Chapter 1: The Introduction
In the thick forests of Dandakaranyam, a teenager runs with an expression of pure terror etched across his face. He carries a bag on his back, a bow with a quiver of arrows, and a sword at his waist. Despite his fear, he stands as a striking figure of adolescent strength and grace. At sixteen, his physique speaks of rigorous training and natural athleticism—lean muscle definition ripples across his frame without the bulk of full maturity, suggesting both power and agility. His most distinctive feature is his ajanubahu—arms so long and perfectly proportioned that they extend gracefully to his knees, a classical mark of heroic stature in ancient traditions. His torso tapers from broad shoulders to a narrow waist, with well-defined chest muscles and a flat, toned abdomen. His arms, beyond their remarkable length, are corded with sinewy strength, while his legs show the powerful development of someone accustomed to running, jumping, and combat training. Despite his youth, there's an inherent nobility in his bearing—shoulders held back, spine straight, movements fluid and purposeful.
A simple dhoti is wrapped around his waist and legs in traditional fashion, the white or cream-colored cloth contrasting beautifully with his skin tone. The fabric drapes elegantly, allowing freedom of movement while maintaining modesty. On his forehead, a tilak marks him as devoted. Ornaments enhance his warrior-ascetic appearance: beaded armlets circle his impressive biceps, made of rudraksha and wooden beads, while similar wrist bands encircle his forearms. Most significant is the sleek chain around his neck—thin but strong, carrying a Sada Shiva pendant that rests against his chest, the dancing figure of the eternal destroyer-creator catching light as he moves.
This boy is none other than our protagonist, Arjun. You may ask why he is running as if he has seen a ghost? Well, the truth is he actually has seen a ghost—the ghost of the forests. To be specific, a tiger is chasing him. Now you may ask why a tiger is chasing him? Well, when you encroach into a tiger's territory, it never leaves you alone.
Normally a tiger would not chase a human, but the situation here is somewhat complex. The tiger is a female, and due to a territorial dispute between her family and another powerful male tiger, she lost her mate and one eye as well as some canines—though she was successful in killing the intruder. The problem is, Arjun never went into this area because of a rule set by his grandfather. No territorial animal likes the presence of someone powerful in their territory, but due to a rare herb and creeper used to make medicine that grows only in this area and nowhere else, Arjun had no option but to come all the way here. Unfortunately, Arjun doesn't know anything about this situation until he encroaches into the area where the tigress was resting with her two cubs. When the tigress noticed a being in her vicinity who could be hunted and also posed a threat to her cubs, she decided he must be killed.
So, coming to the present, Arjun is in a dilemma. He clearly saw the two tiger cubs. If he tries to escape the area, he knows he cannot match the speed of a tiger, but he has an option—to kill the tigress in self-defense. However, if he does that, he would be damning the tiger cubs to starvation, or worse, those cubs could be hunted by other wild beasts. After much thought, Arjun decides on what to do and starts running toward a pond where there is a mud bog. He quickly takes a rope with a heavy hook attached to it from his bag while being chased by the tigress. Then he looks around for a good branch. After some calculations and trusting his instincts, he twirls the rope and hooks it to the branch near that mud bog. Just as he was preparing to swing across the mud bog, the tiger nearly took his leg off. The tigress also leaped, trying to catch him, but due to her mistake, she fell into the mud bog.
Arjun, after heaving a sigh of relief, steeled his heart for the deed he was going to do. "Please let the soul of this mother rest in your abode, Lord Shiva." He took out his bow, connected the string to the top of his bow, and shot an arrow directly into the head of the tigress. The struggle of the tigress ceased immediately. But after realizing that he has killed a mother of two animals Arjun got tears in his eyes because he was not a person who harmed any animals, even to eat and survive in a forest.
After a while, he took some ropes, hurled them toward the body of the tiger, and dragged her body out of the mud bog. Then he went to do the work for which he actually came into this territory. One hour later, he returned to the body of the tigress and started to dig a hole with makeshift tools he crafted from rocks and wood available in the forest. He buried the tigress there. After completing the burial, he slowly sneaked into the area where the two cubs were crying out in desperation. He hid in a tree, took out a blowpipe, loaded it with a dart, and shot one cub. Immediately after, he shot the other one as well. After the two cubs went unconscious, he got down from the tree and carried them in the bag while letting their heads out so they could breathe freely. After adjusting the bag, he started his journey toward the clearing where he lived with his grandfather. He picked up his pace because nightfall was approaching soon, and he had to prepare the medicine for his grandfather.
Approximately two hours later, Arjun was nearing his house, but he did not go directly there. He went to a stream nearby and washed himself, the two tiger cubs, and all the equipment he carried so as to not have any predator follow them to the house. After that, he went to his house.
He arranged a cozy area for the two tiger cubs to be kept and put them to sleep there. After that, he immediately went to check on his grandfather. He entered a medium-sized room where an old man lay on a platform. He is a tall man, but we cannot tell about his physique because he is covered in a blanket. He has a wrinkled face due to his high age along with a beard and hair so white they could be mistaken for clouds. As soon as Arjun entered the room, the old man slowly came out of his light sleep. Arjun was darting here and there, trying to collect the utensils to make the medicine that was to be administered to his grandfather.
The old man, whose name is Devavrath, started speaking in a low and hoarse voice. "Arjun, it seems you have brought the herbs and creeper even though I warned you not to go into that area. It seems that now you are experiencing its consequences." After a long pause, he drank some water left by his side and started speaking again. "So which animal did you have to kill to escape that area?" After hearing the question, Arjun stumbled with what he was doing. After a while, he answered in a small and guilty voice, "A mother tiger." Devavrath heaved a weary sigh.
In a few moments, Arjun made the medical concoction and sat beside his grandfather, making him drink it slowly. After a few moments, Devavrath heaved another sigh, but this one of relief—relief from the burning sensation he was feeling in his chest for so many days. "So I sense that you brought some guests home, and might I know who they are?" Arjun replied to his grandfather in a subdued voice, "It's the two tiger cubs that were with the mother tiger, and I have decided to raise them as I was the one to kill their mother." "That's a very good deed that you have done by bringing them here and not letting them starve out in the wild, but do you know how to raise a tiger cub?" Arjun looked panicked after listening to his grandfather's words. Seeing his grandson panicked, a glint of amusement passed through his eyes. "I will take care of them, but you have to contribute double to your training as well as taking care of them."
Next day, early in the morning
We can see Arjun working hard by doing traditional exercises taught by his grandfather. Just after a few moments, we can see Devavrath coming from the forest while his garments are all soaked. Devavrath is a tall and hulking man even with his high age. He is wearing a single white garment that covers his lower body and leaves his upper body bare for all to see—well, there is no one to see except for him and Arjun anyway. As soon as Arjun sees his grandfather walking toward him, he completes his workout and walks toward the target practice area where there is a simple bow and a quiver filled with arrows.
"Arjun, now let's test how far your archery skills have progressed." Devavrath then turns toward a banyan tree and motions toward it, showing Arjun that there is a small yellow circle and an even smaller red circle inside the yellow circle. Then Devavrath starts to speak. "Arjun, your task for today is to hit the red circle on that tree without even grazing a single root that's hanging from the banyan tree, and you should hit it three consecutive times. But the twist is that I will be cutting down each of your arrows using only my sword while protecting your target."
Arjun, who was initially confident in completing the task, instantly deflated as if his soul had left him. "Grandfather, if you are the one who is protecting it while I try to shoot the target, then this isn't going to be completed until a month." While the statement from Arjun might be a little exaggerated, the truth is he isn't far from it. Devavrath is not any ordinary warrior. "Now don't give me any excuses. You have accepted that you will work extra hard in exchange for me taking care of those two little demons that you've brought along. There are many warriors in the land of Bharath who are greater than me. I want you to become the strongest of them all, and you have no other option but to do so. Now start shooting the arrows at the target."
Arjun, after hearing his grandfather, was perplexed but did as he was told. He took the bow from his shoulder and attached the string to the other end of the bow. After that, he took a single arrow from the quiver and loaded it onto the bow. Then, after chanting the name of Lord Shiva, he aimed and released the arrow. But just as the arrow was about to clear half the distance, Devavrath caught the arrow in his bare hand and broke it with his thumb. "Arjun, if your arrow is this slow, then it will not even go through a single root of this banyan tree. Stretch the string with the right amount of power that can penetrate even the main trunk of the tree and come right through it. Now come on and load the next arrow. Don't be so slow—by the time I blink, you have to load and release another arrow with the same strength."
Arjun, fueled by the motivation given by his grandfather who was everything to him, tried his hardest to complete the task given to him. After long and arduous attempts to hit the mark, in which all the attempts were thwarted by Devavrath, Arjun took a long breath and aimed a shot toward the target and shot it. Obviously, Devavrath reacted and tried to catch the arrow, but just as Devavrath successfully caught the arrow, another arrow whizzed past his arm, slightly scraping it and drawing blood from it. Devavrath, fueled by adrenaline, started to speed up his reaction time to match Arjun's growing speed of arrows. Like this, a whole day was spent training. By the end of the day, Arjun managed to shoot the target, but he was not able to hit the red circle.
At night, inside the house
Devavrath and Arjun were having dinner. "You know that if you don't complete the task I gave you, then you will get a punishment, right?" Arjun felt a pit forming in his stomach. "Tomorrow, we will repeat the same practice, but you will be under attack by me. You will have to maintain awareness of your surroundings while trying to avoid my attacks, while also trying to hit the target, and you will have to pierce the target through and through."
Arjun knew that only Lord Shiva would have to protect him from the onslaught of his grandfather tomorrow. "But grandfather, why are you even training me this hard? There are no big predators in the area, and there is even a tribe living nearby to threaten our lives." Devavrath stopped eating and turned toward Arjun with a resolute look and a hint of bloodlust in his eyes, which startled Arjun even more. "Listen, Arjun, I will not tell you the complete truth because you cannot handle it and might break down even before you grow, but remember this, Arjun: you are being trained by me so that one day you will be able to protect this motherland from the sights of many foreign beasts who are hiding and waiting to pounce on the life-giving mother. As a Kshatriya, your duty is to uphold the dharma and protect this land and, in turn, many innocent lives that live in this country. Fight not for riches, not for the right of any throne, not for the appreciation of the people, not for the reason that I am the one asking you to do so. Do it because it is your responsibility."
Arjun was not expecting something like this to be the reason for his rigorous training. He was also shocked that he, who was living in a forest, was a Kshatriya. Just as he was going to ask how he was a Kshatriya and who they really were, Devavrath started to speak. "Sorry, Arjun, but I will not answer the question you are going to ask me, but I will promise you that you will definitely get the answer you seek. But trust me and learn what I can teach before I pass away." Arjun was sad and knew that his grandfather, even after looking that strong and healthy, did not have much time to live.