THE CURSE OF BRAHMA Read Online Free Page A

Bateshwar over so many other older veterans of war. Sini had exceptional insight and sensitivity that was rare not just in Bateshwar, but perhaps in all of Bharat. He smiled and for the first time in several days, it reached his eyes. His voice was firm as he spoke to his friend and senapati of Bateshwar. ‘Prepare for battle Sini. Let Somdatta know we shall meet him at the crack of dawn seven days from now.’
    Sini Yadav bowed to his friend and left the room. Vasudev sat down to study the battle formations Sini had suggested earlier. He knew what they had to do. They would win, and there would be minimum bloodshed.

    The battlefield looked like an ocean with waves of blue colliding against a mighty brown mountain. Somdatta and his Bahlika army were dressed in their conventional blue war dress. Sini was at the head of the Bateshwar army, all attired in their traditional brown. Somdatta had brought along a large force of ten thousand infantry, three thousand cavalry, eight hundred war elephants and fifteen hundred archers. Sini Yadav’s army was miniscule in comparison and consisted of six thousand infantry, one thousand cavalry, and a little less than five hundred archers. His army had no war elephants.
    The sun had barely crept up the horizon and the darkness of the night was just beginning to give way to a new day. Yet the heat was already suffocating. Rivulets of perspiration flowed down the faces of man and beast, alike. Flies had begun to settle on the stock-still bodies of the horses and elephants, and it wouldn’t be long before they decided to bother the soldiers too. The battle had not started yet but the vultures had started hovering overhead, in sweet anticipation of the death that would surely follow. The armies waited for the sun to complete its journey to the tip of the horizon, so that the battle could be declared open. Slowly but surely, the ball of fire crept up, and then all at once the sun was over the horizon. Both sides simultaneously blew their shanks (Conches) and the two armies prepared for battle.
    Somdatta was flanked on his right side by his trusted aide, Damodara. The two had fought alongside in more than thirty-two battles earlier and he had saved his prince’s life on three occasions already. He was a giant of a man, almost as tall and heavily built as Kansa. Having Damodara next to him, made Somdatta feel better. Today, however, all the preparation they had put into this battle seemed wasted.
    ‘Their force is less than half of ours, sire. They don’t even have a single war elephant. What kind of a strategist is their senapati?’ mumbled Damodara in his deep, halting voice. He didn’t receive an answer, and looked at Somdatta, who seemed to be looking intently at the opposing army.
    ‘What’s the matter, sire?’
    ‘I can’t see Vasudev,’ growled Somdatta. Damodara peered closely in the same direction.
    He could see Sini Yadav standing at the head of the Bateshwar army but there was no sign of Vasudev.
    ‘That coward has shown his true colours,’ Somdatta gnashed his teeth in frustration. ‘I was looking forward to cutting off his hands and legs and presenting it to his lover Devki, before I marry her. But that yellow-blooded rascal did not have the courage to show up. Never mind, we will destroy their army first and then decide what to do with him.’
    Somdatta looked ahead and his expression grew grim as he saw that Sini Yadav had organized his forces in the Kamal Vyuha (lotus formation). This meant that archers were placed in the centre and the infantry and cavalry formed ‘petals’ around them for protection. This was the ideal formation for an army that did not have any war elephants. Somdatta would have used the same strategic arrangement for his own troops, but with his oversized elephants, the Kamal Vyuha was not possible. He instantly knew what he had to do. He indicated to Damodara to quickly get their entire force into the Matsya Vyuha (fish formation).
    Damodara