Praises for Ajaya 2 Rise of Kali
• I really hope that someone makes a movie out of this book and offers me a role in it. I would love to be a part of such an epic.
~ Actor Nagarjuna at the book launch of Ajaya 2 Rise of Kali
• Anand’s books revisit mythology with a different perspective and presents a counter point. Ajaya 2 Rise of Kali looks at the epic Mahabharatha from Duryodhana’s perspective.
~The Hindu
• Religion is a sensitive subject. Merely talking about it n a public space could land you in trouble. But then there is Anand Neelakantan, not simply expressing his thoughts on epics like the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, but actually writing them, and from the villain’s perspective.
~ The Asian Age
• With his style of counter-telling the popular myths, Neelakantan has tried to lighten the grey of the great villains of our mythological scriptures like Ravana and Duryodhana. The author of the popular books ‘Asura: Tale of the Vanquished’ and ‘Ajaya: Roll of the Dice’, Anand Neelakantan, has come up with the latter half of the ‘Epic of the Kaurava’ called the ‘Rise of Kali’. Even though it’s just his third novel, he has managed to reserve a slot on the bestsellers shelf for his books.
~ DNA
• An exciting characteristic of Anand’s novels is his in-depth recreation of characters involved in the epic; he gets beneath the skin of each, taking an impartial view of the circumstances, with telling insights and colourful imagery.
~ Supremacy
• It is unusual to read an Indian epic written differently. Turning a villain into a much-loved hero is the idea penned down by Indian author Anand Neelakantan. He is an engineer by profession but more famous for his novels.
~ The Hans India
• The monsoon’s most awaited mythological thriller Ajaya 2 by Anand Neelakantan has broken into the the Top 10 Bestseller list of the Asian Age and looks down from a comfortable pedestal at its number 3 spot in the Crossword bestseller list. The book was launched to a veritable frenzy of expectation and delight and broke sales records on Anand’s previous betsellers within a week.
~ Mumbai Messenger
• Author Anand Neelakantan has done it again- turned the greatest heroes and villains from the Hindu epics into mere mortals with his new novel
~ 48 Hrs, Hindustan Times
• Get set to unlearn the Mahabharata as you know it from bedtime with your grandparents. In Anand Neelakantan’s version of the epic, the Pandavas step out of their goody-two shoes while Duryodhana, head of the rival faction of Kauravas, earns a halo.
~ Mid-Day
Yudhishtra to Drupada:
Dharma is subtle and we do not understand it. We faithfully
follow the path tread by our predecessors. My voice does not
speak untruth, nor does my mind dwell in adharma.
Duryodhana to Krishna (Sabha Parva):
I know what (your) dharma is. I know what you call adharma
is. Yet I follow my heart. If you are Janardhana, it is you who
dwell in my heart and make me do what I feel. Is it not my
Kshatriya dharma to protect what is mine?
Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita:
O Partha, that intelligence which is covered by darkness,
believes that adharma is dharma and gets all meanings
backwards. That is ignorant intelligence.
Bhishma to Yudhishtra (Anusashana Parva):
But it is not always easy for mere mortals to arrive at
dharma-vinischaya (definition of dharma). Only kala (time or
Yama, the God of Time or Yamam), knows what is dharma and
adharma.
Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita:
I AM TIME.
***
ISBN 978-93-81576-04-5
© Anand Neelakantan, 2015
Layouts: Chandravadan R. Shiroorkar - Leadstart Design
Cover: Kunal Kundu
Printing: Thomson Press (India) Limited
Published in India 2015 by
PLATINUM PRESS
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Disclaimer This is a work of fiction. The contents of this book are the expressions and opinions of its author and a work of imagination. It does not claim scriptural or historical authenticity. This work does not represent the views of the Publisher nor endorses them in any way. The Publisher makes no representations or warranties as to the completeness or accuracy of the information used.
To the loving memory
of my beloved mother,
D. Chellammal Neelakantan,
who left us on Thiruvonam day.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I WAS BORN IN A QUAINT little village called Thripunithura, on the outskirts of Cochin, Kerala. Located east of mainland Ernakulam, across Vembanad Lake, this village had the distinction of being the seat of the Cochin royal family. However, it was once more famous for its hundred-odd temples, the various classical artists it produced, and its music school. I remember many an evening listening to the faint rhythm of chendas from the temples and the notes of the flute escaping over the rugged walls of the school of music. However, in recent times, Gulf money and the rapidly expanding city of Cochin have wiped away all remaining vestiges of that old world charm. The village has evolved into the usual, unremarkable, suburban hellhole, clones of which dot India.
Growing up in a village with more temples than was necessary, it was little wonder that mythology fascinated me. Ironically, I was drawn to the anti-heroes. Life went on…I became an engineer, joined the Indian Oil Corporation, moved to Bangalore, married Aparna, and welcomed my daughter Ananya, and son, Abhinav. But the voices of yore refused to be silenced. I felt impelled to narrate the stories of the vanquished and the damned, and give life to those silent heroes, we have overlooked in our uncritical acceptance of the conventional renderings of our epics.
This is Anand’s third book and follows the outstanding success of his #1 bestsellers, ASURA Tale Of The Vanquished and AJAYA Book I, Roll Of The Dice. Anand can be reached at: mail@asura.co.in
CONTENTS
Author’s Note
Select Cast of Characters
Genealogy
Prelude ~ ROLL OF THE DICE
1 SHAME
2 ESCAPE
3 ARREST
4 THE CHALLENGE
5 GANDHARA BECKONS
6 DARKNESS
7 SERPENT HUNT
8 REFUGE
9 TRAPPED
10 AHIMSA
11 THE CHASE
12 DIGVIJAYA
13 THE FEAST
14 GURU AND DISCIPLE
15 SON OF A RAKSHASI
16 LESSER MEN
17 DARK PRINCE
18 NISHADA’S DAUGHTER
19 THE MERCHANT
20 FISSURES
21 VICTORS AND THE VANQUISHED
22 RETURN OF THE MLECHA
23 THE POET
24 DIFFERENT GODS
25 THE PROPOSAL
26 SON OF GOD
27 LUSTFUL EYES
29 SONS OF FORTUNE
30 THE BOY LOVER
31 KIRATHARJUNEEYAM
32 THE STALKER
33 VENGEANCE
34 VANARAPUTRA
35 THE WRETCHED
36 RETRIBUTION
37 A DAUGHTER’S HONOUR
38 DEATH IN THE DARK
39 SOLITARY SOUL
40 RANSOM
41 VIRATA
42 DATES OF DESTINY
43 MURDER
44 THE MESSENGER
45 WINDS OF WAR
46 THE SONG OF GOD
47 THE SONG OF MAN
48 THE GREAT SECRET
49 WAR GAMES
50 RELUCTANT WARRIORS
51 IRAVAN
52 KSHATRIYA
53 LOVE RETURNS
54 RULES OF WAR
55 DHARMAKSHETRA
56 THE SCEPTIC
57 THE FIRST EIGHT DAYS
58 TRAITOR
59 LIABILITY OF CONSCIENCE
60 EUNUCH SHIELD
61 SURYAPUTRA
62 GANGADATTA
63 END OF A POEM
64 WHEEL OF DEATH
65 WARRIOR’S HONOUR
66 HALF DHARMA
67 LIES
68 DHANAVEERA
69 RAKSHASA
70 DEATH OF A MLECHA
71 WHEEL OF DHARMA
72 THE KILL
73 THE LAKE
74 OORUBHANGA
75 THE OWL’S REVENGE
76 THE CURSED
77 JAYA
78 TASTE OF DHARMA
79 VANAPRASTHA
80 LONG LIVE THE REVOLUTION
81 FRUITS OF KARMA
82 THE HUNTER
83 HEAVEN CALLS
84 GRAND ALLIANCE
85 RISE OF KALI
Afterword ~ DHARMA, A SUBTLE CONCEPT
Suggested Reading
Glossary
Acknowledgements
AUTHOR’S NOTE
WHY WRITE ABOUT THE DEFEATED?
In the first volume of Ajaya, I elaborated on my reasons for choosing to write the Mahabharata story from Duryodhana’s perspective. Since its publication, I have received numerous e-mails from my readers – some critical, others adulatory or analytical of the perspective I brought to the age-old epic. There were readers who were unhappy that I had cast Krishna in an unflattering light and portrayed the Pandavas in a negative way. Hence, a short note about my portrayal of Krishna and the Pandavas is perhaps merited here.
I have written Ajaya from the perspective of the vanquished side –the Kauravas. For them, Krishna was a rival, if not an enemy. If the Kauravas had accepted Krishna’s divinity and agreed to whatever he ordained, the Mahabharata war would not have taken place. It would thus be unrealistic, even ridiculous, for the Kauravas to be seen worshipping Krishna. There would have been no story left to tell. The great sage, Vedavyasa, never portrayed Krishna as God or an avatar in his original version, Jaya. It was only later, in the Mahabhagawatam, that he is seen as an avatar of Vishnu. There were many criticisms voiced about Krishna in the Mahabharata. Characters like Shishupala, Suyodhana, Gandhari, and even Balarama, his brother, sometimes made scathing verbal attacks on Krishna. Vyasa effectively used these opposing viewpoints to create a rounded story.
The Mahabharata, in essence, is a narrative without a hero. Rather, every character is a hero. I suspect the sage Vyasa adopted the title Jaya for his great epic in order to point out the irony of violence and a war in which no one wins. For me, Jaya is an anti-war story. I have condensed the Gita and placed it slightly ahead in the conventional storyline, as a conversation between Balarama and Krishna. The two brothers, though they loved each other, had many disagreements over the Kauravas and Pandavas. While Krishna favoured Arjuna, Suyodhana was Balarama’s favourite. In this rendering, Balarama denounces Krishna before the war for the violence he is trying to unleash. But for Krishna, it is the call of duty and dharma. I have used this space to imagine how the conversation between Balarama and Krishna might have gone. Here, as in the original, Krishna is unable to convince Balarama about the necessity for a war; this would have been an argument between two great intellects. I have used this space to voice Balarama’s doubts as he speaks to Krishna. Rather, they are my own doubts on reading the Gita. I plead guilty to putting my words into Balarama’s mouth, and occasionally Arjuna’s. Vedvyasa just says Krishna and Balarama disagreed about the war and that Balarama went on a pilgrimage when it took place. I have included the Gita in its conventional space, though some of the doubts Arjuna airs are my own. The original Gita is a conversation between a mentor and mentee, when Krishna convinces Arjuna to fight the war.
As I have stated in the many interviews I have given and articles I have written, I am a seeker; my stories are more about questions than answers. I claim neither the intellect nor the scholarship to make a critical analysis of the Gita, words which have inspired countless men and women over the centuries. My questions are mundane and ordinary, like the doubts that gnaw at a child’s mind when an adult tells him wonderful stories. The child knows the stories are fascinating but curiosity still makes him ask questions for a better understanding.
Recently, on the auspicious occasion of Thiruvonam, the day the great Asura emperor, Mahabali (Lord Vishnu, in his Vamana avatar had banished Mahabali to patala, the underworld), comes to visit his people on earth, I suffered a shattering personal loss when my mother passed away. I sought solace in Krishna’s message in the Gita, but the analogy of the atma (soul) departing the body as being nothing but a change of clothes, did not give me any comfort. Death is real and devastating and no intellectual circus can take away the pain of the people who are left behind. When the rituals were over and my mother’s ashes sent to Kashi for immersion in the Ganga, I was left feeling bitter and bereft. I asked the chief priest of my village, who had conducted the rituals, whether there was any meaning in such customs. In response, he told me this story:
Mandana Misra was a great scholar and authority on the Vedas and Mimasa. He led a householder’s life (grihastha), with his scholar-philosopher wife, Ubhaya Bharati, in the town of Mahishi, in what is present-day northern Bihar. Husband and wife would have great debates on the veracity of the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Gita and other philosophical works. Scholars from all over Bharatavarsha came to debate and understand the Shastras with them. It is said that even the parrots in Mandana’s home debated the divinity, or its lack, in the Vedas and Upanishads.
Mandana was a staunch believer in rituals. One day, while he was performing Pitru Karma (rituals for deceased ancestors), Adi Shankaracharya arrived at his home and demanded a debate on Advaita. Mandana was angry at the rude intrusion and asked the Acharya whether he was not aware, as a Brahmin, that it was inauspicious to come to another Brahmin’s home uninvited when Pitru Karma was being done? In reply, Adi Shankara asked Mandana whether he was sure of the value of such rituals. This enraged Mandana and the other Brahmins present. Thus began one of the most celebrated debates in Hindu thought. It raged for weeks between the two great scholars. As the only other person of equal intellect to Shankara and Mandana was Mandana’s wife, Ubhaya Bharati, she was appointed the adjudicator. Among other things, Shankara convinced Mandana that the rituals for the dead had little value to the dead. Mandana became Adi Shankara’s disciple (and later the first Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Math in Karnataka).
When the priest related this story to me, I was shocked. He was not giving me the answer I had expected. Annoyed, I asked him what he meant by the story if Adi Shankara himself said such rituals were of no use to the dead. The priest replied, “Son, the story has not ended.” And he continued... A few years later, Adi Shankara was compiling the rituals for the dead, to standardize them for people across Bharatavarsha. Mandana, upset with his Guru’s action, asked Adi Shankara why he was involved with such a useless thing. After all, the Guru had convinced him of the uselessness of such rituals (Lord Krishna
also mentions the inferiority of Vedic sacrifice to other paths, in the Gita. Pitru karma has no vedic base either). Why then was the Jagad Guru taking such a retrograde step? Adi Shankaracharya smiled at his disciple and answered, “The rituals are not for the dead but for the loved ones left behind.”
This demonstrates how critical thinking is the basis of all our philosophy. We have no concept of blasphemy. This openness to criticism is what makes the Hindu religion and its traditions unique. Vyasa did not hide Krishna’s faults, nor did Valmiki remain silent on Rama’s shortcomings. This openness to debate and discussion has helped us evolve over time and withstand thousands of years of foreign rule, reforming as the times demanded. Otherwise, Hinduism would long have been dead, like the ancient religions of Greece and Egypt. It is said that for every village there is a Ramayana and for every person there is a Gita. In chapter 18:63, Lord Krishna says:
iti te jñānam ākhyātam
guhyād guhyataram mayā
vimriśyaitad aśeshena
yathecchasi tathā kuru
[I have given you the most confidential of all knowledge. Analyze it critically and act as per your wish and understanding.]
Krishna does not ask Arjuna to follow blindly, nor threaten him with hell if he disobeys. In voicing my own doubts, I too have followed Krishna’s advice by critically analyzing the Mahabharata. I hope that those who possess a deeper understanding and knowledge of the epic will aid me in finding answers to the questions which have troubled me. I believe I am not alone in my occasional puzzlement. Some of my readers certainly share my doubts. I request you to bear in mind that this is a work of fiction, in the best Indian tradition of Vada-Prathivada. The Gurus of yesteryears opined that the best way to understand something is to debate it. I have rolled my dice with the prayer:
vimriśyaitad aśeshena
yathecchasi tathā kuru
[Analyze it critically and act as per your wish and understanding.]
*****
SELECT CAST OF CHARACTERS
Aswathama: Suyodhana’s close friend and son of Guru Drona, this Brahmin youth refuses to blindly follow tradition. He believes Suyodhana’s cause is just and is willing to fight even his illustrious father. He views Arjuna as his arch foe.