Bharat the Man Who Built a Nation

Dr. Vineet Aggarwal is doctor by qualification, manager by profession and artist temperament. Born in family of doctors, he successfully completed an initial stint with the family occupation before deciding to venture into pharmaceutical management. He pursues writing as a passion and is an avid travel photographer as well.

His literary repertoire extends from politics and poetry to travel and terrorism but his favourite genre remains the amalgamation of science and mythology. He is the author of the popular online blogs Decode Hindu Mythology and Fraternity against Terrorism and Extremism. This is his third book.

He lay on the gargantuan coiled body of Shesha, the serpent of time. A golden dhoti draped his powerful legs while his muscular body, the color of monsoon clouds, glowed with the effulgence of Brahma-jyoti. He wore no ornaments, save the Kaustubh gem that was obtained from the churning of the Ocean of Milk and now adorned his shapely neck. Ringlets of dark, curly hair spilled over a broad forehead, framing high cheekbones and lotus-bud eyes. Eyes that were even now dreaming the world into existence, spinning the web of life with his Yogmaya.

Shri Hari Vishnu, the Lord of All Creation, rested his handsome head on his right forearm, his other arms extended in various relaxed postures. His consort, Lakshmi, the goddess of fortune, leisurely wove a garland of vaijanti flowers. The Milky Way swirled languidly around their abode in Dhruv Loka, at the centre of the galaxy. Vaikunth was an oasis of peace in the misery of material existence, but its harmony was intermittently disturbed by the council of thirty-three Devas when things became too difficult for them to handle.

He was an integral part of the Holy Trinity of Creator, Preserver and Destroyer. Brahma fashioned things in the form of Srishti, and Shiva was responsible for Samhar or annihilation of all that had been created. And while the Creation existed, it was Vishnu’s responsibility to maintain its Sthiti or equilibrium. But, things always had a way of unraveling themselves, a phenomenon known by the scientists of external balancing force.

Brahma’s boons of conditional immortality were quite notorious, for they almost always led to a disturbance in the equilibrium between Good and Evil. In the very first hour of his present day, the Creator god had granted benedictions to Hiranyaksh and Hiranyakashyapu, the twin Daityas. These boons had resulted in widespread massacre of inhabitants of Swarg as well as Prithvi and Shri Hari Vishnu had been compelled to appear first as Varah and then as Narasimha to restore balance in the Three Worlds.

Shiva was not as indiscriminate as Brahma in granting boons. But he was also fair to fault, and suitably impressed, wouldn’t think twice before showering even demons with immense powers. The Bhole-nath had once blessed Daitya guru Shukracharya with the knowledge of reviving the dead, and against, it was Vishnu who had to help the Devas nullify the unfair advantage their opponents had. He suggested they churn the Cosmic Ocean to obtain Amrit, the elixir of immortality.

It had been an enormous task to convince the proud Indra to approach his arch-enemy Bali, the leader of the Asurs, and persuade him to help the Devas in the task. It had to be done in a way that the suspicion of the demons would not be roused. To everyone’s relief Shakra, the two clans of divine beings had gathered to whip the Ocean of Milk using Mount Mandar as a churning rod but even that had been possible only after Vishnu balanced the mountain on his back in his Kurma, or turtle, incarnation.

The churning had provided them with unbelievable riches-Apsaras, the Kaustubh gem, the celestial cow Kamdhenu, the wish-fufilling Parijat tree, the flying unicorn Ucchaishrava, the six- tusked elephant Airavat, and finally, Amrit. Again Vishnu intervened in the form of Mohini to make sure the Asurs did not get a single drop of the elixir, and distributed it amongst the Devas, thus restoring balance to the equation between the demigods and demons.

And such drastic interventions were required not only in the higher lokas but in the middle world as well. Vishnu had saved life on earth from extinction by taking the form of Matsya at the time of the Great Deluge. Ever since, he had been guiding humans in the forms of Nar- Narayan, Narad, Kapil and Dattatreya. He had appeared as Rishabhdev to teach the principles of civilization to humanity earth, resources, thus giving the planet its name: Prithvi.

More recently, he had blessed the young Brahmin son of Yamdagni with superhuman power in order to neutralize the Asurik infestation that had spread over the world like a miasma. That boy, Parshu –Rama, had accomplished the task of eliminating the evil and corrupt kings from Nabhi-varsh and would soon head to other countries to fulfill his destiny. The Lord’s vision filled with images of the young Brahmin boy utilizing his own divine bow and Shiva,s axe to bring the evil plans of the Asur king Ravan to naught. He could see the young man blazing through the military hordes of nations like an inferno, bringing relief to the general populace, even as Ravan, the Asur who had begun the plague of darkness on earth, hid in the Himalayas trying to attain another boon from Shiva. Well, there was still some time before the prayers of that Brahmarakshas came to fruition.

As peace returned to Nabhi-varsh, the fates were conspiring to change the destiny of that land through another member of Parshu-Raam’s family. Shakuntala , the daughterof Brahmarishi Vishwamitra and Apsara Menaka, was going to be instrumental in reshaping her country’s future. Vishwamitra had amazed the Trinity with has achievement before and there was no doubt that his offspring would do something momentous as well. The winds of change brewing on earth were going to transform things for all time to come.

The future was just beginning and Shri Hari Vishnu, the Preserve of Life, liked the direction it was taking.