Veerbhadra tried to kiss her goodbye but she turned her face away. He could understand her anger. She had lost the woman she had idolised all her life. Her hometown, Devagiri, was about to be destroyed. She did not want to risk losing her husband as well. But Veerbhadra had to do this. Sati’s killers had to be punished.

‘Panditji,’ said Kartik, his hands folded in a Namaste and his head bowed low.

Bhrigu opened his eyes. The maharishi had been meditating in the grand Indra temple next to the Public Bath.

‘Lord Kartik,’ said Bhrigu, surprised to see Kartik in Devagiri at this time of night.

‘I’m too young for you to address me as Lord, great Maharishi,’ said Kartik.

‘Noble deeds make a man a Lord, not merely his age. I have heard about your efforts to ensure the Somras is not completely destroyed. History will thank you for it. Your glory will be recounted for ages.’

‘I’m not working for my own glory, Panditji. My task is to be true to my father’s mission. My task is to do what my mother would have wanted me to do.’

Bhrigu smiled. ‘I don’t think your mother would have wanted you to come here. I don’t think she would have wanted you to save me.’

‘I disagree,’ said Kartik. ‘You are a good man. You just picked the wrong side.’

‘I didn’t just pick this side, I led it into battle. And the dictates of dharma demand that I perish with it.’

‘Why?’

‘If the side I led committed such crimes, I must pay for it. If fate has determined that those that supported the Somras have sinned, then the Somras must be evil. I was wrong. And, my punishment is death.’

‘Isn’t that taking the easy way out?’

Bhrigu stared at Kartik, angered by the implied insult.

‘So you think you have done something wrong, Panditji,’ said Kartik. ‘What is the way out? Escaping through death? Or, actually working to set things right by balancing your karma?’

‘What can I do? I’ve conceded that the Somras is evil. There’s nothing left for me to do now.’

‘You have a vast storehouse of knowledge within you Panditji,’ said Kartik. ‘The Somras is not the only subject you excel at. Should the world be deprived of Lord Bhrigu’s Samhita?’

‘I don’t think anyone is interested in my knowledge.’

‘That is for posterity to determine. You should only do your duty.’

Bhrigu fell silent.

‘Panditji, your karma is to spread your knowledge throughout the world,’ said Kartik. ‘Whether others choose to listen or not is their karma.’