A Taste Of Honey

Ujjain, 750 CE

        Within the premises of the Buddhist monastery, the daily chanting session was in process. A scholar from a far east kingdom beyond the Himalayas had joined them today, to gain knowledge about Bharat. His strange haversack that held almost all his belongings now rested under the ancient banyan tree. A deer and its doe were fooling around it, without fear of repercussions.

From this banyan, a staircase of rock and lime descended, towards the riverbank, where a Dhobi was washing clothes at the bank of the river. The waters of Shipra seemed to be still as if silenced by the power of vipassana. Water like the mind of the monk. The river from Ujjain had lost its turbulence, though it was only a Kos away.

A fisherman flung his weighed net in the air and it landed to form an exact circle in the river. He waited and then pulled at it, in hope, to find some small fish that would make a meal, anything bigger could sell at the market and add to his income. He pulled at the net and it seemed to have caught something heavy, but there was no struggle at the end of the net. He tugged a couple of times, to find it entwined with a piece of silk. As he tried to gather the net, a human body floated towards him from behind the bushes. A yell of surprise and fright escaped him. It was the body of a young woman in the late twenties. Her hair floated helplessly around her beautiful face that looked like deep in slumber. His shout was heard and soon many people arrived at the scene.

Close to the riverbank, under a Pipal tree, lay sprawled a drunkard. He was alerted by the shout. The sudden commotion brought him to his senses and the capsized clay cup spilled the mahua liquor, overpowered the distant smell of burning incense at the monastery. This blot on the scene, keenly, watched the Fisherman pull the net along with a body. The beggarly appearance, served as a good camouflage to the secret services and at times, even the higher rank officers as high as Commander Supatrik, resorted to disguising as an insignificant human, to catch the real pulse of the city. The drunkard disappeared in the gathering crowd, to send a cipher to his Boss, Commander Supatrik.

        The turbulent waters at Ujjain spoke of the turmoil of the once affluent city of Ujjain, the power centre of the Gupta kingdom. At the peak of success, the kingdom had thrived to prosperity, under the able rule of emperor Kumargupta. Just like every rich kingdom, this one was prey to plunderers. The army was busy fielding attacks from beyond the Khyber. His son Skandagupta, was presently away from the city, defending the attacks of the Huns. These battles were putting a strain on the economy of the prosperous kingdom. The integrity of the nation was challenged by these foreign attacks, that would not let the rulers in peace, as rape and plunder, followed the bloodshed. Kumargupta often wondered about the fate of Buddhist philosophy to spread peace, challenged by these attacks. He banked on the intellectuals and diplomats in his court, to ensure a protective shield for his empire. Suptarik was one of the strong pillars.

Supatrik, the chief of police, and Internal security at Ujjain, walked rapidly to the riverside, just as the body was fished out. The officer supervising the operation turned around and saluted his commander immediately. Supatrik nodded lightly at the ‘drunkard’ and approached the crowd. The message from Satyavan, meant that an interesting case was up. Supatrik had wondered, what disguise Satyavan had adorned on this occasion, and he had hoped it was not again, of a eunuch.

A special wing of the police reported to Commandant Supatrik. This wing served, not only as local police but also as local Intelligence, that worked with the Army. When the army was busy with the enemy, these corps guarded the city against infiltrators. Supatrik was one of the key Officers, responsible to reduce crime and bring the unruly to justice. Supatrik was a master spy, at times dressed up as a drunkard, who had too much of somras, or a mere beggar grovelling for alms or a daily laborer. He was a master of disguise, who used unique ways to gather information, driving his forces to come with equal or more ingenious covers.

From his initial examination, it seemed that the girl had drifted from Ujjain or beyond. From the flow of the river, he judged that it would approximately take 8 hours from Ujjain to the monastery. The rainy season made the river turbulent, but it got wider and shallower at this place. He noticed that the woman wore gold ornaments but she also had a garland of Jasmine flowers. Strangely, she had a brass necklace around her neck that did not match, at all, with her ornaments.

The corpse was loaded on a cart and taken to Ujjain, where dissection was to take place, to make certain, the cause of death and find the identity, of the deceased. She was placed on a stone pedestal. As soon as the clothes were cut off, the Vaidyas started noting down few observations on a slate.

“She was already dead before she was thrown in Shipra.

The skin is a purple shade of blue like it had been poisoned, but there was no puncture mark on the body, apart from the few scratches since the body was caught in shrubs around the riverbank. These scratches did not have blood, so it meant the rigor mortis was already complete by then. There was a deep gash around the neck. It confused the vaidyas. Who would poison someone and strangle her as well?

The person had sex before death.

The poison was not administered internally, but it seemed that the woman had been poisoned slowly.”

It had been a hectic day and mystery remained. Supatrik felt that a cup of Somras would not be a bad idea; a visit at Arundhati's place would make the night younger, perhaps! Arundhati had often been a nice counselor to Supatrik. She noticed that her guest seemed less romantic today. Arundhati asked, playing around with the tousled hair, lightly massaging his head, " You look tired. Was it a weary day?

Supatrik placed his head on her lap, "Yes, I do feel tired today but it is not due to a hectic day; A lot is on my mind. We fished out the body of a young woman today. She was murdered. She seemed to have been strangled and yet her body shows signs of poison administered over quite a period and this is something that bothers me. Why would someone want to strangle anyone who is being slow poisoned? It could be that two separate people attempted to get rid of her for their own reasons. They could have worked either complimenting each other or they may have separate intentions. The woman looks very attractive and it could have been a love triangle. Perhaps the person who induced slow poison, became impatient and killed her quickly.” said Supatrik. He mentioned to her about the bluish skin with no puncture mark. There is a reason to believe that she was poisoned internally. It was a complete mystery. A few glasses and giggles ahead, Arundhati let him drift to sleep.

The next morning, Supatrik woke up early, and he began to retrace the case with a fresh mind. Arundhati was already up. She fetched him a plate of Curd rice. She said," Last night after you were asleep, I had a talk with another Ganika, about your case; The woman with bluish skin no puncture mark and no internal poisoning was detected."

“She asked me a few questions that only you may have the answer to. I have called her tonight so that she can talk to you directly. I hope you do not mind." Supatrik felt that it would be no harm in getting additional help. He had preferred to stay a bachelor as he had not yet found the right Woman. Arundhati was one that he had stuck with for quite a while now, but she was a Ganika and did her job well. He felt that women were good at household stuff or for romances. How could they ever understand the world of strategy and politics? He felt that he was patriotic and had an opinion, that this was something, a woman would not understand.

After a swim in Shipra, he rode on his horse to the Monastery. The travelling scholar at the monastery was one of the witnesses and might help to provide a different perspective. He summoned for Huen. Huen Tsang approached Supatrik and gave him a curt bow. Huen was one of the bystanders when the body was fished out. Supatrik handed over the Brass chain to Huen. Huen observed that the chain end had a strange coin.

Huen spoke first, "The coin looks familiar. The insignia is that of Kidarite ruler King Batillak from beyond the Khyber. This is from Central Asia. I have traveled along the silk route from beyond the Khyber though the Ganges plains. I have seen the Huns in action, destroying monasteries in Taxila. It is strange that this local woman wears such.” Supatrik was aware of the plunder, but he believed that a Joint armed force from Bharat may be able to withstand and drive away the Huns. He thanked Huen for his perspective.

Arundhati had called Vasantsena, the famous courtesan for the evening discussion. There were things that could be discussed face to face. Supatrik was charmed to see her at Arundhati's place. He was good at reading people and he felt that he could trust the woman, beyond the reputation she went by.

Vasantsena spoke, “Arundhati mentioned to me, the case that you attempt to solve. I was interested as she mentioned that the beautiful woman looked as if she was poisoned. And yet she was also strangled?" Supatrik answered," I think she has described it to you, quite accurately. I believe, there could be one person, who for many years is trying to slow poison her for some reason, perhaps to an unsuspicious death. The person could be a man or a woman, who is constantly in her company.”

Supatrik continued,” But then, this murder brings an abrupt end to her life and caused by throttling by a brass chain. The murderer disposed of the body into the river, and it seems to me that the person was in a hurry. I was interested to meet you, as you seem to almost know about the rationale? Why did you ask, if the woman had intimate contact before death?"

 Talking about intimacy with a person beyond Arundhati was unimaginable, yet, Supatrik felt at ease with Vasantsena. She was, a ganika, a renowned courtesan, who was famous even in the royal circles. She was his only lead in this case and further she seemed to be interested to help in this case.

Vasantsena said," You have arrived at few conclusions. I can help you narrow down the possibilities. I feel, that you should focus on the strangling part.” She continued, “History teaches a lot and if we are fortunate, we may live to see the History repeat. Do you remember emperor Chandragupta? Chankya saved him once from a honey trap?” Supatrik was interested! Vasantsena continued, "Centuries ago, a Visha Kanya was sent by Nanda's minister Amatya rakshasa to kill Chandragupta Maurya and Chanakya diverted them to kill Parvatak."

Supatrik answered, “I have heard of this old story. It is a figment of someone’s imagination. After all, anecdotes add spice to facts and people call it history.”

Vasantsena seemed pained when she replied," For your knowledge, Supatrik, the Poison Damsels are still groomed for political assassinations. They are a tradition that still continues." She continued, "You, Supatrik, are responsible for security. But you operate within boundaries of law and justice. There are others, who are approached for more covert cases.” Supatrik froze in disbelief!

She said, “A few weeks ago, I had a cipher from Skandagupta, himself. He mentioned of an enemy spy, by the code name Mudrarakshas, had slipped through the defenses with the aim of toppling the crown. There was an immediate need to neutralize this threat and it had to be done secretly, to prevent any fear to the general population. Mudrarakhshas was not an easy target. We had a clue of the disguises, that he uses. The one mark that he kept even under disguise, was the brass chain of his king. It was easier for him to stay unnoticed on the river, from where he could keep an eye on the Royal Palace. But his desires forced him to the shore, to look for the company of a ganika. He paid twice the usual charge in gold, only if she accompanied on his boat at midnight.”

“One was willing. She had been carefully trained, with doses of poison administered into her since her childhood! She is a kind of the royal special corps and this was not the first time she was used. She prefers to go by the name, Shakuntala or at times called Lalita, but what's in a name. She was patriotic, also, under the strong protection of our king. Unfortunately, she was strangled by Mudrarakshas. You found Shakuntala! I asked if she had physical contact for a reason. A Visha Kanya never fails. The Hun strangled her with his chain in a last desperate effort, when he understood the effect of her poison. There is a good chance that you should find a poisoned body of the Hun in the river along with a boat.”

As Supatrik watched Vasantsena leave, he felt that it was high time to change his rigid opinion about women. Reality is indeed, more stunning than fiction. A glass of Somras would not be a bad idea!