BENGALURU: The seventh book of the holy Rig Vedas finds its way into an extraordinary tale of an emperor who wages an epic battle against a usurper leading a confederacy of ten kings. However, divine help from Lord Indra gives victory to the Aryan King Sudas to vanquish people who are out to destroy the world with their greed and hunger for power. The third in the Harappa Series, Dashrajna: The Battle of Ten Kings makes for an interesting read after the absorbing first and second titles in this series.
London-based orthopedic surgeon Dr Shankar Kashyap proves how good he is at research and culling out details of an era about which not much is known nor people have any familiarity. Now, how much is fantasy in the Harappa Series against the real landscape of the Harappan civilisation? The author explains, “The geographical landscape is as real as it can be. It is based on extensive research into latest archaeological findings and the literary evidence available. I have taken available archaeological evidence to reproduce the lifestyle and activities of daily living in the series.”
The description of people in various kingdoms, their lifestyle and the society in general be it of the Bharata kingdom or the Elamites are elaborate and forms a great part of the three books of the Harappa Series. According to the author, there is plenty of evidence to show what kind of foods were prepared and eaten, what kind of apparel people wore, the kind of animals that were domesticated and hunted during the Harappan civilisation.
Dr Kashyap adds, “I have used the characters and episodes described in the books of Rig Veda as the basis for developing stories. It was extremely challenging to research Rig Veda as my knowledge of Sanskrit is not brilliant. I have used translations and commentaries by others such as Ralph Griffiths, Srikant Talageri, David Frawley and Prasanna Gautama. There is an element of fantasy added, mostly based on the Vedic scriptures and legends.”
The author in his lively, entertaining style manages to put all the historical details in a format which is easy to read and believable especially when this information is sketchy and unknown.
The third book of the series Dashrajna: The Battle of Ten Kings tracing the travails of King Sudas and the build up to the epic battle ends up in just a single chapter devoted to this. However, the author adds, “The battle of Dasharajna is the finale of a long-standing enmity between the five families. The story winds around the various characters before culminating in the battle. There is not much in the story of the battle itself apart from a king fighting against all odds and winning. According to Rigveda, God Indra sided with Sage Vasishta and King Sudas as against Sage Vishwamitra and the confederacy which was the cause of Sudas’s victory.”