Jibrail had been to Anga Pradesh – Monghyr earlier. In fact all the princes from far and wide had to devote some years here. Anga was known as the best ‘prasikshan kendra’ for multifarious pursuits. It had the best gurus for battleground trainings in arms and acclaimed spiritual healers and gurus for yoga and overall mental and spiritual development.

It was here at the ‘prasikshan kendra’ that Jibrail had learnt that the scars in battles heal but those on your soul remain embedded in the ‘self’ gnawing into your consciousness everyday. It is also because of this same reason that he learnt that any prince who was aspiring or destined to be a king one day should learn to discipline his ‘self’ first. For it is the self that manifests good or evil and creates fertile grounds for a just or unfair ruler.

Even before he came here though he had known the fact that far worse battles with far worse results were fought on the barren hearts on men......and once fought they left them all the more barren forever.

The ‘Kendra’ was based on the ashram matrix where discipline and perseverance were the main ‘mantras’. Many a princes who came there thinking it was just a royal obligation to be fulfilled had been ceremoniously dropped from the trainings and sent back to their states.

The Aghors who ran the kendras were very stringent about the rules being followed. They spoke less and observed the shishyas more. The Aghors believed in the fundamental truth that ‘we are all humans and consciousness comes when you realize your wholeness. Once you do realize.....it transcends into your being and makes you ‘observe and ponder’ over things clearly. They said that ‘the source’ is within us all, it is your doing when and how you want to awaken it.

However even though they believed in all things human yet they were quite unwilling to forgive the faults of the shishyas.

Once a miffed prince asked an Aghor ‘I am a human, ain’t I? So why don’t you forgive me and give me a second chance at the Kendra?’

The Aghor replied, ‘Yes, but unfortunately you are more privileged than many born on this land and if you can’t understand and realize that you tread upon the dreams of many with your irresponsible demeanour then we cannot really awaken you to your wholeness. We do not want to be the cause of the effect that you want to create.’

There were many stories that were recounted about the Aghors and the extreme and secretive measures they took for the protection of their students and their day to day activities.

Jibrail smiled to himself thinking about those days and pondered over the work at hand. He was is Anga to sign a treaty. It was pure commerce. Anga was rich in its resources be it the quality of trainings they were imparting from the Kendra or the kind or arms that they were making. Anga was also the largest producer of tobacco and generated a huge revenue from it.

He also knew that his state Bhagdatpuram could provide Anga with resources it lacked...... like coal and the fine silk they produced.

Jibrail closed his eyes as he thought of the fine silk and how it felt on his mother. He used to run to her as a kid, sit in her lap for hours and play with his mothers hair and her silk clothing. Silk also reminded him of her. The ‘boy’ girl who left his speechless the moment he laid his eyes upon her. He was yet to encounter and accept the full impact of the feelings that had made him stand in reverence while she had nonchalantly passed him. He had felt less of a prince and more of a mortal as he saw the distance between their bodies increase with each step she took. He wanted to run to her, hold her and cry for some strange reason. Jibrail realised it was not a good feeling. The feeling on being so....vulnerable.

 

To be continued……

 

 Aghor Another name for Lord Shiva ( one of the five faces of Shiva)

(Aghor in this story has been derived from Aghori and refers to ‘sadhus/teachers/trainers’ in this tale)

The Aghori or Aghora (In Sanskrit; Devanagari {Hindi}) are a Hindu sect believed to have split off from the Kapalika order (which dates from 1000 AD) in the fourteenth century AD. [2] Many mainstream Hindus condemn them as non-Hindu because of their taboo violation of orthodox practices. [3] Aghoris or Aughads command extreme reverence from rural populations as they are supposed to possess powers to heal and relieve pain gained due to their intense practices. Aghori are denizens of the charnel ground .

Sadhu (s) An ascetic holy man

Meaning:

(Hinduism) an ascetic holy man

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

saddhu ; sadhu

Hypernyms ("sadhu" is a kind of...):

Hindoo ; Hindu (a person who adheres to Hinduism)

Domain category:

Hindooism ; Hinduism (a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils)

Kendra (s) Center (s)

Prasikhan Training

Shishya (s) Student (s), disciple (s)