By Sunil Kumar
‘Do your duty and shape your destiny. That is the secret of life. You hold the reins of destiny in your own hands’– Lord Krishna to the Pandavas.
There is nothing that exemplifies the genius of ancient India more than the epics. They are the bedrock of Sanatana Culture and the Indosphere. The poetic majesty of what Krishna Dvaipayana Vyasa created has stood the test of time and its echoes reverberate to the present day.
I have read a lot of books on the Mahabharata and about it by C Rajagopalachari, Bibek Debroy, R.K Narayan et al apart from the latest by Smt. Saroj Bala , so I was apprehensive at first when I received ‘Mahabharata Unravelled’.
To my personal delight, it was another immersion in the uncharted depths of the ocean of the epic. In the beginning, there was the word and the word was God, says the Bible. Ved Vyasa’s mesmerizing epic dazzles us from beginning to end, living up to its hyperbolic claim that everything in the world is encapsulated in its verses.
To the ancient aesthete, rasa poshanam was a hallowed goal and the Mahabharata more than lives up to that with its tumultuous mix and insights into the exalted mind of ancient India.
The author has succinctly summed up the major narrative streams and given us a unique perspective on its different characters which is a herculean task in itself. The Pancham(Fifth) Veda as the Mahabharata is sometimes called also has the BhagavadGita, Vishnu Sahasranam, Gajendra Moksha, Anusmriti that dwell more on the philosophical aspect as well as inspiring Kavya, Dramas and stories throughout the subcontinent as well as the larger Indosphere, primarily South East Asia.
The renowned Sanskrit Scholar and Jnanpith award winner Prof Satyavrat Shastri recently mentioned that Thailand still uses Sanskrit terms for directions as well as education. Given the wealth of themes and issues in this epic, the author has managed to do a creditable job.
I particularly liked some lesser known stories the author has mentioned, especially the chapter on the ‘Prodigal Sons’ towards the end.
Modern misconceptions about the static nature of varnas or what is rather inappropriately translated as the ‘caste system’ as if it were set in stone can be cleared up if one reads certain episodes mentioned in this book intently.
Apart from the BhagavadGita, where Lord Krishna explicitly mentions qualities and not birth as a determinant of ‘varna’, there are a few other episodes in the epic which the author mentions in the book.
The Mahabharata world is a universe or a multiverse in itself, and Sri Krishna the purna(complete) and enigmatic avatar. The author uses a judicious mix of points of view to bring alive the four purusharthas or goals of life, namely, Dharma, Kama, Artha and Moksha. Structuring ancient knowledge in bite-sized chunks was an excellent touch, even though it could potentially jar some purists.
The only flaw in my opinion was it tended to get a little repetitive wading through the book, which I found a tad boring.
The language is simple and crisp, easy to understand without excessive verbal flourishes. I would have liked to know some of the mysteries associated about the epic in excessive detail, and a few other relatively unknown stories.
From Bhasa to Kalidasa and modern takes that draw inspiration from the core narrative and modify it in some ways, the Mahabharata has been a creative fount for literary inspiration.
The author has largely drawn from the Gita Press version by her own admission, and has tried to remain faithful to the text in whatever somewhat pristine form that it exists in. The vortex of the epic is such that the more you read about it, the more you feel like reading about it. It is the ensnaring charm of a true literary masterpiece.
The author reminds us consistently of the complexity and multi-dimensional aspects of the epic, things that have sustained interest for millennia. Compared to the relatively more idealistic world of the Ramayana, the Mahabharata has many aspects that still resonate in a contemporary, complex and depraved global scenario.
The book will be appealing to people who are just starting to read the epics to a hardcore aficionado who is well versed with the narrative. It has finesse, sensitivity and depth.
