The Seeds of War- Book Review

“This is simply the Mahabharata of Krishna Dweipayana-Vyasa retold by one man

That man is me, of course”

-Ashok K Banker

It is a herculean task to reproduce something as beautiful and intriguing like the Mahabharata…

I’ve read Rajaji’s take on this epic, K.M.Munshi’s tales of Krishna and several Amar Chitra Kathas.

I read and re-read these stories, and they seem fresh, every time I read them…

Ashok K Banker’s The Seeds of war follows in the list of such books.

He has done complete justice in retelling these wonderful tales.

The writing style is lucid and keeps the reader glued to the pages.

The Mahabharata, with its numerous characterizations is a difficult tale to retell and the author’s

efforts in maintaining the essence of the original in this reproduction is commendable.

Kudos.

The Part 2 of the MahaBharatA series begins with “The Heartbreak of Devayani” and narrates her story,

beginning with her love for a Brahmin boy Kacha, her humiliation at being rejected, her revenge on

Sharmishta the king’s daughter, her tryst with Raja Yayati, her marriage to him and proceeds to the events

following the curse on Yayati.

There are erudite sequences which describe the Life after death. They provide an understanding of the process

from the perspective of the scriptures.

Such explanations are rarely portrayed in books which retell the tale and sound fresh.

The tale continues to describe the love between Shantanu and Goddess Ganga and the sequences which follow

the birth of Bhishma- the Godfather.

It ends with the Elders making arrangements to sustain the Puru Dynasty and climaxes with the prophesy by

Vyasa.

This book is indeed one of those precious books, especially if you are not well versed in Sanskrit to

appreciate the original.

Crux:

There isn’t much of a review that you can do to a book which narrates stories that have stood the

test of time.

These stories have for long remained the best entertainers, not just by the mere term of it, but in

every sense.

Like the author himself points out, there isn’t anything that is there in this world, which isn’t, in

this Epic.

Such is the greatness of these tales and reviewing the stories for their content would be nothing

less than stupidity.

You can merely appreciate the author for his effort; sit back and enjoy the lazy Sunday afternoon

pouring over this book, like I did.

(Review above assumes the reader’s knowledge of the characters of the Mahabharata. For the uninitiated, you

can do one of the two, preferably the second:

1. Wikipedia

2. Grab the MBA series by Ashok Banker)

P.S:

This review is a part of the Book Reviews Program for Indian Bloggers. Participate now to get free books!