The epic battle of Mahabharat was approaching its bloody climax. The Pandav had suffered grievous losses, including the death of Arjun’s son Abhimanyu, who had been trapped inside the chakravyuh and then been simultaneously attacked by several senior warriors.
However, it was the Kaurav who had the real catastrophes heaped on them. One by one they had lost their mightiest fighters. Bheeshm Pitamah, the clan’s patriarch, had been felled. Dronacharya, the preceptor, was dead, as were most of the hundred royal brothers. And it was only on the previous day that Duhshasan, the second eldest among the Kaurav siblings, had been torn apart by Bheem, the mace-wielding wrestler.
The formidable Karn(n), offspring of the Sun god, now took over command of the Kaurav army. Egged on by the eldest Kaurav prince Duryodhan, Karn(n) decided to personally take on Arjun and finish him off once and for all. Seeing his opportunity late that afternoon, Karn(n) cut his way ruthlessly through the Pandav forces, and
headed straight for Arjun. So violent and vicious was Karn(n)’s offensive that Arjun’s defences soon crumbled before it. Karn(n) then moved in for the kill.
Arjun’s charioteer, Lord Krishna, realised that only a miracle could save his ward now. And so it happened. Krishna caused the sun to set prematurely; and Karn(n), the honourable warrior that he was, postponed the day of judgement since fighting after sunset was banned in those days.
Back in Hastinapur, Sanjay, who had been endowed with televisionary ability, narrated the day’s events to the blind Kaurav King Dhritarashtr. The latter immediately realised that the Kaurav clan was doomed, since Krishna, despite having vowed not to physically take part in the battle, was obviously using his supernatural powers to help the Pandavs.
Dhritrashtra’s mind immediately went to the crown jewels of the Hastinapur royal house, a fabulous of treasure trove that had been built up over the centuries since the beginning of the dynasty. Somehow he had to keep the hoard out of the hands of the Pandavs, whom he had now begun to passionately hate.
It is at this juncture when he was filled with ominous prospect that a plan came to his mind. One that would not ensure that the Pandavs never found the priceless hidden cache, but also guaranteed its easy recovery in the unlikely event that the Kaurav emerged victorious from the battle raging at Kurukshetra.
That night, a caravan under the command of a trusted aide, was dispatched with the royal jewels it proceeded straight to Indraprasth, the Pandav’s capital. Taking advantage of the darkness and the absence of menfolk away at the battlefield, the treasure was buried at the intersection of two main roads. After all, Dhritarashtr had rightly reasoned, the Pandavs (who eventually won the battle and totally destroyed the Kaurav) would hardly think of the jewels buried in their own metropolis.
It is rumored that excavations undertaken at the Old Fort (Purana Kila) in the early 1960s brought forth a tablet inscribed with the above story. Unfortunately, time has wrought extensive changes on the landmarks that could lead up to the hoary treasure.
The exact location of the treasure is impossible to ascertain. That is the reason why since then since 1960 the authorities have been continually and furiously digging up the roads of Delhi in a desperate bid to find the Hastinapur jewels, put away by the blind Dhritrashtra’s men somewhere in the entrails of Indraprasth’s earth.
~ Brajendra Singh
