Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik

Pregnant King by Devdutt Pattanaik
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

After having read quite a few books of this author it appears that the author has gone through three phases. The first phase was where he took the Indian "mythology" and rewrote it them to appeal the Western audience. These books interpret everything from a sexual perspective which appeals to the Western audience (and to many Eastern ones too).

In the second phase there seems to have been a transformation, possibly a feeling of guilt or genuine realization where the sexual references have been toned down.

The third phase is one where these references are almost absent.

This book falls in the transformational second phase. While there are sexual references one can feel the toning down of these.

As the author himself states at the end of the book, he has taken the story of The Pregnant King from one of the many sub-stories of Mahabharata. He has let his imagination go wild and the result is the book. The book is about a King who is unable to fulfill his wishes through his life. He marries three women but even after 13 years he is unable to father a child. He calls up two yakshas to perform a yagna for him to conceive. Circumstances lead to his drinking the blessed water and he becomes pregnant. After giving birth to a son he is tormented by the thought "Am a mother or Am I a father to my son?". He wants to be a mother, but the society including his son treat him as a father.

The book feels incomplete.

An OK read.

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