Introduction

granthā me purataḥ santu granthā me santu pṛṣṭhataḥ।
granthā me sarvataḥ santu granthamadhye vasāmyaham॥

Let there be books in my front. Let there be books behind me. Let there be books all around. Let me live in the midst of books

This was the verse uttered by Prof KV Sharma (1919–2005) a great Indologist, who was considered “the greatest authority on Kerala's astronomical tradition”, when I had the opportunity to meet him at his Chennai residence in 2005. True to the verse, he was literally surrounded by books on all sides. Having been inspired by lives of such great scholars who lived with and loved books, I accepted with great joy the opportunity to review the book - Once Upon a Time: Thousands of Years Ago - by Yamuna Harshavardhana. This book is published by Notion Press as a paperback edition. There are 189 pages in the book.  The story of Mahābhārata, the great Epic by Sage Vyāsa is retold here in 51 stories. 

The structure of the Book

At the outset, this book has a foreword by Raj Vedam, well known speaker on Indological topics, who is based out of Houston, USA.  Raj Vedam’s observation in the foreword, in a way, aptly presents the content and approach of the author in the book. Raj Vedam states (p.12) “Yamuna Harshavardhana has taken up the writing of the timely book, with the curating of the stories from the Mahābhārata. In each of these stories we see a careful summarization of the values presented in the stories and the contemporization of the morals”.

Foreword is followed by a preface. In the preface (p.15,16), Yamuna Harshavardhana shares her childhood fascination with the stories in the Epic Mahābhārata. She also states - “This set of stories from the Mahābhārata were written in the early years of 21^st century while I was an over anxious young parent looking for ways to relate our epics to my little son”. The preface also reveals that, these stories were serialized in the weekly column of Microsoft Net (MSN)-India. It is interesting to note that the author has written series on Śrīmadbhāgavata and the Bible also. After 15 years of writing, these Mahābhārata stories have been collected and published now in the form of this book. The objective of this publication is presented beautifully by the author when she quotes Sage Tirumūlar and states “May the pleasure that I obtained be enjoyed by all”. She hopes that “the readers will be able read, enjoy and to relate to the introspection of the psychology of the characters in the stories.”

Preface is followed by acknowledgement and a Sanskrit transliteration key that is followed in the book. I observe with great joy that the transliteration template is uniformly and meticulously followed in the entire book, wherever Sanskrit terms appear. While in many other books a transliteration key is given at the beginning, seldom is it uniformly followed. This points to the systematic approach of the author and her eye for details.

 This section is followed by retelling of the various stories of Mahābhārata in 51 parts. This is the heart of the book and we will return to this shortly and discuss the contents herein in much more detail after completing the description of the overall structure of the book.

After the 51 stories there are three short sections.

a) Family tree – a chart of the family of the Pāṇḍavas and the Kauravas around whom the entire Mahābhārata revolves, is given.

This is a very useful addition to give clarity to the young and uninitiated readers to gain an understanding of the relationships between the characters that recur in the epic. But it has to be added that, the font size of text in the chart given here is very small and it would be good, if in the next edition, the font size is enhanced to facilitate readability.

b) Notes – A short note on two characters Vidura and Kṛṣṇa is given here

c) Author’s Bio. – A Short introduction to the author is given here. It is very inspiring to note from the bio that that this Chennai based author developed fearlessness by reading the works of Swami Vivekananda in her teens. The bio adds that Yamuna Harshavardhana graduated as a Chemical Engineer and worked as one, for a few years. Later she became an educator, a school teacher.  It is also stated that she is working towards bringing the treasures of Dharma to the young minds – as is evident from this book.

Having observed the thoughts and expressions of the author as a friend in social media for the past few years - I have to state that, Yamuna Harshavardhana is a very inspired soul who puts heart and soul and works with conviction on any project that she embarks upon. She is patriotic and holds Deśa and dharma above all.

This in short is the structure of the well laid out book with a pleasant cover page – that states that this book is part of a “Treasures of Dharma Series”.   

The Heart of the Book

The Stories

Now let us return to the heart of the book - the 51 stories from Mahābhārata (pages.19-186). It can be noticed that the 51 stories are aligned with the natural flow of the story in the Mahābhārata as written by Sage Vyāsa. Hence, there is an inherent continuity that we can see in these 51 stories.

To mention about stories - right from Lord Gaṇeśa accepting to be the scribe of Sage Vyāsa for writing Mahābhārata till King Yudhiṣṭhira’s ascent to the heaven - most of the major and minor stories and anecdotes of Mahābhārata are covered. 

As there are well known stories like the birth of Bhīṣma, Amba’s reincarnation to take revenge on Bhīṣma, Story of birth of Karṇa, story of Yayāti, Story of Bhīma’s duel with Hiḍimba etc, there are some interesting and not so well-known stories from Mahābhārata, in this collection. This includes

• the story of Yavakrīḍa - in two parts (stories 14 & 15), who tried to master all the Vedas and who died because of his misdeeds later in life
• the story of the brothers Arāvasu & Parāvasu (Story 18),
• the story of Aṣṭāvakra (story 21) and
• the story of ṛṣyaśṛṅga (well known in the Rāmāyaṇa and not so well known as part of Mahābhārata).

It should also be noted that all these 51 are not mere stories – certain important educative, didactic dialogues, have also been incorporated in a simple, intelligible story format beautifully by the author. The famous Yakṣapraśna (story 27), the section known as Viduraniti (stories 37,38,39), which is a conversation between King Dhṛtarāṣṭra and Vidura and the final advices of Bhīṣma to Yudhiṣṭhira (stories 43,44,45), are a few examples.

The Morals and Values

Normally, when stories for children are written, the moral of the story comes at the end, which most of the readers, especially children, tend to skip. But being a teacher Yamuna has predicted the mind of the students and the readers in general as well.  Hence, she has attempted a new technique of first giving a few lines on the major learning from the story and then presenting the story.

In these initial sentences, the human psyche is dissected and a cross section is presented to the readers.  Yamuna Harshavardhana discusses about happiness, desire, judgement, restraint, revenge, consequences of actions done, power and authority, falsehood and truth, transformation from lower self to higher self, egoism, manipulation, freedom, goodness, miracles, grief, wisdom, principled way of life to state a few. Further, the author also does not shy away from discussing aspects such as social discrimination, corruption etc.

There are couple of suggestions to the enlightened author regarding presenting these values to the readers. As I stated earlier, those who skip might skip the discussion on morals whether it is presented in the beginning or at the end of the story.  So, if possible, in the next edition of the book and also for the later books in the series, the author can consider highlighting one word or a phrase that presents the value of the story with bold and big letters or in any noticeable manner. Even if the reader skips the very insightful initial paragraph, at least, the one word or phrase will catch the attention of the reader.

Further - At the end of each of the story or at the end of ten stories or at the end of the book, a few questions or activities can be given to the readers to work on and reflect upon. The attention with which the stories are read and also the absorption of the values can thus be enhanced.

It would also be useful to give a word index at the end that captures the characters and virtues and morals in the stories. This would help parents, story tellers to locate the stories and the values that they would want to impart to children. 

Accessible Language

It is also very heartening to note that the language of stories is as it should be.

• Short sentences are used.
• The language is direct and active voice sentences are more.
•  The sentences are not loaded with too many adjectives.

• Wherever possible, stories are presented in the form of dialogues, thereby engaging the reader more, with the narration.
• The title of the stories is catchy with word play and alliteration – for example – sensuality and sensibility (story 4), A Tale around a Tail (story 28), Deceit to conquer conceit (Story 30).  These linguistic refinements enhance the readability of the content. 
• The stories are also not more than 2 to 3 pages. Whoever gets a break from work, can take the book for a short read.
• The author has provided footnote in stories to facilitate the understanding of very essential Sanskrit expressions used in the stories. Terms like Brahmajñānī, Devas, Daityas etc are clarified in these footnotes. Apt illustrations in black and white are given for each of the story.  But the images can be bit sharper. 

How can this book be used?

To me, this book is not a one-time- read. This book has to be read and re-read by one and all - as this covers various layers of human mind.  This is a treasure to be preserved. The best use of this book by parents and educators would be to narrate these stories to the children after suitably reflecting upon and absorbing the content herein. A routine of story-telling based on the of these stories at a fixed time can be a very good activity for these lock down times. Podcasts and Audio book version can also be thought of.  Children can also enact these stories as plays. This book especially, will be of great value to the parents and educators of children of the vast Indian diaspora that this spread across the globe from Africa to the Americas and Australia and south East Asian nations.

 Conclusion   

To conclude, I congratulate the author, Yamuna Harshavardhana, for this very valuable book.  In these times of Corona and lock downs that accompany it, there is every possibility that we go into a shell and shrink, with fear, grief and uncertainties about livelihood and survival. This book is an elixir in these difficult times, as we can expand our self by learning, reminding ourselves and imbibing timeless values and morals that are enshrined in these stories. We can learn to serve and be of help to each other and become better individuals. As Swami Vivekananda would put “contraction is death and expansion is life”. This book breathes life into human existence, in these tough times, by guiding us to blossom and unfurl the petals of worthwhile living.

Title of the book: Once Upon a Time: Thousands of Years Ago

Publisher: Notion Press, No.8, 3^rd Cross Street, CIT Colony, Mylapore, Chennai – 4

B&W - ₹199; Full Colour Edition - ₹810; Kindle version - ₹59

This book can be ordered online at:

Notion Press: https://notionpress.com/read/once-upon-a-time-thousands-of-years-ago

Amazon.in: https://www.amazon.in/dp/1638507198

Image provided by Yamuna Harshvardhana