8 Demon Prince Takes A Test

"Hurry up," Master Vashisth's voice pulled Shura back to the courtyard from his fantasy land. 

In his fantasyland, Shura was measuring how much taller he was than his master. Through steadfast staring and some mental calculation, he had arrived at the conclusion that he was a palm's width taller than Vashisth, his palm. Vashisth argued they were of the same height, Shura rejected his argument, they sparred a little and once Shura pinned him down, they began to kiss. 

That was when Master Vashisth's stern voice interrupted Shura's thoughts. Master Vashisth pointed with his eyes to the three sticks in his hand. Unlike in the daydream, his eyes were cold and reserved. Now, Shura remembered why he was standing face to face with his master. That morning, Master Vashisth was about to decide what year students Shura would train with closely. All thirty students did their meditation and evening prayers together. But, outside of that, every year had three to four students that trained together. Now, it was time to settle where exactly Shura's knowledge and skill levels lay, so that he can be paired with the right pupils. 

Shura hurried up and chose the middle stick. Master Vashisth raised a subtle eyebrow and then stepped over to his mat and took his seat. 

"Raghav," he called out the name and a student, who was half Shura's size stepped forward, out of the circle of students who sat around the courtyard. "Both of you, have a seat." the two pupils did as told. "Now, I will ask three questions to each of you. Raghav will go first for every question. When the other pupil answers, you will be surrounded by a soundproof barrier. You will have five minutes to respond to my questions, or else it will be marked as a failure to answer. Is that understood?"

Both students nodded, Shura somewhat less vigorously than Raghav. 

"The first will be on warcraft."

Shura's face dropped. He hated the subject and from what he had seen in last seven days, Raghav would be the greatest warrior in the all of the five kingdoms, if wars could be fought with minds. 

The first barrier was put around Shura and Master Vashisth asked Raghav the first question. "How will you decide if and when to fight a rival army?"

"An enemy can be fought on a moral ground or to protect one's land. But, to go to war against them, the commander must keep several things in mind. If the enemy has a stronger and larger military, evade the war until you grow stronger. If the enemy is on equal footing, wage a war only if there are no other alternatives. The alternatives could be making a truce, finding a means to weaken the enemy, or deceive the enemy."

Master Vashisth smiled with great pride and satisfaction as he listened to his student's response. Raghav was in the gurukul for only two years; yet, through his hard work and determination, he excelled in every academic subject. Warcraft was one of them. Master Vashisth very subtly nodded his head and then, removed Shura's barrier before putting it on Raghav. 

Vashisth posed Shura the same question, "How will you decide if and when to fight a rival army?"

Shura knitted his eyebrows and narrowed his charcoal black eyes as if he was reconsidering the treatise on warcraft that he never read. "I will fight an enemy if they are wrong." He answered at last, a smug smile on his face.

"And how would you decide if they are wrong?"

Shura cackled at those words. "It is simple, teacher. If they do not agree with me, they must be in the wrong."

Master Vashisth chuckled at Shura's simplicity and for the first time, Shura saw an expression other than displeasure on his teacher's face. 

Click.

Shura took a mental picture of that face for later.

"I would not wage a war with you if you do not agree with me. I might be in the wrong too, sometimes." The somber expression on Master Vashisth's face returned. "Failed first question. Once we are done with this test, you will spend the rest of the day going through the World of Warcraft treatise with Raghav."

The corners of Shura's mouth went down at those instructions. 

Next, it was Raghav's turn again as Shura watched him with sour face, all the external sounds muted.

"Raghav, if the end of the world is approaching, and you have to save one person among a Brahmin, a Kshatriya, a Vaishya, and a Shudra, whom will you save?" Master Vashisth watched Raghav with a calm smile on his face. 

Raghav's face beamed as if he knew the answer to this question word for word. "I will save the Brahmin. They are the children of Brahman, Lord Brahma's first ever creation that populated the universe. If a calamity strikes again, it would be a Brahmin to repopulate the universe."

Vashisth gave him a faint nod. 

When he asked Shura the same question, the demon prince did not even need a fraction of a second to respond. "I will save the Shudra."

Master Vashisth's brow twitched. "Explain."

Shura lowered his eyes. "Because my mother was one."

Master Vashisth heaved a sigh. "You failed again, not because you chose a wrong answer. There is a no wrong answer to this question. But because you could not explain well." He then paused for a moment. "Do you want to continue?"

Shura nodded. 

"All right, even though it does not matter, this time, you can have the first attempt at answering the question. What is the highest form of awakening? What is the one true blessing in life?"

For next several moments, Shura stared at the ground, his lips opening and closing with uncertainty. At last, his eyes find Vashisth, "One true blessing in life is life itself. The highest form of awakening is to awaken every morning and breath the air that is around us and feel our soul inside us warming our bodies."

Master Vashisth was stunned by the answer, the innocence of it. He could not tell if it was naivety or true wisdom from a sixteen year old, but at last, Shura had a correct answer.