This story have been told thousand times, but it is still abundant with resources that can be churned and nourished to give something new – that is Mahabaratha. This epic stand apart from any other works in the whole world due to its immense and varied plot with complex and simple caricature of human characters. There is a saying which I happen to remember now that there is not a single character you cannot see in Mahabaratha which is prevalent in the world and for me it stands true till date.
This is my second reading of Mahabaratha which is being narrated from the point of view of a character, the first being “RandaMoozham” the sole rendering of magnanimous epic in the angle of Bheema. It is written in Malayalam and now English translation is available by Penguin, it is truly a masterpiece. The second is Arjuna by Anuja Chandramouli giving more focus on the character Arjuna.
The novel starts with the Janamejaya who belongs to Kuru Clan starts a yaga to fulfill his vengeance against Taksha who killed his father Parikshit. Veda Vyasa arrives at his yaga and requests his disciple Vaishamnaya to tell the story of Bharat.
Everybody, proclaims him as a great warrior but for me Arjuna is one of the hated character in the epic. The author in one portion says he is a person who has been given utmost importance. That is true, couple of instances will prove the same. How heinous was Drona’s conduct who requested the thumb of Ekalavya to make him a great warrior. Same thing happened with Karna also, he was forbidden from participating in one contest against Arjuna for fear of losing the game. Karna was objected to participate in the event since he belong to Sutha clan. He was also forced to give away his earrings and celestial chest armour for making Arjuna victorious in Kurukshetra. I agree Arjuna is a warrior but the greatness in him is embodied by suppressing supreme warriors like Ekalavya and Karna.
In this book author have beautifully decrypted the story of Sunda and Upasunda who fought to death breaking the great love for each other as siblings over woman. This story was told to Pandavas by Narada to ensure loyalty of brotherhood. The details of the weapons accumulated by Arjuna for his future quest is explained in detail. Also the book gives insight on relationship between Arjuna and Krishna – “Arjuna and Krishna are none other than Nara and Narayana reborn on earth.” The book says that Arjuna learned music and dance from Chitrasena, as he foresaw these skills would prove useful in Arjuna’s 13th year of exile. Also it was really surprising information that Ekalavya decided to offer his service to Duryodhana in Kurukshetra war. His discussion with Krishna in this regard shows his noble soul.
As a whole this novel did not provide much a great reading experience for me. The flow of the novel was not much smooth, at times the pace was much high that it lost its beauty. The vocabulary used in the book was tremendous and it needs to be really appreciated. The book lacks capability to invoke thrill and enchant for reading, this costs me a lot of time to complete it. I give a rating of 2.5 stars out of 5 stars for this retelling of Mahabaratha through the vision and moods of Pandava Prince Arjuna.
Summary:
Title: Arjuna – Saga of a Pandava Warrior Prince
Author: Anuja Chandramouli
Publisher: Lead-Start Publishing
Pages: 370
Reading Start Date: 28-Sep-13
Rating: 5 / 10 Stars