Jaya by Devdutt Pattanaik - book review

Reading mahabharata was a sudden and unexpected choice on my part. I have never been much interested in mythology but I remembered some of Mahabharata from B.R Chopra's epic TV adaptation and I thought to give it a try. I didn't realize reading this would be such an epiphany. Whether Mahabharata is a myth or history maybe a matter of perspective, but the one thing it is for sure is an epic, in all sense of the word. The numerous characters, their inner conflicts, their complex relations, their desires, their choices, their triumphs and travails and in the midst of all that eternal wisdom, spoken by God himself. The world of mahabharata is a deterministic world, where actions have consequences, if not in one lifetime then several births later.

I have often oscillated between being a believer and a non-believer, but this book has tilted my mind and brain towards the former. Mahabharata does in no way preach religion but it does speak about the authority of a supreme being over the world and its inhabitants. Unlike Ramayana, mahabharata is not a straight-forward triumph of good over evil story. The characters here are much more complicated, their choices and decisions more influenced by instincts than values, therefore the lessons to be learnt from this book aren't as easy to grasp either. What makes things even more complicated is the fact that Vishnu the so called supreme ruler of the world is born as a human being - Krishna, and plays a pivotal role in the whole story. This strange fact brings up a difficult question in the reader's mind - to judge or not to judge God.
This version written by Devdutt Pattanaik answers this question in a very consistent and satisfactory manner, and that to me was the biggest plus for this book. Whether or not you believe in or like the explanation is a subjective thing but I found his attempt to answer, commendable. Although abridged the author has managed to squeeze a lot of info and back stories on smaller/non-central characters in the epic, which keeps the interest of the reader alive. Another good thing about this book is that the author has included in almost every chapter little anecdotes about characters and events from various regional versions of the epic and folklores. The author has also given his interpretations of a lot of events in the book which build upon his central theme - the answer to the question - to judge or not to judge God.

I recommend this book to all who those who haven't read mahabharata. It is a good initiation.