Book Review #9 - JAYA: AN ILLUSTRATED RETELLING OF THE MAHABHARATA

Book Front Cover

If you are from a traditional Hindu family. The stories of Mahabharatha would never escape you. We might have heard it from our parents, grandparents, teachers, relatives, priests, etc… what is more important thing to notice here is, every time you hear a story from Mahabharatha, you will get a new perception which makes you think more and try to adopt to your lives. This is not an exaggeration. The metaphorical references that the epic gives is beyond imagination and that is why, this epic has maintained its cult symbolism. The entire story, the characters, the references, the lessons to be learned is a complete package that anyone would get out of this.

I have read many books on Mahabharatha. And to that list, I have added this amazingly narrated book “Jaya – An Illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata” by the author, Devdutt Pattanaik. Without a doubt, this book is beyond my thoughts and covers every aspects of Mahabharata including how the title of the epic is decided over many centuries, what are the pre-consequences that led to Mahabharatha’s Kuru-kshetra war, who are all the descendants of Kuru and Pandava’s clan. The sheer brilliance of the author comes when, at the end of every chapter, he tries to set some of the current practices which directly links to the ancient Mahabharata times. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who are insisting on reading Mahabharata. You won’t be disappointed at the end. To cover this entire epic in just 370 odd pages with the illustrated picutres (which was drawn by Author’s car driver, who is also an artist) is not an easy job. Author has done enough ground work and referred ample number of ancient reference texts to justify his writings.

This book writing is not a one dimensional; rather, it is very lucid in style and engaging till the end. As I told before, at the end of every chapter, author tries to explain the practical aspects of the story for a better clarity and understanding. For example: Why Draupadi is worshipped in Tamil Nadu, Duryodhan is worshipped in Uttaranchal or Barbareek (The talking head) is worshipped in Rajasthan, etc...

The first section of the book stated that it was Lord Ganesha who, at the request of sage Vyasa, wrote down the entire text of Mahabharatha on Vyasa’s dictation. It was also said that, Ganesha told Vyasa to never stop reciting in between, which was agreed by Vyasa. Also, Vyasa requested God Ganesha to write only when he understands the meaning and intentions of the verses.

The plot opens up when Janamejaya, great grandson of Arjuna, grandson of Abhimanyu, Son of Parikshit was doing a Sarpa-Sattra yagna to kill all the snakes (there is an interesting story of why Janamejaya is conducting this ritual of killing snakes, which can be read in the book). It was stopped by Astika, a descendant from the Naga Clan. Opposing this, Janamejaya asks why this has to be stopped, When Astika tries to explain about his forefather’s sins against the Nagas which led to the great war Kuru-kshetra. Another Sage, Vayshampayana begins to explain the story of Jaya or Mahabharatha to Janamejaya. While all the snakes, which were falling onto the yagna fire were suspended in the mid-air.

The next sub-sequent chapters describes the stories of the innumerable ancestor characters which made it very complicated (rather you will forget most of them) to read. I went back to re-read about some of the characters to make the exact connections.

To make the entire big story as short one, I am going to put forth only the main events of the epic.

The main characters of the Mahabharata were 5 Pandavas, 100 Kauravas brothers, 1 sister, Krishna-Balarama brothers, Shakuni and others.

The story opens up when Panduraja (Husband of Kunti & Madri) was cursed by a sage that he will die the moment he touches his wives. Saddened by this curse, Panduraja along with his wives Kunti and Madri went down to forest.

There is an interesting story of Kunti having a boon that, she can have child from any god with a short recital of a special verse. Due to her very young curious age, Kunti initially tries to test mantra, she invokes the sun god to test it. Due to her astonishment, Sun God Surya descends infront of her and grants her the boon, a child is born, who is none other than Karna. By fearing about the society that will mock her having a child without marriage, Kunti decides to throw that child, she leaves that child in a cradle and leaves it in the river. And, from then on she never reveals about this child, even after she got married to Panduraja.

These 3 people lived in the forest, without any desires for the worldly affairs. Then one day, Panduraja reminds Kunti about her secret boon for having a child. This makes Kunti to invoke 3 other gods. Then the first 3 pandavas were born, Yudhishtira, Bheema and Arjuna.  Also, Kunti prays on behalf of Madri, thus Nakula and Sahadeva were born to Madri.

One day, when Panduraja were roaming in the forest, he sees his wife Madri taking bath in the river. Forgetting about the curse he got, he touches his wife. He dies on the same day. In the funeral process, Madri decides to follow the Sati system and she enters the funeral pyre leaving her kids to the care of Kunti.

As the story further reveals, having lost everything in a game of dice to Kauravas, Pandavas went on to exile for 13 years. During those 13 years, Pandavas listened to various stories from Sages, story of Nala-Damayanti and other important aspects of life. They learnt Humility, wisdom, and learned to be humble because of the tests that they went through. They were truly enlightened morally and spiritually. Whereas, Kauravas went on to becoming more and more selfish, greedy and were following outlaw practices.

After the exile, Pandavas initially seeks out a peace discussions with Kauravas asking them their part of the land, by sending Krishna as a mediator. When they learnt that Duryodhana refuses to give even a needle-tip of land, that’s when the actual war broke out. The battle of Kuru-Kshetra.

The book covers in greater details about the war. And how the war was fought between these 2 clans, who all dies in the war, who led the kaurava side and the pandava’s side. The fallout of Bhishma by Shikandi, Arjuna’s vow to kill Jayadratha, Arjuna’s dilemma to fight their own brothers, uncles, teachers and friends, Krishna’s teaching of following the Dharma through Bhagawad Geeta to Arjuna, the fall out of Karna, Krishna praising Karna, Yudhishtira’s only lie, Killing Drona through Yudhishtira’s lie,  fight between Arjuna and Yudhishtira, Ghatothkacha’s fight, Ashwatthama’s dreadful act of killing 5 sons of Draupadi, Bhima’s vow of killing Duryodhan and presenting his blood to Draupadi, Tale of Barbareek (the talking head), Gandhari’s curse to Krishna, fight between the Yadavas within themselves, Death of Krishna, etc...

At the end of the war, Pandavas have won the battle with the help of Krishna. Eldest Pandava, Yudhishtira became the rightful king. Full of guilt, he thought he didn’t deserve to be ruling the kingdom on the dead corpses, crying widows of Kauravas. But, with the strong persuasion of Krishna and fellow Pandavas he accepted the throne.

According to the book, it is believed that Yudhishtira rules for over more than 38 years after the Mahabharata war. Eventually, Pandavas decides to renounce the world and decides to walk towards the mount Mandara in Himalayas, it was believed that, this mountain leads to Heaven or Swarga, where all their desires are fulfilled. While walking towards the Heaven, a dog followed Yudhishtira till the end, whereas, the other Pandavas including draupadi tired of walking and fell down dead. He alone reached the swarga and even that dog has reached along with him.!!

To his surprise, Yudhishtira finds out the all the Kauravas are there in Swarga. When he enquires about his brothers and common wife draupadi, he was informed that they all are in Naraka or Hell. Having disappointed with this, he was wondering why the criminals like Kauravas are in Swarga, but not his brothers. This shows that, Yudhistira though reached swarga, he is still not detached from the materials desires. When gods explained him everything about the detachment form the worldly affairs, he was convinced and he went to bathe in Ganga to purify himself and eventually renewed and humbled himself.

At the end...

“Jaya” shouted Indra. “Jaya” Shouted the Gandharvas. “Jaya” Shouted the Devas, “Jaya” shouted the Rishis. For Yudhishtira it was ultimate triumph over himself. This is the spiritual victory or Jaya. This is the ultimate aim of the epic “Jaya” or “Mahabharatha”.

Having heard this tale, finally Janamejaya asks “Why do you call this Jaya?, as there in no real victory".

Then Vaisampaayana explains Janamejaya that.

“There are 2 kinds of victories in this world.  “Jaya” and “Vijaya”.

Vijaya means material victory, where there is a loser and a winner.

Jaya means a spiritual victory, where there are no winners, no losers.

In Kuru-kshetra war there was Vijaya and not Jaya. When Yudhishtira overcame his rage and forgave Kauravas, there was Jaya. This is the true ending of the tale.

Janamejaya finally inherited the wisdoms of his forefathers. Peace descended upon Janamejaya, son of Parikshit, grandson of Abhimanyu, Great grandson of Arjuna.

He finally said, “Shanti”, “Shanti”, “Shanti”.

This marks the end of the book.

Some of my favorite quotes from this book:

“..the point of existence in this dynamic, ever-changing world then was not to aspire or achieve, but to introspect.” Pg xi

“Who decides what justice is? How does one end this unending spiral of revenge where everyone believes they are right and their opponents are wrong?” pg 6

“When  I die, eat my flesh and you will be blessed with great knowledge. That shall be your true inheritance.” Pg 53 (Panduraja’s secret message to his sons, the Pandavas; Only Sahadeva manages to do this by eating a piece of his father’s flesh. But, a voice from the air told him not to reveal this until his death. Thus sahadeva remains as a neutral character in the epic, though he knew the exact results of Kuru-kshetra war and other story).

“…Strength alone is not enough in this world; divine grace is needed.” Pg 123

“…Civilization comes into prosper when the small fish is rescued from the big fish; civilization comes to an end when the fish keeps growing bigger than its pond.” ( My Most Favorite Quote) Pg 141

“Thus, conflict comes from rage, rage comes from fear, and fear comes from lack of faith. That lack of faith which corrupted the Kauravas continued to lurk in the minds of the Pandavas. It had to be purged.” – pg 343

My Rating: 5/5

Book Review #8 - Londonistan By Melanie Phillips

The book LONDONISTAN By Melanie Phillips just depicts the sorry state of Briton and native Britishers. As an Indian I found this book quite relevant to me. Why because, India is one of those country that has faced hundreds of terrorist Or radical terrorists attacks over many years. What is the state of British right now, is the same state that India is being held at. Not only from the outisde terrorist forces, But, rather from inside politicians (read as secular politicians) who tries to appease shamelessly a certain group of people that is causing the terrorism in the name of their religion aspirations.

Having said that, we Indians cannot completely agree on what the author is trying to say here. We need not be showing more empathy towards them. Because, Briton's are experiencing what they have tried on many other countries in last 60 to 70 years.

India being a prime example of such things. It was British who sowed the seed of bifurcating our country into two, emphasizing the need to create a separate Islamic state, which is now Pakistan. It was British who were the prime reason for Hindu-Muslim fights in Pre-Independence years of India. Simply, if all these things can be put in a single line, "As you Sow, So, Shall you Reap!!."

Without a doubt, Britain is a multi-cultural society with lots and lots of immigrants harbouring every year. As the author argues about the native britishers who have turned opposite to their mother land and hobnobbing with the terrorist organizations and planning to attack their own fellow britishers. Author tries to bring in lot of information and ancedotes that is happening in Britain before and after London Terrorist attacks of 2005. This sprouting of home grown, supported Islamic fundamentalism has led to coining the term "LONDONISTAN", which is a pure mockery of state sponsored terrorism as the author tries to justify. 

One such dangerous information from this book, where the author expresses her deep fear that,
"According to British officials, upto sixteen thousand British Muslims either are actively engaged in OR that support terrorist activities. And, scaring figures of upto three thousand is estimated to have passed through Al-Qaeda terrorists camps, with several hundreds are full of vengence against westernism, to attack United Kingdom"

The author tries to tell us that, how all this developped throughout the years in a detailed chapter by chapter. One such issues she raised in chapter 2 is the lousy immigration policies of Britain government for the uncontrolled inflow of people who claims that their prosecution to be happned in their home countries, leaving Britain's police without any choice for longer interrogation of the suspects. This has led many terrorists organizations and radical idiots feel Britain is the safest place to plan and articulate attacks on infidels. She went on blaming the politicians and their sham appeasement policies that is giving terrosists an edge over the police that leads them to escape from the clutches of law. 

To best describe the London terrorists attack in 2005 in her own words, let me paste some of the important sections of the book, that the author describes.

“And the number of terrorists who have come roaring out of these polluted British waters is startling. UK-based terrorists have carried out operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Israel, Morocco, Russia, Spain and the United States. The roll call includes Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, killer of the journalist Daniel Pearl and disaffected, brilliant son of Pakistani immigrants; Dhiren Barot, Nadeem Tarmohammed and Qaisar Shaffi, British citizens and al-Qaeda members who plotted to attack major financial centers in the United States; Mohammad Bilal from Birmingham, who drove a truck loaded with explosives into a police barracks in Kashmir; the “shoe-bomber” Richard Reid, who was converted to Islam at Brixton Mosque in south London; Sajid Badat from Gloucester, a putative second shoe-bomber but who was also caught and is now in jail; and Omar Khan Sharif and Asif Mohammed Hanif, the British boys who helped bomb a Tel Aviv bar in 2003 and killed three Israeli civilians. And let’s not forget Azahari Husin or the “Demolition Man,” the Malaysian engineer who belonged to the al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah ( JI). He had studied at Reading University in the 1980s, honed his bomb-making skills in Afghanistan in the 1990s, helped mastermind the terrorist attacks in Bali (twice) and finally blew himself up in a gun battle with Indonesian police in November 2005.”

“One of the world’s most radical Islamist organizations, Hizb ut-Tahrir, which is banned in many countries where it is considered a major threat, has its headquarters in Britain.”

“Scarcely less significant is the European headquarters of the radical proselytizing movement Tablighi Jamaat at Dewsbury in Yorkshire.”

“Al-Sunnah, the Islamist magazine that calls repeatedly for human-bomb terror operations against the United States, is published from London,”

 “Indeed, one could say that it was in Britain that al-Qaeda was actually formed as a movement.”

“Many of Osama bin Laden’s fatwas were first published in London.”

“The foiled millennium plots of 1999 and 2000, when al-Qaeda planned a series of attacks in Europe, the United States and the Middle East, all led back to London.”

One can easily imagine the dire state the Briton's are living under the direct threat of terrorists. At the same time, few questions pops up, why Britain is not taking any actions against these threats ?, For whose benefit they are doing all these things ?, Why the British government is sympathazing these group of people ?, Are there any international pressure that is blocking Biritsh from taking any action ?, etc..

The author went on to give some of the facts and figures about the Native British Muslims and other immigrant muslims opinion about the SHARIA law enforcement in the country. As she quoted in her book 

“A poll conducted by the Guardian newspaper found that 61 percent of British Muslims wanted to be governed by Islamic law, operating on Sharia principles – “so long as the penalties did not contravene British law.” A clear majority wanted Islamic law introduced into Britain in civil cases relating to their own community. In addition, 88 percent wanted to see British schools and workplaces accommodating Muslim prayer times as part of their normal working day.”

Another shocking information from her book regarding the behavior of retail shops and council offices:

“Novelty pig calendars and toys were banned from a council office in case they offended Muslim staff. Ice creams were withdrawn from the Burger King Chain after complaints from Muslims that a whorl design on the lid looked like the word “Allah.” Various councils banned the concept of Christmas, on the grounds that it was “too Christian” and therefore “offensive” to peoples of other faiths”

She also questions the representatives of Muslims in the British. It is not as if there is no one speaking against the fundamentalists, radical Islamists, there is one such person Mansoor Ijaz quotes "It is hypocritical for Muslims living in western societies demanding civil rights enshrined by the state and then excuse their inaction against the terrorists hiding among them on the grounds of belonging to a borderless Islamic community. It is time to stand up and be counted as a modern citizen before the terror consumes all of us."

But all these voice are rather silenced or threatened to get expelled from their religion in the name of FATWA's. This is one such closed decisions, where a progressive thinker, modernists are being threatened and forces them to take back their views and statements.

Well it is a reasonable expectation that the modern day media and its selective journalism. This is very rampant in India and even in Britain it is practiced almost same. Especially when it comes to Islamic terrorism, the media plays a dead ear role and tries to escape from the responsibilites than holding a thoughtful debate which concerns the country. Two such examples that author tries to emphasize is "Theo Van Gough, the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by terrorist for questioning the Islamic attitudes towards women and freedom of women in Islam" another example is "Over the publication in denmark of cartoons linking the Prophet Mohammed with violence." 

The author also tells us that, the larger number of muslim immigration started in Britain dates back to 30 years earlier. And she also tells that, large number of Muslims might have been migrated from "Pakistan, India and Bangladesh" to work in the cotton mills that dates back to pre-Independence era of India, where a cheap labour was much needed by British themselves. 

Anyone would gets a clear idea that, the author is trying to blame all the Asian countries for what the British has done to themselves. It is their politicians appeasement agenda that is causing the main problem. Their policies on the immigration population needs to be tightened more. Atlast, who has given asylum to Parvez Mushraf when Pakistan had issued him an arrent warrant ??. Rings a bell ?. It is British government who should be held responsible for increase in the terrorist activities.

Author also tries to express her views on the Israel and the Palestine war and the whole Islamic world is backing Palestine, saying, Israel is a false country and Jewish religion is not at a religion at all. She also mentions that, how the Muslims in Britain is staging protest against USA for having friendship with Israel. No one denies the fact the United Kingdom is a close alley of USA diplomatically. This has caused fury over native Muslim Britisher's who demanded British government to urge USA to withdraw their support for Israel and support Palestine to get back their land. This is one of the chapters, where author tries to shed some light on the connections of British Muslims with Middle eastern politics and the threatning them of the terrorists attacks may happen through these kind of issues.

Overall, this book gives any reader a serious thought to ponder over, but nevertheless at the same time, reader would get an impression that the author is a right-wing, nationalist, christian slant. Few sections also emphasizes the same, where author demands that, the country's interests should be brought back and kids should grow in a christined environment. This ain't wrong. But, this leaves a serious repercussions from the radical thinking minds. Also there are few selective interpretations in the book. But, this book leads readers to think about the direction that Britain is currently going. The culpability of politicians, the appeasement dramas and whether it is a Muslim clergy and many intellectuals who wants their community to be held hostage to the philosophy of its fringe, radical, fundamentalists.

My Rating: 4/5