Lore Of Jivavarta: Vanpore

 In Vanpore, the capital of Yashantika, society was divided into strict classes: the privileged Grahvars, the enslaved Ceta, and the lowly Dhataki. This rigid system ultimately led to its downfall, yet few had the courage to challenge it. The following lore, which upheld this order, was used to justify its existence.

Long ago, the Kingdom of Yashantika was not a kingdom at all. It was a secluded, barren desert that few dared to cross.

One day, a man passed through the sand and saw a baby lying there—alone, smiling, shimmering with gold. He looked at the child and saw not innocence, but opportunity. He took the gold, killed the child—without cause, without fear, without shame—and fled.

Soon, he began to feel unbearably thirsty. He drank, but the thirst only grew. On the edge of death, delirious and trembling, he saw a vision. Sarvabhu, the god of all being, appeared. A voice spoke from the light: “You showed needless cruelty. For this, you will return—not as a man, but as a Dhataki, destined to suffer cruelty from others for the rest of your life.”

The man thus became a Dhataki—a man considered less than human, at the bottom of the social order. And so, pain became his teacher.

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Once again, another man passed through the same stretch of land. The second man also saw the baby in the desert. But he did not kill. He simply took the gold and walked away. The child cried, but he did not turn back.

Again, Sarvabhu appeared: “You are not evil, but neither are you good. You have seen suffering and turned your face away. You valued material wealth and showed no compassion for a living being. As a result, you will spend your next life serving others.”

The man thus became a Ceta—a slave devoted to the care of others. And so, duty became his path.

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A third man wandered the same desert one morning. He saw the same child. Unlike the others, he felt no desire to possess the gold. Instead, he took the baby and returned home.

His wife said nothing—just opened her arms.

Then something strange happened. By afternoon, the baby became a young man. By evening, an old man. The man and his wife were surprised, but they still took care of him and spoke to him as if he were their own. They did not ask who he was; they only gave what they had.

At nightfall, Sarvabhu appeared—this time not for punishment, but for blessing: “You have honored me in every form. In your next life, you will be Grahvar—high-born, beloved, prosperous. And where you found the child, build a temple. The desert will remember your kindness. It will turn into fertile farmland, and the land will flourish.”

That place became Vanpore, the city built not on gold but on virtue—the City of Temples and the capital of Yashantika.

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Even now, in Vanpore, the City of Temples, during the great Festival of Dhi, the three forms of Sarvabhu are worshipped:

• In the morning, the Infant: innocent, pure, and full of potential.

• At noon, the Youth: restless, hungry, and full of confidence.

• In the evening, the Elder: weary, wise, and close to his end.

And though the land is blessed, it is not without warning. When sins rise, the land grows hot again. Every house in Vanpore has a shelter below—cool and sacred. The rich hide in their deep Grahvar shelters. And for those who have nothing, there is the Bhuyari: a place beneath the earth, where even the forgotten are held.

So the people of Yashantika never forget: Virtue saves. Greed burns. And Sarvabhu sees all.

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Jivavarta is a fictional land created by Shon Mehta, where epic tales of power, survival, and social upheaval unfold, as seen in her novels The Timingila and Lair of the Monster, along with many other stories and parables set in this richly imagined world.