4. Ram Sharan Sharma. Aspects of Political Ideas and Institutions in Ancient India. Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, 2012
5. Vettam Mani. Puranic Encyclopedia. Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi 2010; Malayalam ed: DC Books, Kottayam 2013 [Ed: Perhaps the most comprehensive book on various Puranic characters; written as short notes, alphabetically arranged. A good reference source for anyone interested in Hindu mythology.]
6. The Mahabharata of Krishna Dwaipayana Vyasa – Translated from original Sanskrit to English by Kisari Mohan Ganguly, (1883-1896), ebook converted by sacred-books.com
7. 18 Puranas, unabridged version, DC books, 2014 [a collection of 18 Puranas in Malayalam, published by DC books, Kottayam]
*****
SELECT GLOSSARY
Aarti – Worship with lamps
Acharya – Guru, teacher
Achuyuta – Another name for Krishna
Aghoris – Ascetic worshippers of Shiva who do not believe in caste or the taboos of Hinduism; known for extreme and even outlandish penance
Ajaya – Unconquerable
Andha – Blind
Anga – Ancient Indian kingdom; present-day Eastern Bihar and parts of Bengal
Angavasthra – Shawl worn by nobles
Ashwini Twins – Gods of sunrise and sunset
Astra – Arrow/shaft; described by the epics as having divine powers
Asura – Hindu mythology portrays Asuras as demons of darkness – the antithesis to Devas, the Gods; here, they are one among many tribes
Atharva – The fourth Veda, which speaks of magic, spells, etc.
Atma – Soul
Avarna – A person who does not belong to the first three castes; literally one without colour (varna); opposite of savarna (person with a good colour)
Ayurveda – Ancient Indian system of medicine
Bindi – Red dot worn on the forehead by Hindu women
Brahmacharya – Self-imposed vow of celibacy; a period of life as a student when a man observes brahmacharya; to seek or follow God
Brahman – The Supreme Power responsible for Creation and the Universe
Brahmin – The highest Hindu caste and varna – Priests and scholars; Hindu society was divided into four varnas (refer Varna for details), and further sub-divided into jatis (castes); these varied from region to region (eg. a Brahmin from Kashmir in the north and one from Andhra in the south, belonged to the same varna but did not intermarry as they belonged to different castes)
Chaitra – Indian calendar month when spring begins
Chandagyo – One of the most important of the Upanishads
Chandalas – One of the lowest of the Untouchable castes; keepers of graveyards; those who carried the dead
Chaturvarnas – The four varnas (refer Varna for details)
Chenda – A south Indian drum beaten with a curved stick; known even today as the Asura Vadhya or ‘musical instrument of the Asuras’ and used during festivals in Kerala and parts of south Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
Chera – Ancient kingdom in south India, with Muzaris as its capital
Chettis – Merchant caste of south India (corruption of the term shresti)
Crore – One hundred lakhs; ten million
Dakshinajanapada – Land south of the Vindhyas; south India
Darshan – Literally ‘view’; it was customary for Indian monarchs to appear at a balcony and hear petitions from their subjects
Dasa – Servant or slave
Dasi – Female servant/slave
Devi – a polite way to address a woman. Also means goddess. ‘Bhavathi’ was a later day usage.
Dhanurveda – Science of arms and weapon-making
Dharma – Rough translation: duty, righteousness etc; but dharma encompasses more – it is the code of life; antonym: adharma
Dharmaveera – Warrior or hero of dharma
Dharmayudha – Ancient code of battle
Dhoti – Traditional lower garment for men, made from an unstitched length of cloth; also worn in different styles by lower-class women in ancient India
Gandhara – Present-day Kandahar in Afghanistan
Gandharvas – Singers in the courts of the Gods; considered to be supernatural beings pining for love; messengers between the Gods and men; here, they are simply another aboriginal tribe
Ganga – Ganges
Gangotri – Glacier from where the Ganga originates
Gayatri – Sacred Hindu mantra from the Rig Veda; when the caste system was at its zenith, many texts forbade Shudras from even listening to it; some texts advocated pouring molten lead into the ears of Shudras who heard the Gayatri even accidently – though it is doubtful if it was really practised
Ghat – A broad flight of steps leading down to a river
Gobar – Cow dung
Har Har Mahadev – Hail Shiva, the Greatest God
Hari – Another name for Lord Vishnu
Hastinapura – City of Elephants, capital of the Kuru kingdom
Indra – King of the Gods; used here as a generic name of the tribe who are the nominal rulers of the Devas; Indra, their last King, lives in penury; he is also the biological father of Arjuna
Indraprastha – Ancient capital of the Pandavas; present-day New Delhi
Jambu Dweepa – Ancient Indian name for Asia
Jaya – Victory
Kala – Time; also God of Time and Death, commonly known as Yama (derived from the unit for measuring time – yamam)
Kalaripayattu – Traditional martial art form of Kerala
Kalinga – Present-day Odisha (roughly)
Kaliya Mardana – Kaliya: a poisonous snake (naga), in the original Mahabharata; Mardana: punishment, suppression etc. Kaliya Mardana is one telling of the legend of Lord Krishna punishing the naga for his evil deeds.
Kamarupa – Ancient name for present-day Assam
Karma – Action or deed
Kashi – Another name for the holy city of Varanasi or Benaras
Kauravas – Scions of the Kuru dynasty
Khandiva – Present-day Delhi
Kingara – Servants; soldier-slaves
Kinnaras – In Hindu mythology, these are celestial musicians, half-horse and half-human; ere, they are treated as just another tribe
Kirata – A wild tribe
Kshatriyas – The warrior caste; often kings and rulers
Kuravan, Malayans, Vannans, Velans – Tribes from the Western Ghats (Sahyas) of India. They were Priests before the Brahmins became prominent; even today, many rituals in the Malabar region are conducted by these people
Kurta – Indian shirt
Lakh – One hundred thousand
Lathi – Baton, usually used by the police to control crowds
Leela – Divine play or drama
Lord Vishwanatha – Lord of the Universe; another name for Shiva
Ma – Mother
Madhava – Another name for Krishna
Mahadeva – Great God; another name for Shiva
Maheswara – Great God; another name for Shiva
Mahout – Elephant handler
Mata – Mother
Maya – Illusion
Mela – Gathering
Milavu, Timila, Maddallam & Mrudangam – Percussion instruments
Mlecha – Barbaric/uncivilized people; term usually used for foreigners like the Greeks or Chinese, in ancient India
Moksha – Salvation; nirvana in Buddhism
Muzaris – Ancient port city on the South-Western coast of India, 50 kms north of modern-day Cochin, in Kerala
Nagas – An ancient tribe; literally ‘serpents’; here they represent a warring tribe that rises against caste oppression
Namaskara – ‘I bow to the goodness in thee’ – a form of greeting; also Namaste
Nishada – A hunter tribe
Onam – The only Indian festival celebrated in honour of an Asura King – Mahabali; State festival of Kerala; people still believe the reign of this Asura King (cheated of his kingdom by Lord Vishn
u in his Vamana avatar), is the ideal, and every human being was considered equal
Pallavas – Ancient south-Indian kingdom; its capital was Kanchipuram/Kanchi
Pallu – The loose end of a sari draped over the head or over one shoulder
Panchayat – Indian village Council, usually with 5 members
Pandavas – Sons of Pandu
Pandya – Ancient kingdom in south India with Madurai as its capital
Parameswara – Literally ‘Supreme God’; another name for Shiva, one of the Trinity of Hindu Gods (the other two being Brahma and Vishnu)
Parashuramakshetra – Place of Parashurama – the ancient kingdom of Cheras (Gokarna to Kanyakumari, between the Sahyas and the sea). It is believed Parashurama reclaimed this land from the sea and gifted it to the Brahmins
Pariah – Lowest caste, and the most discriminated against
Parvati – Lord Shiva’s consort
Pasupathi – Literally ‘Lord of the Beasts’; usually applied to Shiva
Patala – Netherworld; here, capital of the Asuras in exile
Poorna – River in Kerala; also known as Periyar
Prabhasa – A city in present-day Gujarat
Prabhu – Sir, an honorific; also used to mean a rich man
Puja – Religious ritual
Purendra – Indra, King of the Gods; also known as ‘destroyer of cities’
Ragas – Scales in Indian classical music
Raja Dharma – Code of ethics for rulers
Rajasuya – Sacrifice performed by Indian Kings in ancient times, who considered themselves powerful enough to be Emperors
Rakshasa – Mythological evil being
Sabha – Court or assembly
Sahya – Mountains running parallel to the Western seaboard of India
Samhita – A collection of holy hymns/science/knowledge
Sanathana – Eternal; Hinduism is often considered to be an eternal religion without beginning or end
Sarpasatra – a sacrifice of serpents. This perhaps refers to an ancient pogrom when the Naga race was eliminated
Sari – Traditional attire of Indian women, made from -six yards of unstitched cloth
Sarpanch – Village Chief/Head of the Panchayat
Sarswati – A mighty river which once flowed between the Indus and Ganges, which has now vanished
Shastras – Rules, codes, tradition, science, specialised knowledge
Shiva – The Destroyer, one of the Hindu Trinity of Gods who at the end of each eon, destroys the Universe, after which Brahma the Creator, re-creates it
Shivalinga – Phallic symbol of Lord Shiva
Shravan – Fifth month of the Hindu calendar; considered to be a holy month
Shri – Honorific for gentlemen; equivalent to Mister; also spelt Sri, Shree etc.
Shudra – Lowest of the four Varnas, the other three being (in order of precedence): Brahmana, Khshatriya, and Vaishya
Sindhu – River Indus; also the land around it; here, Indus is ruled by Jayadratha, Duryodhana’s brother-in-law
Smritis – ‘That which is remembered’; Hindu laws written by different sages; including Manu Smriti, the code for society in ancient India
Soma – Important ritual drink during Vedic times; also the moon
Somanatha – Celebrated temple of Lord Shiva – Lord of Somas (life energy)
Stithapranja – A rough translation is ‘one who maintains equanimity in joy and sorrow’; however, the word has a deeper meaning and is said to encapsulate the essence of the Gita
Suta – Charioteer caste; also famous as storytellers. Kings often used them to propagate tales of their valour in battle
Swami – Sir, an honorific used to address a social superior
Swayamvara – Ancient Indian custom wherein a girl chose her groom from a gathering of suitors, sometimes through competition
Tapsya – Penance
Timila – Percussion instrument of Asura origin
Trimurti – Trinity of Gods: Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the Preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer
Tulsi – Holy Basil; a plant revered in Hinduism, especially in the worship of Krishna or Vishnu
Upanishads – Collection of holy books; along with the commentaries (called Brahmanas), forming the basis of Indian philosophical thought
Urumi – Sinuous, belt-like sword used in Kalaripayattu, an ancient martial art form of south India
Uttariya – Shawl, worn as a shoulder cloth
Vaikunta – Abode of Lord Vishnu and the heaven reserved for his devotees
Vaishya – Merchant caste
Vana – Grove or forest
Vanara – Monkey; here they are a tribe of mixed descent, living in southern India
Vanga – Present-day Bengal, including Bangladesh
Varna – Literally ‘colour’; also meaning ‘social groups’; Hindu society was divided into 4 basic varnas: Brahmana or Brahmins (Priests and teachers) at the top; Kshatriyas or warriors second; Vaishya or merchants third; and Shudras (farmers, craftsmen, foot soldiers, petty traders, dancers, musicians, etc) at the bottom of the caste hierarchy; below these were the poorest of the poor, the Untouchables
Varnashrama – In the ancient Hindu way of life, the ideal lifespan of an individual maintaining dharma, was divided into 4 stages: student, householder, retiree; and renunciation
Vatapi – Present-day Badami, a city in north-central Karnataka
Vayu – God of Winds
Vedas – The four holy books (Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva) of the Hindus; considered to possess all the wisdom of the world
Vijaya – Victory
Vindhyas – Mountain ranges which separate northern and southern India
Vishnu – The Preserver, second of the Hindu Trinity of Gods, who protects the rhythm of the Universe
Yadava – Tribe of cowherds
Yajna – Ritual sacrifice of herbal preparations into the fire with Vedic mantras
Yaksha – Supernatural beings, sometimes the patron Gods of trees and forests in Hindu mythology, believed to guard hidden treasures. The female of the species (Yakshi), are notorious for charming unsuspecting travellers into the forest and drinking their blood or eating them; here, they are simply a tribe
Yavana Desa – Greece
Yavana – Greek
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My thanks go to my readers, without whose support, encouragement and criticism of my novels, Asura, Tale of the Vanquished and the first book of the Ajaya – epic of the Kaurava clan, Roll of the dice, I would not have dared to write the second part of Ajaya – Rise of Kali – within a year. I thank each of my readers who were kind enough to write to me with their feedback. I also thank the readers of the translated versions of Asura in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam and Gujarati languages.
To Swarup Nanda, for being a friend and guide for Asura and Ajaya.
To my Editor, Chandralekha Maitra, for guiding me in making my writing better while giving me enough creative freedom, and then suffering my draft manuscripts with patience.
To my Publisher, Leadstart Publishing, for showing confidence in me by publishing my third book, Ajaya, Rise of Kali.
My sincere gratitude to the other team members: Daniel, Indur, Preeti, Iftikar, Rajesh, Ramu, Salam and many others, who have worked with dedication to make my previous books a great success and showing the same enthusiasm for this one.
To my father, the Late L. Neelakantan, and mother, the Late D. Chellamal, for introducing me to the world of mythology.
To my Aparna, for your unstinting support in my endeavours and for the love I often wonder if I deserve.
To my daughter Ananya and son Abhinav, for keeping the storyteller in me alive, by demanding more and more stories every night and being the kind of critics any author dreads.
To my sister Chandrika and my brother-in-law Parameswaran, my brothers Lokanathan, Rajendran and my sisters-in-law Meena and Radhika; also my nephew Dileep, and nieces Rakhi and Deepa
, as well as my extended family members, for all those wonderful days.
To my pet Jacky, the blackie, who keeps me glued to my laptop by barking at the slightest show of laziness and demanding I take him for a walk as punishment the moment I lift my fingers from the keyboard.
To Santosh Prabhu, Sujith Krishnan, and Rajesh Rajan, for the evenings spent together discussing Indian philosophy and the Mahabharata, years ago, which sowed the seeds of this novel in me.
To Premjeet, for his maverick ideas, to Ashish Bhatnagar for reading and criticising my first drafts. To Essarpee (S R Prashanth) and D Sivaprasad, for their support in my online campaigns.
To my country and my people, for tolerating different points of view and for the richness of our history and mythology.
To the rich traditions of my hometown, Thripoonithura, and the history of Cochin.
To Vedavyasa, the patron of all Indian writers; the greatest writer to have walked this earth.
To the masters of writing in all our Indian languages, with sincere apologies for daring to attempt something that has already been so skillfully essayed by you over the centuries.
I owe much to all of you, as well as to the others who I may have not named here.
*****
# 1 BESTSELLER
Tomorrow is my funeral. I do not know if they will bury me like a mangy dog or I will have a funeral fit for an Emperor – an erstwhile Emperor. But it does not really matter. I can hear the scuffing sounds made by the jackals. They are busy eating my friends and family. Something scurried over my feet. What was it? I haven’t the strength to raise my head. Bandicoots. Big, dark, hairy rats. They conquer the battlefields after foolish men have finished their business of killing each other. It is a feast day for them today, just as it has been for the past eleven days. The stench is overpowering with the stink of putrefying flesh, pus, blood, urine and death. The enemy’s and ours. It does not matter. Nothing matters now. I will pass out soon. The pain is excruciating. His fatal arrow struck my lower abdomen. But I am not afraid of death. I have been thinking of it for some time now. Thousands have been slain over the last few days.
Somewhere in the depths of the sea, my brother Kumbha lies dead, half-eaten by sharks. I lit my son Meghanada’s funeral pyre yesterday. Or was it the day before? I’ve lost all sense of time. I have lost the sense of many things. A lonely star is shimmering in the depths of the universe. Like the eye of God. Very much like the third eye of Shiva, an all-consuming, all-destroying third eye. My beloved Lanka is being destroyed. I can still see the dying embers in what was once a fine city. My capital Trikota was the greatest city in the world. That was before the monkey-man came and set it on fire. Trikota burned for days. Shops, homes, palaces, men, women, and babies, everything burned. But we restored it. Almost every able man joined in rebuilding Trikota. Then the monkey-men came with their masters and destroyed everything again. Hanuman did that to us. The monkey-man brought us death, destruction and defeat.
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