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The Making of Bhishma: Fall of The Kurus
About Book:
Book I: The Making of Bhishma, portrays the world of Hastinapura as its rulers try to manage the crisis. It explores the impact of this conflict on the life of Devavrata (Bhishma), eldest son of Shantanu, ruler of Hastinapura. His mother had committed suicide since the Kavi Sangha's one-family-one-child policy has required her to sacrifice seven of her children. Subsequently, Devavrata is disinherited so Shantanu can marry Satyavati, who demands the Kavi Sangha policies not apply to her. In a moment of anger, Devavrata vows to remain celibate. On the death of his father, he and Satyavati are compelled to rule as co-Regents for her underage sons – Chitrangada and Vichitravirya. But Devavrata is unable to prevent Chitrangada's murder by the invading Shakas. His subsequent actions to protect the borders of Hastinapura earn him the cognomen Bhishma (The Terrible). A secret love affair with Amba is cut short when she disappears. Vichitravirya dies just before his sons are born and Devavrata once again becomes co-Regent for his nephews, Dhritarashtra and Pandu. He narrates much of this story on his deathbed, as a prisoner of the sons of Pandu; other narrators fill in what he could not have known. At the end of his life, Devavrata muses over all that he gave up and left unmade in his own life while he built the Kuru Empire – an empire over which the Great War was fought.
About Author:Kamesh Ramakrishna grew up in Bombay (Mumbai). On graduating from IIT-Kanpur, he went on to obtain a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, specializing in Artificial Intelligence. He has since worked as a Professor and Software Engineer; receiving some patents; a software architect for some foundational products; a CTO for a start-up; and in recent years, a Consulting Software Architect. For over twenty years Kamesh has been an avid student of history, archaeology, science and philosophy, drawn to the latent interconnections between these disciplines. His interests have had a tremendous influence on this book, the core ideas underlying which have been previously published in two peer-reviewed journals – The Trumpeter (Canada), and The Indian Journal of Eco-criticism. Kamesh lives with his family in Massachusetts, USA
498 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 7, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 29, 2018
Let me start this way
I have read Mahabharata where Pandavas were heroes,
I have read Mahabharata where Suyodhana was a hero,
I have read Mahabharata where both parties were neutral,
I have read Mahabharata where everyone had divine powers,
I have read Mahabharata where everyone was a normal human being,
I have read Mahabharata where gods were aliens and Kaurava/Pandavas were alien-human breed.
So as given in forward, there are more than thousands of ways to tell Mahabharata, the important part is how the story unveils. In author has shown or I would say started a journey of this epic with normal human race struggling for agriculture settlement and problems related to that.
Before I start those who don't want to deviate from original/Vedic /mainstream Mahabharata stories, can simply ignore this book and skip our review. Because the author has taken a good level of independence and colored our favorite characters as per his imagination. For example, in our story, Devavrata Bhishma took a vow of celibacy and he never had a wife /affair. Wherein here the story starts with Amba having affair with Bhishma before he had taken the vow and Shikhandin was shown as Bhishma's son. So you can only imagine the level of freedom the author has taken to prepare his characters.
The principal war of Mahabharata is shown in this book as the difference between economic strategy. Bhishma in the capacity of three-time regency had used the expansion of Kuru borders into (mostly) Naga territory through exploitation. Dhritarashtra and (later on) Suyodhana supported his tactics. But Pandu and (later on) Yudhisthira believed in peace. So Yudhisthira wanted to stop expansion and would like to work hand in hand with Nagas. This fundamental economic/strategic difference along with bloodline issue led to break in bond and Kuru lineage. The story started with Bhishma in deathbed and Yudhisthira requested to tell him the history of how it all started. Bhishma hesitated initially, but memory started flooding in front of his eyes. Yudhisthira wanted to know events which have led the war situation. Surprisingly, when Bhishma thought of, the majority of his decisions had created the problems that generation of Yudhisthira & Suyodhana were facing. I don't want to kill or spoil your reading experience so not giving away much plot.
Undoubtedly a must read. One should at least give a try to imagine how would be real life of Mahabharata times if those people were a mere human. A sure shot page-turner, it won't make you feel that you have read a 500 pages-long book.
Detailed Review Link - https://chevusread.blogspot.com/2018/...
I have read Mahabharata where Pandavas were heroes,
I have read Mahabharata where Suyodhana was a hero,
I have read Mahabharata where both parties were neutral,
I have read Mahabharata where everyone had divine powers,
I have read Mahabharata where everyone was a normal human being,
I have read Mahabharata where gods were aliens and Kaurava/Pandavas were alien-human breed.
So as given in forward, there are more than thousands of ways to tell Mahabharata, the important part is how the story unveils. In author has shown or I would say started a journey of this epic with normal human race struggling for agriculture settlement and problems related to that.
Before I start those who don't want to deviate from original/Vedic /mainstream Mahabharata stories, can simply ignore this book and skip our review. Because the author has taken a good level of independence and colored our favorite characters as per his imagination. For example, in our story, Devavrata Bhishma took a vow of celibacy and he never had a wife /affair. Wherein here the story starts with Amba having affair with Bhishma before he had taken the vow and Shikhandin was shown as Bhishma's son. So you can only imagine the level of freedom the author has taken to prepare his characters.
The principal war of Mahabharata is shown in this book as the difference between economic strategy. Bhishma in the capacity of three-time regency had used the expansion of Kuru borders into (mostly) Naga territory through exploitation. Dhritarashtra and (later on) Suyodhana supported his tactics. But Pandu and (later on) Yudhisthira believed in peace. So Yudhisthira wanted to stop expansion and would like to work hand in hand with Nagas. This fundamental economic/strategic difference along with bloodline issue led to break in bond and Kuru lineage. The story started with Bhishma in deathbed and Yudhisthira requested to tell him the history of how it all started. Bhishma hesitated initially, but memory started flooding in front of his eyes. Yudhisthira wanted to know events which have led the war situation. Surprisingly, when Bhishma thought of, the majority of his decisions had created the problems that generation of Yudhisthira & Suyodhana were facing. I don't want to kill or spoil your reading experience so not giving away much plot.
Undoubtedly a must read. One should at least give a try to imagine how would be real life of Mahabharata times if those people were a mere human. A sure shot page-turner, it won't make you feel that you have read a 500 pages-long book.
Detailed Review Link - https://chevusread.blogspot.com/2018/...
October 28, 2022
I understand that it's a new look at mythology of Mahabharat, but the amount of changes and the way it was done didn't settle well with me. Unlike the Immortals of Meluha, which is also a real/modern take on mythology, this one was way too much for me to handle.
May 30, 2023
Superb
A superb retelling of the story if Bhishma. He was always one of my favourites from the Mahabharata. Great job
A superb retelling of the story if Bhishma. He was always one of my favourites from the Mahabharata. Great job
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews