Mahabharata reinvented
Reviewed by Aradhika Sekhon

Govinda; the Aryavarta Chronicles
By Krishna Udayasankar, Hatchette books.
Pages 458. Rs 350

Do you remember Bharat Ek Khoj, the tele-serial based on Jawaharlal Nehru’s famous book The Discovery of India? The serial was directed by Shyam Benegal and it was catagorised as a historical drama. In its portrayal of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, it did not reflect the glitter, opulence and grandeur that Bollywood films tend to do, but tried to place the narration of the epics in a historical perspective.

Krishna Udayasankar’s Govinda attempts to do the same. Like the genre of some other novels that have been making the rounds, (The Shiva trilogy; Chanakya) this book too endeavours to humanise gods and demi-gods

The story is about the strife between two powerful factions in the nation of Aryavarta — the Firstborn dynasty of scholar-sages, descendants of Vasishta Varuni and protectors of the Divine Order on earth, which has been the dominant faction and the Angirasa family of Firewrights, weapon-makers to the kings and master inventors. As a result of the bitter strife, Aryavarta is hurtling towards bloody battle. In this whole cauldron of politics, murder and mayhem, is Govinda Shauri, the cowherd-turned-king, who has to use the means of his courage, chivalry, cunning and charm to protect his people and Aryavarta.

The novel is a fast-paced book, full of intrigue and guile. Since it has as its inspiration, nothing less than the Mahabharata, there is no dearth of plot or characters. However, Krishna’s characters are mortal beings, as opposed to the superhuman beings of the epic. In the introduction, Krishna says that these chronicles "are neither reinterpretation nor retelling". Her attempt is to construct a "story of why things may have happened as they did, a plausible narrative with reasonable logical consistency. Something that could well have been history." Thus, she dabbles in the genre of the historical mythology or the mytho-history, as other authors have done before her, notably Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni (The Palace of Illusions) and Amish (The Shiva Trilogy). Indian mythology obviously has a lot to offer to writers. Krishna, the author, is a lawyer who is based in Singapore. Govinda is the first in the Aryavarta Chronicles, an inventive account of the Mahabharata. The Cowherd Prince and the City of Light, will complete the trilogy.

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