A year after his victory over the Asuras was when Vajra visited Kush for the second time. He was leading the final batch of the barbarian exodus. To get the barbarians out of their lands, the famed princes of Western Drylands themselves led these people out into the mainland by taking turns with each other. Princes of the drylands generally had divine sanction. They were not only very powerful, they also had a reputation of being children of god. They are not easily trifled with. So the barbarians were safe until they travelled to the rendezvous point outside the Eastern Prairie. This was where the princes left them and troubles started once again. When people opposed Kush for leading the barbarian army, it was merely a pretense. What they truly opposed was his unstoppable power. But all of those reasons became true, when the families of the barbarians joined them. The Aryans didn't want the foreigners settling in their lands and the barbarians as well were tough to reform. Kush saw another whole bunch of problems after relocating them. Not only that, hardly twenty percent of the barbarian elites were left since he brought them into the mainland. A lot of women became widows, which meant that the other men (non-elites who were not part of the army that opposed Kush in the desert) took advantage, leading to an internal chaos within the tribal society. These were all issues Kush was not equipped to deal with. However, if he let the chaos spread, he would simply be giving the Aryans another reason to oppose them.
Consequently, Kush did not have an easy year even after he won his battles against the Asuras. Which was the only…really the one and only reason why he let himself be persuaded by Vajra into visiting this temple town that time.
He still remembered the kid's shining eyes and his excitement as he said, 'They say this Manas kingdom is full of Apsarases (fairies) who emerged from the froth when the milky ocean was being churned! You can find them dancing in the temples in the middle of the night as service to god. They say this place is full of music and art where the greatest minds of the century gather to discuss how to liberate the universe! Isn't that exciting? We have to see it!'
'You're an idiot,' Kush grumbled at that time. 'The so called Apsarases are actually Devdasis. They are not born from froth and shit, they are orphans or children of other Devdasis who are brought up by the temple.'
'Well, I did say they live there in service to god. Isn't that what Deva-dasi means? A slave of god?'
Kush was not finished though. 'They are dancing in the middle of the night because they are entertaining men. The so-called discussions about liberation of the universe happen because everybody is dead drunk and don't know left from right. Why else does one need to liberate the damn universe? Liberating yourself is hard enough. I'm not going.'
'What do you mean entertaining men? Devdasis are just like those widows in Rtadhara who live in the temple, aren't they? After they lose their husbands, they too become servants of god.'
'Don't take everything too literally dumbass. Devdasi means prostitute. Don't you have those in your country where Rta flows?'
'No. What's that?'
"Damn…" Kush was at a loss how to explain it to him. "A prostitute is…you know?"
'What do I know?'
'It's a woman…'
'A woman? Like big sister Sara?'
'No, fuck!' Kush jumped and slapped his palm against Vajra's mouth. 'Fuck that!' he gasped. 'Never say such things in the same breath as your sister's name.'
Breathing deeply, Kush resolved, 'Fine, you dumbass. Because you helped resolve so many doubts in my mind about teacher's plans, I'll educate you this one time. We'll go to Manas so you can see for yourself what a Devdasi is.'
'Great!'
Even with his sharp instincts and excellent mind for trouble, Kush still missed the cunning glint that flashed in the king's eyes for a second.
Only after reaching the temple kingdom and being chased by many beautiful women did Kush begin to suspect that something is wrong. It appeared he was the only one that was uncomfortable in that scenario. When he looked at his friend, his friend gazed back and winked at him, grinning, 'I'm a king, you idiot. How could I possibly not know what a courtesan is?'
But by then, it was already too late. Kush was surrounded by Devdasis who were trying all kinds of methods to get his attention. Normally, devdasis have a lot of rules about how they must behave. They must only have god in their heart and should never willingly seduce men. But Kush was just a kid, so they weren't seducing. They were just playing with him. Another reason they did that was because he came with Vajra. The foreign king was dressed top to bottom in exotic jewels. They recognized his stature immediately. Whenever these kings and royals took a Devdasi from Manas to entertain them in their court, the temple made a lot of money. It was a matter of quite a lot of importance for them as it could make a devdasi's career. Even though this little king was quite young, there was no harm in playing around a little bit. Many sections of the temple had sculptures describing the sexual union precisely to educate boys of this age in the first place. So the Devdasis didn't feel it anything wrong to tease these two young teenagers.
Vajra was born in a palace. What kind of art and dance did he not see? What kind of beauties was he unfamiliar with? He entertained the girls for a bit quite naturally and then went on his way to explore the ancient temple, which was his main goal. Kush who was red as a tomato from all the attentions of beautiful girls struggled to keep up.
Common people viewed this temple in just the way Kush described. A highly glorified brothel. It was such a high class brothel that one was not even permitted to think of it as one. After all, in there somewhere was a small dark room, inside which there was a god and goddess who presided over the entire place.