![]() ![]() ![]() 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). Also, Vyasa requested God Ganesha to write only when he understands the meaning and intentions of the verses. It was also said that, Ganesha told Vyasa to never stop reciting in between, which was agreed by Vyasa. 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. For example: Why Draupadi is worshipped in Tamil Nadu, Duryodhan is worshipped in Uttaranchal or Barbareek (The talking head) is worshipped in Rajasthan, etc. 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. This book writing is not a one dimensional rather, it is very lucid in style and engaging till the end. Author has done enough ground work and referred ample number of ancient reference texts to justify his writings. 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. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who are insisting on reading Mahabharata. ![]() 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. ![]() 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. And to that list, I have added this amazingly narrated book “Jaya – An Illustrated retelling of the Mahabharata” by the author, Devdutt Pattanaik. The entire story, the characters, the references, the lessons to be learned is a complete package that anyone would get out of this. The metaphorical references that the epic gives is beyond imagination and that is why, this epic has maintained its cult symbolism. 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. The stories of Mahabharatha would never escape you. If you are from a traditional Hindu family. ![]()
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