Review of 'Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Highly recommended. My only experience with Mahabharata was the serial in the 90s, plus some random stories over the years all over the place. I mostly forgot it as some old book, that wasn't relevant. I recently picked this up and boy this would put George RR Martin to shame. This has sex, sex and more sex. From prostitution to rape. Of course Vyas in the original takes some poetic licenses, but this book is compiled from various sources, folk tales across India from Orissa to Manipur and gives you an interesting interpretation. An interpretation that some people might not agree with of course. There's tons of interesting stories and tidbits that i never knew about. The plot lines are so intertwined that even if a blade of grass moves it probably has some effect later on a character. But it does tend to grip you. I loved the gray …
Highly recommended. My only experience with Mahabharata was the serial in the 90s, plus some random stories over the years all over the place. I mostly forgot it as some old book, that wasn't relevant. I recently picked this up and boy this would put George RR Martin to shame. This has sex, sex and more sex. From prostitution to rape. Of course Vyas in the original takes some poetic licenses, but this book is compiled from various sources, folk tales across India from Orissa to Manipur and gives you an interesting interpretation. An interpretation that some people might not agree with of course. There's tons of interesting stories and tidbits that i never knew about. The plot lines are so intertwined that even if a blade of grass moves it probably has some effect later on a character. But it does tend to grip you. I loved the gray boxes that give you extra info from various other sources or interpretations of the stories. Those are what make this version great. I'll be picking up more of these illustrated guides for sure.
Where else would you find these:
A son renounces sex so that his old father can remarry
A daughter is a prize in an archery contest
A teacher demands half a kingdom as his tuition fee
A student is turned away because of his caste
A mother asks her sons to share a wife
A father curses his son-in-law to be old and impotent
A husband lets another man make his wife pregnant
A wife blindfolds herself to share her husband's blindness
A forest is destroyed for a new city
A family is divided over inheritance
A king gambles away his kingdom
A queen is forced to serve as a maid
A man is stripped of his manhood for a year
A woman is publicly disrobed
A war is fought where all rules are broken
A shift in sexuality secures victory
The vanquished go to paradise
The victors lose their children
The earth is bathed in blood
God is cursed
Until wisdom prevails
