Ajaya: Roll of the Dice by Anand Neelakantan

Ajaya: Roll of the Dice by Anand Neelakantan
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

An amalgamation of Mahabharata and the evils of the caste system in India. The author has been inspired by the evils of the caste system as it exists today and has spun the Mahabharata to show how it could have been different if one were to view it from the perspective of the "oppressed classes".

As per the author the Pandavas and Krishna were a scheming lot who wanted to retain their domination over the lower classes (read Shudras amongst whom the author bunches asuras, nagas, nishadas and others). They hide behind the brahmin's interpretation of the scriptures to justify their schemes.

Duryodhana or Suyodhana and the Kauravas, along with Kripacharya, Ashwatama, Karna, Jayadratha, Jarasandha and others want to bring equality among the castes and wish to do away with the domination of the priestly class.

The book ends with Yudishtra losing everything in the game of dice to Shakuni and Duryodhan and Dushasana or Sushasana and Karna demanding that Draupadi be brought before them.

The author was inspired by this, Poruvazhy Peruviruthy Malanada temple in Kerala which is dedicated to Duryodhan. In his search for the Pandavas Duryodhan had reached this village tired and thirsty. He was given some toddy by a woman from the lower caste. He had not taken objection to being served by the lower caste and hand instead blessed and built a temple without a deity in it and appointed the lower caste people as the priests. This lead the local populace accept him as their benefactor and the worship him to this day.

While there will be enough takers for the book and would like to believe in the author's theory I for one find it difficult to accept it. If there really were people who wanted to eliminate the caste system we would have had a social revolution long back and things would have been very different today. Not sure if would read the remaining parts of the book. Maybe will read the Asura (about Ravana), sometime, as I already have bought it :-).

The author quotes his father's explanation of the Mahabharata and it is worth quoting it here. According to his father one should look out for the hidden symbolism of Mahabharata rather than trying to understand it as a story about real characters. The 100 Kauravas represent the Desires and follies of the mind. Hundred is just a number used to represent 'numerous', and should not be taken literally. Dhirtarashtra represents Ego, which is blind and produces numerous Desires. Some are good and others bad. The Kaurava names have both positive preffix "Su" and the negative prefix "Du". Gandhari represents the Mind and the blind maternal Love. Hence, the desires are sons of blind parents - Mind and Ego.
On another plane, the Pandavas represent the five Senses. They are all married to Draupadi, also called Krishna (black). Black represents Anger. The marriage of the five senses to Anger, has catastrophic results when fighting the Desires - such as when Pandavas visit the Kaurava sabha for the game of dice. Believing in Fate, not action, they gamble with Desires, and lose everything. Anger is shamed and disrobed by Desires and Fate. The Pandavas also represent the five Virtues: Yudhistra represents Wisdom, as the son of Time (Kala), Bhima potrays Strength, as the son of Vayu (Prana), Arjuna represents Willpower, as the son of Indra, Nakula and Sahadeva stand for Beauty and Knowledge, as sons of Aswinis, the Gods of Dawa/Beginnings. It is Krishna who brings the Pandavas and the Desires together at Kurukshetra. He is the Universal Soul (Paramatma). Black represents vastness/depth here. The Virtues are fated to lose without this aid. Kurukshetra represents the Soul. with the aid of Universal Consciousness, the Virtues triumph over desires.

A very interesting explanation. More rationale than what the author has portrayed.

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