Awesome finale to a fascinating take on Mahabharat. Review on The Aryavarta Chronicles Book 3: Kurukshetra - Krishna Udayasankar

I thoroughly enjoyed Kurukshetra, the latest and last book in the Aryavarta Chronicles series

Synopsis – Aryavarta is at the brink of war and the nobles of the realm are forced to choose. The choice is not between Syyodhan and Dharma Yudhishtir but rather between an acquiescence to status quo and a commitment to re-creation, to trust in the common man.

Govinda Shauri will sacrifice everything and everyone to give humanity a fresh start without war. But there are forces at work wanting that cataclysm, thwarting his attempts at sacrifice and he faces opposition from quarters he never expected. When events spin out of his control, what happens? Kurukshetra…

Rating – Krishna Udayasankar is an outstanding writer, there is no question about it. If I were to compare her latest book to others of the same genre or indeed to others that have come out in the last 20 years or so, Kurukshetra would, without doubt, deserve a 5 out of 5. But if Kurukshetra were put in a head to head match up with the previous two in the same series, I would have to give it a 4

Review – There is a melancholy about Govinda in this phase of his life and an honesty about him. The mess that Aryavarta had become is shown very well and the reasons each kingdom had to choose the side they did are beautifully explained. Most Mahabharat based books and shows either explain the offer to Karna away as fitting with societal norms and/or divinely ordained or avoid it altogether. Ms Udayansankar has dealt with it and surprisingly it fits into the narrative very well. I would say the same for the reaction to poor Ghatotkatch’s death. The thoughts running through Govinda’s mind on entering Hastinapur court were an unexpected treat

But the war and battle strategies were the most awesome part of the book, in my opinion. Bheeshma’s missiles were so beautifully described I felt the whoosh of air right along with Shikhandin, the fear and the pain and the awe. Abhimanyu vadh kept me crying. The young man’s blood lust, youthful stupidity, valor, regret and his love for Uttara kept me praying that he would somehow escape his fate. Jaydrath vadh takes you right there to Kuru’s fields into the eerie darkness, unnatural perhaps to the common man and understood as divine in nature. Ghatotkatch and his sacrifice will surely feel like a knife to your heart. Narayanaastra awed me. Nagaastra and how Govinda saves Parth from it chilled me.

The realistic depiction of the war camp was another big plus. The natural strife between conflicting ideas of the commanders, the reason for the various incredibly insane strategies from the Pandava side all made for enjoyable reading. My awe of Govinda Shauri went up several notches when I realized he had to fight not just the opposing armies. Narayani Sena fights for Syyodhan and one always wonders why; here we have a good explanation. But Govinda is also fighting prejudice, narrow mindedness, ego and in one particular instance a love so deep, it came to be called devotion

The negatives are not that many, but there are a few. The book could have been more tightly edited. There were several unnecessary scenes involving secondary/minor characters which could have been dealt with in one or two sentence conversation between any on the Pandava side. Govinda fills the pages. Which is just fine by me. But, it does make some parts look a little abrupt, like Parth’s sudden doubts, Bheem’s near insanity and several people’s change towards the end.

The other problem I had is with the limited presence of the female protagonist. Then there was statement made by Uttara to the effect that Subhadra as opposed to Panchali was more independent, which was quite surprising to me given the events of Book 1. The moments that Govinda and Panchali have together have so much depth in them, I wish the author had included more of them.

I loved how the Abhimanyu-Uttara relationship was developed, but they were given so much space and I had been hoping to see more of the Parth-Govinda friendship and of Panchali-Govinda. And I was hoping to see more of a connect between Parth and Panchali as well, even if not romantic. In some places, it almost seemed as though the author was grappling with some of the questions in her mind and working them out on paper.

For example, in the conversations between Syyodhan and Ashwatthama regarding Govinda. I usually score a book by how many times I hear the author instead of the characters. In the whole series, there were 2. One was when Panchali makes a bitter comment on perhaps calling Dussasan ‘brother’ may have saved her from the disrobing. The second was in that conversation I mentioned. The overall flow was so smooth that these instances jarred me out of the story.

I always felt that Swarga Parva in the original epic, even shorn of the divinity part, was way too pat. Kurukshetra has a nice take on what happened. I confess to not understanding Govinda’s statement about Narayana not abandoning Sri here. But perhaps the ambiguity was deliberate.

Recommendation – Highly recommend! And looking forward to the author’s next, The Cowherd Prince. If we are lucky, she will tell us more about Ghora Angirasa’s heir in this book as well!