The flame-gatherers

Set on the Narmáda plain and the plateau of Mandu, the novel follows a Rajah's return from campaign and interweaves episodes of power, passion, and spiritual seeking, organized into two parts—Flesh-Fire and Soul-Fire. Early chapters depict conquest, court life, and a passionate love connected to an Asra figure and a ruby; later sections shift toward asceticism, moral struggle, and pilgrimage, examining cultural encounters, fate, and the tension between sensual desire and spiritual awakening. The narrative balances vivid landscape and ritual detail with inner conflict as characters confront longing, exile, and the search for truth.