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eBook Category: Science Fiction
eBook Description: Near the ancient Tibetan village of Barwa, the Chariot of the Gods has come down from the heavens. Or is it the Chariot? The greatest sage in the world is coming to investigate....

eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: Analog, 2002
Fictionwise Release Date: February 2003

30 Reader Ratings: Great Good OK Poor

Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [111 KB], eReader (PDB) [42 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [30 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [27 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [74 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [100 KB], hiebook (KML) [96 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [61 KB], iSilo (PDB) [25 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [31 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [59 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [44 KB]
Words: 8397
Reading time: 23-33 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format:  Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED

"Rajnar Vajra's "The Great Prayer Wheel" is charming. While Vajra uses a shifting point of view to good effect, most of the story is through the eyes of Tsenshap, a young boy in a small Tibetan village. Tsenshap is a yak herder who was the first to discover something the villagers refer to as the "Great Chariot," an enormous white egg-shaped thing that appeared in a meadow high above the village. Whatever the "Great Chariot" is, it has captured Tsenshap's and the villagers' imaginations. As the story opens, the entire village awaits the arrival of a great sage, Vilakruna, who will examine the Great Chariot and, they hope, help the villagers to understand its meaning. The village Shaman awaits Vilakruna's arrival with trepidation, however, since he fears the impact of the Great Chariot's meaning on the village's devotion to the old spiritual ways. Vilakruna turns out to be a wise, gentle and compassionate sage. He and Tsenshap set out to visit the Great Chariot. They witness something miraculous and wonderful, but something that even young Tsenshap fears will break the Shaman's heart. It falls to Vilakruna to interpret the miracle for the villagers in a way that will not bring them unnecessary pain. Vajra evokes the setting--both the physical hardships and the spiritual challenges this village endures--beautifully, with an economy of language. Knowing little of the area myself I found the villagers utterly fascinating. The story ends with an epilogue that provides the reader with another view of the miraculous event. While that epilogue furnishes a clever sort of commentary on perspective, to my mind it was somewhat unnecessary. At its heart, the story is about a young boy who reaches a moment of understanding and, as such, it works well without the additional passage. This is, I believe, Vajra's fifth appearance in Analog in the past two years. It has been a pleasure to watch his talent and craft evolve. Vajra's voice is becoming strong and assured, and we should expect many more good works from him."--Deborah Layne, Tangent Online (Learn more about Tangent Online, the Internet's leading SF&F short fiction review website)

Invocation: We bow to the four cardinal directions to show respect. To Sky above and Earth beneath we bow to show devotion. We bow to the outer world to acknowledge our limitations. To the inner realm, we do not bow. The inner realm surpasses respect, devotion, and all limitation.

Rumors that Vilakruna was coming to visit began almost a year before the great sage actually arrived.

In the tiny Tibetan village of Barwa in the shadow of that mighty mountain, Namcha Barwa, rumor was better than news. With rumor, it was easier to imagine miracles and wonders. Tsenshap, youngest yak-herder in the village, fancied that Vilakruna was levitating eastward in stately dignity all the way from his reputed home in Northern India. Sometimes instead, the boy fantasized that Tara, Goddess of Compassion, was carrying the sage with infinite gentleness in a soft green hand larger than any mountain.

Tsenshap's vivacious imagination only failed when it came to visualizing Vilakruna's face. No one in Barwa, not even ancient Sogyal Shaman, had met the holy man or met anyone whose claim that they'd met him rang unmistakably true. However, again according to rumor, Vilakruna was extraordinary in every way.

Ten arm-spans tall and dripping wisdom so thickly it dampened the ground at his feet, according to Jamjang who was the village expert on everything. Atisa the Foolhardy, who'd once climbed distant Chomo Langma on a dare, maintained that the great sage was virtually a living skeleton who'd gone beyond any need for physical sustenance. One passing traveler had stated with great sincerity that the wise man's eyes weren't mere flesh but brilliant emerald cabochons.

Tsenshap was fascinated by such claims and found them perfectly reasonable. After all, he himself bore a mystical peculiarity of the body. He'd been blessed with a birthmark on one shoulder that looked to everyone like a painting of Tara done in shades of brown. This gift had always strengthened his connection with the Goddess.

The yak-herder wouldn't have been surprised if the wise man proved to be ten arm-spans tall and a living skeleton. But Tsenshap was even more intrigued by Vilakruna's fabulous mystic powers. No one could say exactly what powers these were (although Jamjang never let ignorance bar his mouth), but everyone agreed the wise man had them in abundance.

The part that really made the boy's eyes glisten and his chest swell was why Vilakruna was coming. This could only be to investigate the Great Chariot. Nothing less would bring such a renowned holy man to such an ordinary little village. And who had found this Chariot? Why, Tsenshap himself! In a sense, Vilakruna was coming because of him!