“Tvasta,” he said, “you remember when I told you that someday you would build me a city? That day has come. It is today. This is the site of the city you shall build today.”
Tvasta looked at Krishna wonderingly then stared at the vista before them. “But, my lord, how can a city be built in a single day? And how can anything be built here? The land close to the ocean is always soft and often has secret channels of water underneath. Building large structures or fortifications could be dangerous. We might find basements and dungeons and other underground passages inundated by the ocean during stormy seasons.”
They were hovering above the beachside of an unfamiliar coast, far from Mathura or the home of the Yadava nations. The beachfront was sandy with inlets and marshlands interwoven. The ocean that pounded these beaches was fierce and foaming with waves. Even Daruka who was not an architect frowned as he listened to Tvasta and looked down at the proposed site.
Krishna surprised them both by laughing. “I would not give you such a challenge, good Tvasta. For even the finest sculptor must have good stone to work with. This is not the proposed site of our city fortress.”
Krishna pointed ahead, gesturing to Daruka to start the chariot again. “The site is out there, in the ocean.”
Tvasta was dumb struck. He said nothing further for the next several moments. On Krishna’s instructions, Daruka flew the sky chariot a considerable distance out to sea. Tvasta began to hold the rim of the chariot’s well again, unnerved by the sight of so much water on all sides. Finally, when they had reached a point where there was nothing but ocean visible on the horizon in every direction, Krishna bade Daruka stop the chariot.
“Here,” he said to the wonderstruck sculptor. “This is where we shall build our city fortress.”
Tvasta looked down nervously from the chariot. He could see nothing but deep ocean. A strange oceanic beast leaped from the water, breaking free of its watery home, leaped in the air, and splashed back inside. He did not know how to react: was the beast threatening them or merely going about its own business. He saw others of similar shapes and appearance also leaping out of the water then diving back in sinuously. They appeared friendly and the manner in which they moved was very beautiful and graceful. He was mesmerized by the unusual sight.
Krishna’s voice broke him out of his reverie. “Good shilpi, are you ready to begin work?”
Tvasta looked at Krishna in wonderment. “My Lord, I shall do anything to serve you. But how am I to build a city upon sheer water? This ocean seems without depth or bottom! And it is teeming with strange creatures. Surely no land being can survive here for even a moment. How can we build an entire city?”
Krishna chuckled. “My dear Tvasta, take my word for it, the denizens of the ocean are far gentler than us land beings. They do not go to war as we do, very few of them would ever seek to harm any of us, and those few that do, do so only in order to eat and survive. As for the depthless bottom you speak of, it is not depthless but it is indeed very deep, no doubt. That is why I have chosen this spot. No enemy can come from below, or from any direction without being seen well in advance. And once we finish building the city fortress, no enemy will be able to challenge it, even with the largest army in existence.”
Tvasta shook his head in bewilderment. “All that is well and good, my Lord. But how are we to build on water? I cannot even stand there, let alone work! And to build a city such as you speak of, within a single day? I do not doubt your ability to work miracles, Lord, I merely question what part can humble Tvasta play in such a grand scheme?”
Krishna nodded. “I shall show you. But in order to show you, I must take you with me down into the depths of the ocean.”
At once Tvasta’s eyes widened and his
Similar Books
