It was thought that the gods blew on creative people, who would then inhale the god's breath and have an idea. This is the premise of "inspiration": inhaling divine breath and ideas.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

'Parva' by S.L.Bhyrappa

I still cannot recollect accurately what incidents had aroused my curiosity as I typed the words S.L.Bhyrappa in the google search months ago. It has been the most rewarding google search I have made since ages. A week after I landed in Bangalore I was lost in the pages of this magnanimous epic 'Parva' by S.L.Bhyappa.

Many of us have read the Mahabharata time and again. For some of us it's a holy book, for others it's a political guide and yet others its a divine revelation. But S.L.Bhyrappa has given a new insight and meaning to this great work of Maharishi Vyasa. My respect for the book and its author has risen far beyond words after going through the pages.

The book starts off unlike the original, from the events revolving around the war between the pandavas and kauravas. Throughout the book, the characters (not the heroes/demigods/demons) are depicted as ordinary humans but with extraordinary traits. The earlier chapters are monologues of Kunti, Draupadi, Bhima, Arjuna... and in the background of their monologues and conversations the tale unfolds itself like the petals of a flower. ದೇವಲೋಕ is a village in himalayas and not some elusive world in another corner of the universe. The inhabitants of this ದೇವಲೋಕ have a custom wherein a family of brothers wed a single woman. S.L.Bhyrappa says that they practice this custom even to this day. Draupadi's marriage to the five pandavas is derived from this custom. The practice of ನಿಯೋಗ has been touched delicately but on more than one occasion.

As a reader I too had pondered upon the questions which the author has forced into the minds of the characters...  Various human emotions like hatred, jealousy, greed, pride, lust have been beautifully crafted in this master piece. Many interesting parts have lingered in my mind after completing the book. The conversation between ಕರ್ಣ ಕುಂತಿ is worth mentioning. How ಕರ್ಣ is shaken by the news that he is ಕುಂತಿs son! His mind plays with a train of thoughts following this news... that he is actually the eldest of the 'pandavas' and is of royal blood. The bitter memories come back to him of his childhood and education where many a times he was mocked at and was denied by great teachers like ದ್ರೋಣ who taught only ಕ್ಷತ್ರಿಯಸ್.

Another character which made an immense impression in my mind was that of draupadi, beautifully painted with grace and dignity. She is the key to the unity of pandavas. The integrity between the brothers is maintained by Draupadi who has been instructed by Kunti that she should treat all of them equally. The various hardships she faces throughout leaves the reader emotional. Her patience and faith carries her across the hardous journey. By the end, she has more than a few bruises of the war. Losing her children shatters her heart. And the description of the farewell to her children is heart touching wherein only she sits by the dead bodies of her beloved children mourning their deaths. The fathers stand nearby only staring unemotionally.

The climax of Parva brought memories of Gabriel Garcia Marcquez's One hundred years in solitude. The rains pouring and drenching the victorious Pandavas, Arjuna losing his powerful bow in the rain. Krishna waiting and watching the rising floods... Kunti and Draupadi mourning the death of the Abhimanyu's still born baby. The end of a kingdom.... The success of Kurukshetra war lost and all that remains is Kunti's hope that Draupadi would somehow restore a successor to the throne. 

      

8 comments:

  1. That's pretty cooled, congrats to the job and it looks amazing!

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  2. Nice Post.
    After This Article i visited Google And Search For The Same,To Know More About It in Depth.

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    looking nice place to visit.

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  5. This is surely an enlightening post about this topic and I genuinely cherished the read. My own respect as well as appreciation to the writer of this particular breathtaking material.
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  6. Hello Medhini....Nice writings...especially you short ones(poems etc) I had visited this page around 5 plus years back....wanted to write this...but looks like I haven't....just sharing an interesting tidbit 'bout the name Medhini & SL Bhyrappa. In 2013, we had a daughter, my wife by then was reading Bhyrappa's books furiously! With an interest to meet him, we gate-crashed into his house in Mysore one fine day with our 2-3 month old un-named daughter. We spoke 'bout books, he wasn't the socializing kinds....yet...my wife dared to suggest him for a name for our little one....he said..."Oh, its difficult to come with names, have difficulty with my character names too'...so we spoke this and that...suddenly, he said 'Medhini'.....we said 'Wow!, what does it mean', 'Bhoomi', he replied. I said, 'Nice, I am Akash, and it goes well' (He didn't know my name). And soon, we named her Medhini. And, to our surprise, when his next book 'Yaana' came out, one of the main character had the same name! Keep writing!

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  7. Thanks Akash for sharing your thoughts. I am extremely happy to hear that you and your wife had the good fortune of meeting Mr. Bhyrappa. I started reading his books when I was carrying my first child... In 2019 February my second child was born. So life has kept me busy. My elder one is Laasya Priya and younger one is niharika. Thank you again for sharing.

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