have seen everything. Every human who have ever walked on the face of earth has come to my notice. Every empire that has been ever built has been watched by me. I have seen them all.liars, betrayals, winners, losers, good, bad everythingyet I have always remained emotionlessa mute spectatoralmost alwaysexcept one occasionWhen I too was dumb foundedWhen I saw a great empire turning into ruins within a dayit was not like any other empireit was the seat of humanity created by the best of minds assembled everIt was first ever empire It was such a great period..But over years people will forget almost everything about them but I remember everything. I believe it was the greatest heights humans had ever reached till nowand they looked almost invincible. Till that fateful day around.. 6000 B.C. i.e.., 8000 years agoIn a country now called India. A once great and prosperous empire lies in ruins. The huge boulders lying here and there tell the story of the once majestic empire, of its great columns, of the magnificent arches and gateways. As one walks through the ruins even the most barren hearted person will have moist eyes. Thankfully, it seems that no one is there to observe this devastation of their beloved nation.suddenlythe ground begins to shake.the water in the ocean begins to tremble.there are huge waves soon running towards the shoreThe waves acquire gigantic proportions much larger than the statue of liberty as they rush to what used to be the capital. It seems that a big demon has risen from its slumber. It seems that the sun, moon and stars are all going to be eaten up by the ocean today. Crocodiles, sharks and all other sea creatures can be seen being tossed up in this havoc. Till the time the destruction stops everything is inundatedwherever the sight goes one can see only vast expanses of waterNo sign of life.. 6 months pass Suddenly out of the blue a huge boat can be seen in the horizonAt first any one would believe they are watching a mirage. But Nature is the biggest pranksterand who knows it better than me... The boats captain; Manu, a man of 200 years, huge figure with barren chest that is maculated is standing on the deck. He has put on the Binocular to his eyes and frantically searching for landsNonethere is none around..It has been a long time since they have been on the ship. Almost 7 mothsHe walks briskly on the decksometimes putting on the binocularSometimes throwing his hands up in the airThen at other times mumbling some Sanskrit prayers directed towards Brahman with eyes closed and hands folded in the gesture of Namaste. Also on the ship with Manu are his family members and 20 other families these are the most important families, the finest of intellectuals. The lives of all these people were now in

the hands of Manu, the best Naval architect and captain of the empire. Suddenly Manu remembers of the great innovation of his empire His eyes glimmer with new hope. He closes his eyes and tries to communicate with the remote sensing tower they had built on kailasa and other places in the north. He quickly receives the video feedback mentally of a dry place 2000 nautical miles further to the north of India. He starts navigating towards the area. In the mean time I remember of a similar time in the pastWhen a man a man almost (because he was assisted by his two brothers) singlehandedly built up an entire empire from scratch after a similar destruction by the ocean...2000 years back

Whence this creation has arisen? Perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not. The one who looks down on it, in the highest heaven, Only he knows or perhaps he knows not. - A hymn from Rig Veda

Chapter 1
9000 B.C. i.e.., 11000 years ago So begins the storyayamarambha subhaya bhabatu. A great deluge occurred in 10000 BC. The deluge seemed to have destroyed all traces of animal lives except for few. Some tribes who were settled in the northern mountains were saved. These tribes, the tribes of mountainous people were at constant war with each other. But one man was respected by all, his name SHIVA. He was a vigorous warrior, powerful statesman and an accomplished singer and dancer. His favorite companion was his yak Nandi and his friend veerbhadra. He preferred smoking ganja, and covered his bare body covered in ash and wearing only a tiger skin as cover for his lower body. This time too he was smoking ganja peacefully when he saw with bloodshot eyes two small sized flying objects at the far horizon. Shiva and veerbhadra looked amazed but then though it to be an illusion out of overdose and let it pass. The planes were heading towards a destination close to what modern India calls today as Punjab. Of course it was a much different place then. But the important fact was that it was the confluence point of 5 rivers and so very fertile and ideal for starting a new civilization. However returning back to the story, one of the planes looked like an eagle and was named Garurada. It is driven by a tall blue bodied man named Vishnu. Another was named hansa as it looks like a swan and it is driven by a beard man named Brahma. The ship that followed this trio and unseen by either SHIVA or veerbhadra contained the ten manas putras of Brahma. Namely:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. MAREECHI ATRI ANGIRA PULASTYA PULAHA KRATU VASHISHTA PRACHETA BHRIGU NARAD

They were referred to as manas putras because they were the ten favorite disciples whom Brahma had taught and Brahma loved them more than his own sons. Along with the manas putras of Brahma; Dharma and Agni were also travelling who were the biological sons of Brahma born of his wife Savitri (Who was travelling along with Brahma in his flying vehicle hansa) and Daksha born of Saraswati. Both daksha and his mother were in the ship.

Daksha born of Brahma considered himself to be of royal blood. Although not academically brilliant, he was a great warrior in the battle field and possessed great leadership skills. Daksha always dreamed that he was fit enough to become a great emperor one day. However Daksha had two fallacies in his character one that he had an uncontrollable anger. Once he believed in certain thing to be right he would stand by it always no matter if what he believed was actually wrong. And second was that he was proud rather slightly arrogant about the fact that he belonged to the great Prajapati clan and that he had great skills at war. So he considered himself to be superior over other persons in the ship including his own brothers. Brahma being father and teacher of Daksha loved him, especially for his military skills. He too thought that Daksha had all the potentials in him to become a great emperor one day but he was worried of the fallacies that Daksha possessed. Brahma had tried counseling him but in vain. He now only hoped that Daksha was behaving like this because of his naivety and this would go away once he becomes mature. Daksha was married and had two wives named Prasuti and Panchajani. Prasuti was the daughter of Manu. Initially Dakaha was not interested in marrying Prasuti. But Prasutis hand was offered in marriage by Manu to Brahmas as his daughter in law. Brahma had accordingly instructed Daksha and Daksha had no choice but to nod. Prasuti had given Daksha 10 daughters of whom Sati was his most beloved. In fact Daksha had married of his eight daughters to eight manas putras of Brahma and Sati and Lakshmi were the only remaining. Sati was very different from his other daughters. In addition to being most beautiful she also possessed extraordinary intelligence. She was equally good in swordsmanship and was a brilliant strategist at war. In fact although Daksha never listened to anyones advice he had to listen to Sati. In fact it was due to Sati that Daksha favored Prasuti over Panchajani. All of Dakshas daughters and his two wives were travelling along with him in the ship. Daksha was having a pretty good time with his daughters and son in laws. He was pretty sure about the skills of the captain of the ship and his father in-law Manu. His only worry that constantly plagued him at the back of his mind was that his daughter was now approaching marriageable age and he had to soon start the search for a suitable candidate. Dakshas thought had deviated a little bit when his daughter brought h is attention back into the game of Satranjan ancient version of modern day chess. Dad! Dad! Sati demanded the attention of her beloved father. O yes! My princess replied Daksha. You are not playing with full attentionyou have again made a terrible mistake reminded Sati. O! So sorry my princess! I will now play with full attention said Daksha in a mock apologizing voice and father daughter duo started laughing.

The captain of the ship Manu, on whom Daksha had so much confidence, was a man possessed by his duties. He belonged to a family of Sailors. The art of guiding ship through rough waters was in his blood. Along with the sailing tradition they all contained another thing in commonthey were all titled and referred to as Manu and nobody remembered their first name. Manu was standing on the deck of the ship. He was following the trail of the three great leaders of his generationthe trio of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. Manu confident of the way in which things were progressing decided to retire for a brief moment. He called on his deputy Varuna to take control. Varuna was basically a great engineer and ship builder but his talent at guiding ships during tough times had gained him the position of vice captain. Manu had faith in the young mans ability... While Manu was on his roundshe was spotted by Sati who had already defeated her father in the chess game and was now feeling restless. Sati came running towards her grandpa, bent down and touched his feet (as a gesture of respect). Daksha noticed it from a distance and did not quite like it (as he believed him and his progeny to be far superior) however he said nothing so as not to hurt his daughter. Grandpa, you have such vast experienceplease tell me one story Pleaded Sati. But sati, I am so busy you knowI have the ship to steermay be some other timeBut sati was one, who could not be defeated in words. She continued Grandpa,but I know you are out on of your daily toursand the vice captain uncle Varuna is thereyou need be worried about the shipI wont take no as an answeryou must tellManu, who loved Sati like his only granddaughter couldnt deny Sati one more time. He said Ok Sati, you winI will tell you a very special story today and Manu began his story.. Many years ago. At a time when the geography of the land we are travelling on was much different. There was much prosperity in the land and our ruler Suratha, was apt and just. Everything was very peaceful. Suratha loved his subjects like his own children. Then one day he received the news that a small but very powerful group of people who called themselves by the name of Cholas were looting the farthest corners of his empire. Suratha who loved his subjects very much thought of this attack as an attack on his own children and left to attack them. After a vicious battle fought over many days the Cholas were defeated. But Suratha, who was opposed to killing enemies on battle field said to themGo away you morons! Dont ever in future dare to attack these territories or you wont leave the place with heads till attached to your body. The Cholas were not so forgiving. They left but vowed within themselves to take revenge. Meanwhile victory was celebrated in our kingdom with great enthusiasm. Years passed in peace. Everybody was almost on the verge of forgetting over Cholas when the threat of the Cholas loomed large again. King Suratha was stunned by the audacity of these people. Despite being defeated so heavily in the first battle they were preparing to attack Suratha againSuratha stared his preparations for the battle, but soon disastrous news was brought to him by his spies. His own council of ministers and the commander of his army along with of his army had sided over with the enemies and were cons pirating against him. Suratha was devastated by this news. He

couldnt believe that his own people would betray him. He just sat back on his chair. Suratha soon understood that there was no longer any one in his empire whom he could trust and that in the battle he would be probably be defeated. He was not worried for his own defeat as much as he was about the fate his subjects will have to face at the hands of Cholas. He decided to retreat into the forest, gather his forces again raise a new army then attack at a later time. So he went to the forest on the pretext of going to hunting. After riding into the forest for many days he was thirsty and tired. So he decided to sit for a few moments and take rest. As he sat to take rest he soon fell into deep slumber due to tiredness of journey and mental fatigue. When he woke up he saw a man standing in front of him. Suratha first thought that this man was some spy sent by the Cholas to kill him. He was preparing to withdraw his sword and attack when the thought flashed across his mind that man who was standing in front of him had ample chance of killing him when he was sleeping but had not done so. So he askedWho are you and what are you doing in this deep forest? . The man replied O great king Suratha! I am Samadhi, business man of very far off land. Although I have been a businessman, I have always endorsed and followed the principle of doing business in honest manner. But ever since my son has grown up he does not believe in my ideals. He believes in earning profit by hook or crook. Even my wife has gone blind in love and supports her sons endeavors. Seeing all these things happening before my eyes I couldnt tolerate any more. So I have left my home and am roaming in this forest in search of peace. After hearing Samadhis story Suratha narrated his story too and both of them came to the conclusion that they should visit an ascetic to clear their mind of these doubts and find some peace. So they started again with new vigor and soon found the hermitage of a great sage Medhas. When they narrated their problem to the great sage, the sage with calmness spread over his entire face replied O great king and noble Businessman, whatever you see in this world is just delusion. All the world is just a stage where men and women are merely players. Everything is engulfed in this great delusion. It is because of this delusion that you are so attached to your subjects and Samadhi to his wife and son. If you want to get rid of this delusion and calm your mind you must perform austerities and worship the one who has created all these including you and me. On hearing the advice of the great sage Surath and Samadhi began the rituals and performed severe austerities over several years. Then one day it appeared to them that someone started speaking out of the fire Dont worry O pious king and business man. I know your problems and I tell you that evil cannot dominate over good for long. Whenever evil reaches epic proportion it should be understood that their end is near. A hero will appear in the horizon and save the good. Yada yada hi dharmasya, glani bhabati bharata, abhyuthanam

adhar masya, tadat manam srijam yaham, paritranaya sadhunam, Binasayascha dushkritam, Dharma sansthan sthapnaya, Sambhabami yuge yuge. One day the Cholas kingdom will turn down into ashes and swallowed up by the
oceanIt will be a day of immense calamityIt will appear as though the ocean is going to engulf the whole sky. But worry not as your heavenly father is kind enough he will send you two great children of his to save the purest and most deserving of you. To start a new Civilization, a civilization far greater in proportion and grandeura civilization only they can build. At that

time you, O king Suratha you will be born again as Savarni Manu as a child to one of the future progeny of a suryavanshi.You as the captain of their ship will take the purest and most deserving people of your land to the new place, the promised land, under the guidance of the duo. The deluge will occur exactly 40 years after the arrival of the duo. But who are these duo? How will we recognize them? asked a puzzled Suratha. Everything thing will be clear, every darkness will be filled with light when time comes not before that. Meanwhile you must go back and preach these words among the people of the people of the civilized world. Saying this much the voice stopped as mysteriously as it had begun. On hearing this Suratha and Samadhi went back not to his kingdom and started preaching what they had learned Manu stopped for a brief moment before resuming. Years passed, both Suratha and Samadhi eventually died and the number of people who believed them dwindled. Most of the people forgot about the oracle. The cholas had now been ruling for generations. Most of the people had become corrupted, forgot about the guidelines laid by suratha and indulged in all forms of acts once prohibited. The court of the king had become the place for enjoyment. The king indulged himself and kept himself busier in carnal pleasures than look after the welfare of his subjects. The people who protested were executed. But still there were some families who lived their lives in right conduct, believed and eagerly waited for the arrival of the duos as predicted by the oracle. Unknown to these people and secretly with great dedication two boys were studying all there was to study under the guidance of Medhas. Then medhas one day declared to them- You have learnt all I had to offer. I feel myself to be able to teach you. But I feel as though my mortal act is coming to end. I feel that you should travel to the tutelage of Brahman, mahamaya and other teachers to learn further. So the boys left to pursue further education. Then one day suddenly as promised two divine personalities arrived.. They came in two beautiful flying vehicles and showed amazing skills. People understood soon that they were the promised duos but their arrival was kept a low key affair and none were informed excepted for a selected group the group of believers of the oracle. Some people believed them to be the same duo, which had left Medhass tutelage long ago while some believed they were foreigners. Upon their arrival the duo organized the believers and took a test to determine who the best was. The best of the best were trained meticulously. Brahma taught 10 pupils with great care and they came to be known as the ten manasputras. As the Brahma was revered so were the manasputras. Brahma taught them about all the scriptures and made them intricacies of worship, ayurveda (medicine) and other subjects. Among other students taught by Vishnu, some were taught specially the art of making ship, some were taught farming; some were taught kingsmanship, some civil engineering, and some engineering. A training regimen that almost all had to learn was how to fight. Despite these a powerful army was also built which was named vaishnavi sena. In the mean while brahma married Saraswati, an extremely learned intellectual and of them was born your father Daksha. I too married after some time and was blessed with prasuti, your mother.

Anyway, the people who had learnt ship building were asked to build a ship, a ship that could brave all odds. Of those who built this were me and Varuna.One day when the ship was almost on the verge of completion Vishnu arrived for inspection, Vishnu said I am pleased by your workvery soon the day will arrive when we have to use this ship prepare for that day. Vishnu said to me when we were alone Manu I want you to be the captain of this ship. I see immense potential in you. Prepare Manu; prepare your shoulders for they have to soon bear the expectations and belief of the best of best. But I have faith in you. I was confident and eager for the challenge with eagerness in my voice I said With your and revered Brahmas blessing I am sure I will be able to do the task successfully. And then the fateful day came. The Cholas somehow came to know that Vishnu and Brahma were setting up an army unit. They thought this of some silly rebel and so sent few soldiers to crush them. But when those were easily defeated by vaishnavi senas, the cholas panicked and attacked with all might. A violent war commenced. Vishnu and Brahma used their flying machines to open fire on enemy. The enemy which had never seen fighter planes thought that gods were angry with and were spewing fire. Many fled and some tried in vain to resist. In the meanwhile the best and selected pupils were carried to the boat and asked to board. I was entrusted with the captainship and said to drive the ship as far as possible and as fast as possible. I soon disembarked with cargo to last for over a year. After travelling some 500 nautical miles past the main land we suddenly saw a huge ball of fire over the main land and then a huge wave engulfing the entire land mass. The waves were so huge that we could feel our ship dance to its tune at such far place. To this sati remembered of that fateful day and said Yes grandpa I remember that day. But I do not know what exactly happened on that day on mainland that had triggered this catastrophic event. Please say the reason grandpa. Actually there are no clear accounts. But as much as I have heard from hearsay it is said that during the end when cholas were almost defeated they did something that was beyond forgiveness. Such was the extent of their crime that both Vishnu and Brahma were enraged and fired the BRAHMASTRA a nuclear weapon, and the result was what you and I saw. But I sometimes wonder whether Vishnu already knew what was going to happen or was our departure by ship just a precautionary measure?!