Dhananjaya- A Novel By Pratap Narayan Singh

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Oh, my God! My senses reeled as I realized that before me stood Lord Mahadev himself! Was it He 1 had been battling, all this time?! My entire being, it seemed to me, tingled at the very thought. Beholding Him in front of me, my mind was assailed by a fever of muddled thoughts, which coursed through me from head to toe. I ran up to Him and prostrated myself in Dandvat position.

Lifting me up by the shoulders, He said: "Phalgun! I am thoroughly impressed by your incomparable courage, gallantry and fortitude. I don't think there is a Kshatriya to match you. Your splendour and valour deserve accolades from me. I am indeed very pleased with your exemplary conduct." His words were sweet as honey. Every particle of by being was feeling drenched in his admiration. This divine joy was something I had never experienced before. I was so overcome by His presence and overwhelmed by my emotions that I could barely open my eyes.

Lord Shiva then resumed: "Paarth! Look at me! I hereby grant you a boon that you shall always be victorious over your enemies, even if they be the Devas themselves. I will grant you my Divyaastra Paashupat, which is indomitable. You shall soon become capable of operating this Divyaastra. There is no one in existence, in all the three worlds, who can escape death at the hands of the Paashupat.

When I was first approached by Mr. Pratap Narayan Singh to translate his novel into English, I reacted with mixed feelings. On the one hand, I was utterly convinced that the quality of his writing would be impeccable to a fault. This was because I had earlier been exposed to his work and found it to be creative, gripping and insightful, all at once. Whether it was his 'Sita Ek Naari' or his essays and short stories, I was sure I would be dealing with creative writing at its best. On the other hand, there was a (healthy) skepticism about the outcome of my efforts.

What, I wondered, could be fresh about a narrative on Arjun's life-story? As I waded into the translation chapter by chapter, I was quick to discover just how misplaced my misgivings had been... The author has not committed the cardinal error of trying to narrate the Mahabharata all over again. Perhaps that would have limited, rather than expanded, the scope of his composition. Rather, he has taken up the character most talked-about in the context of the Epic, and narrated his story in the words of the protagonist himself. This, naturally, called for imagination of a high order. To visualize scenes from Dhananjaya's life and then narrate them in simple, comprehensible terms bereft of all ornamentation and hyperbole - must, to my mind, have called for creative skills of a high order.

Before commencing work on this novel, I had to deep dive into the copious Epic that is the Mahabharata. But my composition is neither a translation of the Mahabharata, nor a researched critique of the same. It is, as matter of fact, a narrative that is entirely bereft of the spiritual and dogmatic concepts that were enshrined therein. Rather, this novel narrates a series of incidents painted on the canvas of a time and age long past. I have attempted to free it from the encumbrances of supernaturalism and superlatives that the classics inevitably entail. A consequence of this has been that incidents brought out in the novel are capable of validation on social and scientific grounds - which, in fact, are a sine qua non for the present day reader. As a result, even though most of the events recounted have their basis in the Mahabharata, the reader is bound to discover a fresh approach in their narration.