Bakasura

Home at Last

After a long flight Mehul landed in his home city of Kailashahar. As he disembarked from the plane he was greeted by his friend Sanjay, and gave him a big hug.

As they walked out of the airport towards the car, Mehul turned toward Sanjay and said, “Sanjay, I have something important to tell you. My family has apparently been fighting the ancient evils in India for as long as they have been alive. I know this maybe a lot to take in, but I am telling you the truth.”

Sanjay looked at him with a blank stare and then slowly said, “I know all about what your family does. Me and my family are also a part of the order…” He took a deep breath and said, “…and so is Saira.”

Mehul was quite taken aback, because Saira had been another one of his best friends since he was little. Since he had been living in the States he hadn’t heard from her or seen her in what seemed like a lifetime. Mehul climbed in the car still in shock that his two best friends were a part of the secret society that protected India. As they set off to Ekachakra, Sanjay proceeded to tell him everything that was needed to know about the order.

Sanjay said, “Whatever you want to ask go ahead. By the way it is a thirteen-hour trip just so you know.”

Mehul agreed and peppered Sanjay with questions until they got to Ekachakra.

Ekachakra

After what seemed like a while they had arrived in Ekachakra. When they pulled up they saw a village that had been decimated. There were dead bodies strewn everywhere. Blood was pooling in trenches and in footprints. The place looked like a battlefield. Mehul and Sanjay got out of the car and pulled out their daggers that they had put into their backpacks, and slowly crept up to the village.

As they made their way into the village Sanjay whispered to Mehul, "Make sure to put the glasses on. That will be the only way to see Bakasura."

Mehul nodded and then he and Sanjay put on their glasses making sure that they made no noise as they checked in the huts for Bakasura. Eventually, they came upon the headman's hut in the center of town and surrounding it were body parts of little kids and grown adults. Everywhere they looked they saw flesh and blood hanging from the roof, windows, and bushes. Mehul looked at Sanjay and they both nodded as they reached for the door. Suddenly the door shattered and out charged Saira, dagger raised high above her head. She came to a stop when she saw it was Mehul and Sanjay.

Saira looked at Mehul and asked, “Why are you and Sanjay here?”

Mehul and Sanjay proceeded to tell her about what happened to Mehul's family and the blood symbols that had been drawn on the wall of the home.

Saira gave Mehul a long drawn out hug and when they broke apart she said, “I have been hunting Bakasura for the past three months. He has been decimating villages around these parts and we need to put an end to him.”

They all agreed and spent the next few hours formulating a plan to stop the evil demon. Saira told them where the demon could be found, in a cave fifteen miles west of Ekacharka. They gathered all the gear up they needed and loaded into the car.

Revenge Part 1

Arriving at the cave they made their way down it with their flashlights and sunglasses leading the way. The sunglasses, paired with the flashlights, allowed for all three to be able to have a type of night vision. This allowed them to be able to view everything that was in front of them.

They then heard a loud roar and a booming voice said, “Who dares enter my dominion?”

As the three friends rounded the corner they saw Bakasura. He was a giant standing about 10 feet tall and weighing at least 600-700 pounds. He had a long beard and pointed ears that coincided with his red eyes. Mehul noticed that his eyes were that of a hot flickering fire and felt himself shiver. The teeth in his mouth seemed razor sharp and were stained with blood.

Mehul yelled, “You killed my family! Now your rampage of carnage ends here.”

Bakasura said, “Ha ha, you three think you can defeat me!!” and he proceeded to charge them.

The battle between the three and Bakasura lasted for awhile. No one seemed to have a clear advantage. Mehul and his friends would cut Baksaura but then he, in turn, would end up cutting them on their bodies causing them to be in pain. Covered with sweat, mud, and some blood Mehul looked around and saw that there was a ledge that led to a little cliff above Bakasura. He knew if he could reach the cliff he could plunge the dagger into Bakasura’s head and end the fight.

Mehul yelled at Sanjay and Saira, “Keep him busy for as long as you can!” pointing at the cliff.

They saw what he was pointing at and yelled back, “We got you covered! Go do it.”

Mehul ducked under one of Bakasura's arm that he was swinging at him and started to climb up the wall.

Eventually, he reached the top of the cliff and yelled, “Back him up a foot!”

Sanjay and Saira did just that and by the time Bakasura turned around to see what was going on Mehul had leapt off the cliff and plunged his knife into the skull of Bakasura.

Blood started spurting out of the wound and as the demon was about to die he said, “I may be dead, but this is larger than you know.”

After saying this he fell with a thud and the three friends stood over the dead demon’s body.

Mehul asked, “What do you think he meant by, ‘This is much bigger than you know?"

Sanjay said, “I have no idea but whatever it means we will figure it out together.”

Saira stated, “You said there were three symbols of demons. What is the next one on the list?’

Mehul looked at the pictures on his phone and said, “Vetala.”

They all proceeded to look at each other and made their way out of the cave. Their plan: find and kill Vetala and figure out why Mehul's family was targeted.

Continued in the next story of Vetala…

Author's Note:

This story is based on myth of Bakasura. In the original story, a young prince, Bhima, is sent out to discover and destroy Baka. Baka is portrayed as cruel demon who needs to be paid tribute to with food. If he isn’t given his tribute he goes on a mad rage and eats men, women, and children. When the young prince eventually fights Bakasura he seems to be able to kill him with rather ease. So, I wanted our heroes to get a little bit of a challenge and not have Bakasura be a pushover since he is supposed to be an ancient demon. I wanted to portray him as more menacing then he is in the story. I also wanted to show the death and destruction that he leaves in his wake. I changed the origin story up some. The death that Bakasura suffers is a little bit similar to how Mehul kills him only he dies by getting stabbed in the head, not having his neck broken. I also wanted to have Bakasura left in the cave to rot away. In a way it is the young adults saying that the demons will always be left in the shadows, not brought to the light.

Bibliography:

The Indian Heroes by C. A. Kincaid (1921).