Child Of Manas ( Part 4 )
The boy king's predictions only began to lose precision once teacher Ashangi interfered. Kush's war against the fanatical patriots of Aaradhya didn't last just three months. It went on for an entire year! The Aaradhyans only gave up when they realised that to take down a single Marut, they will have to lose an average of ten to fifteen men of their own! And that was if they considered barbarians part of the Maruts. If they had to talk about a pure Marut who had been trained by Bhargava himself, even tens or maybe even a fifty men in the infantry may not be enough! That was a truly scary number that even these mad jingoists had to relent to. After all, the barbarians only asked for passage. They didn't even ask for land!
After the war with Aaradhya, the Maruts marched into the mainland with their heads held high. But that achievement only lasted for a short while. Heroes from the Southern Valleys came one after another to challenge the 'heathens'. Wherever they passed, nations obstructed them. Caravans didn't trade with them. To make matters worse, Kush's teacher Ashangi led them into lands where conflict between Asuras and Deva factions were richly abound. The Asuras were none so easily swayed however. They absolutely hated outside interventions in their conflicts. Consequently, apart from the righteous factions, even Asuras waged war against this elite army which they all heard about. Kush wanted to create a state, but there was no land that was unclaimed. He wanted to conquer one, but his teacher didn't show which one he should conquer. Meanwhile, the Asuras sects chose him as their top enemy for some reason. They believed no one in the mainland can be wilder than them, more bloodthirsty than them and more terrifying than them. So they too came to prove a point just like the righteous ones. Consequently, Kush also chose to prove a point. The point that he can crush them under his foot and ground them into a fine powder.
Kush had fought more bloody wars in three years than he perhaps would in all his life. He fought them with a vengeance. He hated everyone who questioned him, he vanquished anyone who decried him, he crushed everyone who dared to stop his momentum. He was stretched to the limit, waking up with nightmares every week. He became irritable and cruel. Overcome with bloodlust, he wantonly sought war. And he continued it until he subdued every single Asura he came across. He hated Devas and Asuras both, but ultimately, could not subdue both.
He chose Asuras as his target not because they are easy to win against. One must know that if one discounts the men possessing divine sanctions, Devas are individually weaker than Asuras. Deva soldiers are part of regular society. They are your typical armies. Asuras are each great warriors in their own right. These men live for war, they don't care for anything else. For instance, Maruts are an open clan that recruits warriors from everywhere. Typically there are many warriors with Asura origins among the Maruts. And every single Marut is equal to ten Deva soldiers. Every single barbarian warrior (in his current form) is equal to five Deva soldiers. However, when it comes to Asuras and Maruts, they maybe equally matched. The Asura might even be stronger. The only thing the Maruts have against the Asuras is that they can operate as a single unit. They can come and go like a storm and none can stop them. Asuras being highly individualistic in nature, don't have the same kind of cohesiveness. Still, Asuras outnumbered the Maruts and even used devious schemes and weapons like mass poisoning. There was nothing an Asura wouldn't do. To them, there was no right or wrong in war. Only winning or losing. Under those circumstances, Kush would've fared better had he gone against the Devas even though their forces were more numerous. The Devas in the end were practical people. Their show of righteousness would not last too long. Once they lost enough people, they would be willing to listen and give barbarians a chance to reside in the land. Ultimately, each Deva had his own territory to look after, his own subjects he needed to care about. Causing too many disruptions due to intolerance was not good. In the end, they will face the truth that saying barbarians were foreigners was not the problem. The problem is that Kush was too powerful. They were afraid of him. But the Asuras would never admit that. They would fight to the death, but they would never admit it. For that reason, Kush was better off facing the Devas.
However, he chose to fight the Asuras. After bringing him into the conflict zone, his teacher left him alone. She didn't tell him what to do, except giving a vague direction saying, 'If you overcome this, you will be able to rule over your own state.' As usual, Kush was left in the dark with no idea about what she wanted. Feeling frustrated, he could only ask that person.
The Belly of Chandasura? Spies from my Wandering Division tell me it is a conflict zone between Devas and Asuras for ages. I thought you were crazy to go there. Thankfully you did mention it was teacher Ashangi who brought you, otherwise I'd have thought you a bigger idiot than you already were.
The Belly of Chandasura…Hmm…let's see…They say that ages ago, the Sage Kasyapa who was the common father or Devas and Asuras used to have his ashram there. Later, Guru Sukracharya who was a prominent guru in the Asura tradition also resided in the area. They say this is the place where he taught the Asuras the tactics needed to overthrow Indra. This is the place they launched their rebellion from. Ever since then, this place has become a hotzone. The thick forests and the vast and interlinked mountains make it so that Asuras can hide very deep in here. Devas tried to evict them from here claiming that this place was a sacred site belonging to their father. Kasyapa was also the father of Asuras, but Asuras do not follow the tradition of bloodlines. They follow master to disciple style inheritance instead. So they cannot really claim Kasyapa was their father. Devas just used it as an excuse to suppress them.
My spies tell me the belly is divided into four main areas. The stomach, which is the main valley where the Shrine of Kasyapa is located, the intestines which are the mountain ranges among which there are several Asura schools interspersed, the liver which is the Lake of Tataka where an ancient Rakshasa race lives and the pancreas is the smallest, but most important area they call the Mandala Marsh. The Marsh is actually a battlefield that sunk thousands of bodies over hundreds of years. It is extremely large and it is the only place where one might find the Asuras open to large scale confrontations. Everywhere else, they appear in small forces undertaking guerilla attacks that are extremely bothersome. So if one wants the face the Asuras, one must be prepared to face the marsh. That's pretty much all the intelligence I have in this area.
Wait, don't curse me already. While I might not be able to give you any good ideas as to how to subdue the Asuras, I do think teacher Ashangi intends you to. If that is not the case, she might not have taken you there. Here's the reason I think so:
Before you left here, I was already skeptical about you being able to form a new state in the mainland. According to what grandfather told me, all the lands that could be owned are already owned in this world. Aryans are still fifty percent nomadic. This is why vast stretches of land appears unoccupied, but the opposite is true. Even if the land is unoccupied, it indeed already has an owner. Also, you do not have the divine sanction. Although Rudra is also somebody in the Vedic pantheon, there is no known record of him coming to the mortal world with the intention to rule. Rudra is different from them all. He is much like those Asuras. In a world of himself without caring about others. He lives freely, without any fetters. It is hard to see him taking up the mantle of a king. Perhaps his successor could…but unfortunately, none such is named in the pantheon. The Maruts might be great warriors recognised by the pantheon, but in the end, they are no different from mercenaries even in legend. They come and go as they please, but they never meant to stay!