Hello friends! I recently read a glorious work of South Asian literature for a book club. It was written by one of my favorite, award winning authors, Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. The novel is entitled The Palace of Illusions, and it was published in 2008. The novel is set to be released as a motion picture in Bollywood. Let’s just say I am counting down the days until I can watch it.
Goodreads had an astounding 23,000 ratings for its 4.13 star rating on this fascinating work of art!
The tale centers around the famous Indian epic, the Mahabharat. This story is keenly unique, though, in that the point of view is narrated by the one and only Panchaali, wife of the legendary Pandava brothers. As you travel through the part history, part myth story, you will gain a magical, new view of an old historic tale.
Tragedy, duty and sacrifice are pourn like magical water on the novel’s pages, pulling you into the story such that you are there, following Panchaali’s every footstep, her every thought. The novel maps Panchaali’s early life from a fire-born princess in her father’s castle to her marriage to the five Pandava brothers. Facing exile and war, and a love story gone unfulfilled, we experience Panchaali’s transition from that of a young naive girl, into a fiery, strong woman. The tale reminds us of karma’s magic wand, and the docile hands of fate that follow it.
There are far too many passages that traversed me into a cascade of emotions, but one such discussion between Krishna and Gandhari, contemplating karma, left an imprint on me. Gandhari, experiencing a mother’s pain, tried to curse the Pandavas, to which Krishna cooly replied:
“All things must end someday. How can the house of the Yadus be an exception?” Then his voice grew stern. “But tell me, aren’t you responsible for this war, too? Who indulged Duryodhan when he was a boy, instead of punishing him for the things he did to his cousins?”
Krishna goes on to say:
“Duryodhan broke his word again and again. He took from his cousins through trickery what was justly theirs- and then, after they’d fulfilled all the conditions he placed on them, refused to return it, You know this yourself. Isn’t that why when Duryodhan asked for your blessing just before he went to Kurukshetra, you didn’t say ‘May you win’?” Gandhari was weeping. Krishna put his arm around her shaking shoulders. “Instead you said, ‘May righteousness prevail’ I know it was difficult for a mother to pronounce those words. But you did the right thing. Now that your words have come to pass, how can you hate those who were merely the instruments of universal law, which ultimately must restore that which was out of balance?”
There are many who turn a blind eye to wrongdoing from those that they love, and doing this, especially to young children, can create a future of entitlement. Karma and fate spring forth from our actions, or lack thereof. Mothers and fathers – and I am speaking to myself as well – teach your kids right from wrong. Their future depends on it.
Have you read this novel, and if so what did you think? If you had a book club on this novel, what did you all discuss? Please share, I would love to know.