Reviews

It’s been a while since I picked up an Indian history book. I love reading about Mahabharata from various perspectives and this book captured my attention.

Had Bheeshma not taken the oath, would things have been different? Had he broken the oath, would things have been different? Had he supported Pandavas and not Kauravas, would things have been different? There were many questions I had about him.

Tridib Kumar Chattopadhyay’s Bheeshma, translated by Riddhi Maitra tells about the unvanquished Kuru Patriarch Bheeshma. He shares about his childhood years, his equation with his parents, his training days, his vision, and his determination.

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While sleeping on the bed of Arrows, Bheeshma thinks about the past, his equation with Devi Amba, and his life with his guru Parshuram.

With descriptive narration and an engaging writing style, it’s an interesting read that gives us a different perspective. It’s a short, quick read that you will enjoy. What I loved is how the author not only focused on the war but also on his childhood, his equations and his thoughts as death approached him.

I did not know about his childhood and his early years, hence I was more curious to read this one.

It’s an amazing read that you will enjoy if you love reading about Mahabharata from different perspectives.

Summary

The only living son of Goddess Ganga, a fearless warrior, and a pacifist at heart—a seemingly perfect description of a royal patriarch hiding years of injustice in the grip of a delusion. Bheeshma: The Unvanquished Kuru Patriarch is the story of young Debabrata’s transformation into a man fettered by fate to an impossible oath. His childhood at a peaceful hermitage is cut short as he is called upon to fulfill the greater responsibilities destiny has stored for him as the prince of Hastinapur. He soon learns of the price life exacts in the form of sacrifice. He was the ruler, never the king; the eternal guardian of the Kuru dynasty. But did he truly fulfill the promise enshrined in him? Demons of his past flash before his eyes as the one tragic hero of Mahabharata, Pitamaha Bheeshma, lies in a lonely wait for death.

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