Udayan- The Forgotten Pandava

The Story Of Udayan, Direct Descendant Of The Great Pandava Warrior Arjuna, Is All That Remains Of The Third Great Indian Epic, The Bruhatkatha,

Though Raised To Be A Warrior-King, Whose Sword Must Carry The Blood Of His Enemies, As A Supremely Gifted Veena Maestro, Udayan's Soul Belongs To The Goddess Of Music. The Great Vatsa Empire Crumbles As Its Musician-King Sits Lost To The Reality Of Intrigue, Espionage And War Which Threatens To Wipe Out Both His Kingdom And The Pandava Line Forever.

This Is The Epic Tale Of Udayan, His Devoted Minister, Yaugandharayan, His Fiercely Loyal General, Rumanwan, And The Brilliant Court Jester, Vasantak. It Is Also The Story Of Pradyot, Proud King Of Avanti, And Udayan's Abduction Of His Vivacious And Beautiful Daughter, Vasavdatta. As The Thrilling Narrative Sweeps Across The Mountains And Plains Of Bharatvarsh, Raising The Dust Of History, Events Long Past Come To Life As The Forgotten Pandava Lives Again.

RAJENDRA KHER, a graduate of Pune University, has been writing for over two decades. He has published ten books in Marathi, all of which have been received with critical acclaim. Some of his bestselling novels have been translated into other languages. He has been honoured with five literary awards.

Rajendra has worked as an Assistant Director in the film industry, on documentaries, and as a Programme Director for a TV channel. Early in his career, he produced and directed the short experimental film, Charlie Chaplin in India. He has had extensive experience with writing scripts and screenplays. He has contributed numerous articles and short stories to newspapers and magazines.

The Ramayan and Mahabharat, the two great epics of ancient Bharatvarsh, are both well known to the modern world. However, few people are aware that a third epic exists – the Bruhatkatha, composed by Gunadhya, a scholar-savantpoet as gifted as Maharshi Valmiki and Maharshi Vyas, the authors of the two established epics.

The chief protagonist of Gunadhya's epic is the gallant King Udayan of the Vatsa kingdom, once located between Avanti and Magadh, straddling modern day Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. While history has not conferred on Udayan the godlike status of Lord Ram or Lord Krishna, or the heroic stature of his forbear, Arjun, he was nevertheless supremely gifted by the Gods. An eighth generation descendant of the Pandava warrior-prince Arjun, Udayan was both handsome to behold and a leader of surpassing courage. He was also a virtuoso on the veena. A thousand years ago, his life story was as popular in the retelling as the Ramayan and the Mahabharat are today. So much so, that Kalidas, in describing the town of Ujjayini in his Meghdoot, mentions the town elders enthusiastically narrating to visitors the legend of Udayan, especially his abduction of Vasavdatta, princess of Avanti.

In the 13th century AD, Govardhanacharya wrote in his Aryasaptashati: 'My tributes to the great poets Vyas, Valmiki and Gunadhya, the creators of Ramayan, Mahabharat and Bruhatkatha. It is because of them that mellifluous oratory has started flowing in three streams.'

In those days Gunadhya was admired and celebrated in the same vein as Vyas and Valmiki. Unfortunately, unlike the Ramayan and the Mahabharat, Gunadhya's Bruhatkatha is largely unavailable today. The manuscript, consisting of an astonishing 700,000 couplets, was burned by Gunadhya himself. However, about 100,000 shlokas survived, and this is what remains of the third great epic of Bharatvarsh.

There was a reason why the poet attempted to destroy his work. Gunadhya had actually penned seven epic tales or Bruhatkatha (bruhat = voluminous, katha = tale), totalling 700,000 couplets, in the Paishachi language. It took him seven years to complete. Living as he did in the forest, he found it difficult to procure ink to write with. Nor did he wish the spirits, the Vidyadhars, who travelled in the air and lived in the woods, to know of his work. So Gunadhya wrote all seven lakh shlokas in his own blood. Having completed the work, he began reading it to his disciples. The sessions inevitably attracted the Vidyadhars and the Siddhas, who listened to the epic with devout attention. As a result, some of them eventually gained salvation and release.