This is the first article in a new series I plan to write monthly, in which I'll talk about a book from Hindi literature.
The first 'book of the month' is called Vayam Rakshamah. That's Sanskrit for "We'll
protect."
I'd like to go into
details about the etymological significance of the title, but that'd just be
lost on a non-Sanskrit speaking audience. So, let's just say that it was the
motto of the demons and move on. More about that in the Hindi blog I plan to write in the near future.
Demons. That's a
tricky word. You see, there are a lot of Hindi words for mythological demons
loaned from Sanskrit, which are interchangeable in colloquial use. However, the
not-so-subtle differences become clear in the book we're talking about.
Yes. It's a book
about demons. And how the Gods triumphed over them. There are two prerequisites
for the book.
#1: A working
knowledge of Ramayan, one of the greatest epics in the world.
#2: An open mind.
The first one isn't
all that necessary. Since everyone in India knows the story and celebrates it
every year, the author pretty much assumes prior knowledge, and that's why I
mention it. The second one though – an open mind – is an absolute necessity.
Ramayan, which
translates as Ram's journey, follows Ram – God incarnate – as he rids the world
of Demons, culminating in his victory over the Demon-king Raavan.
This book follows
the exploits of Raavan, a very unusual and controversial choice. Now, I must
mention right away that the book is NOT pro-Raavan. It doesn't attempt to hide,
mask, or condone any of the shitty things he did. It's just a narrative choice,
presumably because of the novelty of the idea; and the fact that outside of the
Ramayan, Raavan's story is still relatively unknown.
This narrative is
good, but it's not what makes the book a classic. That would be the parallel
narrative juxtaposed against the story of Raavan. In this chronicle, Mr.
Shaastri transports us into an age before Ramayan. He succeeds in fusing two concepts which are
always sorted in separate airtight compartments in an orderly mind: mythology
and history.
That's what makes
this book such a fascinating read. Mr. Shaastri paints the picture of a world
before continental drift, when the mythological Lanka was more than just the
tiny island of the current Sri Lanka. He makes various claims as to the actual
geographic locations of mythological places and peoples (well, races or castes,
to be precise, but I'll use peoples to
avoid the linguistic baggage those words carry). At places he mentions
modern findings and even name-drops some Western archaeologists and historians
to back up his claims. He also provides biographies of mythological
personalities, complete with unfathomably complex genealogies.
I think an example
is in order. We Hindus normally associate the name 'Varun' with the Water God.
Not much is commonly known about this God. In this book, we learn that Varun
was the God-king who made a city habitable for his people again after the big bad
flood had destroyed it. He "conquered" water, ergo, he became known
as the Water God. His more famous moniker is…
wait for it… Bramha! That's right: Brahma, the Creator. What's more, this flood was the same one mentioned in religious texts all around the world. Chrstians know it from the story of Noah. We Hindus know in from the story of the Matsya avatar. (The one in which Lord Vishnu incarnated as a fish to save mankind).
See what I mean.
The book is full of
stuff like this. That's why I said you should have an open mind. The
connections he makes range from almost logical to ridiculously far-fetched. I'm
not saying you should take his word for it, but the author does claim to put
fifty years of research into this, so it can't be dismissed outright either.
But I think you'll enjoy the book infinitely more if you let him persuade you.
So, we have two
parallel narratives. One: the exploits of a young Raavan, which is
action-packed and even titillating in places. We have scenes of a young Raavan
out for blood: preaching his own brand of culture and forcing people to accept
it on swordpoint. Two: the prehistory stuff, which is mostly engrossing, but
breezes by so fast that it comes dangerously close to being dull, on occasion. I
mean the sheer volume is overwhelming. It's like downloading a history module
in your brain from the Matrix. There are at least ten painfully short chapters
that read like cliff notes of another novel – a longer, more action-packed
novel. I wish Mr. Shaastri had written those novels. I feel like he showed
teasers of some great movies he never intended to produce. That's the only flaw
I could find in an otherwise perfect novel.
These two narratives
are partly reconciled when Raavan meets Rudra, better known as Shiv. At least
the timelines sync up at this point, sort of. A while later, he goes and
performs the heinous, irredeemable act of kidnapping Sita, Ram's wife. At this
point, the other narrative stops. It's pure Ramayan from here on out.
Enter Ram,
everyone's favorite God, and the all-too familiar third act begins. (Before
this point in the story, Ram only had brief cameos.) Mr. Shaastri narrates the
battle at the gates of Lanka in his signature style. He makes several attempts
to paper over the fantasy elements, but he doesn't succeed. How could he? It's
a God we're talking about. Miracles are bound to happen.
Reading the book
makes you wonder something, though. We all know that Ram killing Raavan was a
story of good triumphing over evil. One bad guy died. But there's more to it
than that. Raavan's intentions were to unify all peoples under his perverted
definition of 'culture'. And with a combination of power, and
flattery where power didn't work, he was well on his way to make that happen. In light
of these events, Ram killing Raavan was not the end of one bad guy. It was the
end of a very real danger of losing our culture as we know it.
There's an epilogue,
tracing the battle's aftermath and the facts around Ram's descendants. From
what I'm given to understand, Ram the king was an administrative mastermind. I
was hoping to find out more about that. No such luck. Mr. Shaastri returns to the
whirlwind pace and tells us about like nine generations in a matter of a few
paragraphs. But that's just a minor complaint.
Overall, this is one
of the best and most important books ever written in Hindi, and should
definitely be read by every Hindi literature enthusiast at least once, though
ideally many more times!
PS: A few chapters
– yes, entire chapters – are in Sanskrit. On the first such occasion, Mr.
Shaastri justifies this by saying that some things should not be
"uncovered/naked" ; and provides a short Hindi summary of the
chapter. This kindness is not repeated on any further occasion – of which very
few warrant being important enough to be "covered". I hope he did
this to show off, which I don't mind as much. I hope he didn't actually
subscribe in the notion that Sanskrit is the language of the elite and isn't
meant to be deciphered by the commoners. It was that attitude which led to
Indians being out of touch with their own culture for the good part of a
millennium. (Before the threat of British hierocracy prompted some godsend Indians
to rediscover them, most of our sacred scriptures were all but forgotten). It
was that attitude which led to a certain Gautam Buddha being dissatisfied with
the way things were and preach his teaching in Praakrit – the language of the
people at the time. Sanskrit is the mother of all languages, figuratively AND
literally. It's not supposed to be code.
PPS: By mainstream
Hindi literature standards, this work is pretty risqué, especially considering
it features characters which are bona fide Gods. It has graphic violence and a
lot of gratuitous… umm… nudity (most of it is around minor characters). Not recommended
for kids or prudish adults. Read at you own risk. You've been warned.
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