Mahabharat: Shiva's Last Variable

(A/N):

Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.

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The Pandavas made their way through the palace corridors until they reached the chamber of Rajmata Satyavati.

The usual excitement that followed the children wherever they went had quietened considerably by the time they reached her door.

Yudhishthira stepped forward, straightened himself respectfully and knocked gently.

"Rajmata? May we come in?"

A few moments passed before they heard movement from within.

The door opened, and Satyavati appeared.

The moment she saw the five Pandavas standing together outside her chamber, her stern and dignified expression softened into a warm smile.

"My children,"

She said affectionately,

"what brings all of you here together?"

She stepped aside and welcomed them inside.

The Pandavas entered respectfully, with Yudhishthira leading the way while Bhima, Arjuna, Nakula and Sahadeva followed behind him.

Satyavati looked at them with growing curiosity.

Judging by the way they had arrived together and the serious expressions on several of their faces, she suspected that this was not simply a visit to seek her blessings.

Once they had settled down, Yudhishthira folded his hands.

"Rajmata, we have come because we need your advice."

Satyavati raised an eyebrow.

"My advice?"

"Yes, Grandmother,"

Arjuna added.

"We have been given a challenge."

Bhima immediately leaned forward.

"A very important challenge."

Satyavati looked amused.

"Important enough for all five of you to come running to me?"

"It concerns King Devara,"

Yudhishthira explained.

At the mention of his name, Satyavati’s expression became even more interested.

The children then began explaining everything.

They told her about the competition they had started with the Kauravas, how both sides wanted to prepare the best wedding gift for Devara, and how they had agreed that whatever they gave him had to be something they found or earned themselves rather than simply purchasing something from a merchant or taking an item from the royal treasury.

"We have been thinking about it for a long time,"

Yudhishthira said.

"But the more we think, the harder it becomes. Devara already possesses so many extraordinary things. We do not want to give him something simply because it is valuable."

Arjuna nodded.

"We want it to mean something to him."

"And we want to find something ourselves,"

Nakula added with a chuckle.

Sahadeva smiled hearing him.

"Something that makes him remember that we chose it especially for him."

Bhima crossed his arms proudly.

"And preferably something better than whatever the Kauravas find."

Satyavati laughed softly at that final addition.

"There it is, I was wondering when the competition would reveal itself."

The Pandavas exchanged glances.

Yudhishthira smiled sheepishly.

"We do want to win, Rajmata."

"I can see that."

Satyavati settled comfortably in her seat and studied the five boys before her.

She understood immediately why they had come.

Devara was not an ordinary relative, and neither was their relationship with him ordinary.

He stood in an unusual place within the vast and complicated Kuru family tree, being their great-uncle just as Bhishma was, yet the children knew him in a way that went beyond genealogy.

He was someone they admired, someone who had treated them warmly and someone whose stories had already become part of their childhood.

Satyavati smiled knowingly.

"So, you want to know what would make Devara happy?"

The five boys nodded almost simultaneously.

Yudhishthira leaned forward eagerly.

"Can you help us choose the right gift, Grandmother?"

Satyavati looked at them for a moment, then her smile deepened.

"I think I can give you something more useful than a gift idea."

The boys exchanged curious looks.

Satyavati continued,

"I can tell you how to find something that Devara himself would value."

The Pandavas immediately became attentive.

Even Bhima stopped fidgeting.

Satyavati folded her hands in her lap and looked toward them thoughtfully.

"Because if you truly want your gift to matter to him, my children, you must first understand the kind of man your great-uncle is."

Satyavati smiled as she watched the five boys settle down with the seriousness of students waiting for an important lesson.

Yet what she was about to tell them was not about Devara’s victories, his divine weapons or the countless stories of his strength that had already become legends throughout the kingdoms.

Instead, she began telling them about the side of their great-uncle that very few people outside the family ever got to see.

"You all know Devara as a king,"

Satyavati began, her voice carrying the calm warmth of someone remembering years gone by.

"You know him as a warrior, and you have heard stories about the things he has accomplished in battle. But those are only pieces of the man. There is another Devara whom you rarely see when he stands before a court or an army."

Bhima tilted his head curiously.

"What kind?"

Satyavati smiled.

"The childish one."

The five brothers stared at her.

"Childish?"

Arjuna repeated.

Satyavati laughed softly.

"Very much so. For all the seriousness that surrounds him, Devara can sometimes behave like a little boy who has just discovered something amusing and has decided that everyone around him must suffer through it too."

Bhima immediately grinned.

Yudhishthira gave his brother a warning look, but Satyavati only laughed.

"There were times when he would sneak into the kitchens simply because he smelled something he liked being prepared."

"If someone caught him, he would pretend that he had come there for an entirely different reason. He could stand before the royal cooks with the most innocent expression imaginable while hiding a sweet behind his back."

Nakula chuckled.

"Really?"

"Really,"

Satyavati replied with a smile.

"And when he was younger, he was even worse. There were occasions when he would disappear from where he was supposed to be, and everyone would search the palace wondering where the young prince had gone, only to discover him somewhere completely unexpected, usually doing something that made absolutely no sense."

The boys laughed.

"But that childish nature,"

Satyavati continued,

"never made him careless about people. In fact, it is one of the reasons his kindness is so genuine. Devara has always had a remarkable ability to look at another person without first asking what position they hold."

Her expression became more thoughtful.

"To him, a king and a fisherman are still people. A soldier and a farmer are still people. A servant and a nobleman are still people. He listens to them."

"He remembers their names. He notices when someone is unhappy. And if someone in his kingdom is suffering, he does not simply leave the matter to a minister because he believes that rulers should remain distant."

Yudhishthira listened carefully.

"He personally goes to them?"

"When necessary,"

Satyavati replied.

"That is one of the things that made his kingdom what it is today."

She looked toward the window for a moment, as though seeing the kingdom beyond the palace walls.

"Think about what Devara actually accomplished. He established his own kingdom and began building it practically from the ground up. There was no ancient empire waiting for him with generations of administration already established."

"He had to create institutions, strengthen the army, establish trade, develop the cities, protect the borders, support the gurukuls and temples, and convince people that their future would be safer under his rule."

The Pandavas became increasingly attentive.

"And he did all of that in only a few years,"

Satyavati continued.

"Look at Trivenivrata now. Look at its roads, markets, fields, schools, fortifications and palaces. Look at the people who have come there from different lands because they believe they can build a life there. Look at the way the citizens speak about their king."

She paused.

"Establishing a kingdom is difficult. Making it prosperous is harder. Making people genuinely love the kingdom they live in is harder still. Devara managed all three."

Yudhishthira’s expression became thoughtful.

"So his greatest achievement isn’t defeating his enemies?"

Satyavati smiled proudly.

"Not necessarily."

The five brothers waited.

"A warrior can win a battle through strength."

"A king can win territory through an army. But building a kingdom where ordinary people can sleep peacefully, raise their children, conduct their businesses and believe tomorrow will be better than today requires something different. It requires patience, responsibility and compassion."

She looked at each of them.

"That is the Devara you should remember when choosing his gift."

Bhima frowned thoughtfully.

"But if he is so powerful, wouldn’t he like something powerful?"

Satyavati smiled.

"Perhaps. But you are thinking about what would impress him. I want you to think about what would touch him."

That distinction made the boys fall silent.

Satyavati leaned back slightly.

"You do not need to find the most expensive thing in the world. You do not need to find something that will make everyone gasp when they see it."

"Devara has seen enough treasures and wonders to make such things ordinary to him."

Her smile returned.

"Find something that tells him you know who he is."

The Pandavas exchanged thoughtful glances.

For the first time since they had begun their competition, none of them were thinking about defeating the Kauravas.

They were thinking about Devara himself.

And somewhere in that room, five young princes began to understand that the best gift for their great-uncle might not be something that could be measured in gold at all.

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(Author note:)

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