by Dwai Lahiri

During a time that has since been relegated to the annals of mythology, two groups of advanced beings, begotten by the same Father, but to different mothers cohabitated the world along with the human race. These two groups of beings were known as the Dévas and Asuras. The Dévas chose the path of balance, harmony and spirituality while the Asuras chose the path of science, technology and materialism. The two in constant conflict, with the Asuras seeking complete dominion over the Dévas and the humans.

An ancient order of immortals, Spiritual adepts known as the Mahasiddhas, provided balance between the Dévas and Asuras, and assumed the role of safeguarding the human race.

After the great war of Rāmāyana, with the Asura emperor Rāvana slain at the hands of the Avatār Lord Rāma, the Mahasiddhas and the Dévas gave the Asuras a choice to inhabit a dimension other than the human one. Most of the Asuras chose to leave, and the gateway between the dimensions were sealed off at the site of powerful Hindu temples, and sacred Banyan trees planted there.

Many thousands of years passed, the seals grew weak but both the humans and the Asuras had forgotten about the portals; Until a young Asura stumbled upon one from the Asura dimension, and entered the human realm, wreaking havoc. When the Asura government learned about this, they planned an invasion, but the Mahasiddhas found out.

The Mahasiddhas cannot directly intervene, they can only guide. Hence a group of humans was formed — the Mahasiddha warriors, led by two sages. This story is not just about a battle between two opposing ideologies; but also about the spiritual and martial journey of five humans, as they become the Mahasiddha warriors.

Will the Mahasiddha warriors be able to intervene on time? Will they be able to close the portal and prevent an invasion by the Asuras?

Find out in the book titled “The Mahāsiddha Field”, the first installment of a new mythological sci-fi/fantasy series by author Dwai Lahiri at his website: Dwai Lahiri

About the Author
Dwai Lahiri is a long time practitioner of the Daoist internal arts with a focus on Taijiquan. He is also an eager student and practitioner of Advaita Vedānta, Kashmir Shaivism and Yoga. He enjoys being part of the artistic process in various forms – as a writer, musician and a martial artist. The Arts are an excellent medium for spiritual practice and he has dedicated more than two decades of his life in the quest for spiritual clarity.

He started writing in the early 2000s in the public domain, under the pen name ‘Rudra’ for ‘sulekha.com’, which then was the preeminent online literary portal for the Indian Diaspora. In 2007 he started the online journal ‘The Medha Journal’ where over 1000 articles—the compiled work of 96 authors including himself are available for readers today, on various topics ranging from Indic studies, philosophy to poetry and fiction.

In the worldly domain, he is a software engineer for a Silicon Valley software company, and an engineer by training. He likes to think of himself as humble bridge between many disparate worlds– science and spirituality, art and technology, Eastern and Western cultures. He lives in the suburbs of Chicago in Illinois, USA with his wife, daughter and two dogs.