Sena

Sena was born on October 4, 327, in a hamlet on the Thar desert margin where wells and grazing held families in place. The household spoke a northwestern Prakrit and lived as dependents of a local cattle lord whose herds they tended. Deva, his father, worked livestock for the estate under the herdsman Kala. Gauri, his mother, kept the cooking fire, fetched water, spun thread, and managed a crowded compound shared with Bhoja and Nani, Deva’s parents.

Three older sisters were alive when Sena arrived: Suma, ten years old; Mira, six; and Rani, two. A fourth, Dasi, had died in infancy years earlier. Sena became another small body to carry and wash. He learned faces early; he reached for Suma’s necklace string and cried if she left the shade.

Late in 328, he began walking along the low mud edging of the animal pen, palms sliding on it for balance. A goat pushed past him. He jerked back, then laughed and grabbed at its ear until Mira snapped his wrist away and shooed the animal out. He returned to the pen the next day anyway, fast and unsteady, drawn by bells and dung piles.

In July 329, Gauri gave birth again. The baby, Lali, died within days. Nani tied a dark thread on Sena’s wrist and dabbed ash at his forehead. Gauri left small offerings—milk, a pinch of grain, and a flick of ghee—at a thorn tree by the well, speaking to household ancestors and the village spirits.

By September 329, Sena had a few clear words. He pointed at the water jar and the milk pot and shouted until someone lifted him. When Gauri told him to come to her, then bring a cup, he stared and fussed; he could follow one request but not two in sequence. He snatched beads and thread bobbins from Rani, threw a pebble when refused. When the adults looked away, he grabbed at food or reached for a bright bead Suma had set down. Mira scolded him; he clung to Gauri’s hip.

In early March 330, a fever took him over several days. Gauri called Sodhi, who fumigated the room with burning leaves and rubbed Sena’s chest with warmed oil. Sena died on March 8. Bhoja wrapped his body in cloth and placed it in a shallow grave beyond the dwellings, with a small smear of ghee and a handful of grain set into the soil.