THE TWIN BROTHERS
-5. Sports Invitation

Sage Anantu was overwhelmed with joy at the King’s offer.  He hugged him warmly and thanked him for the honour being bestowed on him.  Then, he told him that three weeks hence there was an auspicious day on which the holy ceremony to crown the twins as Princes could take place.  Although King Salya expected a much earlier date for the day of reckoning, he did not appear disappointed.  The sage, thereby, asked the King as to how his pupils were faring.  Salya apprised him of all the events, which had occurred ever since the sage had left the Princes in the palace and then took his leave.

While the Queen was happy that her sons would be the Princes of different territories of their kingdom in less than a month, the twins were not happy for apparent reasons.  King Salya did not promulgate this development to his people for there was still ample time left for the occasion.  Also, something inside told him that things would not shape out as he had planned!  Thus, Salya wanted to play the waiting game. 

The very next day, Salya took his younger son to Panchamahal and informed him about the secrets of the place.  Chandrakanth realised that strangers entering the forts  would be certainly trapped inside if they were not aware of the trick to come out of them.  When Suryakanth learnt that his father had taken his brother to make him learn about the secrets of Panchmahal, he was furious.  Salya returned with his son only on the morrow and that evening Suryakanth went to meet his father.  The King made him sit by his side and asked him lovingly, “What’s the matter, Surya?  Today you have taken time to meet your father!” 

“Father, it pains me to see the sombre mood Chandrakanth is in these days.  Apparently, he is not happy with your decision to make him the ruler of Panchmahal.  I feel that we should not enforce anything upon him, which is against his wishes. Otherwise, he would not be able to do justice to his duty as a ruler.”  Suryakanth affirmed.

The King smiled at Suryakanth.  “You know how noble your brother is!  He feels that since you are elder to him, the entire kingdom should fall in your jurisdiction.  But do not worry, my child.  Once he becomes the ruler of that territory, everything will be fine.  But come what may, Chandrakanth will never fail in his duty!   You can be assured of that.”  Salya spoke with reliance.

 “Father, do you want to make Chandrakanth a ruler only because he is my twin brother or is there some other reason?”  Suryakanth prodded.

 “Why do you ask?” the King asked curiously looking at his son.  

“Your resolution seems so firm in handing over Panchamahal to Chandrakanth that I have my doubts.  Besides, why did you offer him only Panchamahal?”  Suryakanth wanted to know.  

“Surya, since you have agreed to my proposal, I and your mother are in a hurry to see our dreams turn into a reality.  Offering Chandrakanth a very small portion of the kingdom would suffice for he is being made the King only because we wish so.  Therefore, we have opted for Panchmahal.”  the King explained. 

After hearing this, Suryakanth did not stay long and took his leave.  As he left the chambers, Salya looked at his son covering his chin with his hand.  He knew what Suryakanth was upto.  The reason that the King told Suryakanth about making Chandrakanth the ruler of Panchmahal was only part of the truth.  Salya was aware that had he told him the other reason behind his decision it would have served no purpose except flaring Suryakanth’s anger.

A couple of days passed by.  A messenger from a nearby kingdom, Devnagiri, came to meet Salya.  “Maharaj!” addressed the messenger after greeting the King.  “My King Suketu is performing a grand sports event next week on this day.  He cordially invites you and your family to grace this occasion.  If you attend this event, he will feel that you have accepted his offer of friendship.” 

Salya did not appear too impressed at this invitation.  “Tell King Suketu that I will consider his invitation.”  he said.  The messenger bowed before the King and took his leave.  

King Salya discussed about Suketu’s forthcoming sports event with his sons and the Queen.  “I would have gladly accepted his offer but he has not been a good neighbour.  He has attacked our kingdom on two occasions but, by god’s grace, I managed to foil his evil intentions of expanding his territory.  When his messenger invited us to his kingdom, these old and bitter memories came flashing back to my mind and I did not feel like going and attending this mega event.” 

“In such a case, we must never go to our enemy’s place!”  Suryakanth observed.   “Let’s forget about it!” 

Even Queen Janaki did not show much interest in going to Suketu’s kingdom.  Finally, King Salya turned to Chandrakanth who was a silent spectator to these proceedings so far.  “What do you feel, my child?  Should we attend this event?” 

“O Father,” Chandrakanth spoke with reverence, “..I am sorry but my views differ from that of brother. When somebody is extending a hand of friendship, we must not disappoint him.  Agreed, that he was once our enemy but it could be that he has underwent a metamorphosis.” 

“You are saying that we should go to this kingdom?  But what if he turns out to be a traitor and stabs us on our back?”  Suryakanth asked his brother. 

“Accepting somebody’s friendship does not mean that we should not be alert.  We must always stay on guard and never allow our enemies to get the better of us.  I feel that we must accept Suketu’s invitation and grace this occasion.” opined Chandrakanth.