The great drying

The great drying
Like the ikShvAku-s bound by the rakShas,
like bhIma neutralized by the cast of dice,
like rAma stopped by the lord of the armies,
like abhimanyu felled by the kuru hosts,
within us were diversely oscillating pistons,
we lay as an engine unable to engage the wheels.

We dodged the strike of the agent of skanda,
twice skipped entry into the abode of the asura,
then came out of the realm of the sylvan durgA,
thereafter back-hurled the vile, gripping kR^ityA,
But was this all just to fall like a common man,
in the manner truly detested by kShatriya-s

Eight are the cremation grounds, the mahAshmashAna-s:
chaNDogra in the eastern reaches of the va~Nga-s,
yamajvAla where the sea laps the draMiDa shores,
varuNakapAla where the Anarta-s have their drinks,
kuberabhairava where one learns mahAlIlAdevI teachings,
shrInAyaka, outside which the andhra-s flock to brothels,
aTTahAsa, wherein cherikA-s are possessed by bhUta-s,
ghorAndhakAra, from beneath which hi~NgulA prances,
And kilikilArava where the gargantuan ape was killed.

We only vaguely knew of the shmashAna-s, not their names or locations. Then we ascended to the stronghold of upasha~Nkushiras where he was relaxing with his dUtI barbarIkA. We asked what had befallen mahAsha~Nkushiras. His face turned pale. He then pointed to the west and said there he is roasting away on a pyre at varuNakapAla. The amAtya and shachiva wanted to hide from us or play down the end of mahAsha~Nkushiras. But we were not to be fooled. It struck a cord somewhere deep within us: could it be that we follow him on that way? The lesser brAhmaNa in our retinue said that we should go and meet vAtulashiras. So we went there with our retinue . We heard from his beautiful daughter kShetrA that vAtulashiras had been possessed by a DAvI. The looks of kShetrA bewitched us; we wanted to linger in her company reading comics and our retinue was more than happy to oblige. We soon learned she was rather accomplished in many ways and kShetrA of her own tried to make conversation with us. She was telling us that she was intent on performing a six year sAdhana to relieve her father of the DAvI. We were intently listening to her plans all the time snatching glimpses of her face. But right then our most trusted alter ego signaled to us, pointing to two mating cats which were screaming in an orgiastic climax just beyond the hedge which surrounded kShetrA’s house. We were awakened like matysendra in kadalIrAjya by gorakSha. Leaving the amAtya and the lesser brAhmaNa to deal with kShetrA with rushed out with our alter ego. The cats continued their engagement, their cries reverberating through the afternoon quiet. Our alter ego said that the DAvI had probably seized both of us even as we had been enamored by kShetrA. We left the place without even saying bye to kShetrA.

We returned home and at the evening hour with our alter ego left towards the rocky massif of vAyava. In our mind we were repeatedly turning the issue of the end of mahAsha~Nkushiras.

Continued…