Review

Vijaya is material victory while Jaya is winning over oneself, the true victory.

There is a bibliophile group in TCS. I had joined it some time back, but did not really participate in its events.

I got a call recently to present in a talk after I had posted a review. I agreed and then joined the next session to find out what goes into taking a session.

That session was about dons and villains. And somehow the conversation veered toward Mahabharata and this book - Jaya.

I picked it up after that. And finished it in record time.

The story of the Mahabharata is known to me. I have watched and loved the show on Star. This was a retelling of the Mahabharata, with a few interesting tidbits that I did not know about. Those are added in the notes below.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, and perhaps because I knew the story already I did not have to take as much time.

Notes

the story of Shakuni

Bhishma locked Suvala and his sons in a dungeon. Every day, only a fistful of rice was given to them. Suvala told his sons, ‘Bhishma knows it is adharma to kill family. So he has found a way to kill us without breaking the code of dharma. He feeds us every day but the quantity of food is so less that we are bound to starve and die. There is nothing we can do about it, for it is adharma to ask for more food. And it is adharma to run away from the daughter’s house when food is still being served.’

As the days passed, things got worse. The brothers of Gandhari began fighting over the food being served. A starving and suffering Suvala came up with an idea, ‘Let only one of us eat: the most intelligent one among us. Let only he survive and remember this great wrong done to us by Bhishma. Let him live to take vengeance.’

Shakuni, the youngest, was the chosen one and alone he ate the food being served while the rest of his family starved before his eyes.

Before dying, Suvala struck Shakuni’s foot with a staff and cracked his ankle. ‘Now you shall limp every time you walk. And every time you limp, remember the crime of the Kauravas against your family. Never forgive them.’

Suvala had noticed Shakuni’s fondness for the game of dice. He told his son, with his dying breath, ‘When I die, take my finger bones and turn them into dice. They will be filled with my rage and will turn whichever way you want them to. That way you will always win the game of dice.’

Shortly thereafter, Suvala and his sons died. Shakuni survived and he lived in Hastina-puri along with the Kauravas under the care of Bhishma. He pretended to be the friend of the Kauravas, but all the while he plotted the downfall of Bhishma’s household just as Bhishma had destroyed his own.

Who is a Brahman?

‘He is not the son of a Brahman as most people believe. He is one who by mastering his senses and by disciplining his mind has attained Brahma-vidya, knowledge of the eternal, infinite and boundless soul. This makes him content and gentle and generous, for he is one with the truth.’