Ganesh laughed heartily. He had suffered intensely and taken a long time to recover from his mother’s death, but had ultimately reconciled himself with that loss, choosing to learn from her life instead. He had taken it upon himself to spread the word of Shiva and Sati throughout India. That sense of purpose in his life had helped him return to his calm state of being; in fact, he was even jovial at times.

‘Thanks to your wisdom, peace prevails all over India, baba,’ said Ganesh. ‘There are no more wars, no conflicts. So I do very little physical activity and eat a lot. Ultimately, the way I see it, it’s your fault that I’m getting fatter.’

Kali and Kartik laughed loudly. Shiva nodded faintly, his eyes not losing their seriousness.

‘You should smile sometimes, baba,’ said Kartik. ‘It will make us happy.’

Shiva stared at Kartik. It had been a long time since Sati’s death, and even young Kartik was now beginning to acquire a smattering of white hair. Shiva knew that Kartik had travelled a very long distance to come to Kailash. After most of Shiva’s tasks had been completed and he had decided to return to Kailash-Mansarovar, Kartik had migrated to the south of the Narmada, going deep into the ancient heartland of India; the land of Lord Manu.

History had recorded that Lord Manu was a prince of the Pandya dynasty. This dynasty had ruled the prehistoric land of Sangamtamil. That nation and its fine Sangam culture had been destroyed as sea levels had risen with the end of the last Ice Age. Kartik had discovered that many people continued to live in this ancient Indian fatherland, breaking Lord Manu’s law that banned people from travelling south of the Narmada. Kartik had established a new Sangam culture on the banks of the southern-most major river of India, the Kaveri.

‘I will smile when the three of you will reveal your secret,’ said Shiva.

‘What secret?’ asked Kartik.

‘You know what I’m talking about.’

Shiva did discover in due course that on the night before the destruction of Devagiri, Kali, Parshuram and Veerbhadra had kidnapped Vidyunmali. Under pain of vicious torture, Vidyunmali had revealed the names of Sati’s assassins. He had then been tormented with a brutal and slow death.

A few years after the destruction of Devagiri, Kali, Ganesh, Kartik, Parshuram and Veerbhadra had slipped out of India. Nobody really knew where they had disappeared. They had consistently refused to tell Shiva, perhaps because he had prohibited any further reprisals for Sati’s death. But Shiva had his suspicions...