The Evil is Born

Journal of Abhavi

I must warn you, this next story is a sad one. As you may have guessed already, the brothers reach a breaking point before their end. Agastya had to put the pieces of the story together himself to get the whole truth before passing it down to me. The only part of this story the people remember is Ilvala and Vatapi's end at the hand of my mentor, the great brahmin Agastya, after commiting many murders of brahmins. However, that is not the whole truth.

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Using the powers the brothers received, they created a place of learning. Ilvala named this place Vatapi after his younger brother who, appearing as just a man, taught and told stories about rakshasas. Ilvala acted as a ruler and protected and managed the small but growing town. Architects carved caves into the surrounding cliffs as places to gather. In one of these caves, an artist carved a depiction of Ilvala as a human. This was because normal humans who visited never saw what he truly looked like. Many brahmins, though, did meet him because the brothers invited these wise men into the temple-like palace that was their new home. Their new home stood at the edge of a large lake named after the first brahmin who helped them, Agastya.

The brothers held many long conversations with visiting scholars and brahmins from far and wide. The most common topic was their dream of uniting all people to judge by character and not race or status. The brahmins, however, were not very successful in spreading this knowledge. They did not go out of their way to pass along the brothers' stories. They would visit, eat, listen and then leave to return home, only sharing the stories with a few travelers. Very few of them passed through towns to share the stories with more people.

Eventually, Ilvala and Vatapi realized the brahmins were not spreading their stories very far. Unsure if the brahmins truly wanted to help, they decided they needed someone to inherit their purpose. They needed to find someone who would understand both rakshasas and brahmins as well as other people. Ilvala thought a son sounded like the exact definition of who they needed. Neither brother had a wife nor wasted time on women so they decided to ask a brahmin about a son as a boon. A few months after they first thought about this, a moderately powerful brahmin came to visit them. This brahmin had never been to Vatapi before, but he reminded the brothers of Agastya. With this in mind, Ilvala and Vatapi invited him into their home to share their vision and explain what they had been doing in this town of learning.

After a large meal in thanks and celebration of their successes so far, the brothers and this newcomer, introduced as Rishindra, retired to a sitting area. Ilvala waited for everyone to get comfortable and then explained his thoughts. "I need someone who will continue working towards our dream. I'd like to ask you for the boon of a son as great as Indra who will accompli-"

"As great as Indra!?" Rishindra jumped up, frowning with his face scarlet from outrage. "No one is as great as Indra! How dare you assume a rakshasa could be!?" The brahmin stewed in his anger for a moment, took a deep breath and turned to leave.

The brothers had dealt with prejudice but this was the last straw. Ilvala saw red and his fists were clenched so tight he drew blood. How dare Rishindra, who reminded the brothers of Agastya, scorn them after all of their hard work? Without hesitating even a moment, he lashed out and threw the brahmin hard against the wall killing Rishindra instantly on impact. Ilvala was past the point of caring. He had reached his breaking point.

Vatapi stepped forward to attempt to calm his brother but, before he could utter a word, Ilvala turned to him with crazed eyes. "Well, do you have something to say too!?"

Vatapi stared hard into the eyes of his brother and quietly but clearly said, "Are you giving up on everything we have worked for? Truly?" Vatapi wanted to calm his brother, but Ilvala would not be calmed. Nothing Vatapi tried swayed him. He was too crazed, broken and angry.

"I will DESTROY the brahmins, Vatapi! They only helped us if it was easy for them. They never really cared and I'm done caring. You can choose to leave," Ilvala narrowed his eyes to slits, "if that is your desire."

Still quiet and calm, Vatapi responded, "We made a promise to each other. I will not break that promise for anything, even to avoid death." Vatapi slowly reached out to grasp his brother's shoulder. "Together till the end, brother."

This was the beginning of the brothers' many murders. They killed thousands of brahmins with the use of their combined powers. Word of Ilvala and Vatapi's evil deeds eventually spread wide enough that Agastya heard. He could not believe it at first until he visited the town of Vatapi himself, becoming the next target of Ilvala. They confronted each other in the brothers' temple-like home. The first brahmin to ever help them tried to help them once more. This time, the brothers rejected his help. Ilvala refused to listen to reason and rushed towards the brahmin to strike out against him. Agastya, however, was too powerful. As a result, Agastya's mantra turned Ilvala to dust. Then Vatapi, who had always kept the promise with his brother, jumped forward to attack and perished as well.

This was the end of the demon brothers but not the end of their purpose. Sad at the loss of the brothers' potential, Agastya sought the whole truth of what happened in Vatapi. After he discovered it, Agastya found someone else to continue working towards the brother's dream, someone who understood both sides.