‘By the great Lord Brahma!’ said Bhrigu. ‘This means the Ayodhya army cannot sail past Magadh. They will have to march through the forest, which means it will take them forever to come to our aid.’

‘But I still don’t understand how the Lord Neelkanth has so many soldiers in Meluha,’ persisted Kanakhala. ‘The Branga and Naga armies together don’t add up to this number.’

The truth finally dawned on Bhrigu. ‘The Vasudevs have joined forces with Shiva. They are the only ones outside of the Suryavanshis and the Chandravanshis who can bring in so many soldiers. This also explains the presence of the exceptionally well-trained elephants Shiva used in the Battle of Mrittikavati. I have heard stories about the prowess of the Vasudev elephants.’

Bhrigu was not aware that the strongest strategic benefit of the Vasudevs was not their elephant corps, but their secretive Vasudev pandits hidden in temples across the Sapt Sindhu. These pandits were the eyes and ears of the Neelkanth, providing him with the most crucial advantage in war: timely and accurate information.

‘Lord Shiva will be here soon with a large army,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘And the three hundred thousand soldiers of Ayodhya will not reach us in time. He has played his cards really well.’

‘I do not have a military mind, General,’ said Bhrigu. ‘But even I can see that we are in deep trouble. What do you advise?’

Parvateshwar brought his hands together and rubbed his chin with his index fingers. He looked up at Bhrigu after some time. ‘If Ganesh decides to enter Meluha from the north, we are finished. There is no way we can defend ourselves against a two-pronged attack. Our engineers have been working hard at repairing the road that was ruined by the Yamuna floods. I’ll immediately send them instructions to leave the road as it is. If Ganesh chooses to cross from there, then we must make the journey difficult for him. Marching a hundred and fifty thousand strong army on a washed-out road is not going to be easy.’

‘Good idea.’

‘The Lord Neelkanth could be in Devagiri in a matter of weeks.’

‘It’s a good thing you have engaged the army in training exercises and simulations,’ said Bhrigu.

‘The Lord will not win here,’ said Parvateshwar. ‘That is my word to you, Maharishiji.’

‘I believe you, General. But what do we do about the Vasudev elephants? We cannot win against Shiva’s army unless we stop his elephants.’

‘What do you think, Shiva?’ asked Gopal.

Gopal, Sati and Kali were with Shiva in his chamber at Mrittikavati, conferring. They were re-evaluating their strategy in the light of the news received from Panini.

Kali was clear in her mind. ‘Shiva, I propose that you leave Mrittikavati and sail out to Pariha. If you can convince the Vayuputras to give you a lethal daivi astra, say the Brahmastra, this war will be as good as over.’