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However, despite him telling me all about these two mythological sagas, I don't remember the name Yayati. Of course, having read the book now when I am older, it is possible that he would have thought that I was too young for it, especially as I was pretty naïve in those days. I first heard the name of this book some 14 years ago when my father started talking to one of my husband's uncles about it. He was waxing poetic about this book and I was naturally curious. Apparently, my father had read the Tamil translation of this book, which used to appear like a series in one of the Tamil magazines that he used to subscribe to. He loved it so much that he wanted to read the original Marathi version of the book. Seeing his enthusiasm, my husband's uncle gifted him with a copy of the book in Marathi about the same time as my marriage. That copy is still at my father's and I hope that one day I would find time to read the original soon.
Recently, when I subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, one of the first books to garner my interest was this same book, albeit an English translation this time. I got it immediately and started reading it as well. However, as all of you know, I am someone who gets distracted by newer and shinier books and it was the same with this book. I abandoned it in favour of others, only to have it silently remind me of its presence. This New Year, I promised myself that I would first finish all the pending books before starting something new and so I began this one and I have to say that I was amazed by it.
In a nutshell, this is a story of Yayati, the King of Hastinapur, and his insatiable lust for women. However, like most tales in the Maharabharata, this too cannot be isolated and reviewed under a single theme. Yayati's saga has myriad motifs, several hidden nuggets of philosophy and wonderful caricature of the psychology of men and women of those times, be it as a princess or a maid or a king or an ascetic, which can be easily discerned in this wonderfully translated version. The tapestry created by the words of the author and the translator is spectacular and brings forth the beauty of the tale in its resplendent form.
Who was Yayati? Was he a prince, a son, a friend, a husband or a king? What were his motivations for living? What kind of life did he live or rather what kind of lives did people in those times live? All this and more can be sought from this short book. Yayati's character is as simple as a gentle stream whilst also being as mighty as the ocean itself. Having made a promise to his mother that he won't become a sage, Yayati turns his life into one of insatiable demands of lust, which is both his redemption as well as his fall. Yayati's character as brought out by the author shows that a man cannot be or rather should not be identified by a single virtue or vice. Human beings are complicated, they are as different as different personalities exist and yet there is a core that connects them to each other. It could be pride, love, lust, ego, faith or just about anything and this is what Yayati's story talks about. It talks about the depths to which mankind can fall and yet when humans repent, the heights that they achieve through it, despite having fallen into an abyss. Don't get me wrong, this repentance is not necessarily religious but more of a spiritual kind, where you accept the rights and wrongs that humans as themselves have committed to both their own person as well as others and when this repentance is strong then according to the tale of Yayati, there is no stopping you from living life in a healthy and happy manner.
Friendship is another motif that is strongly present in this narrative. Be it the friendship between Kacha and Yayati or between Madhav and Yayati or even that between Kacha and Sharmishta. Beautiful words are used to show the love one had for the other. These friendships bring to light the basic need of human beings for a shoulder, even if it is one that is not present at that time. Friendship, good ones, guide the person into attempting to lead a better life and this has been beautifully highlighted by the author throughout this tale.
Women in this story are depicted mostly as objects of lust, especially when seen through the eyes of Yayati. However, there is an innate strength in them which shines through despite his attempt to classify them otherwise. Whether it is his wife Devyani, or his lover, Sharmishta, or his first crush or even his mother; women play a very important role in creating Yayati's image, such as it is. These are not women who will simply crawl at the first sign of danger but these are women who will stand straight and face it. What lends more beauty to this book is the caricatures of the different women, whether it is the self centred and capricious Devyani, or the splendidly serene Sharmishta or the nubile Alaka or the servient Mukulika; women have shaped Yayati in different ways with their own charms and vile but they are not to blame for what becomes of Yayati.
V. S. Khandekar beautifully sums up this eternal and unappeasable hunger for lust in Yayati in these few words;
"The senses are never satisfied by indulgence. As the fire blazes with an offering, so do the senses get incensed the more by indulgence."
I think this quote also serves to teach us that while a little indulgence is good, anything in extreme can and will be harmful. This is the best takeaway that I have from this book and it is a lesson I feel that all of us should learn and practice.
Closing this book, I felt as if it were my grandfather who was narrating the tale to me and who took me through this various motifs and learnings in this book. This feeling made the book more precious than it would have otherwise been. While I go and get the Marathi version of this book from my father and read it in the original, why don't you give this small book that packs a punch in terms of learning? I will definitely say that this is worth all the effort one puts to read it and it will definitely not be time wasted. Happy reading!
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And how I loved unwrapping this sub-story from Mahaharata - even as a stand alone tale.
Lots of food for thought. Especially in Kacha's wise words about controlling youre senses and abstaining from materialistic desires...
Which was in contrast to Mandar's hedonist philosophy of indulging in all kinds of pleasures as you have only one life.
The underplaying dilemma on Yayati's mind a This has been a book seeking my attention for almost a couple of years due to its title and mythological connection.
And how I loved unwrapping this sub-story from Mahaharata - even as a stand alone tale.
Lots of food for thought. Especially in Kacha's wise words about controlling youre senses and abstaining from materialistic desires...
Which was in contrast to Mandar's hedonist philosophy of indulging in all kinds of pleasures as you have only one life.
The underplaying dilemma on Yayati's mind about duty & family vs lust & pleasure was very enjoyable.
Other things I liked:
Improvisation to create focus on the story by omitting Yayati's other brothers and sons.
Shifting first person narratives of Yayati, Sharmishta and Devyani giving deeper insights into these characters.
All of Kacha's conversations.
Still pondering:
Why is it always someone else taking a major decision and putting a person's life at stake? [What Sharmishtha's father does here in this tale... What Yudhishthir did in that infamous gambling episode..... Dashrath to Rama... etc etc ]
There are countless examples of this which is quite understandable. But what I don't understand is the lack of a counter-example wherein someone stood up against this!
It turns out it was much ado about nothing. Yayati was a book I almost shelved at 25% after it pulled me down almost a year ago. I picked it up again after reading a blog of Devdutt Patnaik that talked of Yayati complex. Un
Tales from Mahabharatha are an unending source for philosophers for a reason. They feature faulty humans in an imperfect world which is much closer to real world. So when I picked this book, I had high hopes and maybe an expectation of characters with hues of moral conflicts.It turns out it was much ado about nothing. Yayati was a book I almost shelved at 25% after it pulled me down almost a year ago. I picked it up again after reading a blog of Devdutt Patnaik that talked of Yayati complex. Unfortunately the book was too monochromatic. The author has modified the story a bit but somehow I found the book not compelling.
Yayati the king who lusts for sensory pleasures, whose actions are based on anger or indulgence is not a typical hero. Devayani is a character you start disliking due to almost no redeeming qualities - the spoiled daughter of Sukracharya who is spiteful and impulsive is no victim. Sharmishta who just doesn't put up any fight to the events in her life, is more defeatist than a beacon of sacrifice. The only sane character Kachcha whom almost all the 3 characters seem to love is almost the essence of everything good. He too talks in long sentences that are too preachy.
As it turns out, I could not feel sorry for any of the characters. And then after all the years of sufferings, they just seem to fall-out of the character and turn a new leaf. Somehow didn't work for me.
Came across many rave reviews on GR. Just did not work for me and found it boring.
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potraited complicated relations.Every character will carry bad n good qualities,there is space for each character that is what i liked most.
Yayati....a different type of loves described so beautifully!!! Yayati's selfish love,Devayani's ego filled love n Sharnishtha's unconditional love.Three different people's lives n views.Most beautifully
potraited complicated relations.Every character will carry bad n good qualities,there is space for each character that is what i liked most.
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In his emotional universe, There is no place for anything except the need for pleasure. Seeking pleasure became his religion, despite it throwing fireballs of tragedy on him. This behavior makes him more relatable to Modern human beings, He represented our tragedy at the beginning of creation. Maybe we evolved technologically, but Yayati still thrives with our tragedy.
Though it was translated from Marathi to Kannada, Translator has done magnificent works in terms of translation. Since dialogues and narration is poetic, You can feel the alteration of emotions in characters. Yayati, Devayani, Shamiste, and Kacha are representative of different stages of love. You can see the lower layer of love and the highest layer of love in one book.
Though the book is based on one part of epic, the Story dances in multiple directions. When you read about Yayati it is a story of lust and pleasure, In the eyes of Devayani it is a story of family and ego, In Shamiste it is a story of love and sacrifice, and In Kacha, it is a story of pure Devotion.
A story carried with poetic touch along with the inner need to find the truth of life, You need more patience to read this work. There are so many Upanishad and Vedic philosophies included in story, if you don't have the background of Vedic philosophy you might feel lost in most of the chapters.
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On the same line of the curse 'Never do the offsprings of Nahusha find happiness and Satisfaction' Khandekar frames a beautiful narration.
It's not a tale of the ancestors of Lord Krishna, Pandavas and Kauravas. It's a tale of an emperor and his family around whom the poisonous vine strung with immense tightness. The novel begins with Yayaati questioning life and first part is more of a philosophical approach as he retells his childhood memories and how his elder brother Yati runs away from home at a very young age having eavesdropped upon the talks on the curse. Yayaati further narrates how he had to lose a few important persons in his life due to the familial issues over reputation. All I could see was the psychological reasons behind them and Yayaati could never find his peace amidst all the riches he was surrounded with. In further parts the novel gets narrated by both Devyani and Sharmistha. Devyani exhibits her narcissistic personality negatively impacting upon Yayaati and Sharmishta. Sharmishta, despite having born to a royal clan lives her life through minimalistic approach being forced into a servant's life. The author has made beautiful constrasting characters, out of all, my favourite was the visible differences between Shukracharya and Kacha. Kacha stands as this water drop on the lotus leave who doesn't get affected by any of the materialistic desires nor acts under anger and impatience, in fact he loves deeply and cares for the kalyan of the world as a whole which makes him ascend to the higher place than Shukracharya in the readers' eyes. Personally, I found Devyani's sadistic and self centred personality bit harassing although I appreciate the way the writer constructed her character. The familial constructions happen not due to the voices of hearts but due to the oozing strive for revenge and self avenge which leads to the fall of good connections. This story isn't just about a prince who's preoccupied by his father's curse but also the story of lust, greed and hunger for revenge. The last part of the novel was bit hard to digest however as a mirror to the first part, now the elder and much experienced Yayaati starts finding the answers for the questions he had raised in the first part. The devotion of Puru towards his father and his sacrificial approach makes anyone tear up. Overall, it's a story of the royal family entwined with curse, humane elements of both positive and negative energies. Yayaati, yet doesn't find anything or anyone that satisfies him which finally propels him to take refugee under the Adhyatmik vaanaprastha which his own brother and friend Yati and Kacha held in the highest regard. This book was a nice read and I really loved the presentation of the translator. Khandekar wanted none but Inamdar to translate his work and I understand now why. This book should be read as a reading but no significant conclusions are to be drawn with the original Mahabharata. I love the way the author reminds the readers about it. It's a beautiful book about love and loss, life and death and bliss and sorrow. It's a book full of questions indicating us when life happens become Kacha, live and love like Kacha and be for the world like Kacha. ...more
Yayatis' character took the rest of 2 stars.
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The whole story is so poetic, so mesmerizing that I did not want it to end. And after I finished it, I was thinking if only I could read it in Marathi, the la Yayati is a beautifully crafted masterpiece by VS Khandekar. This is Yayti's story and the three central characters in his life, and what drives them. Each of the four characters are driven by either lust, ambition, love or sacrifice, and how their actions culminate into Yayati's infamy. His shame in taking his son's youth to sate his lust.
The whole story is so poetic, so mesmerizing that I did not want it to end. And after I finished it, I was thinking if only I could read it in Marathi, the language its written in originally. ...more
Fresh because we get a whole new perspective of some real characters from someone else' point of view in a fictional way.
Many thanks to Mr. Khandekar for mentioning this upfront.
Also, my review might be biased by the fact that I have read the translated English version of the novel which could have been different had I read the actual Marathi version.
The views about all the confusions and complicacies of life as described, even t
I would say that it's a fresh read rather than a nice or good read.Fresh because we get a whole new perspective of some real characters from someone else' point of view in a fictional way.
Many thanks to Mr. Khandekar for mentioning this upfront.
Also, my review might be biased by the fact that I have read the translated English version of the novel which could have been different had I read the actual Marathi version.
The views about all the confusions and complicacies of life as described, even though from the mouth of different characters of the story, are in actual the author's words and one would get completely absorbed in this. The literary content of all these & the story structure are absolutely delightful though; I can't duplicate on this. And if I say this even after a 3star rating on an English version, I just can't imagine what would have been the literature of the Marathi version. :)
Specially, the way of writing each phases of the story from 3 different person's perspective is the one thing which I liked a lot in this book.
I am no one to judge/provide my novice reviews on such a reputed and highly acclaimed writing but the book sometimes gave me the feeling of the characters being highly confused and over entangled in life. I would be happy to be wrong and ignored on this point of mine.
I was totally with the book 3/4th way through it but the last quarter of the story kind of throws repeated annoyance with the depiction of the characters and largely on the the-then society. But may be that was the real essence of the imagination of the writer.
Getting age old facts from the traditional stories of our great epics is not enough. But it always takes a lot and provides a lot to deviate from this and to make a fresh of a few things from our epics. This is the second of such kind of books that I came across so far.
Whatever is there in our epic that's there and still holds good but this sort of perspectives are something which still keeps our great epics alive and ever green.
And with those above words, I dedicate all those stars to this.
The different voices gives depth to varied emotions. How jealousy and anger can disrupt life; how being selfless gives strength to walk through difficult paths; how one's life depends their ha A classic tale of Lust - how potent a title. I'm not sure why its called a tale of lust. Perhaps because the 18 years of cup brimming with "happiness". To me its a tale of domestic. It's a tale of shades of love. Its a tale which without cliché royalty aspect would be a tale that is very common now a days!
The different voices gives depth to varied emotions. How jealousy and anger can disrupt life; how being selfless gives strength to walk through difficult paths; how one's life depends their hands. But what struck me most was the color of the characters, everyone were either too good or too bad; Yayati was grey, to be fair he was light grey! On the whole a decent read. I hoped for a tidier conclusion and ...more
It took me a while to understand the purpose of this book (for me). The author wants to share his views on spirituality, life, happiness, duties, ego, and so many things. And to strengthen his point, he picked a story from mythology that covers and portrays all these aspects beautifully.
It is a bit hard to decide how I feel about this book. I like books on Indian mythology, but this does not fall in that genre. Only the characters have been picked from there, and the storyline has been modified.It took me a while to understand the purpose of this book (for me). The author wants to share his views on spirituality, life, happiness, duties, ego, and so many things. And to strengthen his point, he picked a story from mythology that covers and portrays all these aspects beautifully.
The storytelling is superb, with characters you can totally relate to. However. can't give it five stars as the story is quite different from the mythological version, especially the intent behind the actions and events.
PS: I would have loved reading a Hindi translation of this book.
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A classic tale of lust
Translated version by VS Khandekar
Genre: mythological fiction
What a wonderful recount of the life and its associated accessories from the story of Yayati, a leaf from the tree of the Mahabharata. It has changed my perspective of the characters of the tale especially the unbridled licentious Yayati ....an enlightening and thorough review of his broadly viewed lustful selfish life ....the turn of events that transform a young courageous ardent Kshatriya prince into a
YayatiA classic tale of lust
Translated version by VS Khandekar
Genre: mythological fiction
What a wonderful recount of the life and its associated accessories from the story of Yayati, a leaf from the tree of the Mahabharata. It has changed my perspective of the characters of the tale especially the unbridled licentious Yayati ....an enlightening and thorough review of his broadly viewed lustful selfish life ....the turn of events that transform a young courageous ardent Kshatriya prince into a spiteful bitter lunatic drowned in the poised world of wine and women... forgetting all his righteous duties and even snatching his son's exuberant youth in exchange for a decrepit old man ...
Such an analytical and contemplative recital from the mythological epic of Mahabharata, the poignant and selfless love of Sharmishtha, the bewitching yet coy pretensions of Devyani , the superhuman powers of Maharishi Shukra...unable to gain mastery over his temper, Yadu and finally Puroo's magnanimous love and devotion to his father.... pivoted around the devoted and dutiful Kacha... all so engrossing and astounding!
A must read for all...
After reading this, I'm appalled by Devayani, I can't perceive of people like Sharmishtha and Puru, The ultimate pinnacle of selfless sacrifice, I feel sorry for Yayati. Maybe if Yati and Yayati both the sons of their cursed father had tried to keep that curse on a backseat and believ
When I came across this book, I was surprised that I didn't know of majority of the characters. Turns out, we only know from the Epic Mahabharat of people who could be glorified and of people who serve as a lesson.After reading this, I'm appalled by Devayani, I can't perceive of people like Sharmishtha and Puru, The ultimate pinnacle of selfless sacrifice, I feel sorry for Yayati. Maybe if Yati and Yayati both the sons of their cursed father had tried to keep that curse on a backseat and believed that they could have been happy, maybe they would not have been this miserable.
People like Alka, Madhav, Tarika, Madhvi, people who just exist in the background show such kindness and friendship and loyalty that you start to wonder if they should be the real heroes of the damned story.
Shukrachary and Kacch, the paradoxical epitome of power and so much more.
I wonder if I would ever know of everything about this fascinating epic, but this story has actually touched my soul in a way that I cannot understand.
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Amazing.
i have my own judgments for Yayati, Devayani, and Sharmishtha because the author did not judge them. he just represented the story from all the three-point of views without any prejudices or judgments. This is a masterpiece.
Yayati - I still did not like his character too much. One's choices decide it's destiny. He was still fortunate enough to be forgiven for all he did. Even after knowing his point of view, I think so.
Devayani - she was very arrogant and egocentric. But sh Magnificent.
Amazing.
i have my own judgments for Yayati, Devayani, and Sharmishtha because the author did not judge them. he just represented the story from all the three-point of views without any prejudices or judgments. This is a masterpiece.
Yayati - I still did not like his character too much. One's choices decide it's destiny. He was still fortunate enough to be forgiven for all he did. Even after knowing his point of view, I think so.
Devayani - she was very arrogant and egocentric. But she never deserved what she got, though she also decided all that for herself.
Sharmishtha - her arrogance led her to her misery. while reading she looks like the victim but she is not.
An epic representing how the power deludes you, how the lust can bring you to the hell. The story can be justified according to its time. One can thrive for love but infidelity, in the modern world, cannot be justified. That one which they called Gandharva vivah!!!
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My favourite line of all was from a letter by kacha : true love is a communication of minds. After sometimes it grows into communion of souls.
Being a householder is noble and pure sacrifice. But to have this sacrifice to bear fruit. The first thing husband and wife have to offer in sacrifice is their ego.
His writing never ceases to amaze me!
A good read for those who want to quench that urge of literary satisfaction.
His characters are as much mythological as they are relevant in today's era. His keen observation of human nature, grasp on the language and some glimpses of philosophical discussion time and again make it even more wonderful! Another phenomenal work by Khandekar!
His writing never ceases to amaze me!
A good read for those who want to quench that urge of literary satisfaction.
His characters are as much mythological as they are relevant in today's era. His keen observation of human nature, grasp on the language and some glimpses of philosophical discussion time and again make it even more wonderful! ...more
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Source: https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/7607918
