Alexander
I had written the following short story 20 years ago. It is being republished.
It is a fictionalized account inspired by historical research on two very real and powerful personalities: Alexander and Calanus aka Kalanos. While Alexander has been talked about extensively, Calanus of Taxila has remained a bit elusive. History is not quite clear as to the religious persuasion of Calanus but it appears that he was from the Jain sect founded by Gautam Buddha's virtual contemporary Mahavir. Jainism proscribes violence in any form. At its extreme Jain renunciates choose to remain naked so as not to hurt any form of life.
Some other historians say Calanus was a Hindu sadhu named Kalyan. However, his religious affiliation does not change the basic thrust of my short fiction.
The Conquest—Mayank Chhaya
Early winter breeze strummed the tranquil waters of the Beas like the harp as the sun set on the western mouth of the river. Alexander's copper-iron armor shimmered leaving a mauve glow on his worried face. Signs of mutiny in his army's rank and file were unmistakable.
After eight years of bloody triumphs through the Tigris, the Nile, the Euphrates, the Oxus, the Jaxartes and now the Beas, Alexander wanted one final conquest. His men though had had enough. The great warrior had decided to make one last attempt next morning to persuade his commanders to march on. He retired to his tent and fell asleep.
Dawn came but did not bring with it the promise of a new day. Alexander reluctantly put on his armor, fastened the buskins, grabbed the helmet in his armpit and stepped out of the tent. His commanders were waiting, not knowing what to expect but expecting something they knew would not be.
"Over half a dozen great rivers, thousands of adversaries who fought as if there was no tomorrow, cold that could freeze the finest of horses and heat that could singe one's conscience did not stop us for eight years. Civilizations will grow out of the footprints left by our horses' hooves. We have left in our wake history's greatest conquests. History will know no warriors like you and imagine a conqueror like me. I am asking you for one final conquest. I appeal to you valorous soldiers to take the final step and conquer the last great stretch," Alexander said pointing east.
"Violence is what happens without your knowledge or consent. I both know of and consent to my death," Calanus said to Alexander.
The last great stretch was a fabled empire controlled by the Nandas north east of the great city of Takshila. "We have heard great stories about their army of 200,000, 20,000 cavalry, 2,000 four-horse chariots and 6,000 elephants. You might see that as an unconquerable force, I see it as a great empire that is ours for the taking," the warrior said.
For a brief while blood rushed through the commanders' veins with the visions of defeating the Nandas. Then came a sense of deep fatigue that had set in their bones after eight years of invasions spread over 25,000 kilometers. Alexander was nothing if not an intuitive thinker. He changed the mood of his address: "Retreating now means humiliating death. Retreating now is turning the vanquished into a formidable foe yet again. Retreating now is ignoble."
The commanders seemed moved but not enough to rise and fight. Alexander stomped back into his tent and surrounded himself with singular gloom for three days. After 72 hours he emerged again to address his men. This time, it was to announce a withdrawal.
"I am a great conqueror because you great warriors are with me. I may slay a few robust men single-handedly but an entire army? Even I cannot. We withdraw in glorious victory," he said. The banks of the Beas shook with loud cheers from the great army. Alexander knew in his heart he was returning with an incomplete victory. "In the end my own men defeated me," Alexander told himself as he plotted his departure by sailing down the Jhelum river.
As Alexander and his exhausted men set sailing, some 50 kilometers downstream a group of naked men sat by the river bank chanting mantras in unison. Each mantra seemed to rise from the core of their being and attain an exalted spiritual harmony. One of the naked men, apparently quite old, was the only one not chanting with the rest. He was their leader in as much as ascetics could ever have one and he had earned his right to pursue silence.
The sight of naked men radiating some strange sounds out of their seemingly closed mouths was too much for Alexander to resist. The sails were brought down, the boats anchored and the ascetics summoned. They did not oblige. Instead their leader said if he wanted to meet Alexander would have to come ashore himself. The idea that men with no possessions, not even clothes, could look so calm and content attracted Alexander to them. Alexander's commanders were offended that naked men could summon history's greatest conqueror.
"Who are you and why are you naked and what are you chanting?" Alexander asked with the finality of someone accustomed to being deferred to.
"You have many questions but no manners?" said the ascetic. Two of Alexander's commanders were about to unsheathe their swords but he stopped them. The ascetic looked at the commanders and said, "Those who are always ready to commit violence are cowardly. We do not fear death, we invite it. We believe life is but a brief interlude before death."
Alexander was struck by the strange aura surrounding the ascetic's weather-beaten face. "Forgive me for being insolent. I am a warrior and manners are not useful in my occupation," he said.
"You call conquering others an occupation? Aren't you struck by the irony of your expression? To answer your questions we are men in search of eternal peace.
We wear elements and so do not need clothes. What we chant is a vehicle to that eternal peace." "Can that peace be sought anywhere?" Alexander asked surprising his commanders not used to hearing him indulge in a pacifist discourse.
"Peace like violence resides within you. You seem to have chosen violence and we peace. Yes, peace can be sought anywhere," the ascetic said.
"If that be indeed so, why don't you join me on my voyage? I don't know what I need but peace might not hurt," Alexander said.
"A peace that hurts is merely thinly disguised violence. Don't be fooled by it. You look like a warrior from a far land. What use do you have for someone like me? I don't even wear clothes," the ascetic said.
"What do I call you? How about Calanus?" Alexander asked.
"You may call me what you desire. It does not change anything. Yes, I will join you," Calanus said.
"You don't know me. You don't know what lies ahead for you and yet you are coming with me. Have you now doubts?" Alexander asked.
"Our needs are few. We have conquered the most important territory for humans to conquer. We have conquered self. We have nothing more to conquer. Wherever we go is our home," Calanus said.
"Wherever we go is our home. I feel the same way. How are you different?" Alexander asked.
"You need an army to create a home for you wherever you go. We need nothing. Not even clothes," Calanus said.
"We have a long journey ahead full of uncertainty. We don't know if we will reach the sea where my ships are being readied. Babylon is calling me," Alexander said.
"We all have long journeys ahead full of uncertainty. You are nothing special in that," Calanus said.
"You would make a great companion," Alexander said.
"So will you," Calanus said.
It took Alexander and his men six months to reach the sea. The great warrior survived a near fatal attack by fierce riverine peoples. An arrow almost punctured his heart perhaps making him realize his own frailty as his entourage reached what is now the Arabian Sea.
Before set sailing, Alexander asked Calanus, "You know there is no turning back for you once we sail. You are an old man. Are you sure you want to leave the familiar for the uncharted?"
The ascetic replied, "I left the familiar for the uncharted the day I was born. Let us sail."
325 BC Desert coast of Gedrosia, Babylon
After weeks at sea, Alexander along with Calanus and his men reached the desert coast of Gedrosia . Alexander had not yet given up his dreams on conquering the Nandas. He had strategized in his mind he would bring in more troops and return to India.
However, once in Babylon, Alexander's famous appetites for food and liquor took over. There were frequent banquets. At one such banquet he invited Calanus and his naked ascetics.
As always the banquet was full of wines and dead animals cooked to satisfy Alexander's gargantuan appetite. Weeks of sea journey to Babylon had already prepared Calanus to expect Alexander as the embodiment of the very anti-thesis of what he stood for.
Calanus waited outside the main tent where the feast and merry-making was in progress. The frail, wasted body of Calanus made a stunning contrast with the two robust armed men who stood guard outside the tent. Even in their aloof and authoritarian gait, there was an element of respect for the ascetic.
Calanus looked pale and weak. Nudity compounded by the severe winter and undernourishment had all taken their toll on the ascetic. He was lost in his thoughts about his early life as a renunciate when Alexander came out with a goblet of wine in his hand. "Calanus, why must you wait outside in the cold? You are enlightened but not invincible. You will catch a cold."
"I have come to tell you that my journey has ended. Tomorrow at dawn I shall cease to be." Alexander was perplexed by Calanus' tone. "What do you mean? Have you had a premonition of some kind?" "There is no premonition. It is knowledge. I know because I have decided to do it," Calanus said.
"What have you decided to do?" Alexander asked even as he handed over the goblet to one of the guards. With his hands akimbo the conqueror asked even more forcefully, "What have you decided?"
"Tomorrow at dawn I shall immolate myself," Calanus said. One of the guards dropped the goblet out of shock. Alexander looked at Calanus with a mixture of disbelief, incomprehension and anger.
"Immolate yourself? How? Why? I would not let you," Alexander said.
"You have too many questions. You may control territories but you do not control individuals. It is not for you to let me do anything. I came of my own volition with you," Calanus said.
"I always make the mistake of not remembering that with you I am not a conqueror. What can I do to dissuade you?" Alexander asked.
"Nothing," Calanus said, "So dawn it is. If you are awake come to bid me goodbye. If you are not able to rise early because of your abuse at the feast, goodbye now."
Calanus walked back with the support of his disciples. Alexander stood there transfixed. Rather than rejoining the banquet, he went back to his tent. That night he could not sleep.
The sun had not yet come out when Calanus awoke. He bathed in cold water, while his disciples began piling wood to make a pyre. After his wash Calanus went into deep meditation chanting mantras. Some distance away in his tent Alexander sat up in his bed as if stung by some bad dream. He realized it was already dawn and remembered Calanus' words. He came out of the tent and ordered his commanders and soldiers to get ready in full battle gear. "We shall lead Calanus on his final journey," he declared.
With his joints stiff because of old age and lifelong exposure to the elements, Calanus began walking towards the pyre. Behind him walked his naked disciples, Alexander followed by his commanders and men. Alexander and his commanders knew what lay ahead, his soldiers did not. They were intrigued by Calanus walking towards the burning pyre. Calanus stopped a couple of feet away from an end of the pyre that had still not caught fire. He chanted mantras again and then turned around to address his disciples.
"This is just an end of one phase of my life. You in your wisdom will choose my successor. I am moving on to another level. I was happy throughout my life. I am happy at its end," he said even as he began climbing the pyre.
Alexander, who was pacing up and down nervously, said, "Wait! You claim to believe in non-violence. You would not even kill an insect. What then gives you the right to kill yourself?"
Calanus did not wait to answer. He sat cross-legged on top of the pyre waiting for the flames to consume him.
"What gives you the right to kill yourself?" Alexander asked again as Calanus' disciples signaled him to be silent.
"Violence is what happens without your knowledge or consent. I both know of and consent to my death," Calanus said.
Minutes later there was no trace of Calanus. His disciples began walking away from Alexander. The Greek army men stood frozen not knowing how to react.
Finally, Alexander spoke. "Calanus was of a different world. We celebrate his passage through our world."