Jaya. An illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata

Devdutt Pattanaik

Author – Devdutt Pattanaik

Publisher – Penguin Books

Rating – Highly recommended

Having read modern mythologies based on older mythologies and warped fiction on speculations, it was a breather to read a “simple” retelling. To keep it “simple” requires a MASTER and I salute Devdutt Pattanaik for this feat. The monumental task of keeping the fabric of the Mahabharata plot intact while also telling the numerous tales within the tale explaining the consequences of Karma, ancestry,  social hierarchies, practices and prejudices, relationship between vedic and non vedic tribes has been done beautifully.

Vyasa narrating the Mahabharata to Ganesha. An illustration from the book.

Of special mention is the Bhagavad Gita section. I’ve tried reading the Bhagavad Gita before but a literal translation is extremely difficult reading. Pattanaik’s  retelling of the “song of God” is in understandable English. Light readers beware though, despite the simple language, this is heavy stuff! The philosophical discourse has formed the basis of faith of millions of Indians. Though at times I couldn’t help but wonder at Krishna’s cleverness - this is the tongue of a clever statesman goading his best fighter to battle.  So many times in battle Krishna goads the Pandavas to break rules of war by offering a different point of view. Does this signify that to God there are no rights and wrongs? That there is only a flow of the universe and God’s work is to ensure this flow.

Krishna delivering the Bhagavad Gita to Arjun at the scene of battle. An illustration from the book.

This was a special time though and humans who manipulated nature and accomplished grand feats were worshipped. Balarama with his plough created canals from the river Yamuna to Gokul to water it’s orchards; Krishna argued that the mountains which stopped the rainclouds over their land and thus brought rain be worshipped rather than the rain; land was reclaimed from the sea to build Krishna’s Dwarka.

The footnotes explaining historical and philosophical significance even speculations are great especially as one tends to get lost in the fantastic tales in the maha tale.  The sketch illustrations are cool! J

As an animal lover a footnote struck me.  “Dogs represent attachment and bondage because they are territorial and possessive of their masters. They constantly seek attention and validation. They therefore become the symbol of neediness, insecurity, attraction and ego.” In this Kaliyug, we love our dogs. All characteristics mentioned above are why we love them.  Forced me to reflect – Is our times an embodiment of all that was abhorred in the Vedic times?

Small footnotes besides, the Mahabharata is a tale where there are no winners. Even though the Pandavas win in battle, all of them except Yudhishtir go to hell. While the Kauravas loose in battle, they enjoy heaven with the Gods. While Krishna is elevated to the stature of a God, he is cursed by a mother, looses all his family, clansmen, beloved Dwarka and dies alone by the arrow of a simple hunter.  The Mahabharata is not the tale of two families fighting for a piece of land. It is a moral tale to illustrate how the powers of Maya bind us. How what is right in one circumstance is wrong in another. While we think we are most attached to persons and possessions, it is to our judgements, prejudices and ego that we most tenaciously hang on to. The tale however, is a victorious tale. Not of victory in the materialistic plane – because there is no victory there but of victory over the self – “Jaya”. 

The only turnoff in the book is that the pages are scented! who does that! I love the smell of a book. To have some perfume waft out is distracting and irritaing.

The Krishna Key

Title – The Krishna Key

Author – Ashwin Sanghi

Genre – Thriller

Publisher – Westland Ltd

Rating – 2/5

Ashwin Sanghi

When I read “The Rosabal Line”, I thought it was a poor imitation of the Dan Brown’s “The Da Vinci Code”; when I read the “The Krishna Key”, I thought it was a poor imitation of “Angels and Demons”. The parallels between “The Rosabel Line’ and “The Krishna Key” are unmistakable.  Even if an author is writing in a particular genre, the author needs to innovate! Both books feature an age old mystery based on religion in which 21^st century people get involved. In “The Krishna Key”, various professors of history and archeologists with radical views explain the plot’s historical and mythological significance throughout the book. While this explains the background, it hampers the pace and after a point becomes plain irritating. 

The death of Anil Varshney, a linguist and symbolist who was working on deciphering an ancient seal found at the Indus Valley site, sets the local police humming. Their prime suspect is Dr. Ravi Mohan Saini, a professor at St. Stephen’s college, Delhi.  Dr Saini is suspect because he had met with his friend on the day of the murder and the murder weapon found at the site – a scalpel with the inscription R M. 

In true C.I.D style, the police led by Inspector Radhika Singh barge into Dr. Saini’s class and declare his arrest warrant. While a shocked Dr. Saini, accompanied by his dedicated doctoral student Priya, is being taken by the police, he recounts his last meeting with Anil Varshney.  Varshney had claimed the arid Rajasthan dessert to be the site of a great civilisation around the river Saraswati. He had entrusted a seal and an encrypted note to Dr. Saini. He had also told Dr. Saini that identical three seals had been found and sent to three of their closest friends. All four seals on their base-plate, which Varshney had procured, would provide the key to unlocking Krishna’s mythology.

The actual three headed seal and some pottery discovered at the underwater city of Dwarka

However the murderer who believes himself to be the tenth avatar of Vishnu i.e. Kalki in Kalyug had conveniently placed himself as the driver of the jeep in which Dr. Saini and Anil Varshney were travelling. The killer egged on by the elusive Mataji goes on a rampage killing the other two trustees of the seal and also manages to procure the base-plate. However even with access to privileged information on the Krishna legend, the killer – Tarak Vakil and Mataji cannot still decode the Krishna Key. But why are the killers in search of the Krishna Key? The answer lay in the finding of the Syamantaka – a stone with alchemic properties capable of producing a hundred and seventy pounds of gold each day! The quest is on by two parties – Dr. Saini, his doctoral student Priya and Inspector Radhika Singh on one side and Tarak Vakil and Mataji on the other.

The quest leads the parties through Somnath temple, once the abode of the Syamantaka from where it was taken by Mohammad Ghazi to Afghanistan, to Mount Kailash – believed by the seekers to be a man made pyramid and the possible current abode of the Syamantaka, to the Taj Mahal – believed to be the alternate current abode of the Syamantaka.

Somnath temple

Taj mahal with Kalash cupola

Pyramid shaped mount Kailash

As thrillers go, we have an imposter. Priya and Mataji are the same and she shows her true self when she thinks she has all the information she needs in her quest for the Syamantaka and leaves with Tarak Vakil for Mount Kailash, closely followed Dr. Saini and Radhika Singh. In true Bollywood style, a life endangering situation at Mount Kailash brings Dr. Saini and Radhika Singh together as lovers. So while they do not discover the stone they do find love. The duo head back to Agra in quest of the stone.

However love enables Dr. Saini to view the quest from a more philosophical angle aided by the saying of mysterious sadhus repeating that the philosopher is more important than the stone. The alchemy they discover is not in turning base metals to gold but in turning the base metal of the human heart to gold through Love!

Even if one reads through the never ending historical discussions and theories of ancient Indians practicing embryo implants, aeroplanes, reclaiming land from the sea to build a city and harnessing nuclear sites, the philosophical ending is a big let down.  All this running around... and then the learned professor is content to enjoy the sunset at Taj with his new found love!

While the book fails to meet expectations, it hounded me enough to make enquiries (of course on the net) on the veracity of Sanghi’s claims in the book. I read through various accounts of the Saraswati valley excavations and underwater explorations for the lost city of Dwarka. A river Saraswati did flow around the time of the Indus valley civilisation but whether this settlement was part of the Indus Valley civilisation or a vice versa is still being debated by archaeologists. Evidence of the city of Dwarka found through underwater explorations of the city off the coast of Gujarat is undeniable. As written in the Mahabharata, the city was built on land reclaimed from the sea; proven by building blocks used for the city discovered!

Map of the Indus valley and Saraswati civilisations

Underwater explorations of the submerged city of Dwarka