The Gall of Gammon

Disclaimer: This story is my humble attempt to write a fanfiction of the epic Mahabharata. My intention is not to hurt anyone's sentiment.

Aum Namah Shivay!!

Major Jayant Roy, SM is a fictitious character. Any similarity with any living person is merely a coincidence.

Chapter 9

Hastinapur, Dwapar Yuga

Vidura POV

The five sons of late Maharaja Pandu were now living in the palace. With them, I could feel that the dynamics of events in the palace was shifting dramatically. Yudhisthira, the elder son of Maharaja Pandu was a calm and cool minded boy. He was also righteous in nature. He knew his duties well. Rajkumar Arjun is literally an archery prodigy. Young Nakul and Sahdeva were also talented in sword and axe and the second of them, the one and only Bheem...well, I saw his strength in the forest. I was walking towards their room with some sweets that my wife, Sulabha made for them.

But when I entered their room, I saw a horrific sight.

Bhabishri Kunti was lying on the floor, unconscious. Her five sons were encircling her. Nakul was sparkling water on her face.

"What happened putra?" I could not recognise my own voice now. My voice was changed with a mixture of fear.

The five of them heard my voice and looked at me. Then I noticed something more horrific.

Blood was dripping from Bheem's lips. There was also a small cut on Yudhisthir's throat which was bleeding.

"Who did this?" My hands were shaking now. I somehow put the pot of sweets on the floor and came beside them.

"Kakashri, please do something. Mata is not moving." Nakul was crying now.

I quickly checked her pulse. It was a little weak.

"Nakul, go outside. Tell the guards to call the vaidya here." I instructed. Nakul ran outside like a horse.

In a few moments, the vaidya came inside the room. He held something with a strong odour in front of her nose. Bhabishri started moving her limbs and after that she opened her eyes.

"Putra Bheem!" She said in a faint voice. Then her gaze fell on me.

"Pranipaat Bhabishri!" I bowed my head to her, "What happened?"

"It was Duryodhana! He attacked my jyesth with a knife and then attacked me. He also told me that he will lock me up without any food and then he will throw my brothers in front of Me.", Bheem shouted.

"Duryodhana drew your blood?" I asked in an astonished voice.

Now Bheem's expression changed. It was humiliation. I was also shocked to my core. I saw the boy lifting large stones in the forest. Those stones were so heavy, that it would take at least ten grown up men to move. Then how could Duryodhana defeat him?

Yudhisthir was silent. He was massaging his mother's feet. I was silent too. But bhabishri broke it.

"Vidura, would you do me a favour?"

"Your wish is my command, bhabishri. Just ask me."

"Please, make arrangement for me and my boys to leave for the forest. Here, in this palace, I can sense constant danger upon them. They would be safe in the forest. The Kauravas will be happy too if we leave." She said in a chocked voice. Tears were falling from her eyes.

Her words literally shattered my soul. I could feel my tears were coming out too. But, before I could say something, a voice boomed in the room.

"No, putri Kunti, you and your sons will stay here." It was the voice of tatshri Bhishma. He entered the room, and stood beside me.

"The right of you and your sons on this palace are same as the right of Dhritarashtra and his sons. You will stay here, with us, with your family. I promise you that Duryodhana would not get away with this. Even Dhritarashtra's blind filial love would not save him this time." His voice literally radiating anger. He turned and left the room.

"Forgive me bhabishri, but I must go with tatshri. He is very angry today. I must stop him from doing something wrong." I ran outside of the room. Tatshri was walking with long steps towards Duryodhana's room. I followed him.

But when we reached his room, we found him lying on his bed, unconscious.

The news spread through the palace like a bushfire. Maharaja Dhritarashtra, bhabishri Gandhari, kulguru Kripacharya, Gandharraj Shakuni all gathered there. The royal vaidyas were trying their best, but Duryodhana was still unconscious. The vaidyas told us that his vitals are normal, but still he was unconscious. Bhabishri Gandhari was crying softly. Maharaja Dhritarashtra was coaxing her.

In this entire ruckus, I spotted tatshri. He was standing alone in a corner. I walked beside him. Tatshri Bhishma was looking outside of the window.

Then he spoke in a low voice, "We must stay alert, Vidura. Something is coming. Something evil, something worst. We must be alert."

I just nodded. But deep inside my mind, I was thinking about only one thing.

Duryodhana! He literally changed in overnight. But, will it be good or bad for us and for Hastinapur? I knew that he disliked the sons of Pandu. Maharaja Dhritarashtra poured his every single ambition inside his son. The influence of Gandharraj Shakuni was also something that worried me.

I closed my eyes and prayed to Shri Vishnu. I prayed for safety and security of Hastinapur.

At the same day, Gokul

A tall, fair skinned boy was walking on a ground. Judging by his facial expression, he was probably searching for something, or someone. The sky was becoming dark with cloud.

"Now where will I search for him?" the boy angrily muttered under his breath." He knows very well that I cannot eat alone, without him. Now, with the passing time, my hunger is also increasing. But, where is my naughty little brother? Let's hope that he is not doing any mischief today."

Suddenly he stopped into his track. He turned his head into the four directions. Then he took his hand to his ear, probably trying to listen something. There was a small smile on his lips now.

"That's my brother playing the flute." He thought to himself. He turned into that direction, and walked faster. A few moments later, he caught the sight of the cows grazing on the field. The sound was coming from under a tree behind those cows.

A dark skinned boy was sitting under the tree. He was playing his flute with his eyes closed. The sound of the flute was so peaceful, that the anger inside the fair skinned boy melted dramatically. He stood silent in front of his brother, listening to his music.

A few moments later, the dark one stopped playing, and opened his eyes. His elder brother was still standing in front of him.

"Pranipaat, Dau Balrama.", He crossed his hands. (Dau = elder brother)

"Kanha, it's getting late. Let's go home quickly." Balrama said.

Krishna stood up on the ground, "Dau, we cannot outrun fate and time. Fate and time is the most powerful thing in the universe. If someone tries to outrun it, fate will modify its way, but it will always happen. So is time. The wheel of time will always move forward. No one can move it backwards. But, I still have to explain it to someone. Do you know dau, that evil has its own purpose in this earth?"

"What?" Balrama was astonished, "Evil has its own purpose? What is it?"

Krishna smiled again.

"Dau, we value the light because we have darkness. We value the day because we have the night. Just like that, we value the goodness because we have evil. Yes, we must destroy the evil, but, if there is no evil, mankind will not understand the goodness. If we don't have any 'paap', we will not understand the 'punya'."

Balrama heaved a sigh. His younger brother was again talking in cryptic language, which literally bounced over his head. Krishna noticed that too.

"Forget it dau. Today is our last day in Gokul. You remember that we have to go to Guru Sandipani's ashram tomorrow for our education. Let's go home. I want to eat my food from Mata Yashoda's hand. I will miss her in the ashram."

Balrama's heart melted hearing his brother's word.

"Don't worry, Kanha. You will always have me beside you. I will be there when you need mother's lap. I will be there when you need father's shadow."

Krishna smiled and nodded. Balrama smiled too.

The two brothers, one fair and one dark walked towards their home. The cows followed them silently.

A/N: So, this is chapter nine.

Some friends after reading the previous chapter are thinking that the 'unknown' was Sri Krishna. But, I am sorry to disappoint you all. You must think more deeply to understand the identity.

The main beauty of Mahabharata is that no one is light or dark. Every single one in this epic is grey. Someone has more percentage of white, and someone has more percentage of black. But every single one is grey.

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