The Mahabharata Secret.

Doyle, Christopher C.

CHRISTOPHER C DOYLE graduated from St. Stephens College, Delhi, with a degree in Economics and studied Business Management at IIM Calcutta. Since childhood, his literary mentors have been Jules Verne, HG Wells, Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, JRR Tolkein, Robert Jordan and Terry Brooks.

Christopher has written articles on management and business for several publications, and is regularly invited to speak at conferences. He worked with leading multinationals before setting up a strategic consultancy in India in partnership with a US-based firm. He is also a certified Executive Coach and works with senior executives to help them achieve better results in the workplace.

Work aside, Christopher is a musician and lives his passion for music through his band called Mid Life Crisis which plays classic rock.

He lives in Gurgaon with his wife, daughter and two dogs.

The Mahabharata Secret is his debut novel.

O, Duryodhana! O great Kuru!.

The gods smile upon us once more!.

We will carry a silent death to the Pandavas.

Unseen, unheard, they will not know Death when it approaches.

We will lay waste to their cities.

Decimate their armies.

And emerge victorious on the fields of Kurukshetra!.

Rejoice O Kuru, for victory is at hand!.

-Anonymous.

For My parents, who introduced me to the joys of reading and encouraged me to write through my growing years;

My wife Sharmila and daughter Shaynaya

who were my audience as The Mahabharata Secret took

shape; who also put up with my absences

while I wrote the book and researched for it.

Their support and encouragement was instrumental

in this book being published.

And Shaynaya's amazing knowledge of Indian history and mythology helped me ensure I got my facts right.

Acknowledgements.

This book owes its final form to many people, without whom it would have never seen the light of day. Every person mentioned below has contributed to the making of this book.

Artika Bakshi and Gurvisha Ahuja, who read the final draft of the book and gave me valuable inputs that kept the book on track.

Harmeet S. Ahuja, for his invaluable inputs on the physics of optics and for reviewing and validating my research and the section on optics that is so critical to the plot.

Sudhir Rajpal, for educating me on the process of evacuating a town in India.

Anand Prakash for his invaluable help in getting the website up and running and Denzil O'Connell who came up with amazing and innovative ideas to market the book.

To Ritu Rathour and Anand Prakash, who designed the brilliant cover of this book, thank you for creating a cover that brings the story to life.

My thanks go out to Gerald Nordley, Pat MacEwen, Kevin Andrew Murphy, Jaye Stoen, Ginger Kaderabek, Francesca Flynn, Mike Moscoe, Bert Ricci, Elizabeth Gilligan, Phyllis Radford, Karen Miller, Cindy Mitchell and Bob Brown, my fellow scribes in my writers' research group, who answered all my questions and provided me with the technical information that helped me ensure that scenes in the book that depended on research, especially the climax, were accurate and realistic.

A big thank you to all the people at Om Books International: to Ajay Mago and Dipa Chaudhuri for having faith in my writing and the book, and for taking the big leap of faith in publishing it. To Ipshita Sengupta Nag, my editor, who has done such a wonderful job of polishing my writing and keeping the narrative true to the plot.

While I acknowledge the contribution of people who have supported me in writing this book, I take full responsibility for all errors and omissions of fact or detail in this book.

Prologue.

244 BC.

Emperor Asoka and his courtier Surasen stood before the dark opening in the hillside, deep within the forest. The handful of soldiers accompanying them had been left behind before they approached the hill. The group had left Pataliputra ten days ago, after Surasen's return from his secret mission of inspecting the discovery.

On hearing Surasen's report, Asoka had insisted on seeing the cavern and its contents for himself and had decided to leave Pataliputra immediately. Surasen, realising the import of his discovery, had agreed to lead the Emperor to the cavern.

Asoka and Surasen now entered the passage that was the conduit to the cavern.

The emperor marvelled at the soft, dim light that played around them as they entered the passage. But nothing could match the wonder and awe with which he gazed upon the cavern when they entered it.

For a few moments, emperor Asoka stood still, transfixed by the sight that greeted him; despite having been prepared by Surasen on what to expect.

After overcoming his initial amazement, Asoka walked around the cavern in silence, inspecting every inch of it.

It was then that they made the second discovery. A secret so terrible that Asoka found himself wishing that it had remained buried forever A secret that could destroy the world.

242 BC.

Surasen stood before the heap of bark texts in the centre of the palace courtyard. He had chosen this place because it was in an older, secluded part of the palace, dating back to the time of Chandragupta, Asoka's grandfather. Few people ventured here, preferring the environs of the newer parts of the palace, built by Asoka.

He turned to the scribe who stood next to him, mournfully surveying the texts. They were all copies of The Mahabharata, collected from all over the empire, over the course of two years. After Asoka had determined his course of action, to hide the cavern's secret, he had turned his attention to its source.

The Mahabharata.

For, within the pages of the great epic lay the true story behind Asoka's discovery; a story which Asoka had decided to bury, with the secret, forever; erasing it from the memories of his subjects.

Royal messengers had been sent to the farthest corners of the kingdom to return with every existing text of the epic.

'Is this it?' Surasen enquired of the scribe. 'Every single text?'

The scribe nodded, his heart heavy. He knew what was to come.

Surasen ordered. 'Torch them.'

The scribe plucked a torch off the walls of the palace and lit the bonfire. The dry bark texts quickly caught fire and within moments the entire heap was engulfed in flames.

A choked sob escaped the scribe. He had obeyed the royal decree, but he hadn't understood it. No one had.

Only Surasen knew; as did eight of his fellow courtiers. All sworn to secrecy by Asoka.

As he stood watching the flames devour the texts, the Emperor's words on that fateful night echoed in his head.

'The myth must disappear from the knowledge of men, just like the secret it mentions. The world will know the Mahabharata but it will never know the dark secret it carries deep within.'

AD 500.

Rajvirgarh.

Pala handed the boy a coin. 'Now, begone before someone learns what you have been upto.'

The boy scampered away, thrilled with the reward.

Pala turned away thoughtfully. So, the stone book had been found and the connection between its story and the brotherhood had been made.

Someone knew about the brotherhood.

Someone knew about him.

And they would be coming for him.

He quickly put together his possessions. They were meagre. But these were not what he was worried about. He was the guardian of more treasures that belonged to the brotherhood; treasures that were no longer safe in Rajvirgarh. He had to hide them. And he knew exactly where to go.

In Bamiyan, many miles to the northwest, in a small monastery, lived one of the two members of the brotherhood whom he knew; Santhal, a monk.

He had to get the texts and the metal disk to Santhal. This was what had been agreed upon, when he had joined the brotherhood. Santhal was one of the two members who had revealed his true identity to Pala. If anything were to threaten the secrets either of them was responsible for, they were bound by oath to pass on the secrets to the other.

Pala stole out of the palace, and disappeared into the forest behind the palace. Deep in the forest, in a natural cave, were hidden the texts and the metal disk that he had sworn to protect with his life.

He placed the treasured possessions in a worn leather satchel and slung its strap around his neck.

Taking a deep breath, he left the cave, embarking on the long journey that would take him to Bamiyan.

And to his death.

March 2001.

Breaking news on world television.

'The Taliban have destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas!'

The news anchor's face was replaced by a grainy video as she continued speaking. 'This video, released by the Taliban just hours ago shows the two statues being blown up. Archaeologists, historians and people all over the world have expressed their horror at the destruction of these 1500 year old statues.

'There is no doubt that the destruction of these ancient statues is very disturbing. But the academic world is excited about what the destruction of these statues has revealed. The tape released by the Taliban clearly shows caves hollowed into the cliffs behind the Buddhas. Concealed by the two figures for 1500 years, what do these caves conceal? This is the question that is on the mind of archaeologists and historians today.

'We also have unconfirmed reports from our correspondent in Bamiyan, of the discovery of a skeleton in one of the caves. The skeleton appears to be around 1500 years old. No further information is forthcoming at this moment.'

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Present Day.

Day 1.