Mahosadha, the Warrior for Peace

There took place a conversation between the warring king of Pancala in cradle on an elephant’s back and Mahosadha in full view of the enemy at a wide window of the temporary palace building in the fortified town of Upakari. The passage is an excerpt from the scene of the episode: Mahosadha continued. “Your Majesty, there is only one way how your Majesty can prevent that grievous hurt from happening. If your Majesty would allow me and my men to live and return to Mithila, I would bring back Queen Nanda Devi, the young prince and the royal mother Calaka Devi to Pancala. Your Majesty knows as well as I that I am the only human being in the whole world who can do that.” Mahosadha let the king recover the sense of his imperial grace and dignity. The king began to assess the situation. Would the killing of Mahosadha solve his problem of empire building? Would it even solve the immediate problem of saving his entire family? It was more like Mahosadha was central and pivotal to all that he needed to add to his advantage. The king began to change his opinion of Mahosadha and was now convinced that it was Mahosadha who outwitted and beaten him again, and that the only way to recover his family was to let Mahosadha live and do what he said he would – he now believed Mahosadha was not a liar. And there was something else that intrigued him about how Mahosadha managed the escape of King Videha, together with his abducted family. He finally said: “Wise Sage, I planned to seize and kill your king, by surrounding and blockading your little town with my armies. In spite of all that massive blockade, you managed to let him escape, together with all his entourage and a mass of armed guards. Nay, not only that. You managed to abduct my family, the four of them, whom I left at the safest place in my realm. What is more surprising is that none of my armed men knew about the exodus. That was indeed a matter of incredulity. “Wise Sage, tell me: what kind of supernatural powers do you possess? What sort of secret art and craft are you endowed with? Are you a man with supernatural powers? Or, are you one who knows and chants tantric verses to move your king together with so many others through the thin air or solid earth? What sort of secret magical tools did you use to take away King Videha, my family, and all those other people?” Mahosadha’s smile broadened. “Your Majesty, I am not a god, nor do I possess any supernatural gift from some divine power. Neither am I a vijjadhora capable of travelling through air, water and earth. I know no magic, nor do I chant any mantra. All that I have used was my own human qualities – common sense and simple logic, knowledge, hard work with foresight, sense of humanity, and determination to achieve a meaningful purpose – not just to beat the adversary. “Your Majesty, I have done what I did, not on account of malice or enmity against your Majesty, and not because I wanted to make any material gain wrestled out of your Majesty’s domain or anybody else. But rather it was that I would like to see to a lasting peace between the two kingdoms. I saw the opportunity and took advantage of Your Majesty’s initiative, the deceptive offer of Princess Candi’s hand to my lord King Videha Raja, as a pretext for a death trap, by turning it as a weapon against your Majesty. But it was not without risk and cost to Mithila, which in fact was worth undertaking, considering the enormity of Your Majesty’s scheme of conquest, killings and subjugation. “Your Majesty, this town of Upakari was built in three months for a purpose: it was a diversion for the construction of the underground tunnel that curved into the underside of the entrance staircase of your Majesty’s palace. It was driven through from the bank of the Ganga. When Pancala forces were busy coming and surrounding Upakari, threatening to seize and kill my lord and me, I sent my men through this tunnel to the palace, got the family to come with them on their free will, and carried them in cradles to the wedding pavilion on the bank of the river. “Your Majesty, all that I did was for the mutual benefits of the two kingdoms: to end the bloody wars, and to build a lasting genuine peace with blood-bonding between the two royalties – ironically the same as you deceitfully said you had wished. The four members of your Majesty’s family were brought to the upper floor of the purpose-built wedding pavilion, and in the presence of your Majesty’s royal mother, Her Majesty the Queen, and His Highnesses Prince Pancala, Prince Canda and Princess Candi, as accorded in your offer through Sage Kevat, has been, although in a brief ceremony, most auspiciously wedded to King Videha Raja. And the princess will be appropriately coronated as Queen of my Lord whom your Majesty so praised, sincerely or not, as equal in glory, power and stature to your Majesty.” The king’s tense expression has openly changed to one seemingly less so, and showed signs of intense interest in what Mahosadha was saying. Mahosadhā pressed on: “Your Majesty, the tunnel that I have got constructed isn’t just for a mere passage, but complete with galleries, rest rooms for kings and food stalls for visitors, well lighted and ventilated to the fullest possible extent. It has a hundred rooms for the sovereign kings to rest in leisure if they wish, complete with main doors and windows for fresh air. There are sculpted figures at the entrance to each room, and paintings on the walls and ceiling.” Mahosadha paused for a moment. He saw signs that the king was not in combative mood. “Your Majesty, if you would like to visit the tunnel, your Majesty would leave arms outside of the town. If the sovereign kings and officials would also like to come and see it, they can follow your Majesty, also leaving their arms. I promised safe passage for all.” The king had to think hard: It was a war time, and in a war zone. He thought: “Should I follow him without arms? Isn’t he dangerous? No, he cannot be. He is the one to suffer if I would crush him and his town – he has only a handful of men. Even if he tries to harm me, I have my men and the 99 sovereigns with me. No, there can be no harm from him. He is wise and so, most likely honourable. And, I want to see this secret tunnel. Besides, he has got in his hand my mother, my queen and my children. I must make friends with him. Yes, I am the militant one. He is not really a willing warrior. And with the city gates open, it is a lookout for him and his men. He is clever and wise. I think I can take him for his words.” King Culani Brahmadat calmed himself down, and became convinced that Mahosadha was a real gentleman, trustworthy and wise. He let the elephant lower him, left his sword and spear in the cradle on the elephant back, and climbed down. Seeing this, the 99 dominion kings followed suit. Some of those court officials who would accompany the king also dropped their arms. Mahosadha let open the main gate of the town to let the king and his followers in. All Mithila warriors inside the town also dropped their arms. Both sides suddenly, without declaration of intent, suspended all operations of war.