The First Execution

It is the year 1624. The kingdom of Haleri is under the rule of King Virarajendra Krishnavarman. Haleri is a peaceful haven abundant with natural beauty and wealth. Under the king’s just and iron-fisted rule, the kingdom flourished with richness. The happiness of its citizens spread vibrant colours all around. But for me, the world was about to turn grey and gloomy.

My name is Pawan Kumar Navyogi, son of Bhairav Kumar Navyogi. I descend from a family of royal executioners and my father held the position until his death six months ago. Soon after his death, I was made the royal executioner of Haleri, much against my wishes, at the age of 26. I could not refuse the position for the fear of incurring the king’s wrath. I spent every day loathing my profession and praying that I never see the day when I had to actually execute a person. I wanted to become a healer and save lives, which has been my dream since childhood. I never could hurt anyone, let alone behead a person. But the godforsaken day came, and soon at that too. Hardly a week had passed since I joined the king’s service. It was the day after amavasya when the woman was brought before the king for trial.

The woman, Kadambari, looked beautiful and elegant like a lotus flower. Her oval face radiated a divine grace. Such was the radiance she emanated that anyone would wonder how such a celestial being could ever be put on trial in front of the king. I could not take my eyes off her. Her husband Mahadevarajan, a wealthy influential merchant, stood before the king and told his version of the story. He accused Kadambari of adultery and betrayal, having caught her in a passionate embrace with another man in the garden the previous night. Enraged, Mahadevarajan had raised the alarm calling his servants to arrest and bind them. However, the man had by then escaped into the dark wilderness behind the palatial house. He was never caught. I could see that Mahadevarajan seethed in anger at Kadambari’s betrayal, though he knew in his heart that he had made her his second wife, much against her wishes, by forcing her father’s hand for the debt he owed. His anger had turned into a blinding madness and he wanted Kadambari to pay for her betrayal with her life.

Under King Virarajendra’s rule, crimes of murder, banditry, rape and adultery are punishable by death. The king believes that the fear of a strict punishment would deter people from indulging in serious crimes and thus, the cultural tradition of his kingdom would be preserved. The king had always wanted the justice system of his kingdom to be the pride of his rule and to set an exemplary example to other kingdoms. He was not a person to be emotionally swayed; in fact, he lacked emotion totally when it came to meting out punishment if the crime was proved. However, he was just and fair enough to provide an opportunity to the accused to defend themselves, before the guilt was proven.

Kadambari stood trembling in front of the king, knowing well what fate awaited her. After Mahadevarajan finished narrating the incidents of the previous night, Virarajendra asked Kadambari if she accepted the crime that was being levelled against her by her husband. He also let her know that the crime, if accepted, was punishable by death. She nodded silently, never uttering a word. The king asked her to name the man with whom she had committed adultery. He gave his word that he would spare her life if she revealed his name, under the consideration that the man had enticed her into committing adultery by taking advantage of her loneliness and gullibility.

Kadambari never spoke a word. It seemed like she had silenced herself to the whole world. The king looked at her silently for a long time and she too met his gaze, unfaltering. The king lowered his gaze and with a heavy heart, ordered her to be executed the next morning. Mahadevarajan was happy with his anger being sated by the verdict, but my world came crumbling down. My first execution, it dawned on me, was going to be that of this beautiful woman whom I would have cared for like a flower, only if life had granted me that boon. I could not sleep the whole night and spent it thinking about Kadambari and what had transpired in court that morning.

My next morning came with a sense of dread and sadness. I could not eat anything as I did not have the stomach for it. But I knew what I had to do and made up my mind for it. I hastened to the gallows in the wee hours. I carried my father’s sword, a shining talwar, which he always used for his executions. The prison guards had already readied the prisoner and brought her to the gallows. A priest performed karma rites in a systematic yet detached manner, praying to the gods to forgive her sins and accept her soul into the heavens. I felt that it was rather the others that needed forgiving by the gods that day.

Kadambari stood silently, her red-rimmed eyes looking down. I could make out that she had been crying all night. But her calmness gave away no emotions now. She was brought forth to the execution block. Her hands were tied behind and she was made to kneel down. I stood beside her as she knelt. For a brief moment she looked up at me; her haunting eyes bored into my soul. Tears welled up in her eyes, as well as in mine. It took all my strength to control my emotions in front of everyone. Just before she bent her head forward in the block, I saw a slight smile form in the corner of her lips; she was done with this world and ready to move on to the next.

The execution was swift. Though my heart weighed heavily and my hands trembled, my sword came down fast. I wanted to ensure that she had a swift death so that she was relieved of all the agony quickly. After the deed was done, the king went back to his royal duties with the satisfaction of having upheld justice and culture once again. Mahadevarajan went back to his selfish life, looking forward to his hunt for another wife. As night fell over me, I sat in the darkness of my room, crying myself hoarse, thinking of Kadambari and her eyes when she saw me for the last time.

After I was done crying, I went over to the dining table, sat in the chair and picked up the glass of wine I had poured myself before my emotions had engulfed me. I once again thought about Kadambari and her life. She could have easily named her secret lover and the king would have pardoned her. But she chose not to. Instead, she chose to protect his life by sacrificing hers. She loved him with all her heart and soul. In her dark and hopeless life, the newfound love had brought her a ray of hope and joy. Soon, the lovers were inseparable. Love grew with each passing day, blossoming into a utopian belief of happiness and togetherness. They lived each moment in its entirety, not knowing how many such moments they had left and how long each would last.

I continued sipping the wine as these thoughts raced through my mind. The lover had not been caught. But what was his life worth without Kadambari? He may have escaped the king’s gallows but I was not going to pardon him. He had to pay with his life too. And I had already taken care of it. In fact, it was more of a blessing for him than a punishment because he loved Kadambari more than his own life. As I continued dwelling in a flurry of thoughts, the poison that I had laced the wine with started taking effect. What was my life worth without Kadambari?

In my sombre life, Kadambari had streamed in like the colours of the rainbow. I do not even remember when or where I had first met her, but only remember the ecstasy I felt deep inside when our eyes locked. We soon reached a point where we could no longer stay away from each other even for a short period of time. So we decided to elope on the night of amavasya under the cover of pitch darkness. We wanted to move to some faraway place, never to be found again. We made our plans for the cursed night; little did we know that it was a different fate that awaited us. After Mahadevarajan caught us, I wanted to stand and face him like a man. But Kadambari persuaded me to disappear into the night before anyone saw me, convincing me that she would manage the situation and we would somehow be together soon. 

Kadambari was right. We were going to be together soon. Without a word being uttered, both of us had come to the same conclusion that we could be together only in the next world. I would have killed Mahadevarajan too. But he would have only ended up troubling us in the next world as well. So I let him be, leaving him to his own fate. As for the king, he can find himself another executioner. With each passing gasp, I move away from this world with the lingering hope that there would be no more beheadings in the name of culture and tradition and the sword would be put to rust.