Blue God: A Life of Krishna

by Ramesh Menon

Blue God opens on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, where the Pandava warrior, Arjuna, suffers a crisis of courage. His charioteer, Krishna, expounds the eternal dharma for him. This exposition between two armies is the Bhagavad Gita, the Hindus Bible.BLUE GOD cuts back to Krishnas birth, and back again to the battlefield, and so on, chapter by chapter, until both narratives flow together near the books end. Never before have Krishnas sacred Gita and his colorful personality and life been put together in the same book, certainly not in English by a modern novelist for a modern audience.

Genres: Mythology, Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy, Hinduism

320 pages, Paperback

First published November 20, 2000

Reviews

[its_m_miracle · Rating 3 out of 5]

First of all, I loved the juxtaposition of the Gita and Krishna's life blending together in the chapters. I learnt many things about the Kaala Chakra as in the passing of time as wel as little tit-bits like how Krishna learnt to play the flute and such. I liked that to read the life of Krishna, you had to understand what life is through his own words and that's the reason I'm giving it three stars.

I was almost on the verge of DNFing this one because of the explicitly placed and unnecessary sexual and arousal scenes which made me uncomfortable because Krishna is always charming and enigmatic, never sexual. At one or two points, the author even degrades women and caste system (which is created by human and not God) in the name of Bhagwad Gita? Like when Krishna says to Krishna (which I think personally that Arjuna would never say when he's surrounded by so many strong women) and I quote, "When the laws perish, vice takes all the clan. You know what happens, Krishna. The women become loose, castes areixed and the age turns dark." It isn't just what Arjuna or Krishna and their lives stood for. The story and the writing felt bland and it didn't have the magic or the depth of knowledge and mischievous self of Krishna. So would recommend it if you can overlook all these things which irked me a bit.

[Sanjana Rajagopal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was well written for the most part, although the transition from Krishna’s life pre-Mahabharat to his life during the events of the Mahabharata wasn’t done that smoothly. I’m also a little shocked, frankly, that this book was so sexual. It seemed a bit sacreligious/irreverent to me, although perhaps I’m not seeing the “symbolism” of it or something. I’m not a fan of the Krishna that arose from this retelling: the author did a decent job with his childhood, but somehow the charm of Krishna was missing. Nevertheless, worth the read, even though this doesn’t stand a chance against similar novels like The Palace of Illusions. Now THAT was a Krishna I liked.

[Arvind · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that makes it progressively harder to not be charmed and and in awe of Krishna as a fictional character with every page - even for an agnost like myself. It's refreshing to see an unapologetically morally ambiguous portrayal of the Supreme (although I did find the book overly sexual at times).

[Nithya Shri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Krishna. This book was existential. An essence of 'human-ness ' in God . The juxtaposition was realistic, relatable, heartwarming, breaking, silencing most importantly realising.
Krishna.

[Vidhya Aiyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully portrays the pain and dilemma of Krishna

[Ted Shaffner · Rating 4 out of 5]

excellent telling in a modern style. the book sent me down rabbit holes of sustained study of the Puranas and the Gita and Sanskrit, which is surely how it should be.

[PP · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel educated and entertained. However for the best part of this book, the alternating-between-two-tracks literary tool that Menon has employed is slightly tedious and I found myself looking forward only to the parts about The Blue God's life compared to the narrative of the Geeta which transpires on the threshold of the Kurukshetra war. The last chapter is where both converge and it is captivating.

All in all, this book was an interesting read for me, as it will be for anyone who has a yen for mythology paired with a poor memory! So many parts of the story were familiar, but I found I had forgotten some intersting little detail. Wikipedia was an invaluable resource that I frequented for more background on a certain character or certain event referred to in the book! Would love to read the far more lucid writer, Devdutt Pattanaik's take on the same topic!

[Shivani Sheopory Hernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now this was an exciting book! Beautifully and creatively inter-weaving the Blue Lord's playful, adventurous, courageous life with small portions of the Gita- this book cover's Krishna's own emotions while relaying the Gita with sensitivity and uses the support of the engaging life-stories to bring to life the conflict of the man-God that Krishna was- rather, how we overcame his fear as a man and grew into a God.

[Rupertt Wind · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful book that transcends beyond the cover, the author and the folly restrictions imposed by the paper and its ink. A truly moving and inspirational and motivational book.

[Sunaina Chaturvedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful juxtaposition of the Bhagavad Gita and the Bhagavad Purana

[Elbe · Rating 5 out of 5]

How else would you rate the book written about your Beloved than with one word... love?

[Anway · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a life-changing experience.