Jaya: An Illustrated Retelling of the Mahabharata

by Devdutt Pattanaik

‘Listen to the tale carefully, Janamejaya,’ Astika whispered in the king’s ear, ‘Do not be distracted by the plots. Within the maze of stories flows the river of wisdom. That is your true inheritance.’

In time, the Chandra-vamsis would forget the gender ambiguity of both Budh and Ila. They would mock it when it would become manifest in Arjuna’s brother-in-law, Shikhandi. They would stop him from entering the battlefield. Such is the nature of man-made laws: ignorant of the past and insensitive to the present.

The Mahabharata tells the stories of the Chandra-vamsis, descendants of the moon, or rather Budh-vamsis, descendants of Mercury, who were infamous for their moral ambiguity, and quite different in character from the upright Surya-vamsis, descendants of the sun, whose tales are told in the Ramayana.