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Mahagatha - 100 Tales from the Puranas by Satyarth Nayak : book review

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins India (8 December 2022)

Language ‏ : ‎ English

Paperback ‏ : ‎ 436 pages

Order your copy : Here


ABOUT THE BOOK

Do you know the story where Brahma and Vishnu race against each other or where Shiva battles Krishna? Where Indra attempts foeticide or where Rama punishes a Shudra? Do you know about Maya Sita or Narada's monkey face? Or why Surya falls from the sky or why Chandra commits adultery?

Delving into the minds of gods, demons, and humans alike, Mahagatha seeks a deeper understanding of their motivations. The timelessness of their impulses speaks across the aeons to readers of today. Written in lively prose with charming illustrations, these 100 tales will entertain and enlighten, and make you connect the dots of Hindu mythology like never before.



MY THOUGHTS

Ever wondered why the universe is called “Bramhand” or what the meaning behind “Narayana” is? answers to such questions and many others can be traced back to the Vedas and Puranas. But do you know, that there are 18 mukhya puranas and 18 upa puranas with more than 400,000 verses (source: wiki)? Reading a vast amount of texts can be a daunting and humongous task. Thus we often excuse ourselves from reading religious scriptures in our fast-paced life.

Mahagatha by Satyarth Nayak follows the chronological events of the universe's formation by Parambramhan and the subsequent events that followed after that. Written in a streamlined manner, it talks about the cycle of creation and destruction.

Beautiful illustrations make the chapters short and end with a moral lesson.

Although the narrative style is uncomplicated, the nature of the book is such, that one cannot pick up a random chapter and read it. Another aspect is the eloquent writing, it feels like the events are unfolding up front.

The author focused not only on the storytelling but has provided deeper meaning and context. This book is a reading delight and I highly recommend reading it.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Satyarth Nayak is an author and screenwriter based in Mumbai. A former SAARC Award-winning correspondent with CNN-IBN, Delhi, he holds a Master’s in English Literature from St. Stephen’s.

Satyarth’s bestselling biography, ''Sridevi—The Eternal Screen Goddess'', was published by Penguin in 2019 and charted the journey of the screen legend from child star to becoming India’s first female superstar. It met with high acclaim with the media hailing it as ‘’that one work of literature to decode Sridevi.’’ Satyarth’s debut novel, ''The Emperor’s Riddles'', that released in 2014, became a bestselling thriller, earning comparisons with Dan Brown for being a ‘history meets mystery’. Satyarth followed it up with his second thriller, ''Venom'', in 2020. He has also scripted Sony’s epic historical show, ''Porus'', touted as India’s most expensive television series that aired from 2017 to 2019. His short stories have won the British Council award and appeared in Sudha Murty’s Penguin anthology, ''Something Happened On The Way To Heaven''.

Named one of the Top 50 authors to follow on social media and a regular speaker at national and international literature festivals, Satyarth is currently scripting a high-profile mythology web series, working on his first film script and writing his next book based on the Mahabharata.


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