Bringing resplendent life to all her characters in a way that allows us as modern people to also resonate with their pleasures and struggles, Prabhu’s words dance from page to page, carrying us through the life of the protagonist, Ishvari, from her days as an outcaste child in an indistinct village of the valley, to her times in the palace of the capital city with the king and his retinue who are as scheming and problematic as any modern-day politicians and leaders.[break]
Her role is not merely as a “queen” within the fabric of royal life but also as a high priestess, savvy in the ancient practice of Tantra. Indeed, throughout the story, the reader is articulately taken through the very intricate and difficult to understand techniques of the ancient Tantric arts so that one can understand their necessity as a panacea to the daily struggles of ordinary life.
Between leaving her village and becoming the high priestess of the kingdom, Isvari has to pass though a special school for initiates into such arts. Here, we can easily relate to each individual on this course of education, struggling with emotional traumas, just as ordinary people do. However, through continual instruction in many methods that can lead them to overcome such mind problems if they apply the effort of practicing them, they may go beyond such difficulties.
Ishvari, who stands out as the most capable of the students, has a very special mission to accomplish that only a very secret aspect of the Tantric path can avail. For the wayward king of Melukha, a powerful and demonically possessed individual, needs his ‘true’ or ‘highest’ life force energy activated in order to bring his mind back under control.
The most effective and indeed the only method to do this would be to ‘alter’ his inner energy structure whereby his entire system would be pervaded by a higher force of energy, known as ‘kundalini.’ Held as he is by the lower forces of his own ego, this currently lies hidden and dormant within him.
Portrayed as the only hope for the rectification of society’s evils, his consort Ishvari, who has been trained to initiate this process of the activation of kundalini through special techniques of sexual practice, would cause his mind to bring forth its peaceful and compassionate aspects once this energy are aroused in his system. As a leader of the people, these qualities would reflect throughout the kingdom, and the negativity sweeping through society will thus be reversed.
However, things are not as straightforward as they may seem in theory, and Ishvari has to suffer greatly and face much personal strife in order just to stay alive in her role. In an arena that one would consider to be influential and privileged, she suffers the most pain and sorrow, turning to partial destruction of herself just to escape the pain of the reality she is forced to live in. Thus we see her fall again and again into the magnetic attraction of vice and, right to the end of her path stumble into the pitfalls of her own ego.
As readers coping with our own lives, we can identify with Ishvari who, having been put on the highest pedestal with the best training and helped along the way by many teachers, still has her weaknesses. When we see that she has not just magically been transformed into some kind of ‘goddess’ status, we too feel capable of undergoing such a path of spiritual awakening.
Throughout the story, the modern symbolism is apparent. Today, as in the ancient city of Melukha that Prabhu describes, our countries and cities are controlled by the same demonic forces as in “Whip of the Wild God” and our need to merge our inner spiritual force with the outward practical necessity to survive in the world proves tantamount for changes to be effected throughout the world.
It is still pertinent that these Tantric arts are still available to aid the resurrection of humanity out of its lower habits, and that all of us as humans, who have the potential to use our greater energy force locked within ourselves, may be the catalysts of such ameliorative changes if we were only to apply time and energy to learning and practicing such skills.
The entire path of Tantra, according to the ancient knowledge, is shown here; yet it is portrayed in a way that is totally approachable within the modern-day context, too.
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