A Slave Who Became Emperor 10 The Forest Of Chitra Kuta

The forest of Chitrakuta was a dense evergreen forest. It had a variety of trees and animals. There were rare medicinal plants also available in the forest. The Sanjeevani plant, which is a very rare plant, known to have properties to cure every ailment and extend lifetime was rumoured to be spotted here.

Chitrakuta also served as a residence to learned sages and numerous tribal sects. There were beautiful lakes, small hills, and abundance of greenary. Chitra kuta was part of Magadha empire. The tribal chiefs of Chitra Kuta were responsible to maintain peace and harmony in the forest. Laws of Magadha followed decentralization of power. Since it is a vast empire, the governance was difficult. Each village had a head. Eighteen villages were united as one province. All the heads of the villages reported to the head of the province.Three provinces formed a state.

.In the same way, the tribal chiefs were governing the forest under the authority of Magadha. It was Samyukta's idea to train the tribal people how to trade. Tribal people considered forest as their mother. They used to bring in fire wood, sandal wood, honey, coir etc and trade them for money in the local market of Manipura every week. This helped the tribals to earn good amount of money. There were two sects of Tribals in Chitra Kuta. The Gonds and the Gharwals. They lived in Harmony.

They also practised agriculture. They used to clear bits of forests to grow food grains. Similarly their secondary source of income was through selling animal products like milk, meat and eggs. They had abundance of cattle.One ferocious lion suddenly started attacking their livestock and this is leading to huge losses. Many goats, cows and buffaloes were taken away by the lion over the last few months. They tried to solve the issue but they were not equipped enough in terms of weaponary. Hence they visited Manipura and seeked the emperor's help.

The three hunting parties started moving. They reached the point where three different ways were marked. The three of the leaders chose one path each and proceeded in the marked path. Princess Samyukta and Pinaka were leading their team closely followed by Prince Karan and others.Prince Karan was trying to ask various questions and strike a conversation with the princess. She answered his questions to the point without extending the conversation. She was polite .The other n.o.bles wanted to woo her too, but they couldn't find a way to do so.

The path was well marked by the soldiers. As they went deep into the forest, the path became narrow with abundance of trees and thick bushes. The path became so narrow that only one horse could fit in the path at one point of time . Pinaka was now leading the party, followed by the Princess and others.

Pinaka stopped suddenly. He found tracks of the lion. He stopped and got down from the horse. Then he studied the tracks. Samyukta followed suit and she too was keenly observing the tracks.The tracks were huge, they were not older than a day. The marks left by the claws were deep. Pinaka then said, 'we are looking for a huge lion. The claws are deep seated. The marks left couldn't be older than a day, there is a high chance that we could come across the lion very soon.'

Samyukta said, 'n.o.ble sons, request you to stay vigilant. Every step from here is tricky. Lead your horses on' slowly the path became wider. Everyone was silent. They were moving forward cautiously.

All of a sudden, they heard a blood curdling roar. Samyukta and Pinaka looked at each other and said, 'we will see the lion shortly. People who are skilled in archery, request you to string your bows, draw your arrows and wait'

Suddenly there was a slopping sound.& Prince Karan fell down a quagmire. There was another roar from the lion. This was a louder and more ferocious roar!