In the writer's own words:
"What the bloody hell, which joker wrote this bullshit!"
This book or rather the series of books is the slaughter of the cult of Shiva with utter disrespect and irresponsibility, its the death of a very deep rooted faith.
I respect Christians and Muslims for one thing, which our Hindu followers severely lack - awareness towards one's own faith. If this irresponsible writer had even tried to twist the story of their Gods or even attempted to reduce their God to a mere barbarian, they would have vehemently rejected this book. But what do our people do! They made this bullshit a freaking best seller.
This is when I envy Christians and Muslims, we need to learn from them on how we need to first be aware of our faith and realize it, and then protect it and fight back when some ignorant writer tries to abuse it. We don't take informed decisions, we are a gullible bunch of people with little knowledge on the depth of our faith and that's when writers of this kind flourish in our society.
What is wrong with that book! Well I wish I had the opportunity to edit that manuscript, I would have simply thrown it into the bin and asked the author to do proper research before he even started to attempt writing on Lord Shiva. He may have a decent plot, but he has no business to infuse the Shiva cult into his fictitious story and distort the core of this faith. When we write books, we don't change facts, we don't distort the truth as written in the scriptures into something else because we run the responsibility of publishing this work and the distortion of faith through such publications is completely unacceptable I would love to know where this author did his research from and how much of the cult of Shiva he really understood leave alone realize!
For one, we are talking about ancient faith, deep rooted tradition and we need to maintain a certain decorum before we mix it with modernity of the current times. When we get into serious research there are rules to follow like any other science and that cannot be trampled with or broken, it has to be respected. Clearly the author has shown complete lack of research in his books and the audience who made it a best seller show complete lack of awareness towards the faith when they praised the book.
The rules of Shiva faith are strong and any follower of this cult will know how true they are. Shiva is not an inferior barbarian who is illiterate or ignorant. Shiva is a concept, one that speaks of truth, wisdom, profound knowledge, freedom and fearlessness. If the author remotely understood this, he wouldn't even start to write this book.
Mount Kailash and Mansarovar are sacred to the cult of Shiva, sacred to the faith called Shaivism. Hence twisting the story to say that he was forced out of there is a completely wrong thing to do. Just as Vaikuntam is sacred to Lord Vishnu, Kailash is sacred to Lord Shiva and no one should even attempt to change this. And readers of such books should not tolerate an author attempting to twist facts specially when he has no idea about the core of this religion and is a complete ignoramus himself.
If the author of this book didn't know dance, here are a few tips on how he could have bettered the chapter on Sati's dance class. For one, when we explain dance, we don't talk the language of left and right hand, we use jargon like mudras. Also, the starting prayer in dance IS NOT the Nataraja pose, it is Namaskar done in a different way. I wonder if this author even knows how the Nataraja form came about in Shiva Mythology.... or whether he even knows the meaning of Nataraja pose. The meaning of Nataraja is the dance that depicts Lord Shiva expressing to the devotee, to surrender to Him, by discarding Apasmarapurusha [the small dwarf at his foot] and merge into Him, to attain enlightenment. If the author knew this, he wouldn't even attempt to call Lord Shiva a barbarian who was ignorant at the same time!!! God!
And since when did Lord Ram make an appearance into any Shiva Mythology? And since when were Daksha and Shiva in good terms? When did Nandi start eating meat? And please, since when did Lord Ram become superior to Lord Shiva? Lord Ram is the epitome of goodness within ordered society caked with its rules of diplomacy and social decorum. Shiva is the fearlessness and the freedom of life outside of ordered society. Shaivism doesn't care a damn for social rules, it just cares for the real truth. How can we even compare the two? And of course, since when did Daksha become the keeper of Somaras, and where is Indra?
What really makes me laugh is the fact that the author goes about writing a line that says that Shiva doesn't even know why he is called Neelkanth! The author must be out of his mind to pen down a line like that...Anyone who is a Shiva follower knows why he is called Neelkanth, the author of this book certainly does not and has not cared to even find out. How the hell did he even go about writing this bullshit!!
What really baffles me is the level of ignorance in our readers who made this book a best seller and that no one has a problem with the way our faith has been distorted or with the pathetic way this book has been scripted?
Yes, very clearly, I am a Shiva devotee and I am offended by the way this author has written about Shaivism. I am offended by the way he has disrespected our faith, I am offended by the way he has published this manuscript and the distortion of belief its going to cause all the young impressionable minds who read it. I am offended by the way he has abused such a deep rooted and respectable faith.
I have just one advice to give you - If you want to know about Shaivism, this book is not the place you should look for it.
34 comments:
Viji Varadarajan by email:
Kavitha, the guy's book is a best seller!!! Disgusting. Somebody needs to do something about it. Halfway thro' the bk I threw it down in disgust and told my friend so...
Saffronskinspa by email:
I absolutely agree
Sent from BlackBerry® on Airtel
Priscilla Arumugam by email:
Vanakam,
I am glad to notice that I share your sentiments exactly. I was introduced to these books by my daughter who found them to be contradictory to what I have taught them and believe.My suggestion to u is to do an analysis of the books and submitt your detailed research to the company as well as the author itself after aquiring much support or various view points from other readers.
You should also attempt to writing a novel for i have been reading all your desitations or recordings of your personal opinion on various issues. they make good reading.
Regards,
Priscilla Arumugam
Kavitha, While agreeing with you wholly on the concept called Shiva, the one and only super intelligent being in the entire universe,believed to be unborn and unending, the Hindu belief also conveys the concept of 'mithya Jagat', ie, illusory world, or physical forms as a result of illusion created through the weakness of the apparent physical senses in the animal world having at its head humans as the most evolved one as Shiva's models that reflect the variety apparent in the eve changing 'Nature'... That's why the elevated souls only could reach the Absolute Truth and say, "Shivoham"! the Creator Himself!...
Even from different apparent practices related to worship of GOD in 'Insia' every soul can realise how any and every form is used to reach SHIVA only, the Formless Supreme being who alone matters!!!
Kavitha ji,
I have been reading your blog for last many years but it is the first time I am commenting.
Yes, you rightly put it, this book is utter crap and written specifically to hurt Hindus.
Arjunī through email:
Hello Kavitha,
The Blogger comment form is not working for me, but I wanted to respond to your (perceptive) post about this (awful!) book. I apologise in advance that this will be a bit long! I too disliked this book, and have a bit to say about it.
I have read that the author was an atheist, but became a Shiva devotee as he developed and researched the ideas of his story. Also, a friend wanted very much that I should read this book - so, with these good thoughts in my mind, I read The Immortals of Meluha all the way to the end.
I think that the basic thought of writing an action-adventure fiction novel about a Deva is not innately disrespectful. And of course it is possible to write just a simple story which only touches on some very advanced ideas. But this book was so frustrating! It was oddly childish, slowly-paced and even boring in places, and not innocent or endearing in the way a children's story might be. I could see what the author was trying to do, but never quite got there.
The dance, for example - it seemed that he was trying to depict the magic and power of dance, and show the dancer invoking the Divine in the beginning. That's a great idea! but as you pointed out, why not use the actual salutation to the Earth that dancers perform, instead of inventing the Nataraja step as both warm-up (ouch!) and opening posture? The idea of "Veda as ancient science" has been introduced in other books, but never quite so poorly developed and described as it is here; it's dull, like listening to a dry physics lecture. Really, every page was like listening to someone playing the piano and hitting wrong chords over and over, so that your nerves are constantly on edge waiting for the next mistake.
A new devotee's fledgling effort is not something that should be published right away. This book would have greatly benefited from two things. First, the author should have been patient and spent a few years as a devotee, learning the truths of Shiva in dedicated sadhana, and then revisited his book, cleaning up the elementary mistakes (some of which you pointed out in your post). And the editor should have been very strict, having the courage to dissect the book and clean up the poor writing, misspellings, odd grammar, and amateur errors (like characters SCREAMING IN CAPSLOCK), as well as the jumpy pacing and stilted dialogue, which made the book so hard to read.
--and where is Indra?
Not to worry - the same publisher is releasing a book called Thundergod soon, in which I understand that Indra and the other Vedic gods will be fictionalized (and doubtless ruined) similarly.
The Immortals of Meluha didn't touch upon the greatness of Shiva; rather, the book attempted to bring Shiva down to the earthly plane, and failed. I don't think that the author's intention was bad, but good intentions are not enough to write a work of literary merit.
Thanks for writing about this book.
--Arjunī
Saritha by email:
I only skimmed through the book at a bookstore, Kavitha, but quickly put
it down with a dim feeling of outrage...glad our horizons meet:)
Saritha
The primary objective of writing a book, or even a blog is selecting a subject which will attract many to buy it even out of curiosity.The author has achieved It has been achieved now...!
When one observes at the mundane level, an infant at the time of birth is just a 'clean slate'. However, with time, at some stage a normal one becomes mature, physically. and also to a certain extent mentally also when one develops capacity to analyse facts observed by one till that time... And thus at any given point in time each individual can be considered analogous to a book or a library of books (as 'experts' in one subject or like 'siddhas' the all rounders)...
However, the question is whether man has some particular purpose in life??? Or, is it just to make money and become famous in the eyes of other underdeveloped persons???
Rwitoja Mukherjee by email:
I agree , Kavitha.I tried reading and could not go beyond three pages.Its nonsense
Umashankar Ghantayat:
Dear Kavitha,
For a long time I have been receiving you posts on account of being listed in your blog. I am an indphile and have immense pride in my roots as I slowly realise what it is ( and it is a tip in the ocean). More than that I revel in my heritage and history especially when I compare these with sa Greece or Rome or Egypt.
I have read Meluha and as much of an regimented person that I am, I do not find anything denigrating the image of Shiva and it is a peice of fiction. Of course it might influence the image of Shiva in the minds of modern readers, but the other side it would also generate an enthusiasm about our heritage.
So in some sense it is OK. I also wrote back to say that I am filled with admiration at the way you are discovering and your depth in India and Hinduism. You must think of book that links and narrates teh relevance of our rich heritage to modern times.
Warm Regards
Indira Devi through email:
I fully agree with you., These are local preserved stories., Do not get hurt by these stories., The Big Giant Elephant, walks in the streets, with majesty, there are some barking dogs., Nothing happens to the elephant and its followers., Truth will prevail at the end., shivoham shivoham sivoham., Malli.
Rammaa by email:
Naman aapko ,
I am truly impressed with your effort
And I agree with you ,100%
All these pseudo intellectuals
are either out to make money
Or a product of British brainwashing
It is so deep rooted it is difficult to eradicate.
Their effort to finish Hinduism took many ways
Laughing at Murti puja was one ,and any one who
laughed at Murti puja was given a special status
Like rishi swami mahatma,! All pseudos!
We can only pray to the LORD to help
End the rakshas raj
Ramma
With all due respect Maaam,
His work was only fiction; not the best I agree, but captivating and intriguing in its own right.
It is upto the reader to use his discretion to distinguish between fact and fiction made to look like facts.
Just as a thousand readers picked up his book to read about Lord Shiva a thousand others would have finished it and moved on to other books in search of the truth about him, because of IoM.
You (i mean the author or anyone really)cannot hope to educate the general population about everything.
So though i definitely understand the offense you took, and see where it is coming from (and how valid it is) I also think we as readers can be broad-minded enough to see the book in its context, and remember that it is just fiction.
Hinduism is way bigger (and stronger) than all this. Its not going anywhere.
Agree!! this book is pure nonsense. It is not even a ok work of fiction even if considered minus the use of God's names. the whole story is so filmy and lacking depth.
This guy is not even a good fiction writer, forget to expect some research and depth and respect to what names is he writing about!
Hi Lola,
I agree with you to a certain extent that this book is not end all... but, the topic needs to be given its justice. The faith needs to be given its justice... and btw, how broad minded does broad minded get?
IF the author wrote a blog, I would say nothing, its his private space. This is public domain, where we run responsibilities, and surely the author has not been serious about it or himself.
I believe he is a recent follower of Shiva, its good, but he needs to live and feel the faith a bit before he goes about writing about it.
Just to let you know i can write what i want on my blog, but i run the responsibility of not hurting the sentiments of my readers and hence there are a few strong opinions of mine that never make it here. This guy is going about publishing a book.
I hope you understand my point. My worry is that impressionable younger minds will take this as bible when this is actually filth. His book was ok, why bring Lord Shiva into it? That made all the difference.
Regards
Kavitha
Oh one more thing Lola, I remember long back, I wrote about a few facts on death, and I was immediately questioned by the readers on this blog as to where I got it from.
I had to substantiate it with evidence from the Garuda Purana. There after I have always quoted the scriptures so that my readers dont feel that I am fooling around - why? It matters to them that if I take up a serious topic I better be sure about what I publish.
We have to be sensitive towards the reader's feelings. Thats the responsibility i am looking for in the author and sadly... he just didnt make it.
Kavitha, Hindu mythology indicates from His description our planet earth itself as Shiva in physical form: Gangadhar and Chandrashekhar etc among His thousand names!!! And Vasudhaiv' Kutumbakm' indicates the animal world, supported by it, all as its family members who all in appearance are different and have different properties and capacities!!! And although man is considered as the most evolved among all animals, all humans are different!!! And, wise persons in the past reached the same conclusion that all knowing formless SHIVA alone is one and only Supreme Judge of all judges in human forms who, although like all humans at any given point of time, are images of Shiva only but their capacities depend on TIME: 100 to 75% in Satyug, but 25 to 9% in Kaliyug, ie, the present as the worst of all yugas!!!
I tried to read it too, but lost interest.I found it uninteresting, though some others in the family (who are also ardent Shiva Devotees) enjoyed it . No, I was not "outraged" or "offended" . Its just another storybook .
Shiva is an ancient banyan tree , which will not lose a leaf of its timeless glory just because some passing crow pecks at its roots. HE couldn't care less how he's depicted, and neither should we.
The Carvaka Schools, misinterpretations of the Western minds,maligning by other faiths, the blistering speeches of Ee.Ve.Ra, nothing has dimmed Shiva's brilliance and He certainly does not need our "protection" or "defense".....as for the fear that youngsters may take this meluha popcorn as Vedic Truth, please, lets credit them with a smidgen of intelligence. The Preface of the book makes it clear that it is a work of fiction. Just like The Davinci Code.
...if we can smile at the idol of Ganesa playing cricket or texting on I-Phone, I'm sure we can also shrug off Meluha as so much harmless fancy or inconsequential junk.
Hi Yossee! Heard from you after a long time!
Mention of Banyan reminds me of what Krishna said in Gita, ie, man is an inverted tree, as he has his roots in the 'sky' (another one of the panchbhootas besides the taken-for-granted Earth, Gangadhar Shiva to Hindu, where eight other embers of the Solar system are located and human form is believed constructed from essences of Navgrahas the nine 'planets' from Sun to Saturn, including the VIP Rarth too!!!...
The book happens to be a mere quest for understanding what true evil is and what isn't. It has nothing to do with mythology, hurting religions. If anything, it has instigated so many youngsters who normally wouldn't care to read their own mythology, to go read and understand the true stories and greatness of Lord Shiva. Its a Fiction that has triggered many to develop a taste and interest in Mythology and the Religion.
Thats fine "Anonymous" but the author should not show his blatant ignorance of the same mythology. If he is setting an example, he should set it right. Not just write what ever he feels.
Maybe Shri Asim Tripathi could be asked to read Kavitha's blog and refer it in his book too!
I purchased the book with hope of a great read... 2 chapters down. I couldn't imagine which publisher would allow an author to give Shiva a voice like that...
The dialogues are an epitome of insult.
Why should your faith or beliefs be affected or sentiments hurt by someone's imagination ? I agree that that the author has indeed fabricated and produced a book that may not be along the same lines as the scriptures. But in no way is it offending our faith. I am a Shiva worshipper too. Regard it as a work of fiction and continue your sadhana. What does it matter how someone has interpreted his imagination. I used to react the same way when I would read similar books, but over the years I have come to realize that being affected by someone else's interpretation of his/her imagination and applying it to one's faith will achieve nothing but hatred and anger. Isn't that exactly the opposite of what one attempts to achieve through one's sadhana ? As long as you trust your faith what does it matter what someone thinks of it. It is his way of expressing it. But being angered by it or offended by it will not achieve any good on any spiritual plane.
Hi Kavitha, Mr Anon et al, he question required to be asked from any devotee of Shiva, say, is whether one has reached the stage where one could say,"Shivoham! Tat twam asi"!!! That is, I myself am Shiva, and so you too are!
As long as one feels one hasn't yet reached that stage, it's clear that one still needs some morelymenM time!!!
HAR HAR MAHADEV... Why dont u guys tell the story of Lord Shiva the divine then? Let us get drenched and enlightened with the divine knowledge!
I believe this blog is all about that. It tells possibly every story of Lord Shiva and more.
Isn't understanding this very difficult "ekam sad vipra bahudha vadanti agnim yamam matariswanam ahuh". Truth is one, but the learned refer to it in different ways. Om Namah Shivay. I am adorent devotee of Shiva. I have read the book and I liked the way author is exploring.This is our destiny to search for truth and each one is free to choose his path in search of truth. That is the beauty of Sanatan Dharma, that is beauty of Vedic teachings. We read books like da Vinci Code and Alchemist, Illusions and realise these concepts are all derived from Vedas but no one is to present them to world. In that case books like this help spread the word of wisdom in modern context. Offcourse it is a work of fiction and not something to understand Shivatattva but it is not easy to understand Shivatattva. The author has tries to understand it in very simple words and a imaginary story that he acknowledges.
hi,
punch into google search IMMORAL ATTACK ON HINDUISM VADAKAYIL
There are two paths in Hinduism.
One is the Advaita ( non-dual ) and the other is Dwaita ( dual ) philosophy of Sanatana Dharma.
The Advaita looks at God as brahmAn, the intelligent morphogenetic consciousness field -- the akasha ,the space between the electrons in an atom.
The Dwaita form looks at God as the trinity of creator Brahma , preserver Vishnu and destroyer Shiva alos known as Tamas -Rajas- sattwa. The modern world knows this as Yin-Yang .
Examples:
Energy/ matter
Particle/ wave
Cathode/ anode
Conscious/ subconscious
Aerobic bacteria/ anaerobic
Catablism/ anabolism
Potential energy/ kinetic energy
Attraction/ repulsion
Excitation/ inhibition
Birth/ decay
Static / dynamic
Organic / inorganic
Freezing/ melting
Vaporization/ condensation
Positive pole/ negative pole
North pole/ southpole magnetic
Ionization/ de-ionistaion
Clockwise vortex/ counterclockwise vortex
Absorption/ secretion
Contraction/ relaxation
Evaporation/ condensation
Conscious/ Subconscious
Left brain lobe/ Right brain lobe
These dual poles are connected via consciousness. It is about the quantum possibility wave vibration between two poles. If the restraining balance or equilibrium is lost , the universe will spiral out of control and end. This guarantees change, growth and evolution Lessening of Yin- always results in increase of Yang and vice versa. One cannot exist without the other and they are mutually dependant . Balance can never be permanent— Yin and Yang continuously devour each other – and life flows on.
capt ajit vadakayil
..
I skimmed through this book. To avoid public outrage the author has taken refuge in Shiva “slokas” in the beginning. It reeks of pseudo (intellectual?) superiority, conceitedness and condescending attitude of IIT/IIM products. It is just a money making racket like any other allowing for the desperate situation. If unchecked, the pickers will multiply in view of the large mythological base and an equally stupid, globalised and pampered “English speaking” audience. I sincerely doubt if the author was an atheist in the real sense even once in his lifetime!
I skimmed through this book. To avoid public outrage the author has taken refuge in Shiva “slokas” in the beginning. It reeks of pseudo (intellectual?) superiority conceitedness and condescending attitude of IIT/IIM products. It is just a money making racket like any other allowing for the desperate situation. If unchecked, the pickers will multiply in view of the large mythological base and an equally stupid, globalised and pampered “English speaking” audience. I sincerely doubt if the author was an atheist in the real sense even once in his lifetime!
I started reading the book and couldn believe how in the good world did it become a best seller!!! and surprisingly so many young readers love this piece of crap, I dont know for what!!! luckily there are many people who share my idea.
Talking about the flaws (read "Blunders") in the book as discueed here, I ld like to bring attention to the biggest one I found so far!
Its a common knowledge that two jyotirlingas, namely Baijnath and Rameshwar were created in Treta Yuga, during the reign of Lord Rama and Ravan!!! How come then Lord Rama existed 1000s of years before lord Shiva???? Please correct me if I am worng!
Oh yes, a piece of crap it is for sure!
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