The Oath of the Vayuputras Read online

  Praise for the Shiva Trilogy

  ‘Amish’s mythical imagination mines the past and taps into the possibilities of the future. His book series, archetypal and stirring, unfolds the deepest recesses of the soul as well as our collective consciousness.’

  – Deepak Chopra, world-renowned spiritual guru and

  bestselling author

  ‘Amish is a fresh new voice in Indian writing – steeped in myth and history, with a fine eye for detail and a compelling narrative style.’

  – Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State in the Indian government

  and celebrated author

  ‘Furious action jumps off every page.’

  – Anil Dharker, renowned journalist and author

  ‘Tripathi’s Shiva Trilogy is already being touted as India’s Lord of the Rings.’

  – Hindustan Times

  ‘…Amish has mastered the art of gathering, interpreting and presenting India’s many myths, folklores and legends, and blending all of that into fast-paced thrillers that change your views about gods, cultures, histories, demons and heroes, forever.’

  – Hi Blitz

  ‘Amish’s Shiva Trilogy has a refreshing storyline… The narration forces you to impatiently turn the page to know what secret is going to be revealed about the “Neelkanth” next.’

  – The Telegraph

  ‘It’s a labour of love... Amish also humanizes his characters, something which most popular Indian writers fail miserably at.’

  – Mint

  ‘Amish’s philosophy of tolerance, his understanding of mythology and his avowed admiration for Shiva are evident in his best-selling works.’

  – Verve

  ‘Tripathi is part of an emerging band of authors who have taken up mythology and history in a big way, translating bare facts into delicious stories.’

  – The New Indian Express

  ‘[Amish] has combined his love for history, philosophy and mythology into a racy fictional narrative which depicts Lord Shiva as a Tibetan tribal leader.’

  – The Pioneer

  ‘Tripathi’s approach to storytelling is contemporary and urban which is one of the main draws of the books. Though the story is fictional, its characters and historical depictions are factual […].’

  – Harper’s Bazaar

  ‘[Amish] does a matchless job of bringing Shiva’s legacy into a character who inhabited the earth.’

  – The Sentinel

  ‘The Shiva Trilogy is a racy mytho-thriller with a masala twist, like Amar Chitra Katha on steroids.’

  – Rashmi Bansal, bestselling author of Stay Hungry Stay

  Foolish

  Praise for The Immortals of Meluha

  ‘I was blown away with the world of Meluha and riveted by Amish’s creation of it.’

  – Karan Johar, renowned filmmaker

  ‘Shiva rocks. Just how much Shiva rocks the imagination is made grandiosely obvious in The Immortals of Meluha. […] Shiva’s journey from cool dude […] to Mahadev […] is a reader’s delight. […] What really engages is the author’s crafting of Shiva, with almost boy-worship joy.’

  – The Times of India

  ‘The Immortals of Meluha […] sees Lord Shiva and his intriguing life with a refreshing perspective. […] Beautifully written creation. […] Simply unputdownable for any lover of Indian history and mythology.’

  – Society

  ‘The story [in The Immortals of Meluha] is gripping and well-paced. An essentially mythological story written in a modern style, the novel creates anticipation in the reader’s mind and compels one to read with great curiosity till the end.’

  – Business World

  ‘[The Immortals of Meluha is] amongst the top 5 books recommended by Brunch... the story is fascinating.’

  – Hindustan Times

  ‘[The Immortals of Meluha] has philosophy as its underlying theme but is racy enough to give its readers the adventure of a lifetime.’

  – The Hindu

  ‘[The Immortals of Meluha is a] wonderful book, replete with action, love and adventure, and extolling virtues and principles... The author has succeeded in making many mythological characters into simple flesh and blood human beings, and therein lie(s) the beauty and the acceptability of this book.’

  – The Afternoon

  ‘The author takes myth and contemporises it, raising questions about all that we hold true and familiar. The book is a marvellous attempt to create fiction from folklore, religion and archaeological facts.’

  – People

  ‘…The Immortals of Meluha is a political commentary with messages for our world and a hope that since they flow from the Mahadev himself, they will find greater acceptance. Be it the interpretation of Shiva’s battle cry – Har Har Mahadev as Every man a Mahadev or the valour of Sati who fights her own battles – every passage is rich in meaning, and yet, open to interpretation. Therein lies the strength of this book.’

  – Indiareads.com

  ‘Following the amazing success of the first book, one has to admit that Amish has managed to touch a very popular nerve […].’

  – Deccan Chronicle

  Praise for The Secret of the Nagas

  ‘With his book, the second part of the Shiva trilogy [The Secret of the Nagas], [Amish] seems to be taking a walk in [Dan] Brown’s shoes.’

  – Hindustan Times

  ‘In The Secret of the Nagas, the author tells the story well, tying up seemingly loose ends and tangents into a tight plot.’

  – The Sunday Guardian

  ‘[…] a gripping tale that combines lots of action with deep yet accessible philosophy. Amish does not disappoint. […] The Secret of the Nagas is furiously packed with action and intrigue and leaves the reader guessing.’

  – Outlook

  ‘…the book has it all – philosophies, spiritual messages, secrets, battles and mysteries.’

  – The Indian Express

  ‘It’s clear that [The Secret of the Nagas] has struck a chord with Indian readers.’

  – The Hindu

  ‘Amish Tripathi retained his Midas touch with The Secret of the Nagas.’

  – Deccan Herald

  ‘The Secret of the Nagas is impressive in its conception... Tripathi is an excellent storyteller.’

  – DNA

  ‘The moment you start reading [The Secret of the Nagas], you are sucked into the adrenaline-pumping ride through the enigmatic landscape populated by a host of [characters].’

  – Alive

  ‘Few books on history and mythology have an element that makes you think beyond the printed word. The Secret of the Nagas, Amish Tripathi’s second book of the Shiva Trilogy, does that.’

  – Herald, Goa

  The Oath of the

  Vayuputras

  Book 3

  of the

  Shiva Trilogy

  Amish

  westland ltd

  61 Silverline Building, 2nd floor, Alapakkam Main Road, Maduravoyal, Chennai 600095

  93, 1st Floor, Sham Lal Road, New Delhi 110002

  23/181 Anand Nagar, Nehru Road, Santacruz East, Mumbai 400055

  No. 38/10 (New No.5), Raghava Nagar, New Timber Yard Layout, Bangalore 560026

  www.westlandbooks.in

  Published by westland ltd 2013

  Copyright © Amish Tripathi 2013

  All rights reserved

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Amish Tripathi asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to any actual person living or dead, events and locales is entir
ely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-93-82618-34-8

  Cover Design by Rashmi Pusalkar.

  Photo of Lord Shiva by Chandan Kowli.

  Inside book formatting and typesetting by Ram Das Lal

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by any way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the author’s prior written consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser and without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews with appropriate citations.

  To the late Dr Manoj Vyas, my father-in-law

  Great men never die

  They live on in the hearts of their followers

  Har Har Mahadev

  All of us are Mahadevs, All of us are Gods

  For His most magnificent temple, finest mosque and

  greatest church exist within our souls

  Contents

  The Shiva Trilogy

  Acknowledgements

  Chapter 1 : The Return of a Friend

  Chapter 2 : What is Evil?

  Chapter 3 : The Kings Have Chosen

  Chapter 4 : A Frog Homily

  Chapter 5 : The Shorter Route

  Chapter 6 : The City that Conquers Pride

  Chapter 7 : An Eternal Partnership

  Chapter 8 : Who is Shiva?

  Chapter 9 : The Love-struck Barbarian

  Chapter 10 : His Name Alone Strikes Fear

  Chapter 11 : The Branga Alliance

  Chapter 12 : Troubled Waters

  Chapter 13 : Escape of the Gunas

  Chapter 14 : The Reader of Minds

  Chapter 15 : The Magadhan Issue

  Chapter 16 : Secrets Revealed

  Chapter 17 : Honour Imprisoned

  Chapter 18 : Honour or Victory?

  Chapter 19 : Proclamation of the Blue Lord

  Chapter 20 : The Fire Song

  Chapter 21 : Siege of Ayodhya

  Chapter 22 : Magadh Mobilises

  Chapter 23 : Battle of Bal-Atibal Kund

  Chapter 24 : The Age of Violence

  Chapter 25 : God or Country?

  Chapter 26 : Battle of Mrittikavati

  Chapter 27 : The Neelkanth Speaks

  Chapter 28 : Meluha Stunned

  Chapter 29 : Every Army Has a Traitor

  Chapter 30 : Battle of Devagiri

  Chapter 31 : Stalemate

  Chapter 32 : The Last Resort

  Chapter 33 : The Conspiracy Deepens

  Chapter 34 : With the Help of Umbergaon

  Chapter 35 : Journey to Pariha

  Chapter 36 : The Land of Fairies

  Chapter 37 : Unexpected Help

  Chapter 38 : The Friend of God

  Chapter 39 : He is One of Us

  Chapter 40 : Ambush on the Narmada

  Chapter 41 : An Invitation for Peace

  Chapter 42 : Kanakhala’s Choice

  Chapter 43 : A Civil Revolt

  Chapter 44 : A Princess Returns

  Chapter 45 : The Final Kill

  Chapter 46 : Lament of the Blue Lord

  Chapter 47 : A Mother’s Message

  Chapter 48 : The Great Debate

  Chapter 49 : Debt to the Neelkanth

  Chapter 50 : Saving a Legacy

  Chapter 51 : Live On, Do Your Karma

  Chapter 52 : The Banyan Tree

  Chapter 53 : The Destroyer of Evil

  Chapter 54 : By the Holy Lake

  Glossary

  The Shiva Trilogy

  Shiva! The Mahadev. The God of Gods. Destroyer of Evil. Passionate lover. Fierce warrior. Consummate dancer. Charismatic leader. All-powerful, yet incorruptible. Quick of wit – and of temper.

  No foreigner who came to India – be he conqueror, merchant, scholar, ruler, traveller – believed that such a great man could ever have existed in reality. They assumed he must have been a mythical God, a fantasy conjured within the realms of human imagination. And over time, sadly, this belief became our received wisdom.

  But what if we are wrong? What if Lord Shiva was not simply a figment of a rich imagination but a person of flesh-and-blood like you and me? A man who rose to become god-like as a result of his karma. That is the premise of the Shiva Trilogy, which attempts to interpret the rich mythological heritage of ancient India, blending fiction with historical fact.

  The Immortals of Meluha was the first book in a trilogy that chronicles the journey of this extraordinary hero. The story was continued in the second book, The Secret of the Nagas. And it will all end in the book that you are holding: The Oath of the Vayuputras.

  This is a fictional series that is a tribute to my God; I found Him after spending many years in the wilderness of atheism. I hope you find your God as well. It doesn’t matter in what form we find Him, so long as we do find Him eventually. Whether He comes to us as Shiva or Vishnu or Shakti Maa or Allah or Jesus Christ or Buddha or any other of His myriad forms, He wants to help us. Let us allow Him to do so.

  Yadyatkarma karomi tattadakhilam shambho tavaaraadhanam

  My Lord Shambo, My Lord Shiva, every act of mine is a prayer in your honour

  Acknowledgements

  I hadn’t imagined I would ever become an author. The life that I live now, a life spent in pursuits like writing, praying, reading, debating and travelling, actually feels surreal at times. There are many who have made this dream possible and I’d like to thank them.

  Lord Shiva, my God, for bringing me back to a spiritual life. It is the biggest high possible.

  Neel, my son, a rejuvenating elixir, who would regularly come and ask me while I was obsessively writing this book, ‘Dad, aapka ho gaya kya?’

  Preeti, my wife; Bhavna, my sister; Himanshu, my brother-in-law; Anish and Ashish, my brothers; Donetta, my sister-in-law. They have worked so closely with me, that many times I feel that it isn’t just my book, but a joint project, which just happens to have my name on it.

  The rest of my family: Usha, Vinay, Meeta, Shernaz, Smita, Anuj and Ruta. For always being there for me.

  Sharvani Pandit, my editor. She has battled severe health troubles, without asking for any sympathy. And despite the trying times she went through, she helped me fulfil my karma. I’m lucky to have her.

  Rashmi Pusalkar, the designer of this book’s cover. She’s been a partner from the first book. In my humble opinion, she’s one of the best book-cover designers in Indian publishing.

  Gautam Padmanabhan, Satish Sundaram, Anushree Banerjee, Paul Vinay Kumar, Vipin Vijay, Renuka Chatterjee, Deepthi Talwar, Krishna Kumar Nair and the fantastic team at Westland, my publishers. They have shown commitment and understanding that very few publishers show towards their authors.

  Anuj Bahri, my agent, a typically large-hearted, boisterous Punjabi. A man brought to me by fate, to help me achieve my dreams.

  Sangram Surve, Shalini Iyer and the team at Think Why Not, the advertising and digital marketing agency for the book. I have worked with many advertising agencies in my career, including some of the biggest multinationals. Think Why Not ranks right up there, amongst the best.

  Chandan Kowli, the photographer for the cover. He did a brilliant job as always. Also, Atul Pargaonkar, for fabricating the bow and arrow; Vinay Salunkhe, for the make-up; Ketan Karande, the model; Japheth Bautista, for the concept art for the background; the Little Red Zombies team and Shing Lei Chua for support on 3D elements and scene set-up; Sagar Pusalkar and team for the post processing work on the images; Julien Dubois for coordinating production. I hope you like the cover they have created. I loved it!

  Omendu Prakash,
Biju Gopal and Swapnil Patil for my photograph that has been printed in this book. Their composition was exceptional; the model, regrettably, left a lot to be desired!

  Chandramauli Upadhyay, Shakuntala Upadhyay and Vedshree Upadhyay from Benaras; Santanu Ghoshroy and Shweta Basu Ghoshroy from Singapore. For their hospitality while I wrote this book.

  Mohan Vijayan, a friend, whose advice on media matters is something I always treasure.

  Rajesh Lalwani and the Blogworks team, a digital agency which works with my publisher, for their strong support in an area I don’t understand too well.

  Anuja Choudhary and the Wizspk team, the PR agency of my publisher, for the effective campaigns they’ve implemented.

  Dr Ramiyar Karanjia, for his immense help in understanding the philosophies of Zoroastrianism.

  And last, but certainly not the least, you the reader. Thank you from the depths of my being for the support you’ve given to the first two books of the Shiva Trilogy. I hope I can give you a sense of completion with this concluding book.

  Chapter 1

  The Return of a Friend

  Before the Beginning

  Blood dribbled into the water, creating unhurried ripples which expanded slowly to the edges of the cistern. Shiva bent over the container as he watched the rippling water distort his reflection. He dipped his hands in the water and splashed some on his face, washing off the blood and gore. Recently appointed Chief of the Gunas, he was in a mountain village far from the comforts of the Mansarovar Lake. It had taken his tribe three weeks to get there despite the punishing pace he had set. The cold was bone-chilling, but Shiva didn’t even notice. Not because of the heat that emanated from the Pakrati huts that were being gutted by gigantic flames, but because of the fire that burnt within.

  Shiva wiped his eyes and stared at his reflection in the water. Raw fury gripped him. Yakhya, the Pakrati chieftain, had escaped. Shiva controlled his breathing, still recovering from the exhaustion of combat.

  He thought he saw his uncle, Manobhu’s bloodied body in the water. Shiva reached out below the surface of the water with his hand. ‘Uncle!’

  The mirage vanished. Shiva squeezed his eyes shut.