Jagat

As I reflect on the Yājñasenī book, I have also been thinking to some extent about kṣatrīya-dharma , which is of course the principal theme of the book as a whole. The Mahābhārata is about polity. The largest section, the Bhīṣma-parva , is almost wholly concerned with guidance for rulers. And, after all,  kṣatrīyas  run the place, the politicians and so on, and they have a real influence on the way people live. Even Krishna, the avatar who has come especially to reestablish dharma, to vanquish the wicked and bring succor to the dispossessed and devoted, is a  kṣatrīya . So what is the  kṣatrīya  ethic? Once upon a time, a long long time ago, Srila Prabhupada took a walk with his disciples here in Vrindavan and suddenly said, "We must start a Varnashram college." And he began to explain his concept of varnashram dharma and the ideal way of forming community, in microcosmic settings, close to the land, simple living and high thinking. So, it was dec...

Publicity poster for the latest TV series based on Mahābhārata, with Pooja Sharma in the role of Draupadi. Pratibha Ray writes in her introduction that she was inspired to write the book after a real life experience. A woman she knew, whose name was also Kṛṣṇā (Draupadi's real name, "Draupadi" is a patronymic) returned to her parents' house after being deserted by her abusive drunkard husband. At first her well-wishers hoped she would be able to remarry, but the backward looking family and community of which she was a part would not allow it. So she went to Germany where a brother was living, got into a college and there fell in love with and married another man. This action on her part was condemned by many of her relatives, one of whom (a man, obviously) made the statement, "So just like her namesake Kṛṣṇā in the Mahābhārata was not satisfied with having five husbands, and still lusted for Krishna and even Karna, so she is not satisfied with just one hus...

On my current literary distractions list is another book I picked up in Satya Narayan Dasji's basement. This is again a translation, but this time from Orissan into Sanskrit. The author, Pratibha Ray , has won numerous awards and the original version of Yājñasenī (1984) was also a prize winner, winning the Moorti Devi Award,1991 and Sarala Award, 1990, and most recently, the prestigious Bharatiya Jnanapith award in 2011. It was made into a popular Hindi teleseries and the famous film-actress Hemamalini also made a stage ballet adaptation of it. Hemamalini is currently involved in politics for the Bharatiya Janata Party, which perhaps sheds a little light on the underlying ethos of the author. And this is something that I will return to. Hemamalini, the BJP candidate, waving to crowds. This translation was done by Bhagirathi Nanda and published by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan , which is an Indian government undertaking. As the title indicates, Yājñasenī is the a...