The King of Kashi is Athithigva. Kashi is known as the city where supreme light shines. At Kashi, Parvateshwar enters into a rebellion with the Brangas, paradoxically to save them from the rest of the people at Kashi who hate them and want them out of the city. Divodas, head of the Branga community in Kashi, attacks the General and he gets severely injured. Divodas later realizes his mistake and gives Parvateshwar the Naga medicine which heals him completely.
The King of Kashi keeps mysteriously visiting the Eastern palace which is located across the Ganga. Determined to find out why nobody else is allowed to visit this palace, Sati swims her way across to find out about Maya, King Athithigva's Naga sister, who he hides there. Maya has two human heads.
Shiva receives a medicine for Sati which has to be applied to her belly. The Vasudev at Kashi gives Him this and tells Him that the child's birth will go perfectly. Sati gives birth to Kartik, who Shiva names, after Krittika. Daksha and Veerini comes down from Meluha to meet their grandson. Daksha gives umpteen doses of Somras to Kartik so that he grows fit and healthy. Shiva and Sati are the least pleased to see Kartik getting so much Somras, when there is so much scarcity for the holy medicine in Meluha. When Sati objects, Daksha tells her about the second and secret Somras manufacturing unit in Meluha and convinces her that there is enough Somras produced for the citizens.
From Kashi, Shiva and His people set forth to Branga along with Divodas, who is now a complete devotee of the Lord Neelkanth. Sati and Krittika don't join them as Kartik is too young to travel. At Brangaridai, King Chandraketu, who is also an ardent believer of Lord Shiva tells Him about his connection with the Nagas. He confides that the Nagas provide them with medicines which heals the people in his kingdom from deadly plagues which constantly keep attacking them. He says he can't betray the Nagas, else the flow of the medicines will stop which will kill his people. Shiva promises him to get back with with another way to get the secretive Naga medicine.
The only other person who knows about the Naga medicine is Parshuram, who is a bandit living in the Dandak forest. Shiva and His men go in search of Parshuram, finds him and defeats him in war. Parshuram also believes in the legend of the Neelkanth and is shocked to have realized that he killed Drapaku in the war, his God's commarade. Guilt ridden, he chops off one of his hands. During the journey back to Kashi, Parvateshwar and Anandmayi tie the knot after Shiva convinces him that giving up his lifelong rule of celibacy will not be against Lord Ram's rules. After the wedding, Parshuram tells Shiva about his family. Shiva empathizes with Parshuram after he tells the Lord how he became a bandit. He is the youngest of the five sons his Brahmin Father and Kshatriya Mother have. His Mother's people killed his Father and all his brothers because of the dishonor his Mother brought about by marrying a non-Kshatriya. In the wake of this incident, his Mother forces Parshuram to behead her and avenge their family. This is how he becomes a bandit - after he kills each and every single one of his Mother's family.
At Kashi, Sati with a set of soldiers, travel to Icchawar to kill lions those have been killing the villagers. Much to her terror, she finds there are 30 lions and lionesses in the pride led by a liger - which is a combination of a tigress mother and male lion. At Icchawar, Sati's troop is saved by the Naga Lord of the People and the Queen of the Nagas. It is then that Sati understands that the Naga Lord of the People is Ganesh, her son who she was made to believe was still born. She also meets the Queen of the Nagas, her twin sister, Kali, there. They kill all the animals and leave back to Kashi, without realizing that the liger and the two remaining lionesses follow them till Kashi. On reaching Kashi, Sati convinces Athithigva to make room for her Naga family in her palace. Kartik has grown up now and becomes fond of his elder brother, Ganesh.
Shiva's entourage reaches Kashi. Shiva is thrilled to hear the news of Ganesh and Kali from Sati, who comes to greet Him at the banks of the river. On meeting Ganesh, He recognizes him as the Naga who killed Brahaspati, who was like His brother. Furious in his rage, Shiva leaves Sati, takes Kartik and goes and stays at the Branga quarters when the deeply hurt Sati strictly says that she cannot leave her long lost son.
King Dileepa arrives in Kashi for his daughter's marriage to Parvateshwar. During the ceremony, Shiva leaves Kartik with Krittika at a park nearby the ceremony so that he does not have to see the hostility between his parents. Ganesh, guilty at seeing his parents separate because of him also stays away from the ceremony, with Kartik. This is when the liger and lionesses attack again. Ganesh saves Kartik but is badly injured and takes three months to heal completely.
King Daksha and Veerini come from Meluha to Kashi, where Sati disowns her Father for hiding facts about her Naga son and sister. There, she also realizes that it is her Father who killed her first husband, Chandandhwaj.
Upon healing, Ganesh convinces Shiva to go with him till Panchavati, the Naga capital. Shiva along with his entire troop goes on a year's journey across the Dandak forest to the land of the Nagas. On reaching there, Shiva gets the biggest shock. The book ends abruptly when Ganesh takes Shiva into a school where he sees Brahaspati awaiting him.
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