The Secret of the Nagas (Shiva Trilogy, #2)

by Amish Tripathi

‘He hid this fact from her all her life. He even hid her twin sister’s existence. I always thought the way he examined Kartik’s body at birth was strange. Now it makes sense. He acted as though he was almost expecting another Naga.’

‘And I have a dirty feeling that this is not where the story ends.’ ‘What do you mean?’ ‘I suspect that Chandandhwaj did not die naturally.’ ‘Her first husband?’ ‘Yes. It is just too convenient that he drowned the day Ganesh was born.’

Remember nobody is good or bad. They are either strong or weak. Strong people stick to their morals, no matter what the trials and tribulations. Weak people, many a times, do not even realise how low they have sunk.’

‘No, the rules are that a Naga child cannot live in Meluha. Hiding the truth from the mother is not part of the rules. Had I known, I would have left Meluha with you.’ ‘Even if the rule was broken, it’s in the past. Please Maa, forget it.’

‘Completion is completion, my child,’ said Kali. ‘Sometimes completion causes happiness and sometimes pain.

‘It’s not me. They exist because of your mother. Her past life sins have led to this. We never had Nagas in our family before her.’

Sati’s jaw fell. She was seeing the levels to which her father could stoop to for the first time.

‘Did you get Chandandhwaj killed, Your Highness?’ Daksha blanched. Fear was written all over his face. He looked sharply at Sati and then quickly back at Shiva. Oh Lord! He did!

I would rather be slow than dead.’

Bhagirath, simultaneously thinking that community eating was a good way to hedge against poisoning.

‘Justice exists for the good of the universe. To maintain balance. It does not exist to ignite hatred among humans.

That the opposite of love is not hate. Hate is just love gone bad. The actual opposite of love is apathy. When you don’t care a damn as to what happens to the other person.’

Wow what a nice qoute

Kali turned to Ayurvati. ‘He has the gift.’

‘What gift?’ asked Ayurvati. ‘Of bringing peace to people, drawing out their unhappiness,’ said Kali. ‘That he does,’ said Ayurvati. ‘But it is one of his many gifts. Om Namah Shivaiy.’

‘Someone wants us all dead,’ said Shiva. ‘Someone powerful enough to get such a large arsenal of daivi astras. Someone who knows about the existence of such a huge river in the South and has the ability to identify its sea route. Someone resourceful enough to get a fleet of ships with enough soldiers to attack us. Who is that person? That is the question.’

‘Satyam. Sundaram.’ Truth. Beauty.

‘New philosophies today blame desire for everything. Desire is the root cause of all suffering, all destruction, right?’

‘Because desire creates attachment. Attachment to this world. And, when you don’t get what you want or get what you don’t want, it leads to suffering. This leads to anger. And that to violence and wars. Which finally results in destruction.’

‘So if you want to avoid destruction and suffering, you should control your desires, right?’ asked the teacher.

‘Give up maya, the illusion of ...

‘But the Rig Veda, one of our main sources of philosophy,’ continued the teacher, ‘says that in the beginning of time, there was nothing except darkness and a primordial flood.

Then out of this darkness, desire was born. Desire was the primal seed, the germ of creation. And from here, we all know that the Prajapati, the Lord of the Creatures, created the Universe and everything in it.

So in a sense, desire is the root of crea...

‘That is the purpose of desire. It is for creation and destruction. It is the beginning and the end of a journey. Without desire, there is nothing.’

‘The secret is not a thing. It is a man.’

‘I have been waiting for you, my friend,’ said the teacher. He was smiling, his eyes moist.

‘I’d told you. I would go anywhere for you. Even into Patallok if it would help you.’ Shiva had rerun this line in his mind again and again. Never fully understanding the reference to the land of the demons. Now it all clicked into place.

It was his long-lost friend. His comrade in arms. His brother. ‘Brahaspati!’