Yakshagni - An odyssey of unbroken devotion

The Battle of Mandara

The Elapsed Era:

Thundering hooves resounded across the valley while flowing rivers and lush countryside quivered at the fury of the young prince as his cavalry of twenty men and he sped past the villages in a tearing hurry. The sight of their handsome prince leading the troops towards the northern terrain astounded the villagers. Most of them, being farmers, were working in their fields and they gaped in astonishment at the galloping fleet. The grazing animals trembled at the racing squadron that kicked up a storm of dust. Even after the dust settled and the sight of the horse soldiers faded, the stalks in the fields hesitated to resume their swaying, the children shied away from coming out of their houses and the birds flew back to their nests and perched in fear. Nevertheless, the country folks were pleased that after a long time, a member of the royal family crossed their paths.

The glacial winds cutting across their faces did not deter Ekveer and his troops from taking the steep and perilous roads to Gandhamadana, the home of Kinaras in the Mandara range of Mountains.

Despite his suggestion, Ekveer did not join Amogha and his army near the dock. He decided to go independently with his trusted troops to confront Kinaras and rescue Hanneli. They took the narrow mountain pass to reach Gandhamadana. Except for his father, no one knew that he was on a mission to save the daughter of Yaksha Amogha.

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Amogha and his army of Yakshas waited for the prince near the dock. When he did not turn up, they set sail towards Mandara at Yaksha Amogha's command. The Yakshas in the convoy of four water vessels were wise enough to know that the clever Kinaras would come charging at them if they got wind of their movement. So, they rowed as fast as they could. The river was placid and the weather remained gentle. Going upriver was more difficult so they braced themselves for turbulence ahead as the river flowed through a gorge to surge forward for its confluence with the mainstream river, the Gangadwara that originates from Mandara.

The Yakshas' first encounter with Kinaras happened when they navigated from River Alaka to the vast, picturesque, and awe-inspiring Gangadwara. The river was awe-inspiring because it forked into many tributaries namely Brahma-Vodya, Hiranvati, Alaka, and Vrihadvati that passed through many kingdoms. Gangadwara eventually emptied into the great ocean of the south. There was also a legend associated with the mighty river. Once when a young fisherwoman was feeding her baby with water from the river, a strong draft of wind tossed her baby into the river and the swift currents carried the baby away from the woman. The young mother howled at the river and pleaded desperately to bring her baby back. Taking pity on the mother, the river reversed its flow direction and brought the baby alive to the mother. Hence Gangadwara was called the mother of all rivers and her compassion earned her the love and worship of all.

A boat from the opposite direction sailed swiftly towards the fleet of Yakshas and a quiver of arrows was fired at them unexpectedly. The boats that Yakshas sailed were not as sophisticated as some of the warships of the Alaka navy. Alaka's naval fleet had metal blades in front of the ship to cut enemy ships in half if they rammed. They also had hooks that were used to catch and stop enemy ships. The boats that Yakshas travelled in were ordinary without any inbuilt defence mechanisms. The only saving grace was that Kinaras too operated on similar water vessels. Now as the Yakshas tried to dodge the onrushing arrows, they exercised their own bows and arrows. Since the two tribes were expert archers, the warfare continued for some time. When some of the Yaksha soldiers got injured, Amogha and his warriors hurled flaming arrows from their boat. The fire arrows hurt many of the Kinara fighters. With only a few unharmed Kinaras left, the enemy boat steered away.

Amogha asked the injured Yakshas to be transferred to his boat so that he could apply the medicinal herbs he had got with him. Although kinaras and Yakshas were equally matched, most of their battles had been won by Yakshas owing to the fact that the conflicts happened in the Yakshas' territory. Also, the Alaka army and Yaksha warriors supported each other but in strict confidence. They accompanied Alaka forces invariably during other wars. Yakshas used Maya - the wisdom and power to enable its possessor to create, devise, contrive, and effect, to conquer enemies. The opposing army failed to comprehend their strategies which helped Alakan forces to win. But fighting the Kinaras was another matter. Appearing in illusory forms never worked with Kinaras as they were knowledgeable about such spells and tricks. For this reason, the crusade to rescue Hanneli and gain dominance over Kinaras would be a challenge for the Yakshas.