Shiva Trilogy : An Evaluation

Amish Tripathi ’s closing declaration at the end of his one & a half thousand

page ‘Shiva Trilogy’, (ST) : "Today, we know the inherited tale of that war as

one of the world's greatest epics : The Mahabharat. If the Lord Neelkanth

allows it, the unadulterated story of that terrible war shall also be told one

day"; comes somewhat as a warning, necessitating a proper evaluation of

his supposedly ‘unadulterated ’ story of Shiva!

ST must have been, indeed ‘allowed’ by the Lord Neelkanth, as Amish would

like us to believe! Well, Gods are generally generous with stories about

them, if the success of innumerable mythological TV serials is anything to

go by, let alone the popularity of Ramayana & Mahabharat, over the ages.

However, importance of the unprecedented marketing strategies employed

by Amish & his team, in the face of initial ‘rejection’ by innumerable

publishers, cannot be overlooked, in making ST the best seller of all time!

Be that as it may, in the ultimate analysis, it is not the millions, (or,

billions in this case!), which the author, (&/or the publisher), makes, but

the lasting impression which a literary effort of such magnitude, leaves on

its readers. Is it going to be for ‘good’, in this case; or, for ‘evil ’? Let us see!

ST, as it stands, is totally a work of fiction. Like Ramayana & Mahabharat,

it falls back upon several mythological stories, for instance, Shiva marrying

Sati, the daughter of Daksha; Sati ’s death, Daksha being responsible for

that; Ganesh & Kartikeya being sons of Shiva; Shiva the archer, destroying

the triple fortresses, Tripura; etc. etc. The author has made liberal use of

his own imagination & judgment in presenting these & others, differently .

For instance, Bhagirath, whose name is associated with Ganga, is shown to

be diverting the course of Yamuna to merge with Ganga!

A major deviation is in the story of how Shiva’s neck turns blue giving him

the title “Neel-kanth”. In fact, the famous ‘drink’ of Devas, referred-to as

the “Som-rasa” in Rgveda, is shown in a completely different light in ST! It

was the “purpose” of Somras to turn Shiva’s neck blue, as ST says : "The

purpose is not the destination but the journey itself ... Somras had served it's

purpose for many, including me , (Shiva),. . . & for Shiva, the purpose is to end

the journey of Somras”! How it happens, is the purpose of ST!

“Good and evil are the two sides of the same coin; it is only human greed of

trying to extract more and more f rom good, that turns it into evil”, goes on

ST, quoting Gita, if you please; “Ati Sarvatra Varjayet”!!! Obviously, when

‘ati ’ goes beyond control, in “Yada Yada Hi Dharmasya…” style, ‘someone’ is

born, who, though in human, (or some other?), form, ends up as God, on

account of his ‘Karma’. Lord Rama, for instance, (& Krishna?), who is

acknowledged in ST, as an incarnation of Vishnu! Though Amish’s Ram is

born in unadulterated Ayodhya, he sets up his empire in Meluha, of all the

places, which according to Amish, is supposed to be the name for Indus

Valley civilization, as we know it, today!

Just as Ramayana & Mahabharat are part of ‘ Itihasa’, Amish has also taken

help of (ancient) history. Fortunately for him, here again there is ample

scope for his imagination to run riot! And he has been more than liberal!

Historical events can't be said 100% accurately any way; it depends upon

the thinking of scholars of that time. As early as, in 500 AD, for instance,

Arya-Bhat had estimated 3000 BC as a probable date of Mahabharata war;

it got thrown over-board because Mahabharat was out-rightly rejected as

‘fiction’ by Western scholars, who introduced the Aryan-invasion theory

instead. As it stands now, however, subsequent archaeological discoveries,

as well as linguistic & other analyses seem to support not only the

authenticity of Mahabharata, but more or less the same date, as well.

Any way; Rgvedic River Sarasvati is one of the most hotly debated subjects

of the day. The Ghaggar-Hakra is generally identified with the Vedic

Sarasvati River by most scholars, though it is disputed whether all Rigvedic

references to the Sarasvati should be taken to refer to this r iver; (Wikipedia).

Well, Amish’s description of Sarasvati exactly matches with dried up course

of Ghaghar Hakra river which was supposed to have dried up by 1700 BC.

The reason? Lo & behold : Somras! The drink that has turned people of

Meluha, immortal! Well, not quite immortal, but certainly keeping them

young for hundreds of years! Had it not been so, was it possible for a 21

year old Shiva, to fall in love with an 85 year old Sati?

There is supposed to be something miraculous in the water of Sarasvati,

without which, it is not possible to make Somras. However, the

exceptionally large quantity of Sarasvati water required in the preparation

of Somras, is beginning to turn the river dry. ST shows an earlier course of

Sarasvati, going right up-to the sea, at Lothal; & it’s ‘present’ (1900 BC)

course, ending up in a delta, north-west of Lothal, highlighting this effect.

Also, the ‘evil ’ side of making, as well as, using Somras, right from the time

of Lord Rama, is getting wider now! In the long run, it had been turning

Meluha women barren… Also, they are increasingly giving birth to deformed

children, whom Amish calls : NAGA! Not only that, the ‘waste’ in preparing

Somras is dangerous, something like the modern ‘nuclear waste’! It spreads

cancer & other deadly diseases among the people who come in contact with

the polluted waters, downstream of river Bramhaputra, in which Meluhans

dispose-of the waste! The situation is ‘ripe’ for an ‘avatar’ to take place!

Now, according to ST : “Universe has a system of 'balancing' between good

and the evil… Good emerges f rom Bramha, but it needs a Vishnu to harness

it…. A Vishnu can make people move away from a good that has turned evil,

by offering an alternate good… But a Mahadev has to ask people to give up

that good, without offering anything in return”. This is the bright idea

behind ST ’s birth, & responsible for it ’s runaway success…. A Good Idea

can change one’s Life, as it has indeed, done for Amish… There have been

several ‘avatars’ of Vishnu, including those in human form; the field for

Shiva’s ‘avatar’ on the above lines, was hitherto fore, wide open!!!

Rudra & Shiva are supposed to be two avatars of Mahadev, the Destroyer of

evil. A god named Rudra is mentioned in the Rg Ved. The name Rudra is

still used as a name for Shiva. In Rg Ved he is described as the "Father of

the Rudras", a group of storm gods, (Vayu-Putras?). Also, the Rudram, one

of the most sacred hymns of Hinduism, found both in the Rg and the Yajur

Vedas, and addressed to Rudra, invokes him as Shiva in several instances.

The term Shiva, however, is used as an epithet for Indra, Mitra & Agni too,

in Rg Ved!

Coming back to ST, however : “For Vishnu there are two key questions; What

is the next great good? & when does good become evil. While the Key

question for Mahadev is what is evil" . And here one has a perfect “good”

turned “evil” case, for Amish’s Shiva, who doesn’t waste time in identifying

Somras as ‘the evil ’; to be born & destroy it! However, for doing this, he

acquires Pashupati-astra, a nuclear fusion weapon, & employs it to destroy

the Meluhan capital that was housing the manufacturing facility of Somras.

Incredible that this may seem, according to one school of thought, some

nuclear activity might well have been responsible for sudden destruction of

Mohan-Jo-Daro! Amish has taken care to differentiate Pashupati-Astra from

Brahmastra (& Vaishnav-astra), which are nuclear fission weapons!

On account of the same difference between Vishnu & Shiva, as brought out

in ST, while a Vishnu is an ' insider', a Mahadev has to be an 'outsider '. The

Shiva therefore has come from Tibet, from the Guna tribe, (Ganas , in

Sanskrit texts, are attendants of Lord Shiva, at mount Kailash). Amish’s

Shiva is not an Indian!

Also, ST ends up in Shiva leaving his successors, in Tibet only! His un-

named tribe in Lhasa, is headed by his friend Bhadra, (Virbhadra of

mythology), who is named as the first LAMA! Not only that; Lamas have

been assigned the duty of saving India from future onslaught of evil!! !

Shiva, in his endeavors, also makes use of two tribes, as per ST, who have

miraculous powers : tribe of Vasudevas, custodians of the legacy of Lord

Rama, with headquarters in Ujjain; & the tribe of Vayu-putras, custodians

of the legacy of Lord Rudra & having their headquarter in Pariha, a

hypothetical place in Iran-Afghanistan. Thus ST incorporates bits of

Zoroastrianism too, in addition to the Upanishadic, Puranic, & Buddhist

mythological images. Amish’s scope of imagination therefore, is vast and

ambitious… a blend of mythology, history and fiction with pulpy dialogues!

To top it all, lucid details of armament & costumes, the landscapes & the

extraordinary battle scenes have been presented in a very contemporary

language; all of which render ST beautifully suitable for celluloid! Sure

enough, not only Indian but even international film production houses are

able to smell Shiva’s money-pulling-powers! Amish however, is neither an

expert in Ships, nor in battle logistics! ST is replete with extensive troop

movements; land to river transfers & vice versa; as well as, river warfare!

The producers will have to make effort for all these scenes, to look realistic!

In addition, the readers must keep the following details in mind :

- “Nagas”, though referred to as the serpent people, are shown to be, in

ST, the people born with unusual body shapes & sizes, due to the evil

effect of Somras! This is not only incorrect, but misleading, as Naga

tribe has distinct identity in history, as well as in mythology.

Labelling Ganesha & Kali; & it also includs Ravana, of all the people,

as Nagas, is in bad taste & should be avoided.

- Though the word “Meluha”, (& ‘selling’ copies of the first chapter of

the first book, FREE), has apparently played an important role in

making ST popular; it is in fact, incorrect too. According to the

“Africa Adam Trilogy” by Catherine Acholonu Center for African

Cultural Sciences, “Meluhha”, (Black Land), is supposed to be a pre-

diluvial (Pre-Flood) epithet for the African continent! From Meluhha is

derived the word 'Mel' which stands for 'Black' in Africa.

- Presenting Somras as something radio-active, is ‘height of

imagination’, to say the least! It is totally different from Rg Vedic

Soma-rasa! In fact, Soma (Chandra) , as is seen on Shiva’s head in

pictures, is supposed to be the thousand-petalled lotus inside the

human head. As per the Hath-yoga, Somras is the juice that exudes

from this Soma & it is the retaining of this exudation which is

supposed to make one immortal. “ If the Yogî, whose body is full of

Soma-rasa, were bitten by Takshaka (snake), its poison cannot

permeate his body”, says Hathyoga Pradipika.

- Vayuputra God is the 'form less' AHURA MAZDA, not Rudra! Also,

Vayuputra Chief is MITHRA, representative of Ahura Mazda. This

much of ‘l iterary liberty’ is perhaps tolerable! However, why to present

Shiva as the son of Mithra's sister? Who is Shiva's father, any way?

- Even if it has to be named that Egyptians were hired to kill Sati, why

should the slayer of Sati, turn out to be the ancestor of Pharaohs of

Egypt? Too much of a coincidence!

- “Suryavanshis” are defined as the followers of Solar calendar! They

are NOT! Just as the followers of Lunar calendar, are NOT

“Chandravanshis”! In any case, as per ST, the Suryavanshis end up

forming the state of TRIPURA; Chandravanshis end up forming the

state of MANIPUR!! What about the state of NAGALAND???

- The very concept of “Maika” down-south, to which pregnant women

travel all the way, just to ‘deliver’ their babies; & travel back without

them, is absolutely weird & unpalatable! What about their travel

arrangements & other logistics???

- Word “Sati” evokes a totally different picture in the minds of Indian

women folk! Presenting her as a widow of an unknown character,

before marrying Shiva, does not go well with that!

- Even the term “Vikarma”, li fted from Gita, is used in the wrong sense,

i.e. for people suffering for their ‘bad karma’; for, Vikarma means

“Non-action”. “An ordinary person (Bhogi), l ives in action, (Karma); a

realized person (Yogi), l ives in inaction, (Akarma); and only the God,

(Paramatma), l ives in non-action, (Vikarma)”.

- According to ST, Ganesha was the only one to live long enough to

witness Mahabharat; so obviously, Gita must have been ‘written’ only

after the three books comprising ST. How come then that the Gita

Shlokas, (& the philosophy!), have been quoted right through ST???

Last but not the least, “Har Har Mahadev” is a Sanskrit expression, & has a

totally different meaning from what ST conveys in popular Hindi! Amish is

lucky that no Hindutva fundamentalist &/or Shiva lover has so far taken

note of all his ‘l iberties’ highlighted above; perhaps, because humanizing

Shiva has hitherto fore, been an uncharted territory, as also brought out

above. It is not going to be so with Mahabharata; for, Ramayana &

Mahabharata are not mere ‘stories’ for Hindus! They reside on “bachchey

bachchey ki zuban par”, in a way! Therefore, all his ‘great reputation’, Neel-

kanth blessings’, & ‘clever marketing strategies’ notwithstanding, Amish

will have to be really careful, ‘un-adulterating’ Mahabharata, i f he must!!!

Cdr. KK Varma

April, ’2013