Page 2 - Mahabharata_Hero.pdf

A reader who is self-proclaimed follower
of Hindu Aikya Vedi called me and asked:
"Udayji, who is the real hero of
Mahabharata? Recently, India's biggest
movie was announced - The Mahabharata
- an adaptation of MT Vasudevan Nair's
Randamoozham (Second Turn) in which
Bhīma is the hero...”
"So?”
"It's not the adaptation of Ved Vyasa's
Mahabharata and they should not give that
title.”
I read MT Vasudevan Nair's
Randamoozham (Second Turn) while it
was being published as serial in a news
weekly during early 1980s when I was a
college student. Based on the Indian epic
Mahabharata, the novel tells the story from
Bhīma's perspective, the second of the
Pandavas. I had the opportunity to
interview MT, who was my favorite writer
then, about this novel. Later he had got
Jnanpeeth Award for the novel.
Now, Randamoozham is becoming India's
biggest ever motion picture, with an
investment of INR 1000 crore (USD 150
million). A UAE-based Indian businessman
BR Shetty will invest to produce the film.
Veteran actor Mohan Lal is acting as
Bhima, the protagonist.
"The great Sanskrit epic has been a topic
of creative adaptation in various formats in
all art forms for many decades. Many have
written novels based on Mahabharata. So,
what's wrong in this novel? It is an exciting
novel..." I asked him.
P.g. Better Living
"We are not against the movie or novel.
But it should not be titled as
Mahabharata. Bhīma was not the hero of
Mahabharata right?" he asked.
"I have read Mahabharata many times. I
always found it difficult to understand who
is the real hero of the epic - because
every character in the epic is unique and
important. If you try to remove one
character, the entire epic will collapse - it
is unparalleled mastery craft that never
ever can be imitated. That's why it is said,
“Vyasochishtam jagat sarvam,” or
whatever you find in the universe, Vyas
has said it before. Such well-crafted epic”
"But it is a known fact that Arjun is the
hero and Duryodhana is the villain of
Mahabharata...”
"Yes, if you read Mahabharata with a
Semitic mind-set of Good Guys Vs. Bad
Guys. But Veda Vyas tried to prove a
totally different dimension. There is no
hero-villain concept in this great epic.”
“Whatever said and done, Bhīma is not
the hero, right?”