When most of us think of Duryodhana, we think of a huffing & puffing Punnet Issar shout "Mamashri" :) & think here comes the villain. Issar's portrayal of Duryodhana in B.R. Chopra's wonderful serial on the epic was impactful yet uni-dimensional & is living with us to this day as the only sample of how Duryodhana was; and this is where Anand Neelakantan steps in to finally giving you a real & deep version of Duryodhana, instead of a uni-dimensional version we all are exposed to.
Following Asura's review, the author of the book, Anand Neelakantan, has sent me a link of his sample chapter from his upcoming book "Ajaya - Roll of The Dice" to review. The link for the same is given below:
http://www.leadstartcorp.com/ajaya-sample-chapter/
Neelakantan's writing style in this chapter remains gripping & has the same drawing in quality Asura had.
The book opens with a prologue on Gandhara, where Bhishma is about to capture & bring Gandhari to Hastinapur for her marriage with Dhritarashta, the visually challenged Prince of Hastinapur.
I loved the interplay of Bhishma's emotions in his own mind. For I totally agree that in taking a celibacy oath to satisfy his father Shantanu's lust, Bhishma (or Devdutt at that time) made an error that culminated in the whole episode of Mahabharat in the first place.
Being at the position of responsibility, where not only yours, but the fate of an entire nation is at stake; where every decision you take will have its ripple effects directly on years & years to come, therefore every decision you take has enormous responsibility on its shoulders, it was an erroneous & actually irresponsible call. Devdutt was a “Yuvraaj” or the official successor to the throne of Hastinapur, thus he had no right to think of his own family only &take a celibacy oath so that his father could marry again. By doing this he disturbed his forefather Raja Bharat’s decision cycle where a person was given position of responsibility based on his “karma”(work) rather than “janma” (lineage). Reflect deeply upon this, hasn’t history repeated itself just like this some 66 years back in India; where Gandhi made a grave error in trusting Nehru because of lineage & completely ignoring able Prime Ministerial candidates like Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel & Bose? We are bearing the fruits of that one decision to this day – this does not take away Gandhi’s greatness on many things, but this one decision made us all suffer greatly.
Anyways, coming back to Ajaya, Shakuni’s introduction is very interesting. I like to give the author’s version a thought. What would prompt Shakuni to be so hateful & vengeful towards Kuru clan, so that he takes an oath to destroy the same? Surely Bhishma’s simply coming in to Gandhara & proposing of Gandhari & Dhritarashtra’s marriage cannot be the only reason for so much of hatred that would make him vow to completely destroy Kuru clan…it has to be more. I like Neelakantan’s version here.
In the sample chapters there is also a note
by the author which explains why he chose to write about Duryodhana. He, just
like all of us, had formed his opinion based on serials & numerous stories
that Duryodhana was the despicable black villain he is painted to be, until one
day something prompted him to read “Mahabharat” carefully to find out the truth!!
Like I had mentioned in the earlier post of ASURA 1, all this is given in our epics, problem is very few of us have actually read our scriptures & rely on passed down information on the same. These are tightly coded texts which were meant for you to read & form your own opinion. Our epics never paint people as Good or Bad…that is for you to decide.
I am lucky to be aware of some virtues Duryodhana had, like – Just, fair, benevolent, extremely good friend, trusting, hated caste discrimination (that is why he stood for Karna always), a loving & trusting husband to his wife Bhanumati, a devoted father & one who was not afraid of anything when it came to his children (legends say when Krishna’s own son Samb kidnapped Duryodhana’s daughter, he did not care whose son Samb was & captured him & put him in a jail. It is only when a deeply embarrassed Krishna came apologetically & proposed a marriage between the two that Duryodhana relented. He never thought my daughter is an untouchable now & should be cast away, he stood for what was right), a good ruler with a happy kingdom.
Of course having said this nothing justifies his treatment meted to Draupadi, but the man was not devoid of virtues.
Most notable is the case of Karna. When Karna was being humiliated by the higher echelons of Hastinapur on his caste, despite him openly challenging Arjun to prove his mettle in a fair man to man battle, only Duryodhana stood up for him. How does caste come into play in a fair game to prove one’s mettle? Can one only participate in a competition if he/she is of a particular caste? How ridiculous & preposterous is that; and this humiliation despite Karna being the adoptive son of Adhirath, an extremely loyal & devoted servant of Kuru clan for ages. This is the respect one gives to a loyal servant’s family? Pathetic, right?
This was exactly Duryodhana’s point. He even raised questions on Pandava’s doubtful birth status as unwanted humiliation was being meted out to Karna. It was this reason why Duryodhana was considered unfit for the throne, because he could doubt, suggest & apply his own mind. Whereas, we have always wanted people on throne who can wilfully be obedient puppets J Ironic, right?
I am too of the opinion that Pandavas had actually no claim to Hastinapur throne if we actually talk about janma “lineage”, as they were not the sons of Pandu but of Kunti & Madri. Having said that denying them even 5 villages & humiliating their wife, & plotting to kill them along with Kunti was injustice meted out to them as well.
Mahabhart is a far interesting interplay of true human emotions, and whatever I have read so far of Ajaya is simply superb. I am ardently waiting to get my hands on the book. My only hope is that the author would have kept his version of Mahabharat true to what his premise in writing this book is, & in order to paint Duryodhana as white does not end up painting the other side as too black – which was the only flaw in Asura. We want shades of grey Anand J
Please read the sample chapters by clicking the link above. I am bracing myself for a superb piece of Literature coming through judging by these chapters.
P.S: Ajaya: Roll of The Dice releases on 1st December, 2013.
Following Asura's review, the author of the book, Anand Neelakantan, has sent me a link of his sample chapter from his upcoming book "Ajaya - Roll of The Dice" to review. The link for the same is given below:
http://www.leadstartcorp.com/ajaya-sample-chapter/
Neelakantan's writing style in this chapter remains gripping & has the same drawing in quality Asura had.
The book opens with a prologue on Gandhara, where Bhishma is about to capture & bring Gandhari to Hastinapur for her marriage with Dhritarashta, the visually challenged Prince of Hastinapur.
I loved the interplay of Bhishma's emotions in his own mind. For I totally agree that in taking a celibacy oath to satisfy his father Shantanu's lust, Bhishma (or Devdutt at that time) made an error that culminated in the whole episode of Mahabharat in the first place.
Being at the position of responsibility, where not only yours, but the fate of an entire nation is at stake; where every decision you take will have its ripple effects directly on years & years to come, therefore every decision you take has enormous responsibility on its shoulders, it was an erroneous & actually irresponsible call. Devdutt was a “Yuvraaj” or the official successor to the throne of Hastinapur, thus he had no right to think of his own family only &take a celibacy oath so that his father could marry again. By doing this he disturbed his forefather Raja Bharat’s decision cycle where a person was given position of responsibility based on his “karma”(work) rather than “janma” (lineage). Reflect deeply upon this, hasn’t history repeated itself just like this some 66 years back in India; where Gandhi made a grave error in trusting Nehru because of lineage & completely ignoring able Prime Ministerial candidates like Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel & Bose? We are bearing the fruits of that one decision to this day – this does not take away Gandhi’s greatness on many things, but this one decision made us all suffer greatly.
Anyways, coming back to Ajaya, Shakuni’s introduction is very interesting. I like to give the author’s version a thought. What would prompt Shakuni to be so hateful & vengeful towards Kuru clan, so that he takes an oath to destroy the same? Surely Bhishma’s simply coming in to Gandhara & proposing of Gandhari & Dhritarashtra’s marriage cannot be the only reason for so much of hatred that would make him vow to completely destroy Kuru clan…it has to be more. I like Neelakantan’s version here.
Like I had mentioned in the earlier post of ASURA 1, all this is given in our epics, problem is very few of us have actually read our scriptures & rely on passed down information on the same. These are tightly coded texts which were meant for you to read & form your own opinion. Our epics never paint people as Good or Bad…that is for you to decide.
I am lucky to be aware of some virtues Duryodhana had, like – Just, fair, benevolent, extremely good friend, trusting, hated caste discrimination (that is why he stood for Karna always), a loving & trusting husband to his wife Bhanumati, a devoted father & one who was not afraid of anything when it came to his children (legends say when Krishna’s own son Samb kidnapped Duryodhana’s daughter, he did not care whose son Samb was & captured him & put him in a jail. It is only when a deeply embarrassed Krishna came apologetically & proposed a marriage between the two that Duryodhana relented. He never thought my daughter is an untouchable now & should be cast away, he stood for what was right), a good ruler with a happy kingdom.
Of course having said this nothing justifies his treatment meted to Draupadi, but the man was not devoid of virtues.
Most notable is the case of Karna. When Karna was being humiliated by the higher echelons of Hastinapur on his caste, despite him openly challenging Arjun to prove his mettle in a fair man to man battle, only Duryodhana stood up for him. How does caste come into play in a fair game to prove one’s mettle? Can one only participate in a competition if he/she is of a particular caste? How ridiculous & preposterous is that; and this humiliation despite Karna being the adoptive son of Adhirath, an extremely loyal & devoted servant of Kuru clan for ages. This is the respect one gives to a loyal servant’s family? Pathetic, right?
This was exactly Duryodhana’s point. He even raised questions on Pandava’s doubtful birth status as unwanted humiliation was being meted out to Karna. It was this reason why Duryodhana was considered unfit for the throne, because he could doubt, suggest & apply his own mind. Whereas, we have always wanted people on throne who can wilfully be obedient puppets J Ironic, right?
I am too of the opinion that Pandavas had actually no claim to Hastinapur throne if we actually talk about janma “lineage”, as they were not the sons of Pandu but of Kunti & Madri. Having said that denying them even 5 villages & humiliating their wife, & plotting to kill them along with Kunti was injustice meted out to them as well.
Mahabhart is a far interesting interplay of true human emotions, and whatever I have read so far of Ajaya is simply superb. I am ardently waiting to get my hands on the book. My only hope is that the author would have kept his version of Mahabharat true to what his premise in writing this book is, & in order to paint Duryodhana as white does not end up painting the other side as too black – which was the only flaw in Asura. We want shades of grey Anand J
Please read the sample chapters by clicking the link above. I am bracing myself for a superb piece of Literature coming through judging by these chapters.
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