Book Review On "The Immortals of Meluha" from The Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi
Mythology, history, faith, and facts have emerged from the same source. The concept of retelling of our indigenous tale of great epics has provided a prodigious area for authors to traverse through the ideologies, beliefs, and myths that make literature, so magical and mysterious. The spirit of unfurling our Vedas, kathas, Puranas have been prevailing since ages.
In these modern times, authors have claimed to not know it all, but with their own understanding, they come with their work which is an illustration of a particular part from the epics of our land. One such emerging Indian author who is a columnist is Amish Tripathi. He has a series of three books starting with "The Immortals of Meluha". The other two are "The Secret of Nagas" and "The Oath of Vayuputras".
Amish Tripathi's style of portrayal gives glimpses of his own involvement in the ongoing tale. He puts forward the plot by being a spectator and writes in the genre of Mythological-Fiction. The Shiva trilogy is one of the finest works by Amish which was the fastest-selling book series in Indian publishing history. His approach of writing gives clear ideologies of reform, it paves way for the ongoing generation to know about the true values and enlightenment. His description of the tales gives information entwined with perception and belief.
The Plot of The Immortals of Meluha
The plot takes us to ancient times when stages of transition were seen. Shiva, the protagonist's childhood days are all spent in Kailash with the elevated Himalayas making the view majestic.
Beyond the tall mountains existed a prosperous empire, Meluha which is depicted as the most powerful one in the entire world. Meluhans are the Suryavanshis, descendants of Lord Ram. Meluha is on its verge of downfall. They have rivalries with Chandravanshis, descendants of the moon who have attacked the Meluhans with the extended power provided by the Nagas.
Meluhans are in search of their savior. This search led Daksha, king of Meluha to call for different tribes to visit his kingdom. Shiva belonged to the Guna tribe, and along with the other tribals he accepted the invitation. Meluhan's way of living was extremely impressive for the tribals.
There came sudden enlightenment and the emergence of hope when Ayurvati, the chief of medicine of Meluhans observed that Shiva wasn't affected at all while the other inhabitants faced high fever.
Throughout the story, Shiva is depicted as a warrior and a symbol of strength.
When Ayurvati found that Shiva's throat has turned blue, it was clear that their search went successful and they have their savior, Neelkantha.
The story witnesses the greatest transition of a human figure changing into the most powerful, beautiful, soul above all souls, and the ultimate truth, Mahadev.
The Savior headed towards Devagiri and got introduced to the strategies that prevented Suryavanshis from the attacks. Here, Shiva's life gets enriched by having his beloved, better half, Sati daughter of king Daksha. The Meluhans became victorious with the help of Shiva.
Shiva faced a series of introspections and realization which concluded that it was his fate that he performed such actions. He developed a sense where he thought, that he was supposed to be objective and impartial as the ones he fought with were not wholly responsible for the chaos and instability that prevailed.
Author’s intend
As we discussed initially Amish Tripathi's whole and sole purpose is to let the readers cherish the heroes born in our land. Ancient India has undergone a number of reforms and he intended to promote the progressive hold onto our reforms.
Through his narration of the tale, he gives us the inspiration to walk in the path of righteousness and get better and grow, as the scope for growth is boundless. He mentioned that every human being has a hidden potential God which will help us live our lives wonderfully by constantly required introspections.
Evaluation of the text
The text glorifies the chronicles of Shiva and portrays his strength, fierceness, benevolence, and righteousness. Its initial depictions show how inseparable Shiva is from the natural elements, this gives a sense of his emergence. The beauty of the Himalayas and Kailash along with the beautiful Mansarovar lake flowing through the Himalayas gets the reader to the beautiful times and also proves the essence and purity of nature.
It talks about the disappearance of the river Saraswati which conveys that the kingdom is encountering severe issues, also shows loss of prosperity, wisdom, and darkness being prevailed.
The Kingdom of Meluha is spectacular, enriched with all facilities but Shiva calls the soft bed to be a "cursed bed being soft" as it could not give him his soothing sleep. It strongly portrays the concept of one's love for your own belonging.
There are small areas in the storytelling, where Shiva's virtues of caring, responsible, respectful, and tolerant nature that glorifies humanity are portrayed very evidently.
As the reader traverses through the tale there are a number of portrayals of rituals and study of the war between the Suryavanshis and Chandravanshis. It gives a deep message of looking towards the truth by being impartial and with an approach to just intensify the root cause of the matter without objectifying one's emergence, way of living, and ancestral history.
It also gave some parts that celebrated the victory of Lord Ram that depicted optimism and devotion.
In the human incarnation of Shiva, he is unaware of Lord Vishnu, both in their own forms are mutual admirers, this fills the scene with irony.
This text wholly is a piece of reform that portrayed Shiva to be curious and unbiased by all means.
This novel has shown a clear picture of Shiva being a destroyer, destroyer of evil. The way the author has elucidated the word "evil" gives strong learning to conduct something in a proper manner.
The celebrated relationship between Shiva and Vishnu is also glorified along with enlightenment. It beautifully ends with enigmatic exchanges of smiles between them.
This is one of the most justified and progressive pieces of work that gives direction towards the appropriate form of religion.
It's a worth reading novel for any reader who seeks mythology, interesting. It provides a modernized vision to the circumstances that prevailed in the past and creates awareness that truth and righteousness are never out of fashion.
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