The Wrath 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 11

Hastinapur, Dwapar Yuga

Ashwatthama POV

I was sitting under a big banyan tree. The dark night was pressing my soul like a dead weight. I looked beside me, and saw Mamashri Kripacharya sleeping beside me. But he was wearing his armour. Beside him, I saw another man, also clad in armour sleeping. But I didn't see his face in the darkness. Suddenly, I saw something in the sky.

It was a big black owl, flying straight towards the banyan tree.

The owl silently landed on the tree. The next moment, I heard screeches of crows. The owl mercilessly attacked the sleeping crows, taking full advantage of the darkness. The owl could see clearly in the darkness, while the crows couldn't. A few moments later, the owl finished the carnage, and then it glided in front of me. There was blood on its beak and talons. It looked at me with two glowing, merciless eyes, and then cleared his beak and talons with a certain satisfaction.

I stood up on my bed, my dream shattered. I didn't know why, but my whole body started trembling. My whole body was drenched with sweat. I looked at the window, and saw the Surya Narayana was just coming out. I heaved a sigh, and went to take a bath. No, not like Mitra Duryodhana who took a dip in the Ganga River every day. The bath made my mind a little bit focused, but still, the dream clouded the major portion of my mind.

I was walking towards my room, a little absentmindedly, when suddenly I collided with someone. My head directly collided to the other person's head.

"Uh!"

"Ah!"

Both of us looked at each other. The man standing in front of me was a middle-aged man. He was tall and well-built. He looked like a Kshatriya to me.

I quickly apologized to him, "I am sorry. It's all my fault that I was walking while engrossed in thoughts."

The man slightly rubbed his hand on his forehead, "It's all right, Brahmin Devta."

"I am sorry, but I didn't recognize you."

The man crossed his hands to me, "Pranipat, I am Kritvarman, son of Hridika. I belong to the Bhoja clan of Yadavas. I came here with Sri Balrama and Krishna."

I crossed my hands too, "I am Ashwatthama."

I saw reorganization flashed on the other man's eyes, "You are the son of Dronacharya, and the ruler of Ahichatra. I have heard a lot of great things about you. Is it true that it was you who defeated Shishupal in the war with Magadha?"

I nodded affirmatively with a small smile.

"Will you tell me about the war? Jarasandha and Shishupal had tortured us Yadavas for a long time. Kansa became a tyrant after his marriage with Devi Asti and Devi Prapti-that means, after he got his backing of Jarasandha."

"Ok, you can come to my room today evening. I will fetch Mamashri Kripacharya too. Then we will talk about the war. "

"Ok, we will meet in the evening. Pranipat." Kritvarman went away. I went to my room, and prepared myself for my daily routine.

In the evening, Kritvarman came to my room. I was waiting there for him along with Mamashri Kripacharya. But I saw that he was not alone. Mitra Duryodhana was with him.

We both sat together, and started talking about the war with Jarasandha. Kritvarman also fought with the army of Magadha when Jarasandha attacked Mathura multiple times. He shared his experience with us.

"Here, Kritvarman, have some Soma Rasa.", Duryodhana took out a silver pot and goblet. He poured some into the goblet and handed him.

"Thank you Rajkumar, but where is your glass?" Kritvarman asked him.

"Umm...I never liked the taste!" Duryodhana said with a small smile.

Again the four of us started talking. With words, Kritvarman consumed multiple goblets of wine. I looked at him for a moment. His eyes were showing the signs of intoxication.

"Kritvarman, tell us about your family." Duryodhana asked him.

This seemingly innocent question literally had an interesting effect on that man. His smile vanished. His red eyes became glowing with anger. His face hardened.

"I had a brother...Vasudev Krishna killed him."

I was shocked. Even Mamashri Kripacharya was astonished. Both of us looked at each other's face. Mitra Duryodhana was silent. He poured some wine in the goblet and handed to Kritvarman. Kritvarman took it and emptied it in one sip.

"My brother Shatadhanwa....he was madly in love with Satyabhama, the daughter of Satrajit. Do you know about the famous Syamantaka jewel?"

Now I understood that the wine literally opened the door of his mouth. I nodded at Kripacharya, silently agreeing to let him continue his story.

"One morning, Satrajit was worshipping the Surya Narayana on the seashore. The Deity was pleased with his devotee, and came in front of him. He granted Satrajit a boon. Satrajit asked for his necklace. Surya Narayana gave his necklace to Satrajit. The necklace had jewels...not even Indra had jewels like those in his possession. But, at the centre of all the other jewels, there was a big one...the Syamantaka jewel. Do you know when Satrajit first entered Dwarka after wearing that necklace, we all thought that the Surya Narayana himself was walking on the ground? This jewel had amazing powers. Every day, it gave 8 Bhari of gold. Not only that, it could prevent all the natural calamities in the area where it was situated. Then Vasudev Krishna came to know about this jewel."

Kritvarman stopped for a moment, only to find a goblet full of wine ready in front of him. He picked up the goblet, and took a big sip. He licked his lips and started telling his story again.

"Vasudev Krishna coveted that jewel. Satrajit somehow guessed that, so he gave the jewel to his brother, Prasena. Vasudev Krishna once came to Prasena, and asked for the jewel. Though he said about asking the jewel for Maharaja Ugrasena, because he gave some logic about how the Maharaja has the right on such a beautiful and powerful jewel. But Prasena refused him."

I curiously looked at Duryodhana. He was listening the story with utmost concentration. He again refilled the goblet and handed it to Kritvarman.

"Was he making him drunk so that he talks?" I curiously thought to myself.

"What happened then?" Kripacharya asked him, "Because I heard some news about Prasena's murder. A lot of Yadava chieftains suspected Vasudev Krishna. Then I heard Vasudev Krishna getting married to Devi Jambavati and Devi Satyabhama. But I don't know the things occurred between the murder and the marriage."

Kritvarman nodded affirmatively.

"You are right, Acharya. One day, Prasena went to hunting in the forest. He wore that necklace on his neck. After sometime, his dead body was found in the forest. The jewel was missing. A huge uproar was obvious. Vasudev also heard all of this, and then he went to search for the jewel. Sri Balrama and a lot of others went with him. I was there too. When we reached the spot where the dead body was found, we saw footprints of a lion. Prasena's body also had marks of lion's paw. So, Vasudev Krishna started following that trail. After some searching, we found the dead carcass of that lion. But the jewel was not there. We inspected the carcass, and found that a bear killed the lion. Then we followed the trail of that bear, and found its cave. Vasudev Krishna entered the cave alone then we heard sound of fierce fighting. After twelve days, there was no sound for sometimes. So, we thought that Vasudev Krishna died."

This time it was Duryodhana's face that shocked me. His face was filled with naked rage. He took a deep breath, and somehow controlled himself.

"But our assumption was wrong. You see..." Kritvarman was stuttering a bit now. He somewhat forcefully regained his control over his tongue, "after twenty-eight days, Vasudev Krishna came back. He was not alone. He came back with a new wife and the jewel. Turned out that bear in that cave was none other than the great Jambavant. Jambavant fought with Vasudev Krishna for twenty eight days then somehow he submitted to him. He gave Vasudev Krishna the hand of his daughter, and the jewel. Then Vasudev Krishna called a big meeting of all chiefs, and in front of them, handed over the jewel to Satrajit. Satrajit was ashamed, because the rumour about Vasudev Krishna being his brother's killer has his passive support. So, he proposed the marriage of Vasudev Krishna to his daughter, one of the most beautiful women born in this world, the one and only Satyabhama."

I looked at Kritvarman. The last sentence literally exposed his feelings. That meant, both the brothers, Kritvarman and Shatadhanwa...were attracted to Devi Satyabhama.

Kritvarman looked at the three of us with his glassy and bloodshot eyes.

"Yes, I was attracted to her, knowing the fact that my brother also attracted...no, he was madly in love with her. But do you know the fact that even that old Akrura was head over heels for her."

"What?" this time, Mamashri Kripacharya was astonished, "But I knew Akrura. He was older than Satrajit himself!"

"So, Akrura, I and my brother, the three of us started planning. We planned to kill Satrajit and steal the jewel."

I was shocked to my core! The wine was really a dangerous thing, so the Brahmins were always instructed to stay away from that. Now, I saw that with my own two eyes. Then I looked at Duryodhana, who was listening with a nonchalant face. He again filled the goblet and handed...no, Kritvarman literally snatched it with his drunkenness.

"After that fake news of the Pandavas death in Varnavat, Vasudev Krishna himself visited that burned hut. Akrura instigated both of us against Satrajit. Even he promised for help against Krishna if he tried to do anything...that coward Akrura promised to help. One night, Shatadhanwa break into the house of Satrajit, and killed him in his sleep. Then he took the jewel too and ran away."

Both I and Mamashri Kripacharya were listening with shocked silence. But one thing shocked me the most was the calm attitude of Duryodhana himself. Kritvarman took another sip from his goblet, and started speaking again.

"After her father's death, Devi Satyabhama herself went to Varnavat on a chariot. She shared her grief to Krishna and Balrama. Both Krishna and Balrama were angry, and they came to Dwarka. My brother ran away with the jewel. He went to Akrura, but Akrura refused to help him. Even I, his brother, refused to help him, because I have neither physical strength, nor political backing to antagonize them. My brother Shatadhanwa ran away and Vasudev Krishna killed him."

I saw his grip tighten around the silver goblet in his hand. There were dents in that goblet.

"So, Vasudev Krishna got that jewel and gave it to his wife, right?" Mamashri Kripacharya asked him.

Kritvarman looked at him with red eyes.

"No, the jewel was still missing. Krishna claimed that Shatadhanwa did not have the jewel with him. But I don't believe him. Even Balrama didn't believe him either. Balrama was very angry on his brother, so he left Dwarka and went to Mithila. But after some days, his anger vanished and he came back. Then we have to go to Vidarbha...then..."

The goblet fell on the floor. Kritvarman slumped on his chair, his eyes closed.

I saw Duryodhana standing up. He called two guards. They somehow grabbed the semi-conscious Yadava warrior. Duryodhana ordered them to take him to the spare room beside my room. The guards took him out to him.

Then he looked at both of us.

"Kulguru, Ashwatthama, not a single word will leave this room."

We both could only nod. Our senses were totally numb after what we just heard. But what just we heard, that meant only one thing.

The seemingly invincible Yadavas were not like an impenetrable fortress. To be honest, there was no fortress that had no cracks. The Yadavas weren't exception of this rule.

I looked at Duryodhana, who was sitting with a calm face, but his eyes were glowing. Sometimes, I didn't understand my friend. But one thing I was certain now, that there was a turbulent time coming towards us.

And my Mitra would be at the centre of it.

So, this is the eleventh chapter.

I am sorry for this delay, but this chapter needed a lot of research. One reason to write my 'Gammon' series is to explore the unexplored parts of Mahabharata and Puranas, and churning out the mysteries of them. The Mahabharata and the Puranas had lots and lots of interesting stories with messages for us. Those messages could actually help us to shape our way of life. Well, I will not bore you guys more, let's get to some information.

The Syamantaka Jewel was a famous jewel, having magical powers [8 Bhari gold every day, avoidance of natural calamities]. Some modern historians claim that the Syamantaka might be the famous Koh-I-Noor diamond.

But, there was another theory too.

According to Astrology, the jewel associated with the Surya Narayana was Ruby, not diamond. So, some scholars claimed that Syamantaka was a Ruby originally. Diamond was associated with Shukra (Venus).

But, here came another misconception.

Due to a spelling mistake, sometimes 'Syamantaka' became 'Shyamantaka'. Now the word 'Shyam' means black. So this led to another false idea that Syamantaka was originally a Sapphire, the gem of Karmaphaldata Shani Devta.

1 Bhari = 11.66 grams (approximately)

We can find the story of Syamantaka Jewel in Bhagavat Purana, Vishnu Purana and Jain literature Harivansham.

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