The Dharma Forest

As the Mahabharata war wages on it shows no mercy and takes no prisoners. Death and destruction abound. In the midst of a world rendered unrecognizable by the lust for power malice and the machinations of war stand Bhishma contemplating the immeasurable death he sees around himself as a man who cannot die Draupadi above and beyond the chaos and yet at the very centre of it trying to protect her husbands at any cost wondering whom to trust and Arjuna beloved conflicted and melancholic in equal measure uncertain of the ultimate cost of the warhe is intent on winning. The Dharma Forest is a magnificent first novel in a trilogy filled with complex characters conflicted loyalties and erotic jealousies from India's most beloved epic. Review The Dharma Forest lit by sun-filtered sincerity and fed by both writerly ambitious and imagination is dense with words and ideas whose lush and fertile undergrowth reaches deep into an ancient text to find truth and some kind of transcendental meaning for the 21st century individual. ―OpenInvestment banker Keerthik Sasidharan narrates the final days of the Kurukshetra war in his debut bookThe Dharma Forest. ―The Indian ExpressThis Kurukshetra war novel explores conflicted loyalties and erotic jealousies of complex characters ―ScrollThe Dharma Forest tells about Bhishma's wondrous immortal life Draupadi's loves amid erotic jealousies and Arjuna's war-weary courage. ―Hindustan TimesIn The Dharma Forest Keerthik Sasidharan tells a luminous narrative of thefinal days of the Kurukshetra War. Brilliantly evoked in fluid and elegant prosethe familiar story of the Mahabharata here reads like a great war novel filledwith magical stories suffused with the qualms and complexities of humanbeings alongside the divine wisdom of the gods. Powerful and bewitchingbeautifully written and profoundly steeped in the lore of the ancientsThe Dharma Forest moved me deeply. -- Shashi Tharoor Indian politician writer and former international diplomatIn densely wooded prose this novel leads us into the thickets of an ancient human story of love and catastrophe where moral ambiguity psychological complexity and soul-darkness spin on the edge of sudden illumination. A remarkable debut that combines imaginative heft with luminous insight -- Arundhathi Subramaniam poet and writerThe Mahabharata itself is Dharmaranya as individuals wander around in a mysterious forest searching for their meaning of dharma. In the first book of a trilogy with a conversation between Jara and Krishna as the mooring Keerthik Sasidharan weaves a fascinating tapestry with Bhisma Draupadi and Arjuna as warp and woof -- Bibek Debroy writer economist and chairman Economic Advisory Council to the PMI was charmed by this sparkling imaginative feast of a mythological novel set in the last days of the great war in the Mahabharata. An inspired debut! -- Gurcharan Das author and commentator About the Author Keerthik Sasidharan was born in Palakkad Kerala and was trained as an economist. His writings have appeared in various publications including as a columnist for The Hindu and Open magazine. He lives in New York City.