Read Online The Rise of Hastinapur by Sharath Komarraju - Free Book Online

had both seated themselves, Jarutha said, ‘There are two reasons why His Majesty has asked you to see Sage Parashurama, my lady. The first of them is that the sage is said to have trained Bhishma in the craft of weaponry when he was being fostered atop the Meru.’
    ‘Jarutha!’ Amba said. ‘Surely you do not believe in such tall legends.’
    Jarutha’s voice was grave. ‘If you had seen Bhishma fight, my lady, you would find it difficult not to believe in tall legends such as this.’
    ‘So you really think, then, that he was fostered on the Meru, along with the gods?’
    Jarutha signalled to the ferryman to be careful as they lurched into the water. Turning back to her, he said, ‘They say that Sage Vasishta himself tutored him about the Vedas.’
    ‘Yes, and Brihaspati taught him about the tenets of justice,’ she said. ‘I know the tale.’
    ‘Then you know the reason why we are on our way to see Parashurama. If, indeed, the sage tutored Bhishma when he was young, he may have a certain way with him to make him obey his command.’
    ‘Ah,’ said Amba, ‘are we not being foolish to assume that Bhishma would put aside his vow just to honour his old teacher?’
    Jarutha shrugged and rubbed his beard. ‘What can anyone say? If he does not succeed in making him marry you, he may at least ask him to let you back into the city. Would that not be agreeable to you?’
    ‘No,’ said Amba, ‘it would not.’ She turned her gaze northward, where the river turned a sharp bend and disappeared. Mother Satyavati’s village would be on the same bank a few hundred leagues upstream, she thought, and when they passed an island she wondered if it were the same one on which she had given birth to the man who had taken to dividing the Vedas. They said the boy sprung from her womb fully grown, and that Mother Satyavati had only to spend a few minutes in labour.
    How nice it would be, Amba thought, if it were truly that easy to bear a child.
    ‘Are these islands ever covered by mist?’ she asked the ferryman.
    ‘Only in the winters, madam,’ said the ferryman without looking in her direction, using his hefty arms to twist and turn the paddle. ‘At midwinter we do not ferry people across until it is a good time past noon, for the morning fog has often caused many a boat to crash against the bank and break in two.’
    They finished the remainder of the journey in silence. When they got off, Jarutha paid both the ferrymen with a silver coin each and helped her back on top of her saddle. Jarutha tied together the reins of both horses and took them into one hand. He then drew his sword and said in a whisper to Amba: ‘We shall not confront any wild animals as long as we keep to the eastern edge of the forest, my lady. But if fate would place one before us, and if I were to be conquered by it, I bid you to ride northwest of here in a straight line for four miles. That will take you to the hermitage of Parashurama.’
    Amba said, ‘I shall not leave you to the beast, Jarutha. I know my way around a dagger and a sword; in fact, in Kasi the princesses are trained in hand weapons. So if you have one on you, give it to me and I shall stay on the alert too.’
    Jarutha looked back at her for a moment, then turned around and resumed walking. ‘My lady, if a beast gets past my sword and reaches you, I doubt if your hand knife will prevail.’
    As the two made their way through the forest, Amba heard lizards and squirrels among the leaves strewn around her. Her horse was undecided too, only stepping forward after he had tested the ground first with his hoof. Jarutha grunted commands at both animals, but they pulled away resolutely and snorted every time he tugged at their bridles. Amba had never been in the woods on horseback, and though she had once dreamed of being carried away by a prince on a white horse to the waterfalls that lay in the middle of a forest far away, in her dream there were no wild beasts and lizards and spiders;