The invasion force of Alexander finally crossed the Hindukush range and stepped into the mainland Bharata. Spread before was vast plains of northern India. Massive was the Gangetic plain. The first kingdom to face Alexander was West Gandhar. The Greek army laid a seige to its capital Pushkaravati.
At that time Gandhar land had two kingdoms, one was East Gandhar that spread between Indus (Sindhu) and Jhelum rivers and another West Gandhar. East Gandhar had the Taxila as its capital and Pushkaravati was the capital of West Gandhar that lay on the west side of Indus and yonder.
King Hasti of Western Gandhar was a very brave, proud and self respecting person. He would make no compromises on his honour. He was the son of the land who truly prided over his native origins.
Subordination of an alien invader he could not accept. So, naturally Hasti decided to cross swords with Greek Emperor Alexander although he had a small army against the massive Greek force. The outcome was a foregone conclusion. The small army of Hasti was no match for the alien power Alexander. Yet Hasti wanted to prove that in pride, bravery and courage he was a match to Alexander.
The armies clashed. Following the example of Hasti his soldiers fought bravely. They inflicted as much damage as they could on the enemy at a heavy cost that did not matter to them for the sake of pride. They fought on and died against the superior arms and resources of the enemy. How long could a small force last against huge invasive force?
The soldiers sacrificed their lives for their motherland. The Greek soldiers were engaged in frenzied killing as they fought with vengience. They were angry how a small kingdom of India had challenged the might of Greek Emperor Alexander! Such arrogance needed to be punished to set an example for others to think about. They showed no mercy. Like brutes they massacred the native soldiers.
King Hasti asked his body guards to battle against the Greeks to counter the enemy. Each of the body guard died for his king. Hasti sadly saw his soldiers fall one by one but he never thought of surrendering to the enemy or openly accepting defeat to save his life.
He knew well that the battle was lost and it was only a matter of time before the Greeks would be controlling his beloved kingdom. He was determined not to allow it as long as he was alive. With the small bands of his surviving soldiers he carried on the battle to the surprise of the Greeks. To the aliens the king of that land appeared a die hard fool who would not accept the invevitable and save his life. Anyway he could not last long. The Greeks fought more brutally to end the battle.
Alexander was surprised at the foolhardiness of king Hasti who was waging a losing battle. He asked his soldiers to capture Hasti alive but the latter was determined not to fall in alien hands. In a last pitched battle Hasti battled frenzily and was killed at last. And with that the battle ended.
Alexander was now lord of West Gandhar, a land in the far east.
The battle against Hasti gave Alexander an idea of the kind of battles Greeks would be fighting to make progress. It was not a pleasant idea.
East Gandhar was already in the bag of Alexander. King Ambhi of that kingdom had already surrendered his pride and honour to the alien aggressor Alexander to take revenge against a fellow native king. It showed the lowly character of the native rulers. And Alexander liked it because it made his task easy.
King Ambhi decided to go to Pushkaravati to meet the Greek Emperor to congratulate him on the victory over West Gandhar and finalise the friendship treaty. At the West Gandhar capital Alexander had organised a grand victory ceremony to celebrate his triumph. Greek Emperor was very clever and farsighted ruler. He knew he must have a loyal native ally to stand by him to succeed in his conquest campaign further. The battle against Hasti had made him realise the importance of a local ally to reveal local layout and the strengths of the native kings and their natures. Otherwise his dream could not come true.
Luckily Ambhi had volunteered to be his useful stooge in the land of India. So, Alexander decided to overwhelm him with kindness. In the ceremony Ambhi was royally received and felicitated by the victorious Emperor Alexander. The Greek treated him as a friend of equal status. The joy of Ambhi knew no bounds. He never expected the mighty conqueror to treat him with such honour. He felt greatly obliged to Alexander and decided to repay by becoming the local ally of the Greek Emperor.
To make Ambhi doubly obliged Alexander appointed Ambhi’s uncle as Satrap (Governor) of the conquered land of West Gandhar. It extremely pleased King Ambhi and he thought the Greek Emperor may gift all the lands conquered by him in India before going back to his country. He saw himself as the great Satrap of entire north India who would later promote himself to the position of an Emperor. His dream of taking revenge on Puru did not look far away. Ambhi saw visions of defeated and shackled Puru standing before him with bent head. He rehearsed mentally the taunts he would subject arrogant Puru to.
Thus, seeing great many dreams Ambhi crossed Indus river accompanied by Alexander and his great army. After a few days they reached Taxila. By an advance order of Ambhi the city had been royally decorated to welcome the Greek Emperor. The people were made to stand, wave, garland and hail Alexander. The Greek was duly impressed with the grand welcome. Emperor Alexander was felicitated in a grand public reception where glory of the conquests of Alexander the Great were sung and recited.
The pleasure houses and pubs of Taxila were thrown open for the free entertainment and merry making of all Greek soldiers. The soldiers were on a free holiday with no holds barred.
As the soldiers lost themselves in having fun or resting, Emperor Alexander took up the task of getting aquainted with the civilisation and the culture of India for his knowledge. Alexander had brought a team of scholars with him to study and record the cultures of the lands he would conquer. He asked his scholars to study and prepare reports on the Indian culture, civilisation, religions, literature, mythology and languages. They were also to explore ways and possibilities of inducting Greek culture in India. The aim was to replace the native cultures of the conquered lands with the Greek culture, thought and systems.
In this regard Alexander himself was meeting native scholars, teachers of educational centres and spiritual leaders to feel the soul of the Indian culture and philosophy.
Alexander learnt about the great scholarly teacher of Taxila University named Chanakya who was reputed to be an authority on theology, politics and penal laws. He desired to meet him but Chanakya had already left Taxila. He did meet Muni Dandayana who was believed to possess some mystical powers with which he could read the past and future of a person by looking at lines of his forehead. The Greek Emperor was truly mystified and wanted to see him.
First Alexander sent his soldiers to get the mystic to his presence. The soldiers went to Muni Dandayana and told him the order of the Emperor. The mystic asked in a fearless voice, “Why does the Greek Emperor want me?”
“He wants to meet you,” replied a soldier.
Alexander had been briefed about the mystic by king Ambhi. He was told the mystic was a spiritually accomplished person and the people considered him to be a divine soul. Ambhi had cautioned that Dandayana be respectfully treated as far as possible and the soldiers had similar instructions from Alexander. The mystic was not to be offended in any manner.
Dandayana said, “So, your Emperor wishes to meet me.” After some consideration the mystic announced, “But I don’t wish to meet him.”
“The Greek Emperor’s wish is supreme that brooks no disobedience.” The soldier said in a tone of a command.
“No soldier. The want destroys the superiority or supremacy of a person. The supermost your great Emperor would have been had he risen above all wants and desires. A wishful person is always lower than a person wished. It is like a receiver and a donor situation. A thirsty person is secondary to the water provider. Thus, a wisher is secondary to wish granter. If the Emperor really wishes to meet me he must give up superiority assumption and come to me to meet me. He wishes to ask something from me. I do not wish to ask anything from him.”
The soldier blinked at the spiritual glow the face of Dandayana radiated. The soldier with his low intelligence was not able to understand fully the meaning of what mystic had said but did get overawed. That soldier was the most intelligent of the soldier group. Others stood quietly. The soldier warned, “Our Emperor may feel offended and show his royal temper.”
“Soldier,” the mystic spoke adding, “Don’t worry. Tell your Emperor whatever I have said. No harm will come to you or me. You may not repeat exactly whatever I said, you can’t. Spell just whatever you remember. The Emperor must understand. He is an intelligent person, of course. If he does not get the message then he does not deserve to meet me. Just a little hint he will need if he indeed is the disciple of Master Aristotle.”
The soldier still looked confused and fearful. He shuddered saying, “Holy man! You don’t know our Emperor. He does not tolerate any disobedience, failure and criticism. His anger is dangerous.”
The mystic Dandayana said confidently, “Soldier, you do as I say. In our tradition sages and holymen never go to kings or emperors. It is the other way round in our spiritually civilised society. If you don’t understand all this just tell your Emperor one thing, a simple example.”
“And what is that?” the soldier asked hoping for something within his range of intelligence. The mystic Dandayana knew this.
He said to the soldiers, “Tell your Emperor just one thing, you all can easily understand and remember. Say the mystic said—’The thirsty goes to the well and the well never goes to thirsty.’ He will get the messages.”
The soldiers who had talked with Dandayana departed obediently.
The mystic lived in a wild area outside Taxila. The soldier reported to Emperor Alexander what had transpired between him and the mystic as best as he could. Alexander pondered. Then he got up and walked towards the wild accompanied by his body guards and the soldier.
The area was infested with violent creatures. Emperor commented, “I hope local soldiers patrol this area for the security of the mystic man.”
“No, my lord,” the messenger soldier revealed, “I did not see any soldier around his hut although we spotted some tigers and lions wandering about.”
It was a matter of great surprise for the Greek conqueror. He wondered if Indian spiritualists possessed power to change the basic instincts of wild creatures. Alexander was coming across some incredible facts in the mysterious land called India.
At last Alexander reached the hut of Dandayana led by the messenger soldier. The other soldiers had stayed back and were waiting near the hut. The hut was a simple straw structure. There was a strange kind of peace around. The air was fragrant. The spiritual environment was amazingly soul satisfying. Alexander felt some positive vibes reaching his mind and heart. He had never gone through such experience. As he neared the hut of the holyman Alexander experienced some kind of frenzied excitement that used to hit him when as a student he used to go to Aristotle to get his curiosity satisfied.
Alexander stopped before the door of the hut. He wondered how he should conduct himself before a mystic character. A translator stood by his side. The inmate heard the foot falls of the visiting party. Dandayana knew who they were and was infact expecting the Greek Emperor.
“Welcome Alexander! Walk in,” the mystic greeted Emperor from inside without seeing who the visitors exactly were.
Alexander obediently walked in.
Inside there, near the wall opposite the door right infront sat the hoary. His body was shrivelled but the face glowed with spiritual aura. The old eyes still twinkled. A wrinkled smile greeted the Greek visitor.
Alexander responded by folding his hands to express his ‘Namaste’. The translator was close behind and now he positioned himself on the left flank of Alexander.
There was a grass mat infront of the mystic sage for the visitors.
Dandayana spoke, “So, Greek Emperor, you wished to meet me as per your soldier?”
“Yes, holyman,” replied Alexander.
“Be seated on the grass throne,” the mystic was pointing to the grass mat. With a smile Alexander sat cross legged on the mat. He no more felt like being the world conquering Emperor Alexander, the Great. He was just a seeker of knowledge there.
“What do you wish to know?” asked the mystic.
“Holyman, I want you to satisfy some of curiosities of mine, if you can.”
“Let us try.”
“Holy sir, I set out on a world conquest mission. I conquered many lands and defeated a number of small and big kings in battles. My mission is not yet over. I faced no defeat. But will I be able to accomplish the mission?”
“No… never!”
It hurt Alexander. Something inside him broke. His body could feel the sound of breaking, like that of a shattering sword.
Alexander stared at the mystic. He hadn’t expected such direct reply. It took sometime for him to gather himself and his wits.
“Holyman, no one dares to face me and my great Greek legions. None can stand in my way. Whoever tries to cross swords with my forces gets wiped out. I can’t see any challenge coming my way anywhere. Yet you say my mission will remain unfulfilled. Why do you think so?”
“Greek Emperor,” Dandayana spoke,” before conquering the world one must conquer oneself. Without conquering oneself world conquest does not come. But if you conquer your innerself then you won’t be having desire for world conquest. It is a strange situation. Without conquering your innerself you can’t conquer the world but if you conquer yourself there will be no desire for world conquest. It is like one trying to find two ends of infinity. There are no ends. So, how will you find them? I can read your forehead. The lines tell me you won’t even fully conquer this land of Bharata leave alone the world. Try to conquer the desire of world conquest, Alexander.”
Alexander felt challenged.
He rose up and announced, “Holyman! I will prove you wrong by conquering the land of Bharata before accomplishing my mission of world conquest. Alexander has the courage to do what others think as impossible. That is what makes Alexander the great. I will do what no one has ever done before. You will see.”
Dandayana just kept smiling.
Emperor Alexander walked out of the hut and briskly walked towards the horse his soldiers had brought thoughtfully when he was interacting with the mystic.
Alexander rode home on the horseback followed by his Greek soldiers. He had made up his mind to get on with his campaign of world conquest.
No more holidaying for the soldiers. They were asked to be back in battle formations by the order of Emperor Alexander, the great.
