The Battle of Panchavati and Other Stories from Indian Scriptures

by Divya Narain Upadhyaya

Most of our epics and puranas have a structure of frame tales (story within a story). The author has utilised this structure to his advantage, picking up some of the sub-stories (upakathas) and scenes, and has polished them with his captivating style.

‘The Cosmic Dance’. We could feel the sadness, helplessness, frustration, anger and ultimately sublime peace along with the Aadhi yogi. The emotions could be experienced through his words; as the Swayambo turns into Rudra, Veerabadhra, Viroopaksha and again back to the yogi with his Abhaya mudra. The Bhagavatham as told by Suka Muni to Parikshit Maharaj has taken so many forms in our country. The author has stuck to the essence of the story leaving out the vagaries, in ‘The Eighth Son’. Of course, the stillborn seventh child was transferred to Rohini, Nanda’s other wife, to be born as Balarama, which is one of the popular versions. The sense of humour in the author emerges when he describes Vasudev’s crossing of the Yamuna as ‘He kept walking towards the water and the water kept walking away’, and ‘It must be the ‘madira’, the alcohol, that the guards drank. I must have inhaled its vapours that is why I am hallucinating.” The overbearing beauty of Rama is captured in his vivid description “A few truant locks escaped the bun and cascaded down in curls to his strong shoulders” in ‘The Battle of Panchavati’. The attention to details in his description of the physical attributes of a person brings to life the characters described in the book. ‘Gangadhar’ is one of the gems in this ornament of seven stories. The tradition of a story within story is followed here with his narration of the Thrisanku and curse of Kapila. The author brings out succinctly the vast difference between...

The stories in Puranic literature of India’s socio-cultural history bear special significance, given the spiritual content manifested in them. The highest knowledge found in the Vedas was made practical and lucid through the Puranas. The younger generation and the common man cannot grasp the intuitive philosophical enquiry and its intricate meaning put before humanity by the Puranas and the Upanishads.

Dr Divya Narain Upadhyaya has done a remarkable job by narrating seven episodes selected from the Ramayan, Mahabharat. Srimad Bhagavatam and Buddha Charitam in his book ‘The Battle of Panchavati And Other Stories from Indian Scriptures’, which is a precious gift to readers world wide.