By:

V. Veidyanath Iyer
Girinagar
BANGALORE
26.10.2011
2
This Novel
With Best wishes
Is presented to:-
3
STOP, READ AND PROCEED.
Many of the bestselling novels of the world are facts, fantasy and fiction
blended beautifully like Russian cocktail with Vodka and Martini, like Palghat
Ayers Avial where many vegetables are mixed together, like Karnatakas Cootu
(Sambar), like Andhras Mutton Biryani topped up with a boiled egg and many
more. Likewise in this narration I hope to mix up the 3Fs i.e. Facts, Fantasy and
Fiction in the best possible manner so as to entertain the reader in a simple and
decent manner. It has no bearing or relevance what so ever to any person living or
dead. It is purely a novel to entertain the reader and also to enlighten him/her
about ancient and modern India. For the casual reader it is time Pass. For those
who know little about Sri Krishnas life it is a 2 minutes trailer of a full length feature
film of 180 minutes. For persons well versed with Krishnas life it is a nostalgic trip
into the past, down memory lane. Here I have referred to many films as per
circumstances. It is my way of appreciation of the memorable films made by great
Producers, Directors and Actors. It is not at all to show any disrespect to the film or
concerned person. I thank and appreciate those concerned for the chance to refer
their films at appropriate occasions in my novel. On the occasion of my 81
st
.
birthday, at end of my daily pooja, I offer this novel as my humble Neivediyam to
Bhagwan Sri Krishna.
V.VEIDYANATH IYER.
My address: #896, SUVASINI,
1
st
C Main Road, 11
th
Cross Road,
2
nd
Phase Girinagar,
Bangalore - 560085
Phones: (R) 080 - 26722311.
(M) - +91 - 9886623001.
Email: veidyanath_1930@yahoo.co.in
4
SOURCES OF REFERENCE AND INSPIRATION
Srimad Bhagavatham.
Mahabharatham.
Internet Information.
Various Newspapers, Periodicals and other Publications.
Many ancient literatures, local village legends and modern novels.
Authentic information through known and reliable persons.
Railway time table new and old.
India map old and new.
Many films I have viewed during a period of three score + ten years.
My imagination and memory.
Concise Encyclopaedia of Hinduism.
Finally, Sri Krishnas Idol, in the show case of my house which inspired me with
new and novel ideas.
Many thanks to the authors, printers and publishers of the above, for the
information.
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CHARACTORS IN THIS NOVEL
Group 1 - G 1. All retired, drawing penson.
Shankarlingam Iyer - Engineer.
Ramanuja Iyengar - Sanskrit Professor.
Raghavendra Rao - Doctor.
Govinda Goodbole - Symbologist.
Group 2 G 2
Shahjahan Shanbag. - Well Known drama actor of yester years.
Vyjayanti Sayonara - Share Broker.
Ramlal Chaturvedi - Punter who made Millions.
At Guruvayoor - Narayan Namboodiri.
At Dwaraka - Damodar Patel and Kusuma Ben.
At Kurushethra - Swami Haricharandasji Mahobadyaya.
At Mathura - Nandlal Trivedi.
At Gokul - Kanhaiahlal Yadav.
At Vrindavan - Shyamsunder Goswami.
At Puri - Bhagwan Prasad Chowrasia.
At Udipi - Adinarayan Ganapatigal.
At Mathura Railway Station - William Johnson.
At Rajarajeshwarinagar - Dr. Shivaramakrishna Panchavedi.
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CHAPTERS. PAGE NO.
Stop, read and proceed. 3
1. Republic day fiesta. 7
2. The quest. 12
3. Dive into the depths. 15
4. Up in the air. 18
5. Into the wilderness. 21
6. Deep into the river. 25
7. Child Krishnas day out. 29
8. Up north east. 33
9. Through the Ghats. 36
10. Back to base. 40
Epilogue tailpiece. 43
7
QUEST FOR THE FLUTE
CHAPTER 1
REPUBLIC DAY FIESTA
It was Republic day on 26-01-2011. My daughter, grandson and I were
observing the Republic day parade on TV. It started by 9 am and concluded by
about 12 noon.
Indias armed might was showcased in the parade by marching of Army, Navy
and Air Force in all their finery and full uniform. Our Military capability was
showcased. Then students both boys and girls in their NCC uniform and school
children in their best dresses paraded. After that, tastefully decorated tableaux
depicting the best of the culture and heritage of each State went in a procession.
Brave students, boys and girls who were bestowed Bravery Award by Prime
Minister were taken on elephant backs for all to see and clap them. Many more
items were paraded.
All these were reviewed by our respectful and Honble President Smt. Pratiba
Devi Singh Patil. By her side was seated our honourable guest of the day
Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono When a contingent passed in
front of her the President stood up and saluted the marchers, it was a tiring job for
her.
My daughter had prepared some nice breakfast, while gulping it we observed
the parade. When it was over I turned my head and looked into the showcase in
our hall. In the middle of the showcase stood the Lord Bhagwan Sri Krishna in black
made out of Plaster of Paris. It was presented to me on our Grahapravesam Day by
my friend Sri Kishore Kumar. It was an idol of 2 feet in height and about 1 foot
wide beautifully made out with clean face, arms, legs and other parts. The
showcase was specially designed to accommodate the idol in the centre. Sri
Krishna stood there majestically in his characteristic manner with crossed legs and
arms holding a flute to his lips. But strangely the flute was not there or missing.
Then I wondered what happened to the flute and also the original flute of Lord
Krishna. Then I determined to go in search of the flute originally played by
Bhagwan Sri Krishna.
In the evening I went for a stroll in the BDA Park, Avalahalli. After going round
three times on the jogging track I sat on an empty bench. There four of my friends
joined me for chats and relaxation. They are all retired, drawing pensions.
Shankarlingam Iyer retired Engineer, Ramanuja Iyengar Retired Sanskrit
Professor,
8
Raghavendra Rao retired Govt. Doctor & Govinda Goodbole Retired
Symbologist.
Govinda was a student of World famous Mr. Robert Langdon, Professor of
Religious Symbology. His grandfather was always telling good things to one and
all. He was respectfully called Good Bole Sahib in his days. So the Goodbole
became the family surname. Thus our Symbologist got his name as Govinda
Goodbole.
We talked about Scams, Politics, and Civic Amenities etc. I told them about the
missing flute of Lord Krishna. They thought for a while and promised to go in search
of it, if necessary throughout India. They are of 60+ years in age. As I am running 81
years, I told them that I may not be able to go with them, which they agreed. For
convenience sake hence forth I will mention them as G1/Group 1, whenever all of
them are to be mentioned.
Every year this G1 goes to Guruvayur to have darshan of the Lord Krishna in the
month of February, after Lord Iyappas season. During this season all the temples
in Kerala State will be flooded with Iyappas devotees in their traditional black
dress. It is very difficult to get seats / berths in train, bus or hotel during this
season. (Nov. 16 to Jan 15.) G1 left Bangalore by Bangalore-Ernakulam Intercity
Express, at 6.15 am reached Tiruchur at 15.15.Hrs. They alighted from the train, got
into a local bus and reached Guruvayur by about 17hrs. They took two rooms in
Devasthanam lodge, took rest, after bath went to Sri Krishnas temple. After moving
in the long queue they had darshan of the Lord decorated in all finery with flowers
etc.
Early next morning after bath they went to the temple to have Lords Nirmalya
Dharshan at 3 am, with old flowers and garlands. The idol was about 1 feet in
height and was in its splendour. The idol was in Narayana Roopa with 4 hands one
right hand holding Sudarshana chakra and the other hand holding lotus flower, one
left hand holding Sanku / Conch and the other holding Gadha, with attractively
carved crown and jewellery, with pearl and golden chains in the neck, with dhoti
tied in traditional manner, with a Prabhavali/decorated arch at the back and with
many more decorations. The face was like Sri Krishnas, appealing, attractive and
mesmerizing the viewer to ecstasy, all carved in the original idol itself. The sculptor
must have got Moksha for carving such an exquisite idol. After dharshan they
returned to their lodge. There they saw 30 ladies from Bangalore, led by an elderly
lady reciting Narayaneeyam as written by the Sri Narayana Battathri in 3 sessions -
pre lunch, post lunch and after tea. It was a pleasant and fascinating sight to see
and hear 30 ladies singing Narayaneeyam in wonderful unison and that too
different dasakas in 26 different meters i.e. raga and thala. In the afternoon they
visited many temples in Guruvayor, rested in a distant park for a while. After rest
they went round the park. In one corner they observed a strange foot path in the
form of an arrow made in stone slabs to a distance of 30 feet. The head was pointing
9
to the direction of North by North West from that point and another arrow of
about 5 feet in length pointing towards east from the same place.
About 40/50 years ago the master of suspense Mr. Alfred Hitchcock made a
suspense film by name North by Northwest. In the climax of the film the hero and
the heroine escape from the clutches of the villain, to Mount Rushmore, South
Dakota State, U.S.A. There is a massive sculpture of the heads of 4 greatest
Presidents of U.S.A. namely George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore
Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Each head is about 55 feet in height and 25 feet
wide. It was carved from 1927 to 1939, on top of a mountain cliff. Each ear about 15
feet in height, one can easily walk into the nostril, eyes as big as an elephant. All
faces were carved most realistically. The hero and heroine escape standing in the
ear hole, going into the nostril and so on.
G1 wondered what the arrow might indicate. Govinda Goodbole suggested that
it might have some bearing to the temple and its history and location. When they
were discussing about it sitting in the park an old monk by name Sri Narayana
Namboodri came there and enquired about them. To him they mentioned about the
arrow. After self introduction he narrated to them the legend of 5000 years. As per
that Vasudeva and Devaki were worshiping an idol of Maha Vishnu at Mathura. As
per ancient legend, the idol was traced to Maha Vishnu, who passed to Brahma; in
turn it passed through Sutapa, Kashapa Prajapathi, Vasudeva and Krishna. After
their demise Sri Krishna brought it to Dwaraka and worshiped it as Maha Vishnu.
The idol was said to bring good luck and prosperity to those who worshiped it.
When the time came for HIM to depart to Vaikunta Sri Krishna transferred all his
powers to the idol. Thus the idol got the image of Sri Krishna. Since ancient days
devotees used to address the idol as Guruvayoor Sri Krishna, Guruvayoorappa,
Pavanapurapathe and so on. Bhagwan told Brahaspathy Guru to extract the idol
from the depths of the ocean and reinstall it at an appropriate location in India,
when Dwaraka will get submerged into the sea due to a deluge. Then Guru and
Vayu searched for a suitable location and installed it in a small village near west
sea coast. Thus the village got its name as GURUVAYOOR (Guru-vayu-ooru). Since
then the temple has developed into a magnificent one. Every Hindu in Kerala and
other places visits the temple not once but many times. Hence our G1 has made it
an annual ritual to visit Guruvayoor.
Further Namboodri added that as per local legends there was a Lord Shivas
temple at the location where Sri Krishnas temple is, at present. When Guru and
Vayu, decided to install it they were in a dilemma. Then Lord Shankar himself
suggested to him, that His temple may be shifted to east at about a km away then,
install Sri Krishnas Idol at the present location. This is indicated by the small arrow
pointing towards east.
Then G1 departed to Tiruchur visited many temples there, came to Railway
station, got in to intercity train at 10.15 hrs and reached Bangalore at about 20 hrs.
10
They rested for a few days. After few days they came to Avalahalli Park, where I
met them. They narrated about their pleasant trip to Guruvayoor, the strange
arrows, its significance. By studying the Atlas they learnt that in the north by
northwest direction the city of Dwaraka is located and their plan to go to Dwaraka,
in their quest. While they were discussing about their trip, three persons were
standing outside the wire mesh compound of the park, observing and listening to
them. Due to the distance of 8 to 10 feet and the noise of traffic on 50 feet road they
could not hear them in full and clearly. They presumed that G1 are after the costly
jewels of Sri Krishna and decided to snatch them from G1 at an appropriate time.
Next day G1 went to ISKCON temple at Rajajinagar, I phase, on the Outer Ring
Road. They performed pooja there, so as to receive Gods Blessings before
proceeding on their quest. The ISKCON temple is a marvellous monument with
ancient and modern architecture built on an inclined hillock terrain. The bottom
most point and highest point have a difference of about 150 feet in elevation. On
this inclined hillock, the temple was built as a tribute to Sri Krishna.
The three persons were (1) Ramlal Chaturvedi (2) Vyjayanthi Sayonara
and (3) Shahjahan Shanbaug. Shahjahan is not a Muslim. His parents went to Agra
during their North Indian tour, while he was still in his mothers womb. There they
saw Taj Mahal and were very much impressed by it. They appreciated the gesture
of King Shahjahan to build a mosailum to his beloved wife and Queen Mumtaj
Mahal. So when he was born, he was named Shahjahan in memory and appreciation
of the late King. Thus he got his peculiar name. Normally he calls himself as
S.Shanbaug. Vyjayanthis mother was pregnant with her, when their parents went
for sightseeing Mysore. There a Japanese couple joined them. Together they saw
all places of interest in Mysore. Then they came to Bangalore and saw all places of
interest in this old city. Together they had Tiffin at Udupi Krishna Bhavan. Then
the Japanese couple bid them good bye by saying SAYONARA SAYONARA. In
Japanese sayonara means good bye. This word caught the fancy of her mother.
But her grandmother insisted her name should also be included. So combining both
the names she was named Vyjayanthi Sayonara, on child naming ceremony day.
During 1957 an American film was released by name SAYONARA throughout
the world. At the time of 2
nd
world war during 1945 (already Germany had been
defeated and Hitler committed suicide) American President at that time Mr. Harry
Truman ordered dropping of atom bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6-8-1945
and 9-8-1945 respectively, 2 of the most populated and industrial towns in Japan.
Both the cities were completely destroyed beyond recognition. Very next day
Japan totally and unconditionally surrendered to American Army. At that time
General Macarthur was the Supreme Allied Commander for the Far East. Japans
military and defence was totally dismantled. America became caretaker and
protector for next 50 to 60 years including defence. For this American Army
soldiers were stationed in Japan.
11
As per the film Sayonara many American soldiers fell in love with Japanese
maidens and set up a family after formal marriage as per Japanese custom. The film
was about one such couple. They together saw all places of interest in Japan, Mount
Fujiyama, Japans beautiful plains, 2 rocks outside the sea shore representing a
man and a women in love, Japanese drama troupe all acted by males donning male
and female dresses as per the role, another troupe all by females who played male
and female characters and many more places. Then one fine day the American
soldier, American Air Force Major Lloyd Grover was transferred to America. His
wife Katsumi could not go with him due to passport, Visa and other formalities. He
says good bye and she says SAYONARA. It was a superb film with good acting,
good music, good entertainment and above all a sort of travelogue through Japan.
Thus Vyjayanthi got her name added with Sayonara.
Hence forth I will mention this group as G2/Group2 whenever I wish to mention
something about them. G2 followed G1 to know about their future program, there
was a big queue and crowd at Iskcon temple. While they were following them they
lost them in the crowd and could not trace them. Then they returned to their homes
which were in Nagendra Block.
After few days I met G1 in the park and learnt that they had planned to go to
Dwaraka. There are 2 routes; 1. To go to Ahmedabad and from there go by another
train to Okha, next and last station from Dwaraka. 2. To go to Ghandhidham and
from there go to Dwaraka by sea route. They could not get reservations for the
connecting train at Ahmedabad, so decided to reserve berths on Ghandhidham
train, a journey of about 40 hours. On an auspicious day they boarded the train
Bangalore Ghandhidham Express No. 16506, departed from Bangalore at 10pm. I
bid them good bye and success in their Endeavour.
12
CHAPTER 2
THE QUEST
They reached Ghandhidham at about 2pm, after 40 hrs 0f tedious journey.
From there took a local bus which went through Mundra and reached Mandvi about
80 Kms. The bus took about 3 hours for the journey. From there they took a motor
launch to reach Okha crossing sea of 50 Kms through Gulf of Kutch. This gulf
behaves strangely due to geographical conditions. Suddenly there will be high tide
which will go deep into the land to a distance of 25 Kms. and suddenly it will
recede. The land becomes unfertile due to salt setting. They hoped to reach Okha
after 5/6 hours journey through sea. Midway on their sea journey, suddenly a
cyclone formed on the sea and their boat was pushed topsy turvy, with great
difficulty the navigator held the steering of the boat. Their boat was pushed deep
into the gulf and capsized throwing them on the sea, with great difficulty they swam
through the sea and landed on a land mass. Later on, they learnt that it was an
island by name Baidhar. They were marooned for a day. They dried their dresses.
Luckily their spare dresses and other items were in air tight and water tight
briefcases. So those items were dry. The navigator and the boat were not to be
seen, perhaps drowned. They did not know what to do. Shankarlingam suggested
walking through the sea as it will be shallow and knee deep only. Each of them took
long sticks pushed into the sea water to know the depth at each point; it was only 3
or 4 feet deep. The sea there was not deep due to sand dunes. Then they started to
walk with their luggage in knee/waist deep sea water. After walking for 6 hrs or so
they saw land mass with trees etc. They were very happy. Their sprit grew up. They
started walking with more speed and reached the land, after great adventure. They
laid themselves underneath a big tree and slept for few hours. By this time it was
very dark and at a distance of a km or so, some lights were visible. They walked in
the dark and reached the place where there was light. It was a small village; people
were very hospitable and friendly. They offered them warm bath with clean water,
good simple food and mats to sleep. After bath and dinner they slept through the
night peacefully. Next day they learnt that from there Dwaraka is only about 50
Kms. They engaged a bullock cart and reached Dwaraka after 4 Hrs. They searched
for a simple lodge and settled there, took dinner and rested for the night. Next day
they went round Dwaraka, it was a small town of tourist interest only.
At Dwaraka they met an elderly couple Sri Damodar Patel and Smt. Kusuma
Ben. They were very nice and courteous, took G1 to their house and gave them
freshly prepared Pav Baji & tea. To them G1 told that they wanted to see Dwaraka
of Sri Krishnas time. The elderly couple told them whatever they know. As per
them on 19-5-2001, Sri Murali Manohar Joshi arranged an on sight investigation of
Dwaraka that was. As per the investigations in the gulf of Khambhat, 9 Kms. from
Gujarat coast at a depth of 40 Meters/130 feet from sea surface a large ancient city
13
was found; it got submerged due to tsunami or deluge, about 5000 years ago
approximately.
As per Srimad Bhagavatham, Jarasanda, Father-in-law of Kamsa, to avenge
the killing of Kamsa by Sri Krishna, invaded Mathura with an army of 23 Akshohini
soldiers. Si Krishna & Sri Balarama alone defeated and killed the entire army,
leaving Jarasanda to repent and go back. Jarasanda with gap of a year or so again
invaded with a similar army, which was totally destroyed. Like this with a gap of 1
or 2 years he invaded Mathura 17 times. All the time he alone went back, his army
was completely destroyed.
One Akshohini consists of:-
Soldiers on foot 1, 09,350
Soldiers with horses 65,610
Soldiers with elephants 21,870
Drivers of chariots 21,870
Soldiers in chariots 21,870
Total 2, 40,570
Every time when Jarasanda invaded, the entire citizens of Mathura were
disturbed, fearing anxiously what would be the outcome of the war and what
awaited them in case of defeat. Sri Krishna pondered over the problem and
decided to shift all the residents of Mathura to a faraway place. Then He summoned
Sri Viswakarm, Architect and Engineer of Gods to create a large city just outside
Bharat/India, on the Arabian Sea, little away from Gujarat Coast. Accordingly
Viswakarma created an island city, very similar to Mathura, in shape of roads,
houses, bazars etc. The palaces of Sri Krishna, Balarama, Vasudeva and Devaki,
Rukmini, all the 8 queens of Krishna, Pradyumna, Anirudra, Uddava and other
bigwigs were of new design. Then on an auspicious day, by His yogic power,
Krishna shifted the entire residents of Mathura with all their belonging like dresses,
household items, cattle with calfs etc to Dwaraka City. Left Mathura as a deserted
city. Then all of them lived happily without any fear for decades. From there Sri
Krishna used to visit Hastinapur and other places to help and guide Yudistira and
his brothers.
G1s quest was to visit such a city and search for the item for which they have
come. Govinda remembered James Bond Film Thunderball in which a NATO
plane carrying 2 atom bombs was high jacked and forced to dive into sea to hide
them. Then a party of vested interest would go and retrieve them for safe custody
and ransom. James Bond learnt this and was instructed to deactivate them, wearing
scuba diving apparatus. Govinda proposed to search by scuba diving,
Raghavendra Rao suggested that for such diving one should have specialized
training, which they dont possess, hence the idea was dropped. Shankarlingam
told the group to recollect seeing the film Titanic. The unsinkable ship was
specially designed for high and cold sea. It started its maiden journey from
14
England, on 15-04-1910. During midnight somewhere near Iceland a very big
iceberg scratched its side and caused a deep cut in its hull. Water started seeping
into the ship and next day it sank into ice cold deep sea splitting into 2 parts. Many
expeditions were arranged to probe how it sank. Then after nearly 90 years, a
research group using a miniature submarine with high intensity lights and other
investigative gadgets would dive deep into the sea and explore the debris of the
ship. So he proposed that they would also go in such a submarine boat and
investigate about the sunken city.
15
CHAPTER 3
DIVE INTO THE DEEP
A search was made for such a submarine and in Dwaraka one such item was not
available. Luckily a foreign ship with such a submarine landed in Dwaraka, for
routine check-up, refitting and refilling of necessary items. G1 learnt about this and
discussed the matter with the Chief Commander. He demanded a high fee for this,
a certain amount was discussed and fixed as the rate for the services rendered. G1
were all retired drawing high pension and possessing credit cards of ICICI, Citi
Bank, State Bank of India and other Banks. So money was not a problem for them.
They withdrew the required amount and a little more. The amount was paid to the
Commander and started on the trip into deep sea.
After an hour or so they reached the spot of the sunken city. The submarine
dived deep into 130feet/40mts. and located the city. It was in a dilapidated
condition. All the walls, roof, doors, windows etc. had fallen only the basement was
visible with dust, debris, decaying fish, fungus and other items. They searched for
the smaller locations but could not find anything worthwhile. Finally they came to a
palace, which they learnt, was Rukminis. In that palace, as per ancient legend, an
idol of Krishna, for which, Rukmini performed pooja ever since her maidenhood.
Here also the idol and other items were not to be seen. Then they came to the final
and biggest palace, supposed to be that of Krishna. As per Damodar Patel, it was
the tallest palace and its peak would be visible when the tide was low, in ancient
time, as per local legend. It had number of rooms. One big room was located,
which had cots, almirahs, steel boxes and other items, all in a dilapidated condition
due to the ravages of time, sea current, movement of large fish, like shark etc. Then
they began the real search, one by one all the items were opened and checked,
nothing was found. Finally they found a steel box with heavy lock, opened it by
smashing the lock. Inside it only old cloths, decorative coats, some unimpartent
items were found. Again they searched all the items one by one in detail, finally
located a Palm Leaf kept inside a small water tight glass box was found. They did
not know how to open it without damaging the palm leaf. It was sealed in such a
way. They broke the glass and took the palm leaf. Lot of fungus had accumulated on
it. Ramanujam slowly cleaned it and observed that something was written. He
turned it this way and that way, reversed it and observed that something was
written in a strange script. Immediately he could not decipher it. They kept in their
kit bag and returned to shore. Got down from the submarine, thanked the
Commander and returned to their lodge. They washed the palm leaf with soda
water, clean water, sprayed some face powder and slowly wiped the surface with a
clean cloth. Now the script was clearly visible. It was in ancient Sanskrit and Bali
language. With great difficulty Sanskrit Professor could translate it to modern
Sanskrit.
16
It was as below:
| | |
thrishath panchaashath eeshaanya kroshaH
He pondered over the meaning of the line, after hours of thinking he could find
the meaning of it.
Thrishath means 3 hundred, Panchaashath means fifty,
Eeshaanya means Northeast, Kroshah means a distance of 2 miles.
They all discussed what would be the indication of this. Then the symbologist
Govinda suggested that in the North east direction at a distance of 300 + 50 = 350 x
2 = 700 miles or appx. 1100Kms. something must be there. They went to a book
shop in Dwaraka purchased an atlas with large map of India. In the map with a
pencil drew a line in the Northeast direction from Dwaraka, with the help of scale
measurement provided in the map drew an arc at approximately 700 miles. At the
intersection of the line and the arc they located the city of Kurukshethra. Then it
flashed in the mind of Ramanujam that Kurushethra was an important place in the
life of Krishna. It was there 5000 years ago the great war of Mahabharatha was
fought for 18 days between Duryodhanas army and Yudhishtras army and they
decided to go there. They went to the house of Damodar Patel and Kusuma Ben
thanked them for all the help rendered. They moved over to Ahmedabad by Okha
Rameswaram Express Train No. 16734. At Dwaraka they got into the train at 06.30
hours and reached Ahmedabad at 15.15 hours, went to a lodge, booked 2 rooms
and settled for the day.
In the evening they went to Swaminarayan Swami temple and prayed for the
success of their quest. Next day early morning after bath and breakfast they went to
Mahatma Gandhijis Ashram at Sabarmati. There they saw how simple the greatest
man to walk on this earth after Krishna, Buddha and Lord Jesus Christ, lived. His
proud and poor possessions were exhibited there for all to see. His possessions
were his spectacles, 2 aluminium plates, 2 wooden spoons, which were given to
him while in Yarawada Jail, his Ingersoll eight shilling watch with a small chain
attached, to keep him punctual, his spinning wheel, Bhagavathgeetha, Kuron, Bible,
a book with Sri Ram Bhajans, pair of khadhi hand spun dhotis, loin cloth, khadhi
shawl, his walking stick, pen and pencil. These were his only possessions. He never
desired anything and never owned anything. His only desire was Independent
India where Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and all people lived most
cooperatively and peacefully and betterment of poorest of poor. His only
possession was the image of Purushottam Ram in his mind and thought.
17
Now let us go to G2. They learnt that G1 had gone to Dwaraka. They booked
seats in Kingfisher Plane to Ahmedabad and from there went to Dwaraka by
chartered taxi. In Dwaraka they enquired about 4 persons from Bangalore and
where they could be found. A shop keeper said that they had gone to harbour to
enquire about something. At the harbour after enquiry they engaged the same
submarine and went into deep water. Their search was for the jewels of Krishna.
This they searched in all the dilapidated palaces of the sunken city. After searching
for 3 to 4 hours they could not find anything and presumed that G1 might have
already looted the jewels and ran away. They returned to shore and took rest for
the day. Next day by chance they met Damodar Patel and Kusuma Ben and learnt
that G1 are proceeding to Kurushethra. G2 discussed among them, how to go to
Kurushethra.
G1 went through the bazaar of Ahmadabad, which is supposed to be the cotton,
cotton mills, oil and oil seeds capital of India. Then they visited the other
sightseeing spots like zoo etc and went boating on Sabarmathi River. Then they
returned to their lodge. Next day they went to Railway Station and booked seats for
them in T. No. 12917, Ahmadabad Nizamuddin Samprank Kranthi Express.
Departed from Ahmedabad at 17.20 hours and reached Nizamuddin Station at 10.40
hours next day. Searched for a lodge at Karolbagh and settled at a South India type
lodge. In the evening went to Mahatma Gandhis Samadhi at Raj Ghat, paid their
respects to him. Then they visited one of the wonders of the modern world, Swami
Narayan Swami Temple in White marble, magnificently built to behold and
captivate the viewer. Then they went to Bahai Lotus Temple, built in the shape of a
lotus. Next day they saw, Teen Murthy Bhavan, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehrus residence
for 17 long years, as first P.M. of free India, Jan Path, where parades on 26
th
Jan.
every year is held, Red Fort by the side of Yamuna River, from where King
Shajahan ruled India, Palki Bazaar, designed underground, where everything
under the Sun is available. They wanted to visit, pay their respects and good wishes
to President Smt. Pratibha Patil, PM Manmohan Singh, UPA Chairperson Smt. Sonia
Ghandhi, HM; P.Chidambaram, FM; S.M,Krishna, Lok Sabha Speaker, Meira Kumar
and other bigwigs, but due to 3 bomb blasts at Mumbai, Zaveri bazaar, Opera
House and Dadar on 13
th
July 2011, the security was very tight and they were not
permitted to visit these persons. Govinda wanted to see Jantar Mantar and study its
construction. It was built by a Jaipur Maharaja, who had studied Astronomy in
Scientific and Vedic systems. It was built to locate the position of various planets
and stars in the sky and also to accurately calculate the occurrence of New Moon,
Full Moon, eclipse and many more celestial events. The Maharaja first built a Jantar
Mantar in Jaipur city, then at Delhi. Then they booked their seats to Kurushethra on
New Delhi-Amritsar Express T.No.12459, which departs from Delhi at 13.35 hrs, and
reaches Kurushethra at 16.07 hrs. They returned to their lodge and took rest.
18
CHAPTER 4
UP IN THE AIR
Mean while G2 came to Ahmedabad and immediately got into a train to New
Delhi. From there they went to Kurushethra without taking rest anywhere. They
reached Kurushethra and settled in a lodge. It was a small city, next day after bath
and breakfast they went to Jyotisar, from where Sri Krishna delivered Bhagavath
Geetha to Arjuna. (And also to the entire world) Then they went to Bhishma Kund.
During the Mahabharata war on the 10
th
day, Bhishma was injured, almost on death
bed with many arrows by Arjuna; he could not fight and fell down. He was laid in a
temporary cot made up of arrows created by Arjuna at one end of the war field. He
felt very thirsty, Duryodana and others rushed to the camp to bring water and
juices. Krishna ordered Arjuna to shoot an arrow at the ground, to every ones
surprise water came out in the form of a fountain and fell straight into the mouth of
Bhishma. As per legend the holy Ganga River, she came to quench the thirst of her
beloved son in the form of a fountain. Whomsoever goes to Kurushethra see these
two places. Later on the fountain formed a pond. G2 searched for G1 but could not
trace them. Suddenly a tornado, like Twister came from Rajasthan desert. Its main
beam was about 30 feet in diameter and swirling in a fast pace. G2 had never seen
a tornado, except in the film Twister. They dont know what to do and how to face it?
Before they could think of a plan, they were sucked by the tornado, which moved
on and on. After an hour or so its force reduced and G2 fell down, in a far away
village, between Thanesar and Kaithal. It was a small village with no infrastructure.
They were bruised all over the body and minor hairline cracks here and there.
There was no hospital, a village Doctor saw them and took them to his house. He
grinded some fresh leaves mixed with other items made a paste of it and applied it
to all the bruised places in the body. They were given some fluid to drink, which
reduced their pain, made them sleep soundly and helped in curing the wounds.
They were well looked after, fed in a simple village manner and after a week they
were able to sit and walk. Then they learnt that Kurushethra is about 15 to 20 Kms
from there. They engaged a camel cart, moved over to Kurukshethra, after thanking
the villagers for their help and hospitality. They offered some cash to them but the
villagers refused to take it. After 2 hours journey, reached Kurushethra, (after G1
had departed to Delhi after their sojourn at Kurushethra) went to their (G2s) lodge,
after dinner took complete rest.
Now-a-days we read in papers that, greed to make or pocket some quick bucks,
has caught every one; like commonwealth games scam, 2G scam, Adarsh housing
scam, Bellary iron ore scam, land grab scam and many more scams. So it is no
surprise that G2 were also caught in a sort of greed to knock off precious jewels of
Krishna.
19
The day after G2 were sucked by the tornado, G1 had reached Kurushethra.
They took rooms in a lodge and rested for the day. Next day early morning G1
visited Jyotisar, Bhishma Kund etc. They were wondering, why this area was
selected by the war lords of Pandava and Kaurava. In a war fighting alone is not
everything, the infrastructure for the war is also very important. Normally the
Mahabharata war would start at sun rise and close at sun set. The wounded would
be picked up, given first aid, the dead men and animals would be removed to
burial ground for burial or cremation. The debris of the war like broken arrows,
spears, mace, bow, swords etc would be cleared from the war zone. Then the
soldiers, horses, elephants etc would be bathed, fed and rested for the night. Next
day the men should be fitted with new set of armaments. There must be space for
attending to natures call, plenty of water, space for cooking etc, space for cleaning
vessels and so on. They learnt that the war field is in between 2 rivers, Saraswathi
and Drishadvati and intervening space is well fed with sub Terrain Rivers. Hence
the entire requirements for the infrastructure were there. So the war lords on both
the sides decided this area for the war. Hence it was decided to conduct the Great
War at that area.
G1 searched all the dilapidated areas for any lead towards their quest. They
were thinking what to do and where to go? A Swamij in saffron dress, passed by
them. G1 pranamed him and asked about Kurushethra, their quest and requested
him for help to achive their goal. Swamiji introduced himself as Swami
Harichandradas Mahopadyaya he has set up a research centre and he is a double
doctorate in Modern science as well as Ancient Vedic Science. His aim was to help
humanity somehow or other. He has indigenously designed, built and about to take
field trial on his TIME MACHINE which could take persons in time and space, for
10000 years in forward or reverse mode to probe hidden secrets to some extent.
G1 expressed their desire to see the machine. Swamiji took them to his laboratory,
showed the machine and told them that next day is auspicious day and time to take
field trial.
Next day G1 went there, Swamiji welcomed them and offered hot poories with
side dishes, hot jeelabis and hot milk tea. The time machine was in the centre of a
big room of 25 x 25 feet, with a doom of 35 feet above the machine, with lot of
panels, intricate wiring, meters, control gear etc. There were comfortable chairs by
the side of the machine, lights all around the machine and room. Swamiji told them
that the machine has to be programmed for forward or reverse journey in time,
space, location and direction to go. The machine has a remote control in Swamijis
wrist watch. But once the machine is set and switched on, it cannot be stopped
suddenly, it will complete its time period then only stop and come back to current
time and day. He told them, that the first field trial will be done now and asked them
whether they are willing to participate in the trial. They happily said yes. Then he
asked them where they want to go? They said they would like to go to the first day
of great Mahabharata war. Swamiji told them to sit on the chairs, tighten the safety
belts like the seats in an aero plane. He set the machine to go in reverse mode for
20
5000 years and to the war zone of Kurushethra. Swamiji also sat with them, applied
the safety belt and advised them to close their eyes, then switched on the machine
with his wrist watch remote control.
Some decades ago a TV serial Star Trek in English was being broadcast. In that
the crew travelling in U.S.S.Enterprise space ship travelling deep into the space,
beyond Suns regime would spot a planet, with strange men and animals would
decide to go to the planet and investigate. Their space ship would be in space only.
They alone would be dematerialised, atomised transmitted through
electromagnetic waves and rematerialsed in the new planet, all in a jiffy. Such was
the advancement of science, as per the serial.

21
CHAPTER 5
INTO THE WILDERNESS

Similarly the 5 persons (G1 + Swamiji) in a split second were in the war zone of
Kurushethra, sitting on a tall tree top observing what is going on there. The scene
observed by them is mentioned hereunder.
Both the armies were stationed opposite to each other and about to start the war
at a given signal. Arjuna wanted his chariot to be taken to the centre of the war
field, so that he could see his opponents, pay respects to elders, so requested
Krishna to take the chariot there. Krishna did so. Seeing his own grandfather
Bhishma, Gurus Dronacharya and Kripacharya, his own cousins Duryodana,
Dushshasana and brethren, various kings known and unknown, lakh of warriors,
compassion overcame Arjuna. He told Bhagwan, why I should kill these entire
people and rule a kingdom over their dead bodies, I am not willing to fight and
choose to withdraw from the war. Krishna consoled him telling that you are
grieving for those, who do not deserve to be grieved for; you are thinking you are
very wise, but wise men never weep for the dead or living. Then Bhagwan tells him
who He is? Says I am the best in everything, I have no beginning, middle or end. He
is the SUPREME BEING. Arjuna requests him, to show, His Cosmic Form,
Yogeswararoopa. Bhagwan says that Arjuna cannot see his Cosmic Form with his
own eyes, so he grants Arjuna special eyes with which to see His Visions unlimited-
Cosmic Form. In that Arjuna sees everything, past present and future, all beings
dead or alive, all persons in the war field being swallowed by Bhagwan. It was a
terrible form; Arjuna trembled on seeing it and requests Bhagwan to come back to
his normal form. Arjuna had many doubts and clarifications, which Krishna
clarified. Their dialogue was brilliantly recorded by Veda Vyasa, which is called
Srimad Bhagavath Geetha. (My dear reader, please read the Geetha with
meaning, authored by great men, the code of conduct for humanity and the way
one should behave in the course of life, are explained very splendidly in detail by
Bhagwan Sri Krishna Himself) After getting his doubts cleared, Arjuna agrees to
fight. As a signal to commence the war, Krishna blows his panchajanyam and
Arjuna clicks his bow, Gandeeva, the sound of which makes all warriors tremble in
fear.
At this point Swamiji says let us go to the 13
th
day of war and see what is
happening there. So they are moved to the 13
th
day of war, by the time machine.
By the end of 10
th
day Bhishma is seriously wounded and is on death bed, which
was made by Arjuna. To quench his thirst, Ganga herself sprouted through a
spring, caused by Arjunas arrow. From 11
th
day onwards Dronacharya was the
Commander-in-chief, of Kauravas army. By this day more than half the army, on
22
both sides were dead. On Pandava side Arjuna was formidable. On the 13
th
day
early morning Trigartas challenges Arjuna and they go to the southern side of the
war field. After his going Dronacharya formed his army in Chakravyuha /
Padmavyuha, in which Duryodana was positioned in the centre. The first layer
comprised of Radeya / Karna, Dussasana, Kripa; next layer Jayadritha, with his
huge army, then the 3
rd
layer by Sakuni, Krithavarma, Salya and others,
Dronacharya was on the outskirts of the vyuha. It is very difficult to penetrate such
a formation. Only very few persons know the solution, like Krishna, Arjuna, Karna,
Dronacharya. Then Yudhishthira orders Abimanyu to enter in and fight. He says
that he knows the art of going in but does not know how to come out of it.
Yudhishthira tells him to go in and fight and all of us would follow him for help and
to retrieve him. So Abimanyu goes in and creates havoc on Kaurava side. Then
under Dronas instructions Abimanyus chariot, with horses, swords, bow, and
charioteer are either destroyed or killed. Abimanyu was helpless. 6 great warriors
of Kaurava side killed Abimanyu most treacherously and unlawfully. They danced
over his dead body.
By this time it was almost evening, Swamiji told G1 let us go back to our lab. He
operated his wrist watch and in a jiffy they were in the lab sitting in their chairs.
They were very happy that they could see the war and unhappy that they could not
get clue to their goal. Then they requested Swamiji to find out through his machine
where the flute might be or some clue to go further in their quest.
Swamiji thought for a while, what to do? As this will be the first time to instruct
the machine to find out by itself the solution. Swamiji operated the machine in that
way, which indicated search is in progress. After an hour some script appeared
in Sanskrit on the monitor.
4 1 4| H 1 |
4 || 4|| P | 1
The literal meaning of the sloka is name of a city starting with M, and it is not on
the banks of Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery and Sindhu Rivers. Ramanujam noted
down the sloka in his diary, thanked Swamiji for all his help and returned to their
lodge. Next day they left Kurushethra by Amritsar-New Delhi Express, Train No.
12460. At 11.34 am they got into the train and reached Delhi by 14:20 hrs. Went to
their lodge pondered over solution to that Sanskrit sloka. They referred the Atlas,
followed the paths of each river like Ganga, Krishna, Brahmaputhra, Godavari,
Cauvery etc. They could not find a city with name M. Then it flashed in their mind
to trace the path of Yamuna River. Then they saw the city of Mathura mentioned
there. This confirms to the sloka and decided to go to Mathura.
In the meanwhile, G2 returned from the village on camel cart (a cart drawn by a
camel just like horse or bullock). Camel cart is very popular in North India in the
States surrounding Rajasthan desert. They rested for the night in a lodge. Next day
23
they searched all the dilapidated areas, met some village people and enquired
some details, but could not get what they are after. By evening by chance they met
the very same Swamiji whom G1 had met. They introduced themselves and said
they are from Bangalore. He revealed that few days ago another group from
Bangalore met him, to whom he had demonstrated his machine. G2 also expressed
their desire to see the machine. Next day after breakfast they went to swamijis lab
and acquainted with the details of the machine and its capability. They expressed
their desire to see how British formed the East India Company in Calcutta 200 to
300 years ago. Swamiji was setting the machine, G2 stood very near it leaned over
and observed the intricacies of the machine. Vyjayanthi unknowingly and
unintentionally pressed some buttons with her palm. While doing so she had
initiated the machine to go forward in time and to a far away location in space. They
sat in the chairs along with the Swamiji, who told them to close their eyes and be
calm for few minutes. Then he pressed the buttons in his wrist watch.
Oh! What a miracle, they have landed in a far away planet Pandora (made
famous by James Cameron in his epic film Avataar), in the year 2154 AD. They had
landed in a crevice formed between 2 roots of a giant tree 200 feet tall, and were
observing what is going on there. By 2154, Earth had exhausted all its natural
energy resources. So an army well equipped, goes to Pandora to extract a mineral
called unobtainium from its vast resources. They had planned to get the mineral at
any cost, if necessary to wage an all out war with the natives. They have taken latest
generation of helicopters, armed vehicles, as big as 10 elephants, tanks, Robots 20
feet tall, soldiers armed head to heel, aided and guided by latest generation of
computers and guidance apparatus. Prior to this, they had sent one crippled marine
soldier, Jack Selly in his new avatar, as a Navi native. He falls in love with the
princess Neytiri of the planet; he switches sides, joins natives, to protect the
Pandora from the Sky People, as they are called by the natives. The natives are
armed with primitive bow, arrows, daggers, swords, spears etc. They pray to their
God, who answers their prayer, send strange looking birds as big as an aero plane,
strange animals bigger than an elephant and many more in thousands to their help.
An ultimate war was about to start. G2 wondered how and who will win the war and
about their own lives and fate.
Suddenly there was a Power Grid failure in Haryana state and the whole state
plunged into darkness, including Kurushethra and Swamijis lab. However the
machine has a back up UPS which can supply power for a short while only. It sent a
signal to Swamiji, who noted it on his wrist watch and decided to return to lab
immediately. Next moment G2 and Swamiji were sitting in their chairs in the lab.
They felt very much relieved from the dreaded war and safe in the lab. They very
much thanked the Swamiji for the strange experience and asked him about G1.
Swamiji told them that they might have gone to Mathura. So G2 returned to Delhi.
Permit me to mention a few words of appreciation of the film Avataar. 12 years
ago James Cameroon, gave the world Titanic, an epic in its own way. So far none
24
have shown the sinking giant ship in so much detail. Now he has given us an EPIC
of outstanding proportions. Our own God Brahma created our world with humanity,
animals, birds, fishes, mountains, rivers, flora and fauna etc. Similarly our dear
James has created in the land of Pandora, men and women 8 feet tall, bluish body,
yellow eyes, flat thick nose, long ears like rabbit, 5 feet long tail, 4 to 5 feet long
plaits, which they linked with their pet animals and plants and communicated their
thoughts and ideas electromagnetically, strange animals with 6 legs, birds of
strange design, unimaginable flora and fauna, flouting mountains with Unobtainium
mineral, trees of several hundred feet tall and 100 feet wide and many more. I have
no words to describe further. If there is an award for creation, like Oscar, Bharat
Rathna, Noble, Magsaysay etc, then it should be given to James Cameron first.
Please see the film in 3D format at the earliest, if you have not seen it in theatres. It
is an epic film of the century. I wonder where James would take us in his next film. If
I have an opportunity to meet him in person, I would express my appreciation and
thanks for giving us Titanic and Avataar; and many more in future.

25
CHAPTER 6
DEEP INTO THE RIVER
G1 are in Delhi. Govinda expressed that he experienced a premonition that one
or more persons are following them closely to learn what they are doing. So he
suggested that the other party must be given a slip and misguided. So they booked
4 seats in New Delhi Agra Cantt. Intercity express train no. 14212 and got tickets to
Mathura, left Delhi at 17.40 hrs, got down at Faridabad at 18.30 hrs. (After getting
their tickets checked by TTE-travelling ticket examiner). They took a taxi at
Faridabad and returned to New Delhi. Immediately they vacated their lodge and
took another lodge at Delhi Sarai Rohilla. They stayed in their lodge without stirring
outside for 3 days to mislead the followers.
G2 came to Delhi searched the reservation lists of the trains to Agra/Mathura.
They saw the names of G1 in a particular train. Next day they took another train and
reached Mathura. Then they decided to go to Vrindavan in search of their quest.
They saw and searched many places, where Krishna in his boyhood played, while
herding his cattle.
They learnt that near Yamuna River, a small lake by name Madu was there. In
that a big snake Kaliya lived. It had poisoned the water of the lake in such a way
that any person or animal which drank the water would die soon, and then it will
swallow them or share with his family for lunch or dinner.
As per Srimad Bhagavatham, Sri Krishna decided to kill the snake. He climbed
up a tall Kadamba tree, dived into the River, played in it for some time. Kaliya
snake hearing the disturbance of the lake water came to the surface and saw a
small boy playing there. He wanted to kill and eat him. Krishna fought with him for
a long time, defeated him and was about to kill him. His wives came out and
begged Bhagwan to spare their husbands life. They promised that they would
vacate the area with family and move over to ocean. Immediately all of them moved
over to sea, Kaliya, his wives, small siblings, raw eggs and everything. While
vacating they forgot to pickup one egg which was buried very deep into a crevice
of the lake. It was dormant for 5000 years nearly. On 26-12-2006 there was collision
of earths basic tectonic Plates at Indonesia, which caused great Tsunami waves,
which caused heavy damage at South India sea shore and disturbance to earths
crust. After that there was earth quake at Iran. All these caused disturbance at
Yamuna River and its bed, due to which the forgotten/hidden egg hatched and out
came a small snake. Due to its altered DNA it grew into an Anaconda like Python
and lived in Yamuna River, eating whatever was available.
26
G2 wanted to see the places where Krishna killed many demons, fought with
Kaliya snake and was about to kill him. They came near the Madu Lake. Suddenly
the anaconda came out, coiled its body over G2 and swallowed all the 3 in one go.
It dived deep into the River, came to a cave like formation, spit them there and went
away to come at some other time and eat leisurely. The G2 observed that they
were completely covered with some sort of paste like thing. They noted that the
cave was big about 25 x 25 x 15 height, had dry land, well ventilated and dim
light coming through a tunnel. They washed themselves with clean water, dried
some of their apparel. They had some biscuit, chocolate and drinking water in their
waterproof bags, which they consumed. They searched their surroundings. They
noted that fresh air and light was coming through a tunnel of 3 feet in diameter and
about 50 feet in height. They planned to escape through this tunnel. They
searched the area for any suitable material. They found a pair of shoes with long
spikes. Perhaps the python might have swallowed a sports person, spitting out his
spiked shoes. Shahjahan Shanbhag picked them and tried on his legs. It suited
him. So he decided to climb the tunnel wearing it. He remembered in the Hindi
film Baadshah, how Sri Shah Rukh Khan climbed the wall of the building, in a
perpendicular manner, wearing a special James Bond type shoes. He also tried to
walk in an inclined manner along the tunnel and he succeeded. He reached the top
and open space after about half an hour of struggle. He searched for some rope,
which he could lower into the tunnel to get the other two out of it. He could not find
any rope. He saw some wild creepers wound round on a big tree. With great
difficulty he uncoiled it and lowered it into the tunnel. He threw the spiked shoes
into the tunnel and called the other two to come up with the help of the rope. First
Vyjayanthi came and then Ramlal came up and all of them were out of the cave.
They saw all around them, rolled a big boulder of more than 3 feet diameter into
the opening of the tunnel so that the Python would not come up and catch them.
They felt much relieved but were very tired and full of dirt all over their body.
They learnt that they had landed on the opposite side of Vrindavan, crossing
Yamuna River. They assumed it must be Gokul, where Sri Krishna played his
pranks as a child. They moved into the village. They met a person and enquired
about any lodge where they can take bath, have food and take rest. The person
introduced himself as Sri Kanhaiyalal Yadav, owning a milk dairy with 500 cows and
buffalos. His ancestors were Gopas, cowherds during Sri Krishnas time and now he
is making a livelihood in Gokul. He welcomed G2 to his house, showed them 2
guest rooms. They took bath and when they came out they were surprised to see 2
sets of spare dresses for all of them. They dressed themselves with one set of dress
and kept the other set for future use. They threw away their old and spoiled
clothes. Sri Kanhaiyalal came and invited them to have dinner. They partook the
dinner which had many varieties of food and retired to their rooms and were soon
fast asleep after their terrific experience with the python.
27
Next morning, after the morning chores they took leave of Sri Kanhaiyalal and
returned to Mathura in a local Bus and went to their lodge on a Wednesday. In the
evening, they decided to attend a drama staged by village people depicting
Krishnas life. They seated themselves in the east side of the Auditorium. It was a
crude drama, but it entertained the public. On the West side G1 were enjoying the
drama as well. Both the groups did not see each other due to heavy crowd at the
auditorium. G2 decided to get back to Bangalore after their terrific experience at
Kurukshetra and Vrindavan.
Next day they came to Mathura Station to get Railway ticket to Bangalore. They
met the Chief Station Master Mr. William Johnson. After enquiry, they learnt that
none of the Bangalore bound train stops at Mathura. Mr. Johnson informed that
Jammu Tawi - Chennai Andaman Express, Train No.16032 stops at Mathura and as
lot of pilgrims from Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana will get down, berths will be
available to Chennai. They booked 3 berths for the evening train. The train started
at 17.25 hours and reached Chennai at 10.10 hours on the 2
nd
day after nearly 41
hours of journey. They had bath and lunch in the waiting room at Chennai Railway
Station, and got into Chennai Bangalore Express Train No. 12609 which left Chennai
at 13.35 hours and reached Bangalore at 20.05 hours, went to their respective
homes and took complete rest for 3 days. They narrated their terrifying experience
in detail to their family and friends.
G1 after 3 days of isolation, they got into an unreserved compartment of Delhi
Sarai Rohalla- Chhindwara Patalkot Express Train No.14010, left Delhi at 12.20
hours and reached Mathura at 15.22 after 3 hours of journey, on the same
Wednesday as G2 arrived from Gokul. They settled down in a simple lodge. In
the evening they attended a drama, staged by village folk depicting Krishnas life.
They took seat in Western side of the Auditorium. There G2 were also present on
the eastside of the auditorium, both the groups were unaware of the others
presence. In the drama, Sri Krishnas life from the moment he & Balarama enters
Mathura lead by Sri Akrura was shown.
In the drama it was shown that Sri Krishna & Sri Balarama took permission from
Sri Akrura to have a glimpse of the great city of Mathura. There at a particular
place, they saw a young and gorgeous lady with a hunch back. She said that her
name was Trivakra. She gave fine perfume to them. Sri Krishna wanted to give her
something in return, he placed both his feet on the foot of the lady, held her chin,
lifted her head. Aho! A miracle happened. She was no longer a hunch back but a
very charming lady.
Then the 2 brothers went to Ayudha shala, saw a Dhanus (bow), lifted it with left
hand, and tightened the bow string by bending the bow. But the Dhanus was
broken with a loud noise like thunder. After that they were going through the
streets of Mathura. The mahout of a mammoth sized elephant by name
28
Kuralayapide, positioned the elephant at the entrance and did not allow the 2
brothers. Sri Krishna fought with the elephant and killed it.
Then they went to the wrestling arena. They fought with giant wrestlers Mustika,
Chanura, Kuta, Shale and Toshala and killed all of them. Then they killed Kamsa
also. After that they went to prison, released their father Sri Vasudeva, mother Smt
Devaki and grandfather Sri Ugrasena all of them imprisoned by Kamsa. Sri Krishna
installed Ugrasena as King of Magadha. After that, Upakarma (thread ceremony)
was done to both the brothers. Then they were sent to the Ashrama of Guru
Sandipini. In 64 days they mastered all that is to be learnt by young students
including 64 arts/ skills.
The drama was over and they returned to their lodge.
29
CHAPTER 7
CHILD KRISHNAS DAY OUT
Next morning, G1 got up early and went to see the birth place of Sri Krishna. It
was a small room with a stone platform as cot. Perhaps Devaki must have delivered
Sri Krishna there. There was a mosque / Jumma Masjid nearby. Adjacent to it, a
modern type temple has been built in 1814 by Seth Gokul Das Parikh for Sri
Krishna, playing flute with Radha, named as Dwarakadeesh Temple and they
visited other places of interest. Then they went to old relics shop and places
dealing in antique items, but could neither see the flute nor have any clue leading
to it. Next day they met Nandalal Trivedi, whole sale merchant of Mathura. G1
informed him about their quest. He advised them to go to Gokul.

They went to Gokul and met Kanhaiyalal Yadav. He welcomed them to his
house and gave G1 snacks and milk. He told them about himself and enquired
details about G1. They said they are from Bangalore and are in search of Sri
Krishnas flute. Mr. Yadav told them that no such thing is available in Gokul. In the
evening, they attended a dance drama arranged by local dance school. In the
drama they showed the following items. The dance style was in Kathak.
In the dance drama, the students danced to show how Vasudeva as soon as
Krishna was born, took him to Gokul, crossing Yamuna River. The waters of
Yamuna jumped higher and higher so as to touch Lords baby foot. Once the foot
was touched as a mark of paying respect/pranaam, the water subsided and gave
way to Vasudeva to cross it. It even parted and rejoined. Vasudeva went to
Yashodas house, kept the child there and took the female child lying by the side of
Yashoda and returned to Mathura. As soon as the child was placed by the side of
Devaki, it cried, alerting the guards. The guards in turn informed Kamsa. He came
and took the child and threw on the wall. But the child flew into the sky and told
him that the child who is supposed to kill him is elsewhere and vanished.
Yashoda after a while woke and saw a child unmatched in beauty by her side.
Slowly day by day the child grew up into a handsome boy. One day Yashoda left
the child in the cradle and went for her routine domestic duties. Poothana, a demon
friend of Kamsa, came to feed the child with her breast milk. She had smeared
deadly poison on her breast, so that when Krishna puts his lips on it, he will die.
She took the child and put it to her breast. But the Lord not only sucked her milk
and but also her very life itself. She died with a big roar, showing her real form as a
giant demon. Krishna was over her and playing. He was 15 days old then. After 3
months, Kamsa sent another demon Shakatasura. He shaped himself as a bullock
cart and was in the backyard. As it was summer, Yashoda put the Baby Krishna
underneath it for shade and went on with her routine job. After a while Krishna with
his tiny foot kicked the cart so forcefully, it went up to 50 feet and came down
crashing on the floor. Thus he was also killed.
30
When Krishna was 6 months old, another demon Trinavartha came as a
whirlwind / tornado and took away Krishna. Krishna killed him with his tiny hands.
One day as Krishna was crawling all over the house and court yard, Yashoda tied
him with a rope to the wheat and grains crushing stone and went away. By crawling,
Krishna dragged the stone and passed between 2 big Arjun trees with a gap of 2
feet between them. The trees fell down with a loud noise. The dance troupe
showed how Yashoda bathed Krishna, cleaned him, dressed him, combed his hair,
made small pony tails on the hair on both sides, how she gave food to him and so
on. Then the drama closed with Aarti to all the students who danced. G1 returned
to the guest room at Kanhaiyalals house. Next day, they thanked Kanhaiyalal for all
the help he had rendered and took leave of him and crossed Yamuna River to go to
Vrindavan.
They reached Vrindavan. It is a small town. In a lodge they booked room. They
saw some interesting places like Govardhana hill, Madhu Lake, Temples etc. In the
evening they saw a DVD on big TV screen, showing Sri Krishnas Leelas as a young
boy of 5 to 12 years. Krishna killed many demons in the shape of calf; duck, bull,
horse etc as a boy & conquering Kalinga snake by dancing on its head, lifting of
Govardhana hill and many more. The DVD was from a serial named Mahabharatha
directed and produced by B R Chopra a famous producer of Hindi film industry. It
was very nice.
During early 80s TV shows were broadcast from Delhi, only in Hindi and
relayed by stations in big cities like Ahmedabad, Bombay, Bangalore, Chennai,
Calcatta only and relayed by antennas only. No satellite TV. The programmes
were in Hindi like Rajni, Nukkad, soap opera Hum Log shown 2 or 3 days in a week
and many more. On Sundays from 9 to 10 AM, mega serials like Ramayan by Sri
Ramanand Sagar and Mahabharat by Sri B R Chopra were shown. These 2 serials
captured the mood and attention of all the people all over India irrespective of
language barrier. Every Sunday, whole of India came to a standstill, when these TV
serials were being shown. Its popularity reached a point where the entire nation
came to virtual stop as everyone who could gain access to a television stopped
whatever they were doing to watch televised adventures of Rama and Krishna.
Before the programme started, people used to make pooja to the TV set and took
Arthi and then switched on TV. All other engagements like General Body meeting,
Political meeting, and marriage were rescheduled to accommodate viewing of
these TV shows. Intercity buses and trucks stopped running when the show was on.
Such was the popularity of the show. Sri Arun Govil acted as Sri Rama and Sri Nitish
Bharadwaj acted as Sri Krishna. In these serials the villains were more popular and
loved by the audience because of their character and acting capability. Sri Diwedi
acted as Ravan and Sri Gulfi Painthal acted as Sakuni.
31
My respects, regards and congratulations are to Sri Ramanand Sagar and
Sri B R Chopra for producing such a magnificent mass attraction serials during the
late 80s. Lord Almighty Sri Krishna and Sri Rama will bless them well.
After the DVD show, all returned to their homes and lodge. Next day they met
an elderly monk, Sham Sunder Goswami and enquired about the flute. He said as
per ancient local legend, Sri Krishna before going to Mathura met Radha and spent
some time with her. They exchanged their dresses; Krishna dressed up like a girl
and Radha like a boy. Krishna told Radha that he is going to Mathura with Uddhava
at the invitation of Kamsa to see the wrestling tournament. She was very much
depressed. To console her, Sri Krishna gave his flute to her as a memento and to
keep it as a substitute for him during his absence. She was very happy. After that
what happened to Radha and Flute, nobody knows. G1 requested him to give some
clue to look for it. He searched his home library, pulled out an ancient book,
dusted it and started reading. On a particular page, he saw a Sanskrit script and
showed it G1. The script is as below:
| |4 41 H
P | | || 4| H|
The English literal meaning is as below:
4 hundred Kroshah (2 miles) South east direction Krishnas jewels Sea
Shore Two brother and a sister
They thanked Goswami and returned to their lodge. They could not decipher
the script immediately. They then decided to go back to Bangalore, take rest and
relax for some days, then plan about their quest. As trains to Bangalore does not
stop at Mathura, they went to Agra, got into Nizamuddin Coimbatore Kongu
Express Train No. 12648 passing through Bangalore at 11.35 am and reached
Bangalore at 1 am in the morning after 38 to 40 hours of journey. They engaged a
taxi and reached their respective homes.
After a few days of rest, they met me in Avalahalli Park and narrated all their
adventures at various places. Then they showed me the strange script, I read it
many times, scratching my head. Then I searched some old books, local legends
and internet information about Puri Jagannath Temple. I invited them to my home.
After snacks and tea, I explained the above sources in which it is mentioned as
below:
Pious King of Malava Country, Indradhyumna, as instructed by Sri Krishna, built
the temple, with wooden images of Krishna, Balarama and Subhadra. The idols
were prepared by Vishwakarma himself. Vishwakarma told the King, that none
should see the images till they are completed. But the King and Queen out of
curiosity saw them through a gap in the door. Then Vishwakarma got angry and left
for heavens without completing the idols. Hence the strange shape of the idols.
The wooden images are replaced by similar ones every 12 years, by a function,
32
called Navakalevara (new body). Some jwells of Krishna are transferred from old
to new idols. The place is also called Purushothama Tirtha. I showed them many
more details of the temple by internet.
Ramanujam got up and said that Puri Jagannaths Temple and its location
confirms to the script that was found at Mathura. Then he explained the Sanskrit
Sloka: | - 4 x 100 x 2 = 800 miles from Mathura i.e., 800 miles is 1287.2
Kms i.e. 1300 Kms.
|4 South east direction from Mathura
41 H - Krishnas jewels, perhaps with flute
P | - on the sea shore of Bay of Bengal
| || 4| H| - Two brothers and one sister, Balarama, Krishna and
Subhadra.
Then he proposed to go to Puri and search for the old relic including flute.
33
CHAPTER 8
UP NORTH EAST
Next day they planned to book Train No. 12846 Yeshwanthpur Bhuvaneshwar
Express, get down at Khurda Road and go to Puri. The train leaves Bangalore once
a week, only on Tuesdays. So on one auspicious Tuesday they left Bangalore. The
train started on time and reached Renigunta at 15.00 hours. G1 bought a local
paper and read the news, which mentioned that there is low depression in Bay Of
Bengal Sea; it may develop into a cyclone and move towards Vishakapatnam. By
the time the train reached Ongole, the depression developed into a cyclone and
started moving towards Vishakapatnam at more than 100kms per hour velocity.
Their train reached Vijayawada. There the Chief Station master announced that all
trains already left Vijayawada and east bound trains were stopped wherever they
are to avoid any accidents. All trains that were about to start from Chennai, Howrah
etc, passing through Vishakapatnam were cancelled indefinitely. Trains already
started on route were diverted via alternate routes. So G1s train was diverted
through Warrangal, Chandrapur, Gondia, Raipur, Bilaspur, Jhanssinguda,
Sambhapur to reach Bhubaneshwar. The exact route and timing was to be decided
at every junction, depending upon the movement of the cyclone, by the respective
station masters. The train was moving very slowly due to heavy rain. At every
junction the pantry car in charge got down to procure provision, as he had only
limited provision for the journey. The train, instead of its normal 28 hours journey,
took more than 56 hours to reach Bhubaneshwar. G2 were also travelling in the
same train, having their berths on the last sleeper coach where as G1s berth were
on the 1
st
sleeper coach. At last, it reached the destination. By the time the intensity
of the cyclone had decreased and only slight drizzle was there. G1 stayed in
Bhubaneshwar for few days and after the total stoppage of cyclone and its effect,
they went to Puri by a local Bus.
In this regard, I would like to mention my true life adventure due to cyclone.
Vishakapatnam and Vijayawada are notorious in attracting seasonal cyclones
during October to December every year; rather the periodical cyclones are very
affectionate in kissing Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam with their torrential rains
and high speed winds. During July 1987, I, my wife Mallika, daughters Amba and
Latha went on a North India tour. We stopped at my co-brother VVK Raman and
sister-in-law Gowris house for a week. From there for a couple of days we went to
Mussorie, Rishikesh, Haridwar, Pavandham etc. In Haridwar, holy Ganga was
flowing; it is very sacred to bathe in it. The climate was very hot; more than 105
degree F / 40 degree centigrade, but the water of Ganga was strangely freezing
cold. I took bath in the Ganges, not minding the freezing cold. Mallika poured 4 to
6 mugs of water on her head and body, daughters touched the water, refused to
take bath due to chillness and sprinkled few drops of water on their head, as a
symbolic bath. In Pavandham, the temples are designed in a strange way, full size
34
mirrors on 3 sides all around the idols are there. When one peeps into the temple
he/she can see thousands of similar idols on both sides. We returned to Delhi.
After couple of days we went to Agra, Fathehpur Sikri (from where Great Akbar
ruled of India) and Mathura. One day prior to our departure, we went to Pragathi
Maidan (permanent exhibition ground in Delhi) to see some industrial exhibition.
We returned home, my co-brother Raman informed that my train and all trains
passing through Vijayawada were indefinitely cancelled due to cyclone,
derailment of train and damage to bridges. We thought of cancelling our train
tickets and come by plane. But in those days, cancellation will be made only at the
station from where the tickets were issued and planes were fully booked. In those
days Indian Airlines was the only Airline in India and it operated few limited trips to
State capitals, one trip a day. So we had to wait for resumption of train services.
Our booked train was scheduled to pass through Vijayawada and Chennai on way
to Bangalore. Such was the arrangement in those days. On 3
rd
day from our
scheduled departure day, it was announced on TV that a train would proceed to
South at about 5pm, touching all the 4 Southern States. So we bid goodbye to
Raman and Gowri and boarded the train. We had booked 1
st
class tickets, in our
bogie out of 6 chambers, only 2 were occupied, one by us and the other by an
Army Major and his family going to Bangalore on transfer. The TTE checked our
tickets and wished us happy journey. I asked him about the route. He said nothing
is decided and at Itarsi, in consultation with the chief station master, it will be
decided. When the train reached Itarsi, the guard announced that the train would
be deviated via Jalagaon, Manmad, Daund, Wadi to Guntakal on way to Bangalore.
We were quite happy that at least we will reach Bangalore. When the train reached
Yelahanka on the outskirts of Bangalore, the guard informed us that passengers to
Bangalore should get down here, as the train would go to Krishnarajapuram, on
way to Jolarpet, Salem, Coimbatore, Shoranur and to Thiruvananthapuram. We got
down wondering what to do? The Army Major and his family also got down. He had
a lorry load of luggage as he was going on transfer. He went out of the station,
booked a closed lorry, loaded his luggage, and invited us to go with him to
Bangalore. He sat by the side of the driver to show the route and we all sat at the
back with his family and luggage. At Chamarajpet, he informed that his house was
nearby and asked us to get down and thanked us for giving him company. We took
2 autos and reached home. Thus our train adventure via the deviated route ended.
POOJA at PURI
G1 & G2 separately went to Puri Jaganatha Temple, without knowing and
identifying each other. They performed pooja at the Temple for all the 3 idols. The
idols were of peculiar shape of about 1 feet or so with large round eyes, without
eyelashes, hands without fingers, with some jewels and relics perhaps carried over
from Krishnas times. The temple was a very big one. They saw the 3 chariots /
Rathas on which every year during July the grand Rathayathra is conducted.
Perhaps the 3 Rathas are the biggest in India with 36 to 48 wheels. They took bath in
Chandrabhaga River, a branch of Mahanadi. After that they went round the city.
35
Then next day they met an old man by name Bhagwan Prasad Chourasia. He
took them to his house, offered biscuits and milk. He narrated the importance of
the city and temple. Samba, Krishnas son, through Jambhavathi, travelled to
Konark because he had contacted leprosy. In olden days there was no cure for such
a disease. Only method was to take a dip in the holy waters of Chandrabhaga River
during solar eclipse and benefitted from certain properties in the refracted rays of
the sun at that position, at that time of the day. Samba got cured of his malady. That
is why leprosy patients travelled from far and wide for a holy dip in Chandrabhaga
River, flowing in between Konark and Puri, on a solar eclipse day.
G1 enquired about the flute with Shri Chourasia and asked him where to search
for it. He informed that Rukmini worshipped an idol of Krishna, child of about 3 to 4
years holding a churning rod in right hand and holding a rope in left hand. To this
she performed pooja every day. Before her demise she told Arjuna to keep the
idol in a safe place. He buried it in a sand dune. Being buried for more than 4000
years, it had become as a hard lump, which a captain of a ship used, as ballast in his
ship. The ship was about to sink. Sri Madhvacharya by his yogic power lifted the
idol, cleaned and installed it at Udupi. He suggested G1 to go to Udupi and enquire
about it.
In the local legend, there is a saying Bhaktar Bojha Bhagawan dhoye in Orissa
language. The meaning is the Lord takes upon himself the suffering of the
devotees and absolves them when they surrender to him in total faith and
devotion. Perhaps Vishwakarma, to project this message of the Lord has given
such a shape to the idols. As leprosy progresses, patients eye lashes and fingers
are eaten away by the disease.
Next day they went to Bhubaneshwar and returned by the same train in which
they travelled to Puri but in the regular route only. The train tracks were cleared,
bridges repaired and other minor things attended to. They could get the berths
easily. Both G1 & G2 reached Bangalore safely. After few days, G1 narrated all
these to me in Avalahalli Park. After few days when I was alone in the Park, 3
persons came to me, made Sastanga Namaskaram and introduced themselves as
Shahjahan Shanbhag, Ramlal Chaturvedi and Vyjayanthi Sayonara. I asked
Shahjahan Shanbhag and Vyjayanthi Sayonara how they got their peculiar names.
They narrated the incidents by which they got their names. They also narrated to
me all their adventure at various places. They enquired about G1 and requested
me to reveal their future plans. I told them that G1 may go to Udupi, by bus, as last
leg in their search for the flute. G2 said they will follow G1 closely to Udipi in their
search, thanked, took leave of me and I returned home.
36
CHAPTER 9
THROUGH THE GHATS
G1 booked their seats on KSRTC Rajahamsa bus which starts very early in the
morning. There are no trains direct to Udupi from Bangalore. The only train route is
through Salem, Coimbatore, Shoranur, and Mangalore to Udupi which is circular
and time consuming that too, by changing 2 or 3 trains on the way. On an
auspicious day they started on their final leg of their quest. The bus went through
Nelamangala, Kunigal, Chennarayapatna, Hassan, Sakleshpur and reached Shiradi
Ghat by about 1pm or so. After passing Shiradi Ghats, it goes to Karkala and then to
Udupi. Shiradi ghat is very accident prone area. During 2010, 21 accidents had
occurred on this section, involving oil tankers. From Mangalore fully loaded with
oil, the tankers about 30 feet long would be travelling on way to Bangalore. From
Bangalore, empty tankers would be going back to Mangalore. These are in
addition to normal traffic of Buses, Lorries, cars, vans etc. At a particular point, the
road goes to the bottom of a mountain and turn at a critical angle. At this point, a
fully loaded tanker suddenly skidded and stood across the road. It could neither go
forward nor backward due to shortage of space. Another tanker coming from
Bangalore reached the spot, driver applied sudden brakes and it also skidded and
stood just across the road. It caused a traffic jam and within half an hour, about 25
to 30 vehicles on both sides had come and stopped, bumper to bumper. G1s
vehicle was 5
th
in the line. Incidentally, G2 had also booked their seats on this day
and were travelling by Airavatha AC bus and their vehicle was 15
th
in the line. G1
got down to see the spot and to enquire, when the road will be cleared. The driver
of the tanker informed that nothing can be said in the matter. He wanted travelling
jacks to set right the tanker on road in a straight manner. He had sent phone
message to Mangalore and Hassan to hurry up sending 4 numbers of travelling
jacks immediately. After their arrival vehicles on both sides have to move back 15
feet or so. The jacks may arrive by evening. Even working full night with powerful
lights, it may take about 8 hrs to set them on line. Then only it can move up.
Altogether it may take about 12 to 15 hrs for movement. He suggested that if people
could climb up the mountain and cross over, they may reach a safe road and carry
on their journey.
So G1 took their entire luggage and started climbing the mountain. They
reached almost top of it. There they observed some caves. They entered it, went
through a passage of 50 feet, they saw a huge chamber about 100 feet in diameter
and 50 in height. In it there were lot of statues of various Gods and Goddess. In the
centre they saw a statue of Krishna holding a flute in his hands and touching his lips.
Radha was leaning on him on his left side and white cows at his back showing its
head. Underneath the statue, which was 6 feet in height, something was written in
ancient Kannada, perhaps written 1000 + years ago. Ramanujam and Govinda
studied it closely with a torch. By this time the sun had set and it was dark. There
37
was an opening on the roof, full moon light was beaming, striking a concave mirror,
which reflected the light to 10 such concave mirrors, one by one in a cascading
manner and illuminated the cave, just like day light. The English meaning of the
writing is mentioned below.
As per village legends, Krishna before going to Mathura, with Akrura, at the
invitation of Kamsa to see the wrestling tournament, went to all Gopies, Gopas,
cows and other animals to take leave of them and then went to Radha to take leave
of her. She was very much depressed and started crying. So to console her Krishna
gave his flute as memento and substitute for him, then went to Mathura. In due
course Radha expired leaving the flute in her house. After many years some king
invaded Vrindavan, took many things, including the flute. Progressively the flute
passed through many people, reached a king in Karnataka. This king, prepared
caves in Shiradi Ghats and kept many things in it for future generations to see, as a
Museum. This is the original flute of Krishna.
After explaining these to others, Ramanujam went near the statue, took the flute,
examined it closely, showed it to others and confirmed that it is an ancient type
flute, with material of more than 5000 years. Govinda also confirmed it. They were
much happy that at last they have succeeded in their quest. He kept it safely in his
kit bag. Then they wanted to go out of the cave. They went to the opposite side, to
which they have come in, saw an opening, and went through it for about 50 feet.
They observed that the opening abruptly stopped, there was a gap of 25 feet or so
saw another mountain cliff with an opening. They wanted to cross over the gap, but
how? In the gap there was a gorge of more than 100 feet and a rough river is
flowing down below. Ramanujam, thought for a while, he remembered Bhagavath
Geetha, where Bhagavan says to Arjuna, in chapter 8 sloka 7;
1| P 4| |1 I
|@ |1 P II
The meaning of the sloka is: - Therefore at all times, constantly remember me,
fight with mind and intellect absorbed in me, then thou shall doubtless come to me.
Bhagwan says, to have full faith in him and go straight to achive your goal. This line
applies to all humans also. Ramanujam prayed to Krishna and walked straight
through the opening. Wonder of wonders! He walked on empty air. Then he
observed the gap closely. The mountain sides are made with peculiar rocks and
slabs. There a small 2 feet wide bridge with the same rock material was there.
From a distance it is not visible, if one sits, then from a low angle the difference can
be observed. Ramanujam picked up some white rock dust and threw it on the
bridge. Now it was clearly visible. The other 3 walked through it and reached next
cave. Then a strong wind blew out all the rock dust. Again the bridge was invisible.
38
Let us see what G2 is doing. They followed G1 closely at a distance of about 100
feet the mountain track, through the caves, saw Ramanujam taking something from
the statue of Krishna. They presumed that it must be jewels of Krishna. Then they
saw G1 walking through the gap and reaching the other side of the mountain. They
ran after G1. There were number of openings on the opposite side, from which the
other mountain cave was visible. In a hurry they walked through the wrong
opening, thinking there must be something to support them, fell down the gorge
and perished. Alas! What a tragedy because of their greed to get something which
is not theirs. G1 were not aware of G2s presence and what happened to them.
G1 went inside the 2
nd
cave, after walking for about 50 feet, they observed a
chamber of 80 feet in diameter and 60 feet in height, just like the chamber in first
cave. Perhaps the same king must have built both the caves. In it there were many
statues depicting Krishnas childhood acts, lifting of Govardan Hill, dancing on the
head of Kalinga the snake, killing of Puthana, Killing Kamsa, Rasa Leela- dancing
with Gopies- and many more. In the centre a grand statue of Krishna, 35 feet in
height, was there, with 4 hands, crown, Sudarshana chakra, conch, Ghadha, lotus
flower etc. showing a symbolic Viswaroopa. They were amazed at the
magnificent and accurate statues. Ramanujam took the flute, kept it near his lips
and blew into it; enthralling music came through it, perhaps the same tune with
which Krishna captivated the Gopies, Gopas, cows and all animal etc. All of them
stood wonderstruck for few minutes. Then there was a tremor, in the cave, the top
of the mountain blew off, a tornado formed, the statues on the periphery started
rotating clock wise, the statue at the centre started rotating anti-clock wise. Water
poured from many opening, the tornado picked up all the statues and other items
into it and went up in the sky. A strange power snatched the flute from Ramanujam
and it also went up. To escape from the gushing waters they ran up to the nearest
opening and jumped out of the cave. After flying through the air for 50 to 70 feet
they landed on a stream. They swam through it for a distance and reached shore.
They picked up some dry logs 10 feet long and 6 inches in dia fabricated a rough
raft, binding them with thick creepers, placed it on the stream, sat on it, two
persons Shankarlingam and Govinda started rowing and steering it through the
stream with the help of long poles. They started floating. After a while more water
poured in to the stream, perhaps the gushing waters from the mountain cave. The
stream joined another bigger stream and ultimately joined Swarna River. They
navigate for a day, at evening anchored it near a village. The village folk saw them
took them to their huts, offered some food and rest for the night. They were
informed that Udipi is very near and floating on their raft on the river, they may
reach it by evening. Next day after morning duties, bath, breakfast from village,
started their journey on the raft and reached near Udipi by evening. They anchored
the raft near the shore and climbed onto land. On a bullock cart G1 reached Udipi.
They took 2 rooms in a lodge, after dinner slept well, after their nerve rattling
adventure.
39
Next day after bath, breakfast etc they visited the great temple of Krishna. They
observed that the idol is about 1 feet in height, made out of Saligrama stone, and
is holding a churning rod on its right hand and a rope on the left hand showing
Krishna in his childhood. They observed that strangely, the idol is facing a rear
window and showing his back at the main door. After dharshan they dined at the
temple (free food given to all devotees, who visited the temple) and returned to
their lodge. On their return journey they met an old person aged 80 to 90 years by
name Adinarayan Ganapatigal. G1 asked him the history of the temple. He
narrated that about 9 centuries ago, Sri Madvacharya, established the temple and
installed the idol of Krishna there. He instructed his 8 disciples to perform pooja to
the idol every 2 months by rotation. About 5 centuries ago Sri Vadiraj, changed it to
2 years period. The changing of pontiff is called Paryayamahothsava. G1 asked
him why the idol is facing the rear window. He explained that about 5 centuries
ago, Sri Kanakadasa, a great devotee of Krishna wanted to see the Lord, but he was
not permitted to enter the temple as he was from a low caste. Still he persisted to
see the lord. He was tied to a pole at the rear of the temple and beaten mercilessly,
still he prayed to his lord to give His Dharshan. To everyones amazement, an
opening appeared at the rear wall, Krishna turned 180 degrees to give dharshan to
his dear devotee. The temple bells started ringing by themselves, mangalarti
performed to the lord on its own and a garland from the Lord flew and fell on the
neck of Kanakadasa. Then all present there pranamed at the foot of Kanakadasa
and took him inside the temple. Then a window was built in the opening and is
called Kanakana Kindi G1 thanked the old person and returned to their lodge.

40
CHAPTER 10
BACK TO BASE
G1 returned to Bangalore, after paying respects and pooja to Goddess Sharada
at Sringeri and to Bhagwan Chenna Keshava at Belur, via Hassan and Kunigal, at the
same time avoiding spine chilling adventure through Shiradi ghat. After resting for
few days at their respective homes, they me at the park and narrated their
adventure, showed me a news papers which they purchased at Udupi. The
headlines read 2 male and 1 female bodies were found in a highly decomposed
state in the deep ravine of a mountain in Shiradi Ghat. Due to the inaccessibility of
the terrain, the bodies could not be retrieved, as reported by Forest Dept
Personnel.
The other news paper reports that, in the same area, a few villagers observed a
big explosion and smoke rising into the sky from the side of a mountain and the
water gushing out of it. It also states that after of couple of days, villagers found 3
fully bloated bodies, floating in the river polluting the air and water. They pulled
the bodies and cremated them on the banks of the river as per Hindu custom. Then
G1 returned to their homes.
I told all their adventure to my family members. On the succeeding Sunday, I,
all the daughters, sons-in-law and grand children joined together and gave a grand
lunch party to G1 at 3
rd
daughters residence at Rajarajeshwari Nagar with more
than 20 dishes and sweets topped with Ice cream & fruit salad. After lunch I
peeped at the road, saw an old person sitting on the steps of the house. I went up to
him and enquired about him. He said, he rested for a while as he felt tired as he is
85 years young, I invited him into the house, holding his hands, gave a seat on the
sofa and offered sweets, biscuits and payasam. Each one of us introduced ourselves
to him. He said his name is Dr. Shiva Rama Krishna Panchavedi. G1 narrated to him
all their adventure at various places in quest of flute which they got and lost.
Dr.Panchavedi, narrated about the magic and greatness of Krishnas flute. As per
Bhagavatham, at Madhu-vana, on the banks of Yamuna River, Krishna played with
his flute whenever he was in a playful mood. Gopis, Gopas, cows, calves and all
animals listened to it. The divine dancers, passing in the sky stood spellbound on
their tracks, charmed by the music of the flute. Cows stopped grazing, calves
stopped feeding, and the waves of Yamuna River stood still. The magical enticing
music of the flute could be heard miles around, Gopis left their domestic work at
whatever stage they were and ran up to Krishna.
Then he narrated few points from Padma Purana, in which in 6 chapters, the
glory of Bhagavatham is described in 506 verses. As per that, at the end of his
Krishna Avatara, as requested by Uddava, Bhagwan transferred his divine powers
and eternal majesty, fully to the holy scriptures of Srimad Bhagavatham. Hence,
41
whenever we read Bhagavatham, in original Sanskrit as written by Veda Vyasa and
its word by word translation in local languages, we feel the ever living presence of
Lord Krishna with his flute. Similarly he said Radha and the flute also
dematerialised into the atmosphere and descended into the minds and thoughts of
true devotees and the holy books, written about them. He continued to say about
Radha, as per him, in North Indian villages there are many legends about Radha
and Krishna. As per one legend, among Gopies, one was very beautiful and
infatuated with Krishna. Krishna played and danced with her. She was Radha.
Another legend says that Krishnas sakthi, emerged out of his body and appeared
as Radha. The great poet Jayadeva wrote memorable songs by name Gita
Govindam and Dasavatharam about Krishna. The earth was full with evil and
cruel people. Bhagwan Vishnu appeared in his Poorna Avatara as Krishna and
killed them. As per another legend, Mother Earth appeared as Radha, to please,
relax and entertain Krishna, when he was a very young boy of 8 to 10 years. So, by
way of appreciation and reverence, scores of temples were built in North India,
depicting Radha and Krishna as main idols. In Bangalore ISKCON temple also the
main idols are that of Radha and Krishna.
He continued that G1 had tried to get something (flute) which is not theirs, but
they got it and subsequently lost it. But they had visited many Punya Kshetras of Sri
Krishna, the effect was they were lucky to hold the sacred flute in their hands for a
short while and return safely to their bases. Then swamiji proposed that in
Girinagar, Rajarajeswarinagar or nearby area, a temple for Krishna may be built on
an empty site only and not on roads, footpaths or parks. In the temple a white
marble idol of Krishna 6 feet tall, standing firmly on his right foot, his left foot
slightly crossing right foot with toes touching the floor, his hands holding a flute
touching his lips, with a peacock feather on his head, yellow silk dhoti on his waist,
an angavasthram on his shoulder, with costly jwells all over his body, Kasturi
thilakam on his forehead, Radha slightly leaning on him at left side and a white
big cow at the back showing its head to right of Krishna. On 27-8-11, the Lok Pal Bill
as per Anna Hazare teams proposals and resolutions was passed unanimously in
Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha by all members by 8 pm. Similarly all of us
unanimously, accepted and showed our support to build such a temple and to name
it VEENU GANA KRISHNA TEMPLE. He thanked all of us.
We thanked the Swamiji for his useful information. I asked him how he got his
peculiar name. He smiled and said that when he was born, on the day of child
naming ceremony, his father chose the name of Shiva, his mother chose Rama. They
were arguing, by which name the child should be called, the Sastrigal who came
for the naming ceremony intervened and said he will solve the dispute. He
suggested combining both the names and his choice name of Krishna and call the
child as SivaRamaKrishna. All the persons assembled there approved it and thus
he got his name. Then I asked him about Panchavedi. He continued that there
are 4 vedas, Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharvana. Normally an individual reads one
veda as per his/her ancestors tradition. But the person who masters 2 vedas is
42
called Dwivedi, master of 3 vedas is called Trivedi and of 4 vedas is called
Chaturvedi. There is no 5
th
veda. But Scholars, Yogis, Pandits consider
Mahabharatha as the 5
th
Veda. Everything written there is found somewhere or
other in this world. If something is not written in it, then such a thing does not exist
on this earth. He continued saying that at the age of 16, he has read Mahabharatha
in Sanskrit and its beautiful translation in Hindi, in 13 volumes published by Geetha
Press, Gorakhpur and has mastered it. For the past 60 years that is from 20th year to
80th year he has been giving discourses on Mahabharatha in Hindi, English, Tamil
and Kannada languages to every ones satisfaction. A university in India noted this
and conferred The honorary Degree of Doctorate in Literature on him. On the
convocation day the Vice-Chancellor of the University told, that since
Mahabharatha is considered as 5
th
Veda and SivaRamaKrishna has mastered it, on
behalf of the University he conferred on him the title of Dr.Panchavedi.
Shivaramakrishna was overwhelmed by this gesture and when he got up to thank
them, he could not utter even a single word due to emotion. He just said thank you
very much. Then the entire audience stood up and gave a standing ovation. He
said in this way he got his title as Dr. Panchavedi.
We all thanked him and paid our respects by Sastanga namaskara. He blessed
all of us and took leave. My grandson took the car and in it dropped him at his
residence. All of us said good bye to others assembled and departed to our homes
with a promise to meet again to discuss about our next quest.
With this I conclude my novel.

43
EPILOGUE
TAILPIECE
Dear reader I hope you enjoyed reading this novel with inbuilt thrills. You may
call this novel, biography, document, simple story, narrative of incidences or
anything else you could imagine. The great William Shakespeare wrote in one of
his dramas call it by any name still rose is a rose. You may call this by any name
you like, but still it remains what it is. I have just rearranged in chronological order,
the various inputs provided by G1, G2 and news paper information, with a little
Garam Masala added here and there, to present you a thriller. If you think it is a
goof, you may forget having read it. If you think it is good and worth reading,
mention this to your relatives and friends. If they approach me, I will give them a
free copy. My idea is to infuse interest in reading Sri Krishnas leelas, throughout
his life, from birth to death, by as many persons as possible.
My manuscript was typed into the computer, 50% by Amba and balance by me.
Latha designed the front page, border on each page, size of the letters, editing and
general get up. Abhijith typed the Sanskrit script at appropriate places. I thank
Amba, Latha and Abhijith for their contribution for this novel.
An appreciation: Swami Harshananda and his team have compiled A concise
Encyclopaedia of Hinduism. Since 1989 he has been the President of Ramakrishna
Mutt, Bangalore. He started on this work in 1975 and it was completed during 2005,
after 30 long years. After printing it was released on April 2008, by our former
President of India Sri Abdul Kalamji. Its an ocean of information and knowledge. I
had purchased a set during 2008, read all the three volumes in full. I had written an
appreciation review of it and submitted it to Swamiji personally, along with my
grandson. He blessed both of us. In the middle volume, in the centre of it, there is a
reference on Sri Krishna. It forms the Choodamani of the whole set. All about
Krishna in all aspects are explained there. There are references about all matters of
Hinduism. I hope and wish some university in India confers on him honorary
Doctorate of literature for his monumental work. Please buy or borrow a set and
read it in full. Bhagavan Sri Ramkrishna Paramahamsadeva and Holy Mother Sri
Sharada Devi will bless all of us.
Life is like a FLUTE; it may have many holes and emptiness, but if you work on it
carefully, it can play magical melodies.
V.Veidyanath Iyer.

THE END.