The Oath Of The Vayuputras

It takes more than a man to root out the evil not just inside him, but inside his society as well. Nonetheless, it is man who must do this.

This is what I retain with me as I put the final book in the Shiva Trilogy back on the shelf. The author, living up to expectations, keeps doling out fresh, skeptical and in no way blasphemous interpretations of the mythological accounts. The story continues forth and we see Shiva carrying out his karma - identifying evil and destroying it. But in the course of this he understands that evil lies in man himself and whenever the devil of excesses takes over the senses, the addiction has to be slayed, whatever be the cost. There's nothing ingenuous to be found in terms of philosophy as he just narrates the wisdom which has been handed down the generations. The beauty lies in the simplicity of the message - where godmen use hyperbole and twist the words of the texts, the author states in plain words leaving no room for misinterpretations.

However, the book is far from perfection as the plot drags on sluggishly for some pages and might test one's patience. But this does not make one put the book down midway as one cannot help but smile while recalling bits of familiar history woven into the story making perfect sense in the plot. The amalgamation is as near perfection as one can hope for.

The last few pages drive home the fact that these figures who are revered as gods, were in fact humans. Not ordinary humans of course, and it was their strength of character and sense of duty which made them rise to the stature of divine. The author is not wrong when he says we are the lesser descendants to these great souls of an ancient and proud civilization, now lost to the sands of time.

My Verdict: I bow in front of the author to provide me with a story I can believe in with a code I can follow - Har Har Mahadev! Anyone who fights the devil inside him and his society is a god.