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Volume 5 Interlude Part 2

「Ahh, so you finally woke up, Arjuna. Pardon me for not noticing it sooner, but I was lost in thought for quite a while.」

 

「I . . . .  I see. So I was asleep?」

 

「Yes, you were sleeping soundly and peacefully as a newborn baby, so I could not bring myself to wake you up. Did you have any good dreams, by any chance?」

 

While talking to Arjuna, Krishna made sure that he was using a soft and gentle voice, a one drastically different from that which he chose to use when he approached Sakamaki Izayoi and Saigo Homura yesterday. That is a part of the guise that he took. As long as everyone is concerned, he is the Krishna from Indian Mythology, and as such, no one must doubt the charity of the young man he now is.

 

With his consciousness still a little bit hazy from having just woken up, Arjuna pondered about it for a moment and then replied:

 

「A dream, huh? Yes. . . . .  yes, I was certainly dreaming. Of a time long, long ago. Of the happy days before the Battle of Kurukshetra. Of the life that I have been living with my family: my older brothers, my younger brothers and my beloved wife. That is what I have been dreaming about.」

 

「. . . . . . . . . . 」

The Battle of Kurukshetra: it was the bloodiest battle that took place during the largest wars in human history depicted in India’s epic poem, The Mahabharata. It was also that very same war that resulted in Arjuna making a name for himself as the strongest warrior of the entire Indian Pantheon die to how many renowned warriors he managed to slay throughout the course of that battle. Normally, that would have been an achievement that every hero could be proud of. However, Arjuna, having woken up from that dream, was shaking up and had tears welling up in his eyes.

 

「Everyone, they. . . . they all died. . . . the teacher whom I loved and respected, my grandfather who was everything that I aspired to be, and. . . . . .  and even my blood brother. I killed all of them!」

 

「. . . . . . . . . . . . 」

 

「I . . .  I could not avoid that war. And I still regret taking part in it and getting that wretched title. What worth is there even to being called the strongest warrior of all, an how is it that we can take pride in taking the lives of so many people in such a blood-soaked war?!」

 

He was speaking quietly, but it was evident that each word was causing him great pain.

 

「You do not need to be of royal bloodline to wage war with you loved ones」. Long before the arrival of the Christian era, there was once a man who lamented so. Those were the words of Arjuna written in the Mahabharata, from the passage where he was expressing how he was disgusted with war before getting himself thrown right into the middle of one. It was one of the stories described in the famous scripture 「Bhagavadgita」. That scripture, loved by so many people that it started to be called 「Oriental Bible」was also the one where Arjuna’s war exploits were described.

 

「I understand how important that scripture was for the human history. Some people were even saved by it, and there can be no doubt that I am also one of these people. It is because of that scripture that people were able to become aware of their destinies and learned about the importance of fulfilling their roles in life. If you did not preach 「Bhagavadgita」to me, I would have probably remained a despicable coward to the end of my days.」

 

「Arjuna. . . . . . 」

 

As a member of the royal family and a warrior, turning his back on the responsibilities that were assigned to him would be nothing more but an insult to his own way of life and the lives of those around him. It is the same outside of the world of Indian Mythology as well. Since he was born as a member of the royal family, his responsibility was to serve as an example for his people in exchange for the wealthy life that was given to him. Since he was born a warrior, his responsibility was to not turn his back on war in exchange for the education he was given. And since he was born in a caste society, his duty was to fulfill every responsibility that was being assigned to him.

 

「I have fulfilled my duty as a warrior. I have won the war. In order to win, I took many lives and trampled on many more vows, all for the purpose of ensuring the future of my clan. But I cannot help but to wonder. . . .  as a member of royalty, I wonder if there was ever a way for me to avoid the war altogether?」

 

War. . .  there was probably never a time in human history where it could ever pass for an act of justice.

 

However, in the BC era, there were as many nations and ethnicities divided into groups as there were stars in the sky, so it should go without saying that it was also an era where the act of war could not ruled out as being sorely evil. Even more so, those who were born as warriors and were in a position to protect their people are never stop for a moment to think how truly atrocious war truly was.

 

「Bhagavadgita」 was a scripture that Krishna preached to Arjuna as a warning hen he was about to abandon his responsibility. . . but at the same time it was a scripture that carried a with it a painful fate.

 

「Arjuna. 「Bhagavadgita」never trampled on your desire to avoid war, nor will I ever forgive anyone who dares to call you 「The Oathbreaking Hero」.」

 

「But it cannot change the fact that I am indeed a sniveling coward.」

 

「No, you are wrong. Wars are always hell. The families of those who lose are enslaved, robbed of their property, and women and children are raped by men. That is just how wars are.」

 

Killing is not the only way to destroy people. In case of the side that loses the war, women and children are always the first victim of the winners. Boys are worked to the bones as slaves, women get ravaged to taint the purity of the blood of the ethnic groups and men are castrated so as to not allow any of the “loser’s seed” to survive before they get worked to death. That was what it meant to lose a war in BC era.

 

「The title of 「The Oathbreaking Hero」is nothing more but a sick joke made by those who did not know the fierceness of war in our times, where the other side were the true cowards who hunted down our brother through sneaky, disgraceful means and incited hatred in us and towards us in their hearts from the young age. If you have lost that war, your wife, children and grandchildren would have been definitely killed.」

 

「. . . . . . . . . 」

 

「Arjuna. But you were different than them. You welcomed Duryodhana, your sworn enemy, with kindness and open arms, and even embraced his parents with warmth. You broke the chain of hatred that continued on from the days of your childhood days. . . . . . . and ended the war.

 

Ended the war. That is right, the war has ended. Both for Arjuna and the others. And with the end of that war, the burning chain of endless hatred has been shattered. Arjuna and his comrades ended the war by killing the hatred in their hearts. The gentle hero who lived his life fighting, fighting and fighting for others ended the war by losing so many of the things he loved that he could no longer recall what exactly he had lost. And the saddest thing here was that he who was only trying to protect his loved ones and emerged from the war scarred both physically and mentally lived on in the memory of his progeny under the name 「The Oathbreaking Hero」.

「Arjuna, the beloved hero of the Indian Pantheon. Beholder of the Star. He Who the Gods Dreamt of. The only ones to blame you for what you did were the one who were blaming themselves deep down in their hearts. You do not have to worry about anything. You need not to have your heart be torn apart with guilt. So please, sleep peacefully.」

 

Your battle was never the wrong one. That is what Krishna’s powerful voice assured Arjuna of, but nevertheless, before he drifted off into the land of dreams again, a single tear trickled down his cheek.

 

「The only thing. . . . I ever wanted. . .  was to stop . . . . . . .  . the war. . . . .  .」

 

「. . . . . . . . . . 」

 

He had nobody whom he could tell that, and so he hid that dream of his deep down in his chest. In the end, what he really wanted was not the honor of a hero, but a peaceful life with his family and friends. But even so, the voices calling him 「The Oathbreaking Hero」never stopped sounding in his heart, proving that for Arjuna, The Battle of Kurukshetra was still not over.

 

(Arjuna. The time is nearly upon us. Soon, all battles and conflicts will finally be settled. When Kalki will awaken and bring forth a new era, that is when our duty will finally be over at last.)

 

Fight, fight, fight, fight and continue fighting. He kept on losing so much that he can no longer remember what he had lost. He never once gained anything, and he is no longer sure if he led a meaningful life. The only thing that he knows is that if he stop now, then it will all be for nothing.

 

Even if he will have to resort to using the power that is considered forbidden even here in Little Garden, he is not going to hesitate if it would mean seeing his wish come true.

 

(. . . .It is time for me to go. My target: Demon Lord Azi-Dahaka. Truly a worthy opponent for me.)

 

The gusts of black wind blew.

 

And when it finally disappeared, Krishna’s presence also disappeared from the forest.