Swathi

“his love was totally different from every other love in my life. Unlike them, it didn't expect me to behave in a certain way. It didn't change into displeasure or anger or even hatred if I didn't comply. It healed me.”
― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Palace of Illusions

“The fates are cruel,” Bheeshma whispered, “and they’ve been crueler than usual to you. But the sins you committed in ignorance are not your fault.”

“I’ll still have to pay for them,” Karna said. “Isn’t that how karma works? Look at what happened to Pandu, who killed a sage by accident, thinking him to be a wild deer. He had to bear the consequences of it for the rest of his life.”
― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Palace of Illusions

“Were the stories we told each other true? Who knows? At the best of times, a story is a slippery thing.
Perhaps that was why it changed with each telling. Or is that the nature of all stories, the reason for their power?”
― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Palace of Illusions

“... woman’s highest purpose in life is to support the warriors in her life: her father, brother, husband, and sons. If they should be called to war, she must be happy that they have the opportunity to fulfill a heroic destiny. Instead of praying for their safe return, she must pray that they die with glory on the battlefield... I promised myself I’d never pray for their deaths. I’d teach them, instead, to be survivors. And why was a battle necessary at all? Surely there were other ways to glory, even for men? I’d teach them to search for those.”
― Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, The Palace of Illusions