Mrityunjaya Book By Shivaji Savant - Must Read

Mrityunjaya Books by Shivaji Savant

The Novel As Epic The search for the meaning of Being is man's eternalquest and the subject of his greatest creations. Shivaji Sawant's Mrityunjayais an outstanding instance of such a literary masterpiece in which acontemporary Marathi novelist investigates the meaning of the bewildering skeinthat is life through the personae of the Mahabharata protagonists. For over twodecades since its first publication the vast non- Marathi and non-Hindireadership remained deprived of this remarkable exploration of the human psychetill the publication of this English translation by the Writers workshop – acontribution for which there is much to be grateful for. 

Mrityunjaya is the autobiography of Karna, and yetit is not just that. With deceptive case, Sawant brings into play anexceptional stylistic innovation by combining six "dramaticsoliloquies" to form the nine books of this novel of epic dimensions. Fourbooks are spoken by Karna. These are interspersed with a book each from thelips of his unwed mother Kunti, Duryodhana (who considers Karna his mainstay),Shon (Shatruntapa, his foster-brother, who here-worships him), his wifeVrishali to whom he is like a god and, last of all, Krishna. Sawant depicts anuncanny similarity between Krishna and Karna and hints at a mystic link between them, investing his protagonist with a more-than-human aura to offset theun-heroic and even unmanly acts which mar this tremendously complex and utterly fascinating creating of Vyasa. The beginning of the novel is riveting in its newness and simplicity: "I want to say something today.... a time comeswhen the dead have to speak too. When this flesh-and-bones living behave likethe dead, then the dead have to come alive and speak out". That is Sawant's pregnant comment on the state of contemporary society, where class andcaste ride roughshod over innate worth; where the most intimate ties are deniedfor the sake of conformity with social norms. This blunt beginning is immediately capped with a succession of images. Memories are like peacock feathers or like vakula blossoms that fade but leave their fragrance behind; life's events disperse like herds of wild horses galloping crazily after ear-splitting flashes of lightning crash in a forest; life is a temple with Champanagari asits sweetest tinkling bell.

Sawant begins very muchin the manner of an epic film, giving us first a panoramic view of life as abattlefield strewn with arrows and flashes of disparate memories of things pastlighting up the gloom, with Karna's voice-over. He then zooms down in a suddenchange of mood, to focus on "creeper-covered, bird-and –beasthaunted" Champanagari where Karna's earliest memories begin. And why allthis? "For one reason only", says Sawant's Karna. "To make senseof it for myself". And in that very reason lies the secret of the spellcast by the novel. For is not that the deepest craving of each one of us tomake sense of our lives for ourselves? Sawant's Karna is a rebel against caste. He does not hesitate to ask Drona who has refused to train him alongside theprinces, " Are the royally born blessed with hundreds of arms? Why do theyget this special importance?" The keynote to Karna's character is egotismwhich cannot reconcile itself with low social status and absence of recognition.

Sawant shows us a rebel who chooses the sun as guru and excels every one in skill and strength throughself – discipline. A number of incidents are introduced to pour humiliation on Karna's head, such as Drona's rejection of his heroic capture of a cheetah fora sacrifice. Along with this we get an extremely realistic depiction of theperplexity within Karna who cannot understand why he alone should feel agitatedat not being trained with the princes. With his crying need to be recognizedand loved, Karna responds immediately to the affection displayed byAshvatthama, who considers him the finest archer (why Kripa, the preceptor,never notices this remains a mystery), and to the sympathy shown by Duryodhana.The turmoil within Karna arising out of his inability to understand why hefeels ashamed to declare his lineage is splendidly brought out in thetournament. There, too, Sawant departs from Vyasa in having Bhishma declareKarna to have bested Arjuna's feats. Yet, this same Bhishma remainsmysteriously silent when Bhima laughs at Karna for his low birth. That silenceis repeated when the Pandavas are given Khandava forest to rule over and whenDraupadi is disrobed in open court. Characteristically, Karna terms Bhishma asenile fool clinging to power only when he berates Karna for fleeing from thegandharvas and classes him as "ardha-rathi".

That extreme sensitivityregarding his self-esteem is what makes Karna so appealingly human, and someonewith whom we can identify, despite his being a hero. Karna is not Sawant's onlycreation which is more fleshed out than in the Mahabharata. His Kunti is asplendid example of a character seen inside out and one can only marvel at thefelicity with which a male author has got inside the skin of this epic heroine.Sawant shows us, in her own words, the three persons who make-up Kunti: thechild Pritha given away by her father and made to abjure even her name andbecome Kuntibhoja's daughter Kunti; Maharani Kunti, losing Pandu to Madri andturning into a kingdomless widow mother of five sons; unwed mother Kunti, neverable to acknowledge her son, let alone suckle him even for a moment. Here is alife lived for others in utter loneliness. In that, her son resembles heruncannily, for Karna, too, lives for Duryodhana, for Vrishali, for hisfoster-parents, for all the mendicants who take alms from him, but, alas, neverfor himself, Kunti regards herself as a toy given away by her father, then aplaything of Durvasa (a telling give-away phrase) and thereafter made by Panduto give to Madri that mantra which set her apart from other women. Out ofvirtually nothing Sawant creates the characters of Vrishali and Shatruntapa-Shona to provide Karna's figure with those dimensions of love and fraternalaffection which Vyasa does not give. Yet, in both relationships Karna is everalone, ever unsatisfied and constantly lashed by the unsolved mystery of histrue self. It is tragic that his conviction about his innate worth is notenough for him until that is recognized by society. And in that quest he turnshimself into the greatest of gift-givers. Even in that act of a charity themotivation is that of self-glorification, an identification with the generosityof the sun, a driving need to carve an unforgettable niche for himself in thesocial memory. Sawant goes yet further and provides Karna with a second wife,Surpriya, and plays with the similarity of sound between Panchali and Vrishali,Subhadra and Supriya. And, in keeping with his concept of a hero, Sawant givesKarna eight sons, but no daughter.

Other Editions

1. Mrityunjaya:The Death Conqueror (EnglishEdition) 

2. Mrityunjaya (Marathi Edition)