Mythology plays an
important part in child rearing and like most Indians I grew up on stories from
our ancient past, hearing for the stories of the Ramayana and Mahabharat from my grandmother. Intrigued by these timeless
tales that resonate even today, I tried reading C. Rajagoplachari’s  Mahabharat which regrettably was written so
laboriously and clumsily that I preferred instead to acquaint myself with the
stories through the  “Amar Chitra
Katha” series! It was, therefore , with a hint of skepticism that I took
up ” The Seeds of War”, the second in the series of Ashok Banker’s
re-telling of the Mahabharat; I must say I was surprised to find how pleasantly
readable  it was. In language that is
simple to understand, yet old fashioned enough to maintain the ethos of ancient
times, Banker takes on a voice that appeals to the modern reader.  The Mahabharat is the culmination of a series of events set in motion long before the heroes of this epic were born. And in this book, Banker introduces us to the various characters whose actions sow the seeds of this epic battle of succession between the two branches of the Puru lineage the Kauravas and the Pandavas.

“The Seeds of War” begins with the
story of Brihsapati and Shukracharya, the learned Brahmin advisors
to warring factions – Brishaspati to the Devas and Shukracharya to the Asuras.
Though both were equally competent, Shukracharya had a slight advantage – the knowledge
of Sanjivani that restored the dead to life and prevented the Asura armies from
being defeated! In an attempt to wrest this secret from the Asuras, Brihaspati
comes up with a devious plan of sending his own son Kacha to the Asura kingdom to
seduce Shukracharya’s daughter and inveigling the secret from him. This seemingly simple plan turns out to be the
beginning  of a series of events of
intrigue and deceit intertwined with  honour and duty  that eventually lead to the Battle of all battles. Kacha does manage to learn the art of
Sanjivani but also incurs the wrath of Devyani, Shukracharya’s daughter and sets the stage for the marriage of Devyani with Yayati, the ancestor of the Purus. Along the
way,we meet  Shantanu
and Ganga, two strong and powerful characters whose passionate love story brings forth Devavrata who in turn becomes the noble Bhishma when he sacrifices his claim to the throne in favour of Shantanu’s son with
Satyavati. Bhishma’s sacrifice comes to naught when Satyavati’s son dies childless bringing  the Puru dynasty close to extinction,  but her
plan to impregnate her widowed daughters-in-law with her son from a previous relationship
ensures that it does not. The book ends with the birth of the blind king
Dhritirashtra and his brother Pandu.

Dharma and karma, gods
and goddesses, devas and asuras, intrigue and deception, love and lust  are the ingredients of a good story and in a well researched and well written book, Ashok Banker retains the reader’s
interest ,slowly  unfolding the convoluted plots in language that shifts from  straightforward and  lyrical, condensing events of a thousand years in a page while expanding some moments of a lifetime to a good length. Eventually, the Mahabharat, like all epics,  is old wine in a new bottle, but it is a well packaged bottle that should appeal to the
modern reader who wants to revisit the stories from the past.