Book Review – Devayani

The ancient-ness, if one may use the term, of the Bharatiya tradition is timeless; always leaving us spell-bound.

So here comes a vibrant, emotional and sensitive tale — Devayani, debut novel of author Manjula Tekal. Devayani is a modern re-telling of an ancient tale that finds mention in the Mahabharat, besides other Puranas like Padma Purana, Brahmanda Purana and Devi Bhagwata Purana.

Before moving ahead, let us first get an idea of just how ancient this tale of Devayani is. We know Mahabharat is ancient—it is being dated variously between 5,000-7,000 years ago. The Kauravas as we know, namely Duryodhana & Co, came from the lineage of Kuru, who happened to exist many generations before them. Kuru himself came from the lineage of Puru, who too happened to exist many-many generations before him. Puru, who inherited the land of Sarasvati from his father, King Yayati, set up the dynasty. The story of Puru and his long lineage is synonymous with the story of Bharat.

This was the time when the Devas and Asuras were slugging it out over many issues. The famous Das Rajan Yuddh, which finds mention in the Vedas, occurred after Yayati left the scene. King Yayati himself was son of Nahush, who at one point ruled the heaven, but fell in bad times due to vagaries of his nature and fate.

Thus, one can say that Devayani retells a tale that is ancient than what ancient can be. “It happened more than twenty thousand years ago, when Sarasvati was still a mighty river, fed by the River Sutudri,” says the author.

Who was Devayani? Daughter of Asura preceptor Shukracharya, she had married the most powerful king of his time, Yayati, scion of the lunar dynasty. But not before having fallen in love, and lived through a ‘failed affair’ that did not fructify in marriage, with Kacha – the son of Devas’ preceptor Brihaspati.

Did Kacha cheat her?

As it happened, her best friend, Sharmistha, whom she also considers her nemesis at various points in time, follows her – as her maid – after Devayani’s marriage with Yayati. Over time, Sharmistha becomes ‘the other woman’ and then Yayati’s second wife, bearing him three children, while Devayani sulks and approaches her father with a plea to punish her husband and Sharmistha.

The reader will do well to go through the details of the fascinating story of Devayani, which takes one on a journey through “infatuation, lust, jealousy, rage, betrayal, love and wisdom”.

Does it read like something ‘modern’?

Well, kudos to the author for handling these themes with a sensitivity, depth of knowledge and intense research that has somebody like Amish saying about Devayani: “Few have written it better in the modern day than Manjula Tekal. Read this, to understand our origins…” 

For those who do not know, Manjula Tekal has several creditable translations to her credit, including renowned Kannada literary figure Babu Krishnamurthy’s Ajeya, a biography of Chandrashekhar Azad, into English (which will be published soon) and English to Kannada translations of Jagmohan’s “My Frozen Turbulence” and Sankrant Sanu’s “The English Medium Myth”.

In popular terms, Yayati is often seen as a fallen man, who asked his son to give the latter’s youth to him for his own selfish purposes.

However, the way these characters come to us in Devayani gives us a much clearer picture as to how they were all being human beings – accomplishing great feats on the ground, but being as vulnerable to emotions as any other normal being.

Is Devayani the schemer? Is she rogue? Is she selfish? Does she long for love?

Does it show Sharmistha in good light to become ‘the other woman’ in Devayani and Yayati’s married life? And then become the latter’s second wife, virtually stealing a husband from a woman, who, despite her disappointments, had tried to be a good wife?

Is Yayati a man weak in his resolve, giving in to kaam? Or is there more to it than meets the eye? Why would a father dis-inherit his three sons because they refused to gift their youth to him (due to Shukracharya’s curse; read the novel to know)?

So, here are a few reasons why you should read this book:

If you are a lover of the Sanatan, you must read this. If you are a young person, going through your first feeling of love, you must read this. If you experienced unrequited love and you felt cheated, you must read this. If you are caught between two competing emotions, you must read this. If you are a father, you must read this; if you are a son, you must read this. If you are a daughter, you must read this; if you are a daughter’s father, you must read this. And, if you want to know the underlying wisdom, you must read this. Devayani by Manjula Tekal has so much more for almost everybody.

And, in deftly handling the myriad emotions and characters, Devayani does not take sides and leaves it for the reader to reach his/ her own conclusion. One can be sure that the emotions of the protagonists of Devayani are as contemporary as they can be. And where does this tale come from? From the ancientness of our existence as a civilisation.

In other words, Devayani by Manjula Tekal completely defines the Sanatan – “chir puratan; nit naveen” (older than old; but new every day).

Book Review – Devayani

Author – Manjula Tekal

Published – Garuda Prakashan

Pages – 290

Price – Rs. 299

BUY NOW : https://garudabooks.com/devayani