Eight Faced Gem

Original Source: https://www.jeyamohan.in/197353/
Date: 21-Aug-2024

 

"Indiraneelam" is the second creation in Venmurasu novel portraying the story of Krishna. That way, it is rooted in Bhagavatham, outside of Mahabharatha. The Krishna of Mahabharatha is not a god, rather a great king possessing wisdom and worldly intuition in equal measure. It is only via external addendums that the portions establishing Krishna as a god got integrated in Mahabharatha. Bhagavatham is a creation that happened post the time when Krishna became a god. Is is therefore Bhagavatham and not Mahabharatha, that stands as a primary scripture for many Vaishnavaite traditions.

During the creation of Venmurasu, I had a conundrum on how to depict Krishna. In several re-creations of Mahabharatha, Krishna is depicted solely as a king. In some of the creations, Krishna is depicted as a mere political strategist stripping Him of any wisdom. Example is M.T.Vasudevan Nair's "Irandaam Oozham" ("Irandaam Idam" in Tamil - by A. Madhavan).

I didn't intend to steer Venmurasu towards simple worldly aspects. It is my opinion that searching for everyday truths in great literature and reaching for epics to seek simple worldly knowledge are endeavors in vain. A literature copy that had transcended a millennium becomes a repository and the identity of humans' millennial spirituality. It is foolish to reach for classic literature or epics, if not for the sake of wisdom.

I intended to recreate Mahabharatha not for the sake of adapting it according to the prevailing socio-political environment, thereby identifying and establishing the simple worldly truths relevant today nor for assessing the value of that epic based on the worldly knowledge that I possess today. Rather it is a quest to understand whether such an epic dating several thousand years can have answers to my perennial queries that have been following me. To categorize the foundational archetypes that occurs to me when I search deep inside myself and to understand myself more lucidly through those archetypes. I chose Mahabharatha to accompany my meditation, because it has been accompanying me from my birth - like my language, like my dream.

Krishna is the radiant face of that dreamy expanse. To make Him as one of those humans surviving before my eyes is to commit the great sin of transforming a diamond gifted to me into a pebble. But it will also be a mistake to carry over to Mahabharatha the prevailing image of Krishna. It is an image created by a kind of worldly devotion. If I give him the constant construct of the One who knows everything, directs everything and provides  for everyone, then there is nothing left for me to know or feel. I had believed that a path in between these two would open up before me. As usual, I had left it to my writing to open up such a path and so didn't decide on it before starting. And it happened exactly that way.

While writing 'Neelam', Krishna was occurring as both a god and a human simultaneously. That novel kept oscillating between these two extremes perfectly. The satisfaction that it provided enlightened me that I was nearing Krishna. Nataraja Guru mentions Krishna as 'The greatest enigma of our culture'. 'Neelam' is a novel that was able to talk about that greatest mystery of our culture sans detachment or attachment. 'Indiraneelam' is its continuation. It is the same mental state as in 'Neelam' that is present in Indiraneelam; also the same linguistic flow.

Radha is one of the Gopikas in Neelam. Krishna was a creation of hers. There are eight consorts in this novel, ladies mentioned as 'Ashta bharya' as per tradition. Each one has their own personality. Each one comprehends Krishna in their own ways. The Krishna thus presented through these knowings appears in his complete form in this novel. What Satyabhama comprehends is Krishna, while through her complete devotion of a Gopika, what Kalindi too comprehends is Krishna. He appears as a one with eight faces. The way you comprehend Him, he becomes that - God, human, sage and even a king.

Warrior, handsome, scholar, sage - irrespective of how you call him, He stands apart from any such terms. And since such a being portrays these depictions, this novel transforms into the primary one within the Venmurasu series. My heartfelt thanks to the initial publishers of this novel - Kizhakku Publishers and to the re-publisher - Vishnupuram Publishers.

J 


References:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venmurasu

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._T._Vasudevan_Nair

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randamoozham

 

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/24681099-04

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/37763172-indiraneelam-venmurasu-book-7

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nataraja_Guru

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtabharya

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gopi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyabhama

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yamuna_in_Hinduism

 

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