Vajra snuck in here often because it was quiet and remote and he knew none of his sisters liked it here because the second queen once made renovations to this place. They didn't touch anything the second queen ever touched. The most curious part was once they took Kavya-guari under their wing, they gave her the same quirks of disliking everything her own mother touched! It was a wonder how women do that, but Varunapriya once explained to him that women have internal radar for unsavory elements and people. Kavya-guari must've never liked her mother in the first place.
Vajra got into the bath gently and without wetting his hands, he moved to a wall. Placing the painting collection on the dry platform by the bath, he began perusing them with interest once again.
For two years it had been a mystery to him what happened outside Manas capital that year when it was surrounded by enemies. Vajra berated himself several times for not warning Kush that might happen. He really had no intention that time when he dragged Kush to that place other than to check out this ancient rumor about a 'chosen one'. One must know there is no such thing as 'adoption' in the Vedic dictates. When it does happen, what the priests do is practice an elaborate procedure to create an 'artificial child'. Vajra was convinced Kush was the one to succeed the temple throne of Manas, but he really wanted to know how he can be 'created' when he clearly already exists. Frankly, he was expecting some kind of divine awakening to happen to Kush.
In the end nothing happened though, and even if it would later, Vajra didn't have the luxury of time to stay there and watch. He regretted deeply coming back too soon. Vajra learned later that three armies have gotten past the border fortress and surrounded the Manas capital. But this wasn't the most astonishing thing. The most astonishing thing was that the vanguards of all three armies that went up the mountain had been completely obliterated. Down to the last man!
The stragglers who managed to escape began to scream that the god and goddess of the Manas temple have come down to deal with them. Right afterward, they too exploded and died! Deterred by this extreme show of force, the enemy armies swiftly retreated from Manas. They were here to probe in the first place. They were there to see if Manas would resort to diplomacy or force in order to deal with them. Clearly, they were not prepared by the third and entirely different response. Complete deterrence. Tucking their tails between their legs, they simply left. Their countries and factions did not even think of retaliation.
Since that time, word began to spread all over the world that the god and goddess of Manas were perhaps the most powerful gods in the world. Everyone thought they were just blocks of stone till now. In fact, the two gods didn't even have names until now. The female was sometimes referred to as Shakti. But this was not a name, just a description. It means she was energy itself. The male did not even get that much. He was called Shakti's consort, if ever referred to individually. What the two gods stood for till now was the divine masculine and divine feminine that existed within each man and woman. In accordance, they did not need names. Everything was different now though. With power, came prestige. With prestige came a need for names, classifications and legends written specifically to deify those names. Evidently, the priests all over Manas had started a second war since then regarding the names. They only recently came to a consensus and testily began to call the male consort Shiva.
Vajra knew his real name though. It was Bhargava. He looked lost as his eyes blended into the painting. Frozen mid-air, a man with wild mane and a leopard like body was depicted in it. In his hand, he was holding a weapon made of void. Only through the bizarre destruction it caused around it could Vajra make out its shape as a trident. Rocks were exploding around the man, touched by nothing but his divine momentum. Soldiers who looked awfully small compared to him were falling everywhere. Throats pierced, guts falling down, heads flying, death was everywhere. Yet the eyes could see nothing but the exploding mass that was the man in the air. Deep in the background was a lonely figure of a child. He was clad in golden armor, holding a long sword, looking confused and overwhelmed. There was also a taste of excitement in his body language, the seed of the god of war who cannot stay still at the sight of carnage. Vajra couldn't help but smile looking at that figure. He made a note next to the painting to send a reward in gold to the painter.
It was just as well that Manas had so many artists residing in it, some of who were also brave to go to the battlefield in order to watch. Vajra thought of them long ago and commissioned them so that they can show him what really happened there. It took them two long years to produce something though. They often told him that what they saw struck them at their core and they were too terrified to depict it. They could only continue once their minds have found peace. As for the 'goddess's' actions, they refused to depict it no matter what Vajra gave them. They said their souls feel they were being shredded whenever they thought about. She was truly a force of nature. Impossible to depict or replicate.
It wasn't just the artists he brought to Rtadhara, Vajra routinely sent spies of his Wandering Division to collect paintings from Manas artists. The Wandering Division was formed when he was eight and was told he cannot go on a tour around the world like his grandfather. One can imagine the tantrum. The king made a compromise ultimately and let him form a Wandering Division in the espionage ministry which commissioned travelers from all over the world to record their experiences. Eventually, spies who were specifically tasked to wander and learn about the cultures and systems of the world were also trained and deployed. They served as Vajra's eyes and ears on the world while he sat on the remote throne of Rtadhara. Luckily enough, one of these spies collected a painting made by a divine artist which really did depict the Devi (goddess).
Vajradandaka took not a moment to recognise her as Ashangi. Her clothes were different though. She wasn't wearing that alien tailored gown this time. She wrapped around a dhoti that came to her knees like other warrior women. The artist also depicted her in mid motion, like in the middle of a dance. Her sword was in the air while warriors surrounded her from all sides. This picture was not as destructive looking as the one depicting Bhargava. But it was actually more violent and disturbing. In her dance, heads were flying everywhere around Ashangi. They actually looked like a garland she wore on her neck as the artist depicted them suspended mid-air. In the background, the enemy lines have still not been broken. It appeared the war just begun. The artists Vajra brought back to Rtadhara told him that the goddess came like a storm in the beginning of the war and left right after. Until looking at the picture, Vajradandaka had no idea why. If one should think Bhargava was not powerful enough by himself, he clearly dealt with everyone alone later. If one should think it was because she didn't know he was capable and only drew back after knowing it, clearly she alone fought in the first part of the confrontation. So it also was not the reason. But now Vajrandandaka understood.
He could see that the circular momentum of the goddess's dance of death was interrupted at this moment when her foot landed on a body. It was not a dead body, no. Quite the opposite. It was a certain someone with a fair and extraordinarily handsome face snoozing on the battlefield! Vajra almost laughed imagining Ashangi's wrath. That woman was always so eerily calm. Bhargava must be driving her mad by now. It was just like him not to take anything seriously.