Arun outwits the sadhu, reclaiming his stolen youth with modern ingenuity.

Arun, feeling decades older after his fateful encounter with the sadhu, couldn’t shake the story of the ancient King Yayati from his mind. According to the Mahabharata's *Adi Parva*, the *Bhagavata Purana*, and the *Matsya Purana*, Yayati had once been cursed with old age by Shukra, the powerful sage, after taking Sharmishtha as his mistress. Devayani, Shukra’s daughter, had been furious at Yayati’s betrayal, and her father’s curse made him old in the prime of his life. However, the story didn’t end there. Yayati, unwilling to accept his fate, was later allowed to exchange his old age with one of his sons, Puru, thus regaining his youth and vitality. 

Arun, well-versed in these ancient scriptures, found inspiration in Yayati’s story. If Yayati could find a way to reverse his ageing, why couldn't he? The hope of regaining his youth flickered in Arun’s heart as he decided to take action. It wasn’t just a myth—it was a strategy. Arun knew that the sadhu had stolen his youth in some modern, twisted way, but if he could uncover how, he could reverse it, just like Yayati had done ages ago.

With this ancient wisdom in mind, Arun sought out Samaranand for help. They both knew that in today's world, cunning and strategy were as essential as divine intervention had been for Yayati. And just like Yayati had relied on his son Puru, Arun would need allies—Samaranand’s street-smart Babulal and the tech-savvy Soumya—to get back what was stolen from him. 

Fueled by the conviction that his youth could be restored, Arun set out on a mission that was less about fate and more about modern-day smarts, all while carrying the legacy of Yayati’s redemption deep in his heart.

With the story of King Yayati echoing in his mind, Arun embarked on his mission to reclaim his stolen youth. He knew the road ahead was perilous, but the ancient tale had given him both hope and direction. If Yayati could overcome his curse, Arun could outsmart the devious sadhu who had drained him of his vitality. His first step was to reconnect with Samaranand, who wasted no time assembling his team—Babulal, the wily street operator who could navigate through the underworld of fake ashrams, and Soumya, the tech genius who could break into any system with just a few keystrokes.

Samaranand laid out the plan. The sadhu’s ashram in Rishikesh was flourishing—an empire built on the deception of young, desperate souls who unknowingly exchanged their youth for fleeting moments of luxury. The sadhu, disguised as a young man himself, was known to offer "miracle" treatments to the super-rich, extracting the life force from his unsuspecting victims to keep his high-paying clients youthful and radiant. Arun’s only chance to reverse his condition was to steal back what the sadhu had taken from him, and that required uncovering the secret behind the sadhu’s alchemical trickery.

Under Samaranand’s orders, Babulal went undercover as a potential customer, a man willing to pay any price for eternal youth. While he distracted the sadhu, Soumya infiltrated the ashram’s security systems and discovered that the sadhu wasn’t relying on spirituality alone. In a hidden laboratory, Soumya found files detailing a chemical formula that, when mixed with the victim’s blood, could reverse the aging process. This was the secret behind the sadhu’s youth—he had been using his victims as living reservoirs of vitality, draining their life force and bottling it for his wealthy clients.

Soumya hacked into the system, retrieving all the necessary data, including the chemical formula. It wasn’t easy—the lab was heavily guarded, and Soumya had to evade multiple layers of security, but he finally cracked it. The next step was equally crucial. They needed to reverse-engineer the formula so Arun could reclaim his youth. Samaranand coordinated with a trusted chemist who recreated the potion but altered it to work in Arun’s favor.

In a tense final move, Arun confronted the sadhu, injecting himself with the modified formula. For a moment, nothing happened, but then, just like in Yayati's story, the years began to melt away. His wrinkled skin smoothed, his muscles regained their strength, and the energy of his youth returned. The sadhu, realizing what had happened, tried to flee, but it was too late. Arun, now younger and stronger, had already called in the authorities, exposing the sadhu’s fraudulent empire.

The operation was a success. Arun, like King Yayati before him, had reclaimed his youth, not through magic, but through modern ingenuity and clever strategy. The sadhu’s empire was dismantled, and Arun stood as a living testament to the power of persistence, proving that even when all seems lost, there's always a way to fight back.

Arun looked in the mirror, the youthful reflection that greeted him a stark contrast to the weary man who had first approached Jogen with his problem. He had outwitted the charlatan and reclaimed his life, leaving behind not only the marks of aging but also the fear that had once consumed him. The lessons of King Yayati lived on, but this time, the victory was not just mythical—it was real.

As Arun gazed at his youthful reflection, a thought crossed his mind—the prediction that had once haunted him, that he wouldn’t live past 50. It seemed almost laughable now. He had spent years chasing miracles, believing his fate was sealed, only to discover that life had its own unpredictable twists. In that moment, Arun realized that no prophecy, no horoscope, could dictate a man’s destiny. It wasn’t some mystical force that shaped his future—it was his own choices, his will to fight back. The future wasn't written in the stars; it was forged by his own hands.

Thus a Sadhu was born

Thus a sadhu was born ………………….. Baren was returning from his work in the evening. The dark cloud was hanging on the rice field, the zig zag lightning often was flashing. Baren could feel the static in the air. His body hair was charged, he was feeling as though he is a human battery carrying charge with him. He was wearing a rubber sole shoe so the charge was not discharging to the ground. The feeling was funny, as per science, he was full of electron on his synthetic cloth and hair. He was hesitating with his cycle to go any further towards his house in the village because of that eerie atmosphere. He had heard many stories during his childhood about ghosts coming out in such weather. Lucky that it was not raining yet, he was not carrying his umbrella. The blinding flashes of the lightning was scary, he could see lightning strikes on the field. As a precaution, he avoided standing below any tree, as a science graduate he knew that lightning would strike the tallest structure or tree. He was keeping a safe distance from the trees as if the lightning strikes a tree then the heavy current will fan out in the ground, if he stood near such lightning struck tree then he would get shock from the ground because of the rush of that current.He was transfixed by that celestial show. Suddenly he heard an ear splitting sound when a big ball of dazzling light fell on a mound, which was within his visibility range. He was scared , like a magic the dark cloud cleared and the thunder stopped. He could see the reddish sky to the west where sun was setting. The refracted light of the setting sun created a magical atmosphere around him; he heaved a sigh of relief. He cautiously approached the mound where the fireball had fallen. To his surprise, he discovered that it was no lightning strike as there was no sign of any burn instead there was a round object which had impacted the ground with such a force that it had formed a cavity in the earth. The object was lying in the ditch; it was of a size of football. Some invisible force was pulling him towards the round object. The handle of the cycle turned toward the object and started taking him towards the object. First he was scared as he thought some demonic force is pulling him but then he thought that there is no such thing as ghost or demon. He did not resist and reached the object by getting down from the cycle. His cycle flew towards the object, and got stuck on it. But as he was going nearer to the object he was feeling a repulsive force, still he kept on walking towards object as he had to retrieve his cycle . Suddenly he felt himself levitating. He spread his hands to balance so that he can stay vertical.

A group of people who were passing by watched with awe the miracle of a person levitating in the air in that diffused sun light of setting sun. They all ran towards Baren ,who was still suspended in the air. He acted nonchalant as though it’s nothing. Those villagers took him to be a yogi with supernatural power. They ran to the nearest village, a big crowd gathered around to witness the miracle. Baren with a beatific smile started blessing the crowd and thought to himself that it was time for him to leave that shitty work in the shop and cash on this godsend chance to become a spiritual guru. He addressed the people, “ I am happy that I could demonstrate my yogic power to you all. ‘’ The crowd was spellbound by the show of supernatural power , they requested ,”Sir you please climb down and come to our Kali temple, there is a guest room where you can stay as long as you want.” Baren replied, “I will come back after a week and spend some time with you all.”’ Somehow he managed to climb down. In the dark, the villagers could not make out that while getting down he had to more or less eject himself from that invisible force. He decided to sharpen his knowledge of magic mostly sleight of hand and study some medicine book for easy remedy. Also he would have to brush up Ramayana and Mahabharata for discourses. He had French cut beard but now it had to grow full. But first within those 7 days he had to make arrangement of a spherical container for that diamagnetic object. After getting down he removed his rubber sole shoes and thus literarily grounded himself, all accumulated negative charge in his body got discharged. Then how come the cycle is positively charged! He had been negatively charged peddling the cycle so the cycle must have got opposite charge,that was what he derived. That extraterrestrial object was negative diamagnetic he reasoned.Baren thought that his first priority would be to get in touch with Babulal so that he could garner help from Samaranand for his journey to Sadhudom or may be Samaranad himself would be interested to seize the oppertunity to become Sadhu. The crowd in the dark could not see his face so he can switch place with Samaranad and he could be the side kick like Babulal. Note: Though Baren used his knowledge of Physics to explain the invisible force as magnetic but can the repulsive magnetic force be strong enough to hold his weight? Chances are it to be some antigravity phenomena associated with that strange globe. I am Samaranand and heard the above story from Babulal. I could have made the journey to find out more about the terresterial object but because of Lockdown could not go. In the meanwhile I have to organize a Geiger Counter to make certain that strange object is not radioactive!