Immortals of Meluha

the Maika to deliver the child. It was the monsoon season. Unfortunately, the child was
stillborn.’
‘Oh my god!’ said Shiva, empathising with the pain Sati must have felt.
‘But it was worse. On the same day, her husband, who had gone to the Narmada to pray for
the safe birth of their child, accidentally drowned. On that cursed day, her life was destroyed.’
Shiva stared at Brahaspati, too stunned to react. ‘She became a widow and was declared a
vikarma the same day.’
‘But how can the husband’s death be considered her fault?’ argued Shiva. ‘That is
completely ridiculous.’
‘She wasn’t declared a vikarma because of her husband’s death. It was because she gave
birth to a stillborn child.’
‘But that could be due to any reason. Maybe there was a mistake that the local doctors
committed.’
‘That doesn’t happen in Meluha, Shiva,’ said Brahaspati calmly. ‘Having a stillborn child is
probably one of the worst ways for a woman to become a vikarma. Only giving birth to a Naga
child would be considered worse. Thank god that didn’t happen. Because then she would have
been completely ostracised from society.’
‘This has to be changed. The concept of vikarma is unfair.’
Brahaspati looked at his friend intensely. ‘You might save the vikarma, Shiva. But how do
you save a woman who doesn’t want to be saved? She genuinely believes she deserves this
punishment.’
‘Why? I’m sure she is not the first Meluhan woman to give birth to a stillborn. There must
have been others before her. There will be many more after her.’
‘She was the first royal woman to give birth to a stillborn. Her fate has been a source of
embarrassment to the emperor. It raises questions about his ancestry’
‘How would it raise questions about his lineage? Sati is not his birth daughter. She would
also have come from Maika, right?’
‘No, my friend. That law was relaxed for families of nobility around two hundred and fifty
years back. Apparently in the ‘national interest”, noble families were allowed to keep their birth-
children. Some laws can be amended, provided ninety per cent of the Brahmins, Kshatriyas and
Vaishyas above a particular chosen-tribe and job status vote for the change. There have been
rare instances of such unanimity. This was one of them. Only one man opposed this change.’
‘Who?’
‘Lord Satyadhwaj, the grandfather of Parvateshwar. Their family had vowed not to have any
birth children since this law was passed. Parvateshwar honours that promise to this day.’
‘But if the birth law could be changed,’ said Shiva working things out, ‘why couldn’t the law of
vikarma?’
‘Because there aren’t enough noble families affected by that law. That is the harsh truth.’
‘But all this goes completely against Lord Ram’s teachings!’
‘Lord Ram’s teachings also say that the concept of the vikarma is correct. Don’t you want to
question that?’
Shiva glanced at Brahaspati silently, before looking out over the river.
There is nothing wrong with questioning Lord Ram’s laws, my friend,’ said Brahaspati.
‘There were many times when he himself stood down because of someone else’s rationale. The
question is that what are your motives for wanting to change the law? Is it because you