There have been many ‘reimaginings’ of Itihasic and Pauranik texts in the last decade or so. To give readers a truthful and accurate picture, the author has penned down an excellent book based on her studies of the source texts in Sanskrit. This is undoubtedly one to treasure for how well it has been written with its concise explanations and interesting insights based on thorough study and reflection. Many assume that when modern depictions are being criticised, people are against re-tellings in principle. This is not so. Ours has been a tradition of creative re-renderings and retellings. They will exist and will continue to be created. But the masses mustn’t lose sight of the original Itihasa and reach a point (as we see at present) where they can’t distinguish modern fiction from the original. In addition, authors of modern-day fiction seem more interested in conveying and embodying certain questionable agendas and tend to encapsulate their own worldview and perspectives rather than those of the characters.
This book does not fall into that trap and seems to be specifically written to bring to light the original perspectives. Although it does present the author’s interpretation, it differentiates between the Itihasa and her own thoughts. This is not the case with certain skewed depictions which portray their take as the supposedly original one. Those who have only encountered distorted re-tellings will find this to be an effective antidote. It is also useful for those who lack the patience, time and/or ability to read the original Sanskrit versions with its multiple volumes. This is not to say that this book is a substitute. Ideally, it should be viewed as an (excellent) initiator for further detailed/comprehensive study of the Itihasa that everyone should be encouraged to take up at least once in their lives.

Why the Mahabharata remains ever relevant despite scepticism by some:

Many question the relevance of the Mahabharata in modern times and it is important to recall that it is not a mere chronicling of events from the past. I say this despite some wanting to dismiss it due to the more supernatural or mythical elements that are present. There is much wisdom and many life lessons here to imbibe for a sincere seeker.

It is said that all that is stated here relating to Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha can be found in other sources but, what cannot be found in the Mahabharata can be found nowhere else.

So many expend much time and energy trying to pin down its historical accuracy and focus excessively on how plausible the supernatural elements are. The former is important, and has its place for scholars and experts, but how essential is it to the layman? It would be more advisable for them to refer to the text as a manual or guide to live our lives in a dharmik and ethical manner. Just as many of the characters faced many a moral and ethical dilemma, a conflict between their various responsibilities and roles they had to play, we too undergo our share of predicaments or Dharma Sankat, as the author aptly puts it (although not on the same scale of course). A proper study from a place of sincerity and Shraddha is a prerequisite to being able to understand the nuances and subtleties. These then enable us to contemplate and apply these principles in our own lives.

Someone whom I could relate to quite a bit was Arjuna. There was much to learn from his actions. His characterisation remains faithful to how he was originally described in the Itihasa. A disciplined and diligent individual, who was committed to excellence in all his endeavours: military or otherwise. Before the battle at Kurukshetra, he is filled with anguish at having to fight close friends and relatives and soon finds his morale slipping. Krishna, his advisor, guide and always his motivator, exhorts him to not be swayed from his initial resolve. He further encourages Arjuna to seek Sharanagati in Him – akin to handing Shri Krishna the position of Sarathi (Charioteer) of his senses and keeping Krishna’s position not merely limited to His military role as a charioteer during the war.

Even before this, there were other occasions wherein the latter chose to defer to Krishna’s superior wisdom and was not above admitting his ignorance. More often than not, he was receptive to the advice offered and wasn’t egotistical by assuming he knew better. It is not easy to acknowledge one’s limitations in the large scheme of things and hand over the reins of our life to our Ishta Devata. Yet, do it we must, and Arjuna’s example here is one worth emulating. Of course, our troubles pale in the face of what he underwent, and his ethical dilemmas are far more complex. Yet a reader would be unwise not to pick up on this lesson after completing the reading of this book.

Myth Busting:

• Regarding Karna’s Alleged Discrimination:
  The book busts many major myths that have been accepted by the masses as truth.One such prominent myth included the supposed Varna-based bias against Karna. Multiple retellings over the years have portrayed him as a hapless victim who was denied education by Dronacharya for belonging to the Suta community.
  The book makes it clear that this was not the case. Karna was most definitely one of the students of Dronacharya. While Drona did refuse to impart knowledge of the Brahmastra, it was because he felt that Karna was too reckless, and his irrational envy of Arjuna made him unfit to effectively wield it.
  Much information has been provided about the Suta community who are the progeny of Kshatriya fathers and Brahmin mothers. Prominent characters apart from Karna include Keechak, Sudeshna, Sanjaya and Rishi Ugrashrava Souti, who narrated Rishi Vaishampayana’s account written by Rishi Ved Vyasa. Sudheshna was the mother of Uttara, Abhimanyu’s wife and was also the queen of Matysa Desh. Her brother, Keechak, although vile enough to harass Draupadi, was a powerful warrior in his own right. Sanjaya was an advisor and close friend to Dhritrashtra. That such prominent characters belonged to the Suta caste proved that they were not prone to the kind of discrimination we assumed them to be undergoing, such as being barred from occupying positions of respectability and power. One must recall that Karna himself had been crowned King of Angadesha by Duryodhana. Moreover, their profession, i.e. that of a charioteer, was not a trivial one. They were often the confidants, guides and advisors to the warriors whom they drove. Wasn’t Shri Krishna Himself the Sarathi or charioteer to Arjuna for the entire duration of the Kurukshetra war? With all these facts on display, one hopes that the tired old trope of Karna’s supposed ‘caste-based discrimination’ can finally be laid to rest.

• Regarding Draupadi:
  Draupadi is another major character who has many a myth and misconception associated with her. One of the most prominent myths was that she had mocked Duryodhana when the latter slipped into a water body in the Indraprastha palace by calling him the blind son of a blind man. However, these lines are absent in the original version. Although, the Pandava brothers and other helpers did laugh, no one present made mocking remarks. Moreover, her supposed vengeful oath of wanting to bathe her hair in Duhshasana’s blood is also absent! The portrayal of her as being prone to violent bursts of emotion and her continued lust for revenge is also inaccurate. However, this book’s portrayal of her as dutiful wife devoted to her five husbands gives us a more complete picture of her personality.
  
  The other major myth dispelled was the supposed romantic angle between Draupadi and Karna. Modern retellings have made up an imaginary tale of ‘unrequited love’ and this scandalous affair the fulcrum of their novels without any scriptural evidence to back them up.
  

Surprising Discoveries on reading this book:

• There’s an instance where Shakuni (of all people) advises Duryodhana to return the Pandava’s kingdom to them and bridge former enmity! I was taken aback particularly since the latter was hardly prone to offering advice in Pandava’s interest (or advice of any worth really). It may easily have been a momentary reaction. The context was when Duryodhana confessed to Karna the news of the Kaurava defeat at the hands of the Gandharvas. The former had come to the Ashram camp of the Pandavas during the period of Vanavaas to show off their wealth and affluence, but instead got entangled in a fight. Shakuni’s words left Duryodhana greatly agitated. Unfortunately, he did not heed them as Karna immediately convinced Duryodhana against any proceeding of that sort.
• I found certain sections of the Yaksha Prahsna and Nahusha Prashna to be quite revelatory. It’s not that I was unaware of it before reading this book; rather, I was unaware of certain specific snippets which I found interesting.

• Nahusha Prashna:
  During their period of Vanavaas, the Pandavas are on a specific mission to retrieve certain items from someone who has requested their help. During this series of events, Bheema finds himself trapped by an intimidating yellow snake who seems to possess divine strength. Warriors could rarely overcome Bheema due to his sheer physical strength that was quite famed and yet, this strange snake was able to render him powerless! In the course of events, it is revealed that the snake is actually Nahusha, one of the Pandava’s ancestors who had been cursed to become a snake due to his haughty behaviour. Only by having someone answer his series of questions satisfactorily, would he be liberated from the sarpa yoni. It falls on Yudhishthira to save Bheema by giving the snake the answers he expects. I will not dwell at length on the outcome or the questions posed, but will stick to one that is rather similar to a question asked by another entity shortly after. I shall address this soon.

• Yaksha Prashna:
  This episode is similar to the above except that all four Pandavas fall prey to some supernatural entity, and it is not limited to just Bheema. Moreover, it is up to Yudhishthira to save the day once more with his wisdom and understanding of Dharma.
  The story is as follows. The younger four Pandavas had fallen unconscious near a lake when sent one after the other by Yudhishthira on a specific errand. In their thirst, they had all consumed some of the lake’s waters without heeding the warnings of its presiding entity . They all promptly fell faint although there were no visible marks of injury on their bodies. When they remained absent for long, it was up to Yudhishthira to search for them. On finding all of them, he was shocked and wondered who could possibly have reduced his valourous brothers to such a state. He soon discovered it to be a Yaksha who then insisted on setting them free solely if Yudhishthira answered all of his questions correctly. The Yaksha in question was actually Yama, Yudhishthira’s biological father in disguise. He asked Yudhishthira many a question, but one in particular that may interest the modern society. (Page 219 of the book)

  “When is a person be considered a Brahmin – by birth, action, education or listening to scriptures?”
  “Not by birth, not by education, not by listening to scriptures does one become a Brahmin. Only by action can a person be considered a Brahmin.“I have reproduced the other relevant section from Nahusha’s questioning below. (Page 215 of the book)

  “Whom should we know as a Brahmin?”
  “One who is truthful, charitable, forgiving, well-mannered, compassionate, austere and merciful is to be considered a Brahmin.”
  “But these qualities can be seen in a Shudra as well. How then do we decide?”
  “If a Shudra has these qualities and a Brahmin doesn’t, then the Shudra is not a Shudra; and the Brahmin is not a Brahmin. One who has these qualities is to be considered a Brahmin and one who lacks these virtues is to be considered a Shudra.”
  “So, if only actions determine whether one is a Brahmin or not, being born in a Brahmin family would mean nothing?”
  “I believe determining a person’s varna at birth is very difficult because a lot of intermingling of varnas and races has happened. Therefore, the wise consider only action as the indicator of varna.”

  Nahusha was happy and satisfied with Yudhishthira’s answers.

  “You know all that is worth knowing. How can I eat your brother now? I am letting him go.”

  One wonders how those who insist on Birth-based Varna would choose to respond to the above.

• I was amazed to learn that Arjuna who always strove to respect his elder brother, Yudhishthira had come close to slaying him! The episode was well narrated, and it was thanks to Shri Krishna’s timely intervention, unusually effective solution, and astute advice, that saved Arjuna from breaking his vow and not killing Yudhishthira. It takes place during the battle of Kurukshetra. 

  Yudhishthira is badly wounded and returns to the camp after facing defeat at the hands of Karna. He is almost delirious and not in absolute control of his senses due to his great pain. Arjuna and Bheema grow greatly worried over his non-appearance. The latter assures Arjuna that will he continue to fight and requests him to check on Yudhishthira. Despite his immense pain, Yudhishthira was still alive although Karna could have easily killed him. This was due to the promise made to Kunti wherein he vowed not to kill any Pandava in battle except Arjuna. The encounter had left Yudhishthira humiliated beyond measure as he had been defeated in battle but still lived thanks to the mercy of Karna of all people. Under these circumstances, when he sees Arjuna approaching the camp, he assumes that he has already vanquished Karna, recovered his lost honour and has come to relay the good news of his defeat. However, that is hardly the case and once he realises that Karna is still very much alive, he uses inflammatory language to chastise Arjuna. He tells Arjuna that Abhimanyu and Ghatokacha (who had passed away earlier when waging battle) would have been more suited to defeat Karna. Moreover, he also tells Arjuna to hand over his Gandiva bow to Krishna who was far more capable of vanquishing Karna since he seemed to lack the intent or ability or both.
  These thoughtlessly spoken words were enough to incite Arjuna. He who had come to inquire of his brother’s well-being, now finds himself approaching him with a drawn-out sword! It is Krishna who stops him and inquires why he is about to slay his own brother. We discover then that Arjuna had vowed to slay anyone who made disparaging remarks against his Gandiva bow and even if it entailed killing his own brother, he must adhere to his vow. Krishna reprimands him and proceeds to expound on the subtleties of Dharma. He makes it clear that he would be committing greater Adharma by breaching the code of conduct of the war, hurting an unarmed man, one who was in such great pain and was heavily wounded no less. Not to mention it was his own revered brother whom he intended to slay. One cannot blame Yudhishthira completely for his rash words, because, he is almost delirious, has been through a near-death experience, and is unable to control all that he utters.
  How does Krishna proceed to persuade Arjuna otherwise? What story does he quote to show him that absolute adherence to vows or even truth under exceptional circumstances may not be dharmic? Does he come up with an unusual solution to ensure Arjuna doesn’t completely ignore his vow? Curious readers must read the book to know more and also understand the author’s take on the above events. 

• I was also surprised to know that Krishna had almost come close to slaying Bhishma. This despite making a vow that He would not intervene in the waging of battle. Why then is He willing to break it? He is after all our revered Shri Krishna who knows Dharma better than anyone else. The answer lay in Arjuna’s diffidence and hesitancy to fight with his full strength against Bhishma who was a senior paternal figure. Krishna realises that Bhishma posed a great threat considering the astonishing scale at which he was slaying a large number of soldiers. If Arjuna was unwilling to do what was necessary, then He would have to enter the field and take matters into His own hands. He was perfectly willing to forego His reputation of always adhering to His vow if it meant eliminating Bhishma who would otherwise have defeated them and led to the victory of the adharmic Kauravas. It is Arjuna who pleads with Him and prevents Him from carrying it out. This near intrusion of Krishna into the war convinces him to no longer fight as half-heartedly as he was doing and instead do so with complete resolve. 
• Like many, I had laboured under the misplaced notion that the narration of events by Sanjaya to Dhritrashtra took place live, when in fact, it was only on certain days that Sanjaya returned to inform him of all that happened. Moreover, he himself had participated in the war and had been blessed by Vyasa Muni with Divya Dhristhi or Divine vision. This allowed him to be aware of all battles and events that transpired on the warring field which was then relayed to Dhritarashtra at suitable intervals. He is said to have lost access to this vision once the war had run its course. 
• I learnt of an interesting scene from the Mahabharata that I had not known before reading this book; of a conversation between Draupadi and Satyabhama where the latter inquires how she has managed to sway all the Pandavas and get them to do her bidding. She teasingly questions Draupadi as to whether she has made use of a love potion or even some VashiKaran practice. Draupadi dismisses this and encourages her not to indulge in this line of thought as such acts would destroy the trust between life partners. She then earnestly proceeds to advise and inform Satyabhama of what she does to ensure devotion from her husbands, mentioned as follows: 

  She strives to commit all her duties without grumbling and attends to the wants and needs of all her husbands, their co-wives and their mother, Kunti.
  She ensures that there were no ego tussles involved in any of their interactions.
  She wakes up early in the morning and only eats after having fed all in the Ashram that had made it home during their period of the Pandava’s Vanavaas.
  In addition, her accounting and managerial abilities were much admired back at the Indraprastha palace, and she personally trained all her domestic workers who assisted her in the feeding of guests. She is said to have known them all personally by name.
  Moreover, by never choosing to nag her husbands, patiently hearing out their burdens and divulging her pain only occasionally (and in the presence of Shri Krishna alone) she made herself indispensable. Her behaviour ensured she was sought after and greatly loved by all she interacted with. Her devotion to duty is not often highlighted in commonly known depictions and she is instead, incorrectly perceived to only be a vengeful and volatile woman. 

• I didn’t know about the Guhas or caves in Uttarakhand named after Veda Vyasa and Ganesha. It is at the foot of the Himalayas in these caves that the Mahabharata is said to have been penned down. In addition, the book contains a list of Vyuhas or army formations that have been resorted to by both warring camps. I had only known of the Chakra Vyuha thanks to a story about the unjust killing of Abhimanyu. There are other ones too like the Krauncha (Heron) and Makara (Crocodile). Those interested in a detailed list must certainly check the tabulated column that has been thoughtfully provided by the author.

In Conclusion:

A basic perusal of the book makes it obvious that the author has put a painstaking amount of effort into researching and writing this book. There are multiple citations, notes and a rather detailed bibliography. She has used the Gita Press version along with the BORI Critical edition of the Mahabharata version (Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute) as the primary reference and also an English translation by Kisori Mohan Ganguli. In addition, her writing style is excellent akin to page-turner fiction novels. I loved certain chapters (‘The Marriage that Tied’, ‘A Friendship of Doom’, ‘The Ideals of Fetters and Freedom’ and ‘Prodigious Sons’), and it is clear that a great deal of thought has gone into its crafting including the titles themselves.

In addition, the author’s exposition on the nature and nuances of Dharma is excellent. These are present in the introductory chapter and readers are encouraged to read, re-read and contemplate long and hard on some of the wisdom shared. Here is a quote I liked from the concluding portion:

“Dharma destroys those who destroy it and protects those who protect it. Strive to understand the nuances of dharma. Strive to uphold dharma. Through dharma, uplift yourself. That is the essence of the Mahabharata – and of life.”

Notwithstanding the book’s many excellencies, I did deduct one star for one major flaw. The book does feel repetitive at times. The same set of events is mentioned multiple times although from a different character’s perspective. Some more editing and fine-tuning could have fixed the redundancy issues and added to the book’s existing strength.

Final Rating: 4/5 Stars

I heartily recommended this excellent book that is well worth reading (and rereading.) I look forward to completing the author’s future books as well.