Author Shubha Vilas has established himself as one of the specialists of ancient Hindu scriptures. Among his various works, he is known the most for retelling the Ramayana through a set of six books, with each being an insightful and entertaining read.

The author has now stepped into another celebrated epic Mahabharata and has presented the first book titled ‘Undefeatable Krishna’, thereby starting off with the most central figure in the scripture.

The book narrates various chapters from the Mahabharata where Lord Krishna played an important part. The book starts off by retelling the events before the great war of Kurukshetra and ends with its consequences after that.

Shubha Vilas has largely picked up not only interesting but also important chapters from the Mahabharata where Krishna has played a role in giving important life lessons not only to the characters in the epic but also the readers at large. The only surprise is the chapter on Arjuna and Subhadra’s love story and Krishna’s role in their union. You wonder about its importance with regards to the Mahabharata. But as it’s interesting and amusing to read, there are no complains.

Like his various previous works, the author’s distinct style of writing is the high point of the book. He has once again used simple language and at the same time narrated various events in a larger-than-life manner. It makes you visualize the scenes as if they are taking place in a movie mounted on a large scale.

There are various incidents that are presented with a lot of style during the war of Kurukshetra. The one that stands out is the moment when Jayadratha is killed by Arjun. If this moment is played in a film in the exact manner as described in the book, one can expect the audience to break into an applause.

However, the book is not all about larger-than-life style. There are equal number of moments that overwhelm you and touch an emotional chord, especially if you happen to be an ardent devotee of Lord Krishna. The author has succeeded in presenting the various shades of Him and indirectly shown what a personality He is.

But at the same time, the author has also presented Krishna like a common person with human nature. For example, He not being able to sleep at night as he is concerned about Arjuna’s vow of killing Jayadratha before sunset the next day. There are other examples too of the same.

Major negative points are missing in ‘Undefeatable Krishna’ but there are minor ones. The events of the Mahabharata are narrated somewhat in a non-linear way in the latter part, which could have been avoided. A major part of the book contains lessons being preached by the author with respect to the various events of the Mahabharata. This part could have been shortened. On 2-3 occasions, double inverted commas are missing at the end of dialogues.

Overall: ‘Undefeatable Krishna’ is yet another winner from Shubha Vilas. The book is for those who have already read the Mahabharata and would like to delve deeper into it.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Author: Shubha Vilas

Publishers: Jaico Books

Pages: 214

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