There sometime comes a book that takes you by storm and impresses a lot more than expected. JAYA by DEVDUTT PATTANAIK is one such book. It is one of the MOST RECOMMENDED books in my list. Attempting to retell MAHABHARAT (originally known as Jaya ) is never easy- but his ease of narration and not getting lost in the myriad subplots and characters is highly appreciated by a reader. It’s a common man’s Mahabharat and each of the stories in a very episodic way fulfils its role taking the narration further in time and relationships. There is attempt and rightly so, to provide different perspectives to Mahabharata which at times is different than from just being a perspective from Dhristrashtra – Gandhari -Druyodhan – Arjun or Krishna. I appreciate the sketches ( done by the author) that has been a consistent feature of books by Devdutt.
Jaya by Devdutt Pattanaik
Even for me- who claims to know a lot more of such mythological stories and characters- there was a huge set of things that were new revelation to me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book so much that I finished this in one day. There are gems of information set in screened boxes at the end if each story that further enhances the understanding of the episode.
There are interesting parallel and references drawn with Ramayana and that makes it more interesting. And it seems that the later of the two was written to balance out the earlier one- between the Suryavamsi and Chandravamsi.
When Vishnu took the form of Rama, he took the side of Sugriva, son of Surya and killed vali, the son of Indra. As Krishna, Vishnu clearly sides with Arjun, son of Indra against Karna, the son of Surya. Both ali in Ramayana and Karna in Mahabharat are shot on their back.
I always thought that Abhimanya breached the Chakravyu to reach the center but the Pandav forces could not match his speed And agility and this he was trapped. This JAYA treats to a new perspective that he breeches it from inside to save the trapped Pandav forces to escape- but behind the last he is trapped as the breech is covered by the Kaurav forces led by Jayadrath.
Chapter 77 held a great interest for me- as that is the SONG OF GOD- the part Geetha is narrated by Krishna. And the toughest for any author to strike balance- as it is symbolic and philosophical at one level and thus breaks the pattern and narration of episodic Mahabharat. Please do read this section if anything else. Read the passage below picked from it the same as an excerpt
“Your ego constructs a measuring scale to evaluate a situation. The measuring scale determines your notions of fearful or comforting, painful or pleasurable, right or wrong, appropriate or inappropriate, good or bad. It is informed by the values of the world you live in, but is always filtered by the ego before being accepted, Right now , Arjuna, who you consider right is based on your measuring scale. Which measure scale is appropriate? Is there one free of Bias?”
“With your heart- have faith in the existence of the soul. Accept that nothing happens without reason. Accept that all experiences have a purpose. Accept that the soul does not favour either you or the kaurav’s, that there is a reality greater than what is perceived. Accept that the infinite occurrences of the universe cannot be fathomed by the infinite human mind. Surrender unconditionally, even in the absence of evidence, to the truth of the cosmos. In Humanity, there is faith. Where there is faith, there is no fear. Is it faith guiding your hand, Arjun, or is it fear? If it is fear, then you are not practicing Bhakti yoga”
In case you do not have enough to go through and mythology is not your cup of tea- do read the SONG OF GOD and then definitely read ‘THE YAKSHA’s QUESTIONS’ chapter 65. These are really some of the deep knowledge that Mahabharata shares.
I still have a simple query. VISHADHVAJA the son of Karna, was the eldest of the second generation of Kuru Clan- as the Son is known by the father – even though born before marriage – during marriage or even after the death. He was hence a Pandav and elder than the son of Abhimanyu – Parikshit- who anyway was the 3rd generation- so WHY WAS HE NOT MADE THE KING after the first generation led by Yudhister decided to leave.
JAYA by DEVDUTT PATTANAIK. Penguin books. INR 499 Pages 346.
Click here to see a video of most of the illustrations
