Bhagiradhi withdrew her forces from Mahishmati. The war had ended in a stalemate. She sent back Bhavani and Aditya Varma back to Kunthala though they wanted to stay behind with her and support her.

Mrithyunjay vacillated between life and death. The arrow that pierced him was tinted with a special kind of poison. Mrithyunjay seemed to be gradually slipping away.

Bhagiradhi stayed by his side day and night. She wiped his body clean with medicated water and applied the herbal paste to his wound every few hours. The dark circles around her eyes kept deepening. She ate and slept minimally; just enough to keep up her strength and nourish the baby in her womb. She forgot to groom her appearance completely. She occasionally slid his hand towards her womb and made him touch it in a desperate effort to revive him.

The remedies and treatments were not at all working. Nachiyar sought the advice and opinion of the famous physician from Sankaleshwar who had treated Narasimha before this. The physician carefully examined Mrithyunjay and said, "This is a very rare and fatal slow poison found in the land of Kalakeyas. It gradually slows down all the bodily functions and eventually leads to death. The more number of days it remains in his bloodstream, the more the chances of permanent damage. I have only heard about it. This is the first time I am treating an actual case."

"There must be an antidote to this somewhere?" Shodasi Devi anxiously asked. "If you tell us where it is to be found, we will acquire it immediately."

"Not any that I know of Maharani", the physician replied.

Shodasi Devi hugged her daughter protectively, "Hush! You must be brave, Bhagiradhi. You mustn't lose hope."

Though she had consoled Bhagiradhi, she herself despaired about Mrithyunjay and his fate. The Raktabijas on their side had tried their own secretly guarded traditional remedies. They had exhausted all their available options. Hope and time were running out.

Shodasi Devi told Nachiyar, "Order the town criers in every village, town or city in Vijayapuri and Ashwakootam that anybody who succeeds in saving Mrithyunjay will be given five hundred gold coins."

A guard entered just then, "A siddha purush awaits outside. He says that he can cure our commander."

"Did he give his name or tell where he was from?" Nachiyar inquired.

"He said that his name was Dharmagupta. He has an ashram in the Himalayan foothills where he teaches young students from all over the Indian subcontinent."

Nachiyar reprimanded the guard, "Bring him in immediately. You kept a revered saint like him waiting outside."

Bhagiradhi held up her hand gesturing that she would go outside and receive the saint personally. She reverentially bowed at his feet and sought his blessings. Guru Dharmagupta blessed her, "Dheerga Sumangali Bhava Putri!" (God bless you a long and wonderful life with your husband, daughter!)

A sense of relief washed over Bhagiradhi as soon as she heard Dharmagupta's words . The blessings of saints and great people would never go in vain. She led him inside Mrithyunjay's chamber.

He tapped and pressed at certain nerve endings and places on his chest, abdomen, legs and arms. The physician who was also in the same chamber explained to the wonder stuck audience what Guru Dharmagupta was trying to do, "Visha Prathistambhanam. The art of stopping or containing the flow of poison to the rest of the parts of the body and keeping it in a very small localized part."

He continued, "We find a reference to this ancient science in our Puranas. Lord Shiva swallowed the deadly Halaahala Visham to save the world. Though the poison itself couldn't affect Lord Shiva, it would destroy the numerous worlds within his stomach. Goddess Parvati pressed his neck at a particular spot and stopped the flow of poison. Lord Shiva's throat turned blue in color. He became Neelkanth to the rest of the world. Antidotes haven't been discovered for all the poisons. This is what our ancients did in case no antidotes to that poison existed- Visha Prathistambhanam. Very few practitioners who know this science exist in our times."

After a while, Dharmagupta finished his treatment. He said, "He has been named after one who defeated the God of Death himself as Mrithyunjay. He has won this battle too. He will live."

Nachiyar asked him, "What should we do if this poison is used again by the Mahishmati army?"

Dharmagupta reassured her, "You need not fear about its widespread use. It is a very rare poison concocted from a flower that blooms in the vast Kalakeya forest once in every twelve years. It takes five hundred flowers of the same kind to manufacture a single drop of its poison. As you can imagine, its use can't be widespread due to its rarity. It certainly cannot be used against an army in a war."

Noticing the tiny jagged blue spot on Mrithyunjay's arm, Shodasi Devi asked, "Is this a kind of weak spot on his arm?"

"That is the spot where I have localized and contained the poison that was injected into his bloodstream. It will not affect him or anyone around him unless..."

"Unless what, O revered saint?" Shodasi Devi asked.

"That spot will burn if ever he comes face to face with another person who has been affected by the same poison."

The possibility of that occurring seemed very remote to everyone present. They assiduously thanked Dharmagupta for the help and service he had rendered them by saving Mrithyunjay. Dharmagupta denied the gold coins Shodasi Devi offered him, "Offer those coins in charity to the poor and hungry on my behalf."

Dharmagupta took their leave. He walked on for quite a while. Narasimha had been waiting for him in the shadows, "Thank you, Gurudeva. I would have never forgiven myself if he had died."

Dharmagupta glanced at his student and warned him, "Remember one thing, Narasimha. Subahu and he should never come face to face. It will affect Mrithyunjay. But it will scorch Subahu's limbs as though they have been dipped in burning flames."

"Why Gurudeva?"

"I gave your father another chance at life not because he deserved it but because you loved him so much. This was my deterrent that he would not misuse the opportunity I gave him."

Narsimha weakly nodded his head. He asked, "And the limp to father's legs?"

"It is permanent", Dharmagupta said. "Are you coming back to the ashram with me, Narasimha? Your education is not complete."

"No, Gurudeva. I fear my education with you must remain incomplete. There is much to be done at Mahishmati. I cannot do this by remaining away from my motherland. I will treasure every single grain of knowledge you taught me", Narasimha said.

"I was prepared for this decision but I wanted to hear from your mouth", Dharmagupta confessed. He closed his eyes and meditated for a while. A chest of drawers appeared in his hands. He offered it to Narasimha, "This is The Chest of the Ancient Masters. It is an occult artifact of an illustrious line of masters. I wanted to give it to the safekeeping of the wisest and best among my students. It will materialize whenever you call for it. Until that time, it will remain hidden in the ether, unseen and untouched by anyone. Use it wisely and for everyone's welfare."

Narasimha humbly received the chest from Guru Dharmagupta, "Gurudeva, I am overwhelmed that you considered me worthy of this great charge. I will never use this for my own personal and selfish interests." He smiled rather sheepishly as he confessed, "I stole it once from you Gurudeva."

Dharmagupta said, "You didn't steal it, Narasimha. You found it. And now, I am giving it to you because you will need it in future. Consider it as the blessings of all the great Masters."

The chest disappeared as magically as it had appeared. Dharmagupta said, "Think about me and then The Chest of the Ancient Masters. It will appear automatically wherever you are."
-
-
-