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4.78 AVERAGE
4.78 AVERAGE
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I am not into poetry and yet my husband had talked about a few famous lines from this soo much that I dived into reading it and man am I grateful to him for introducing me to one of the best pieces of literature I have ever read.
The perspective, the language, the beauty of words chosen is soo immense I kept coming back to it for a few days afterwards to reread the instances I liked.
PS : I read the Hindi version
PPS: I am not sure why of all the lines in this book, most famous is the "Krishna ki chetavani" part. My favourite was just after that when Karan explains to Krishna why he can't leave duryodhana to be with pandavas.
The perspective, the language, the beauty of words chosen is soo immense I kept coming back to it for a few days afterwards to reread the instances I liked.
PS : I read the Hindi version
PPS: I am not sure why of all the lines in this book, most famous is the "Krishna ki chetavani" part. My favourite was just after that when Karan explains to Krishna why he can't leave duryodhana to be with pandavas.
The impact and beauty of this poem can never be described in words, I always go back to this whenever I can.
Rashmirathi by Ramdhari Singh Dinkar is a collection of poems on Mahabharata from Karna's viewpoint. My friend Yash rightfully told me once that in our Dharmic scriptures there's no right or wrong, because life is not a plain statement, it's a thick fat book.
The poems throughout this book eulogizes Karna on how him being abandoned by Kunti was wrong and He is rightfully siding with Duryodhana. Although Dinkar ji is considered a socialist of his time, I am sure the dharmic side of him was pretty awake while creating this piece of magic. How else would he write Krishna ki Chetavani? The popular verse where Krishna himself negotiates with Karna to not side Duryodhana in the war. Dinkar ji himself tells us that Shri Krishna praises Karna behind his back and even on the day of the yudh he knew defeating Karna is extremely difficult. The choice of words the legend has here is and I'm not making this up, is a whole. new. world altogether.
Through the poems; Dinkar, the legend, touches upon issues like identity war in our society, dominance by a system who wants to convince us that they're above us, repeated anti-war references as nobody wanted the bloody war to happen. Because ultimately what we loose is innocent lives. He shows us a mirror on how egoistic and petty we are that we want to win at any cost and declare our identity the best because that's what has been happening since the times of our dharma.
With his words, Dinkar put a devout Hindu in me to anger when a shudra like Karna that he was, with all his audacity, back answers to the Supreme Lord - Shri Krishna himself. I was ashamed and I realised how little of a human I am, when the almighty himself praises Karna and tells us how gray our life is. Although I don't know who does bhagwaan like more- Karna or Arjuna? Did Arjuna win this battle using adharma when he attacked the unarmed Karna from behind?
Even if you have not read much about the Mahabharata, just for the sake of love of one of our National Language, I would recommend everyone to read this masterclass and experience one of the greatest epics of our civilization.
The poems throughout this book eulogizes Karna on how him being abandoned by Kunti was wrong and He is rightfully siding with Duryodhana. Although Dinkar ji is considered a socialist of his time, I am sure the dharmic side of him was pretty awake while creating this piece of magic. How else would he write Krishna ki Chetavani? The popular verse where Krishna himself negotiates with Karna to not side Duryodhana in the war. Dinkar ji himself tells us that Shri Krishna praises Karna behind his back and even on the day of the yudh he knew defeating Karna is extremely difficult. The choice of words the legend has here is and I'm not making this up, is a whole. new. world altogether.
Through the poems; Dinkar, the legend, touches upon issues like identity war in our society, dominance by a system who wants to convince us that they're above us, repeated anti-war references as nobody wanted the bloody war to happen. Because ultimately what we loose is innocent lives. He shows us a mirror on how egoistic and petty we are that we want to win at any cost and declare our identity the best because that's what has been happening since the times of our dharma.
With his words, Dinkar put a devout Hindu in me to anger when a shudra like Karna that he was, with all his audacity, back answers to the Supreme Lord - Shri Krishna himself. I was ashamed and I realised how little of a human I am, when the almighty himself praises Karna and tells us how gray our life is. Although I don't know who does bhagwaan like more- Karna or Arjuna? Did Arjuna win this battle using adharma when he attacked the unarmed Karna from behind?
Even if you have not read much about the Mahabharata, just for the sake of love of one of our National Language, I would recommend everyone to read this masterclass and experience one of the greatest epics of our civilization.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It's not like a conventional poetry book. It's story of "Karn" told through poems.
Very interesting read.
Very interesting read.
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes