ALTERNATE MAHABHARATAS
At this point, I shall admit that I was occasionally surprised, perhaps even shocked, at the alternate theories that seemed to suggest themselves, particularly since I had been brought up on strong doses of canon Mahabharata. The ideas, however, were not as ‘alternative’ as I had first thought – I discovered the existence of alternate versions of the Mahabharata, many of which were equally canonical in their own right. These included the Bhil Mahabharata and the Indonesian Kakawain versions, both of which I highlight for a reason – The Bhil Mahabharata was (in my view) the nearest I could get to a subaltern version of the epic, and took a very different view of the socio-political status quo (for variations and tales from the Bhil Mahabharata see Satya Chaitanya’s blog, based on his research of this folklore: http://innertraditions.blogspot.com).
The Indonesian Kakawain version (http://www.joglosemar.co.id/bharatayuda.html) was equally exciting, since it was possibly shipped out of Aryavarta and to Indonesian islands in a form that was closer to the ‘core’ or original Mahabharata – that is, an epic with fewer interpolations. A list of resources and essays on the Mahabharata variations across Bengali, Bhil, Oriya, Tamil, Malayalam and Rajasthani cultures (to name a few) is available at A. Harindranath’s stunning website: (http://mahabharata-resources.org). Essays on the Oriya Sarala Mahabharata are available on B.N. Patnaik’s site: http://saralamahabharat.blogspot.com.
BUILDING THE WORLD OF THE EPIC
W.G. Archer (The Loves of Krishna in Indian Painting and Poetry, New York: MacMillan, 1957) points to the small but immeasurably important link in the Upanishads that has opened the door to a larger story-world that revolves around the group of scholar–sages known as the Angirasas. With that in mind, the Vedic–Upanishad symbolism in the epic pointed out by Alf Hiltebeitel (‘The Two Krsnas on One Chariot: Upanisadic Imagery and Epic Mythology’, 1984, History of Religions, 24–1, pp. 1–26) begins to make sense. Many reinterpretations and interpolations fall into place and can be logically identified, keeping in mind the basic symbolic themes, as well as the body of philosophical knowledge that the epic seeks to encompass. Most importantly, the Mahabharata starts becoming a story of technological evolution and the associated social change.
I turned to the broader Vedic and Upanishadic literature in an attempt to decipher what the astra-incantations might have meant in a secular and scientific sense, and to understand the technology that hid behind metaphors. For this, I have relied strongly on Karen Thomson and Jonathan Slocum’s work on ancient Sanskrit, available from the Linguistics Research Centre at the University of Texas at Austin; particularly their translations of Barend A. van Nooten and Gary B. Holland’s version of the Rig Veda (Rig Veda: A Metrically Restored Text, Boston: Harvard University Press, 1994). Also deserving reference are Subhash C. Kak’s ‘Science in Ancient India’ (In Ananya: A Portrait of India, S.R. Sridhar and N.K. Mattoo (eds.), 1997, AIA: New York, pp. 399–420); Aurobindo’s The Secret of the Veda (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 1993) and Shatavadhani R. Ganesh’s audio commentary on the PurushaSuktam and the NarayanaSuktam (K.V. Raman, Vedic Chanting, Bangalore: Sagar Music, 1999.)
The Vedic texts have also been of relevance to understanding the socio-political-economic context of the epic itself. For example, M.B. Emeneau and B.A. van Nooten approach the notions of Niyoga and polyandry in the Mahabharata from the broader Vedic context (‘The Young Wife and Her Husband’s Brother: Rgveda 10.40.2 and 10.85.44.’, 1991, Journal of the American Oriental Society, 111–3, pp. 481–494). Also deserving mention here is Janet Chawla’s feminist reading of the Rig Veda (‘Mythic Origins of Menstrual Taboo in Rig Veda’, 1994, Economic and Political Weekly, 29–43, pp. 2817–2827).
LIFE AND WAR IN EPIC TIMES
In terms of setting the descriptive stage for the story, my first stop was Romila Thapar’s The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to 1300 AD (New Delhi: Penguin Books/Allen Lane, 2002). City descriptions are based mainly on details in the epic narrative, but I also referred to marine archaeologist S.R. Rao’s The Lost City of Dvaraka (Goa: National Institute of Oceanography, 1999); David Frawley’s Gods, Sages and Kings: Vedic Secrets of Ancient Civilization (Salt Lake City: Passage Press/Morson Publishing, 1991) and A.S. Gaur, Sundaresh and SilaTripati’s ‘An Ancient Harbour at Dwarka: Study Based on the Recent Underwater Explorations’ (2004, Current Science, 86–9, pp. 1256–60) for ideas on the layout of Dwaraka city, particularly its fortifications and defences. Gaur, Sundaresh and Tripati’s ‘Evidence for Indo–Roman trade from Bet Dwarka Waters, West Coast of India’ (2005, International Journal of Nautical Archaeology, 35, pp. 117–127) inspired the notion of Dwaraka as a maritime power.
The military history of India, from the AllEmpires.com historical information website, Sushama Londhe’s page on war in Ancient India (http://www.hinduwisdom.info/War_in_Ancient_India.htm), S.A. Paramahans’s ‘A Glance at Military Techniques in Ramayana and Mahabharata’ (1989, Indian Journal of History of Science, 24–3, 156–160) and The Sarasvati Web (http://www.hindunet.org/hindu_history/sarasvati) also deserve reference.
GENEALOGIES
In constructing genealogies, I have relied on the texts of the Mahabharata and Harivamsa mentioned above, as well as the Srimad Bhagavatham. My tables were supplemented and cross-checked against two sources: Desiraju Hanumanta Rao’s genealogical tables of the Yadu and related dynasties (www.mahabharata-resources.org) and the tables in Irawati Karve’s Yuganta. Vettam Mani’s classic Puranic Encyclopaedia (Delhi: Motilal Banarasidas, 1975) has filled many gaps and provided essential details.
THE CONSTRUCTION OF TIME
My approach to Time has been a mix of the literal and the symbolic. Myth suggests that lifespans were much longer in the previous yugas, lasting perhaps up to three or four hundred years in the Dwaparayuga – the era of the Mahabharata. However, these figures take on a different meaning if we apply the notion of ashrama or stages of life. K.N.S. Patnaik (The Mahabharata Chronology, Pune: Annual Research J. of the Institute for Rewriting Indian History, 1990) compares how childhood (baalyam) lasted forty years in the times of the Mahabharata, whereas it lasts approximately 15 years in the current age of Kali. Similarly, youth or youvanam lasted till the age of 120 years in the past, as compared to about 45 years in today’s age. We are, in essence, dealing with a different basis of measurement of time and age.
Time, in the Chronicles, is therefore scaled down to contextualize the main actors as the middle-aged individuals they were, relative to the period of the epic. As a result, the age of the characters is given in contemporary terms.
Interestingly, ancient units of measurements ran by seasonal and sidereal time, along with the common solar. The possibility, therefore, of a year as we know constituting a shorter period of time, cannot be discounted. Subash Kak (‘On the Chronological Framework for Indian Culture’, Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 2000, pp. 1–24) mentions how one of the bases for variation in the dating of the events of the Mahabharata may be the calendar system used (more precisely, the number of stellar constellations in a given cycle).
LANGUAGE
My work would have been near-impossible but for these amazing dictionaries and glossaries, accessed primarily through the Cologne Digital Sanskrit Dictionaries website (http://www.sanskrit-lexicon.uni-koeln.de). Included in this database are the well-known Monier-Williams, Apte and MacDonnell dictionaries, as well as Kale’s work on Sanskrit grammar. I also used the simpler but wonderful Spoken Sanskrit Dictionary (http://spokensanskrit.de) and relied on the Sanskrit Heritage Site (http://sanskrit.inria.fr/sanskrit.html) for grammar reference.
Reproduced from The Aryavarta Chronicles Book 1: Govinda.
Acknowledgements
Nearly five hundred thousand words later, only two matter the most: Thank you.
Poulomi Chatterjee
Boozo and Zana Iyer
Jaishankar Krishnamurthy
Jaya and KS Krishnamurthy
Shobana Uday
asankar
Jayapriya Vasudevan
Chitra and NS Vembu
Sukanya Venkataraghavan
My thanks also to,
Helen Mangham and Andrea Passion-Flores at Books@Jacaranda;
Thomas Abraham, Sohini Bhattacharya, Somu Sundar Reddy and the team at Hachette India;
Kunal Kundu and Gunjan Ahlawat for the cover;
The many readers who are now friends, my fellow inhabitants of Aryavarta – whenever I write of Govinda Shauri’s faith in humanity, all I have to do is think of you.
In loving memory of Appa, A.R. Udayasankar.
Krishna Udayasankar is a graduate of the National Law School of India University (NLSIU), Bangalore, and holds a PhD in Strategic Management from Nanyang Business School, Singapore, where she presently works as a lecturer.
Govinda, Krishna’s debut novel, and Kaurava, the first two books in the Aryavarta Chronicles series of mytho-historical novels, have received critical acclaim. She is also the author of Objects of Affection, a fulllength collection of poetry (Math Paper Press, 2013), and an editor of Body Boundaries: The Etiquette Anthology of Women’s Writing (The Literary Centre, 2014).
Krishna lives in Singapore with her family, which includes her bookloving fur-kids, Boozo and Zana.
The Aryavarta Chronicles
Book 3
Kurukshetra
Nothing left to fight for is nothing left to lose...
Emperor Dharma Yudhisthir of the Kauravas and Empress Panchali Draupadi rule over a unified Aryavarta, an empire built for them by Govinda Shauri with the blessings of the Firstborn and by the might of those whom everyone believes long gone – the Firewrights.
Now the Firewrights rise from the ashes of the past, divided as before in purpose and allegiance, and no one, it seems, can stand in the way of the chaos about to be unleashed on the land – not the Firstborn, not the kings of Aryavarta, and not Govinda Shauri.
As sinister plans are put in play and treacherous alliances emerge, Aryavarta transforms into its own worst enemy. Dharma Yudhisthir gambles away his empire, the tormented empress is forced into a terrifying exile and the many nations of the realm begin to take up arms in a bid to fight, conquer and destroy each other.
His every dream shattered, Govinda is left a broken man. The only way he can protect Aryavarta and the woman in whose trusted hands he had left it is by playing a dangerous game. But can he bring himself to reveal the terrible secrets that the Vyasa has protected all his life – secrets that may well destroy the Firstborn, and the Firewrights with them?
www.hachetteindia.com
The Aryavarta Chronicles Kurukshetra: Book 3 Page 49
