Satyavati and Shantanu

Epic Love Stories #3

by Ashok K. Banker

The figure of Bhishma looms large in the world’s largest epic, the Mahabharata. Young Devavrata, son of King Shantanu and the late Queen Ganga, has never forgotten his mother’s final words urging him to serve his father and ensure his happiness. After years of pitiful grieving, when Shantanu’s damaged heart finally reawakens and begins to stir with love for another woman, Devavrata is the happiest of all. When the king’s love for the fisher chief’s daughter Satyavati blooms into full-blown passion, not only Devavrata but the entire kingdom is thrilled: finally their beloved king will find happiness again. But an unrelenting condition placed by the fisher chief makes it nigh impossible for Shantanu to seal the match. When Devavrata realizes that his father is willing to sacrifice his last chance at happiness for him, he himself steps forward to offer a terrible vow and sacrifice, one that will change not only his life but the course of history itself. Plucked like a fragrant blossom from the pages of his own Mahabharata Series, Ashok presents this heart-moving story of love and sacrifice in his own inimitable style.

Genres: Mythology

92 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 10, 2012

About the author

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Reviews

[Jiten Upadhyay (Team ThinkerViews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

[Detailed #BookReview is available at: https://thinkerviews.com/books/englis...]
Summarized review coming soon...

[Smitha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story takes off where Ganga and Shantanu leaves us. Shantanu is happy to have his son, Devavrata, with him. Devavrata, is now a fine young man. Ganga had done a wonderful job with him, he is wise, fair and capable. The kingdom is delighted with their young prince.

Despite having his son with him, Shantanu is still pining away for Ganga. Even the people of his land had started to worry about the state of their king.

In this state, Shantanu meets Satyavati a fisherman’s daughter, and falls in love with her. He just knows that this is the woman for him, the person who give him the happiness Ganga couldn’t give him, the joys of living together forever. Excited, he goes to Satyavati’s father to ask her for her hand, when he is dealt a blow which he could never have imagined.

Shantanu feels cheated by fate and is dispirited and sad, when his son Devavrata, takes things into his hands and makes the ultimate sacrifice for his father’s happiness. An unthinkable sacrifice, the sacrifice which made Shantanu and Satyavati’s love possible.

Both of them are stories from Hindu Mythology, retold by the author, with the focus on the love story. I did wish he made it more than just physical attraction, which was how it came across to me. I wish the author had used some of his literary license and added some emotions beyond ‘love at first sight’, some interpretation which would have added to the story, but that’s just me, asking for more!

The books were very quick reads. 80 pages or so long, and very easy and quick to read. The books were fun to read, but probably not something I would buy and read.

[Swetha Vasu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read the author's book "Seeds of war"- his second book in the MahaBharatA series and I loved it.
I read this one, and the one thing that struck me was that this was an exact replica of some pages of the former!

If you possess the book- Seeds of war- you needn't buy this one. It is also incomplete in its essence- haphazard incidents without a sense of beginning/ completion.

However, not to rob the book of its merits, it is quite concise in its writing and is good enough for a desultory read.

In a crux:
Should you read this book?
Yes if you like it short and sweet or you want to read it to your kids.
No, if you love pouring over the tales of Mahabharata. A better pick might be the books from the author's MBA series.

[T.F. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cool light read. The story is not really new. It is an existing story from India's mythological epic Mahabharata faithfully reproduced. But it has been written in a simple language and in an extremely engaging manner that might appeal to low attention span readers. The packaging is also excellent. The cover and shape of book is excellent and the marketing as mythological romance series is a very good idea indeed. Talking of this particular book, it tended to drag a bit in some parts. Things were explained like telling a story to a child which might bore some of the adult readers. But overall a good read for a non serious reader and an excellent gift for your loved one.

[Pankaj Goyal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read a detailed review of this book on my blog:
https://pgalmora.wordpress.com/2016/1...