Book Review - The Essence of Bhagwad Gita - 70 Verses at Its Core by Atul Sehgal

I had read 13 Aadhyayas / Chapters of Gita when I was in 5th Grade. At that time my age was not more than 13. Well, I was not mature enough to understand the conceptual or deep meaning, I just understood contextual or I would say textual meaning. That was all I had done till I started reading Ashwin Sanghi's book, in which shloka/stanza from Gita was used for multiple meaning. That gave me the curiosity to go back and to read one of the holiest books of Hindus. But the confusion was which edition to take. Just like the Bible or the Qoran, there are thousands of editions starting from pocket edition to thick-detailed one. Another challenge was what should be the content type of the book. Some were plain translations from Sanskrit to some were so detailed in explanation that each shloka covered one chapter. I wanted the later type of work but again time was the constraint. I didn't have that much time (as at any given time I keep 40-50 review copies in the review pipeline). So the idea to read a detailed book was put on hold until I saw "The Essence of Bhagwad Gita - 70 Verses at Its Core" by Atul Sehgal.

Detailed Review Link

The Bhagwadgita comprises seven hundred verses and has guided us over generations. This book focuses on seventy verses, which, the author believes, form the core of what Shri Krishna told Arjun at the Kurukshetra battlefield.

Each chapter begins with a Sanskrit verse, which is followed by its literal translation. The wisdom of each of those is then eloquently expounded.

This book doesn’t confine itself to explaining the verses and the philosophy of the Bhagwadgita alone; it shows us how to apply these tenets in everyday life through lucid examples. Effectively, it teaches us how to resolve our problems, improve social relations, enrich our souls and make our journey worthwhile.

Originally written in 700 verses with each verse having its own deep meaning, it is really difficult for normal people to follow and understand each verse. Atul has done a commendable job of selecting 70 most suitable verses which can cover the essence of the whole Gita. Each verse starts with actual Sanskrit shloka and its plain English translation. Then after starts the basic explanation of the concept. Atul has a deep connection with Arya Samaj which has made him rich in understanding of Vedic scripture. It can be seen while reading his messages/elaboration in as normal language as possible.

Things I liked about book

• Cover. Yes I am giving full marks for it
• Simple language. As the topic is serious, making it more complex with high vocabulary words will make it difficult to follow for readers.
• Controlled explanation. As I already mentioned one can write the whole section with just one verse but you need to know when to stop. And Atul has done his job wonderfully

I know its more of a spiritual read than self-help, but I suggest Atul think about introducing examples/similar context which will maintain the tempo of reading speed.

Talking about ratings

1. Cover - 5/5
2. Content - 4/5
3. Overall - 4/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Book Review - Kartikeya The Destroyer's Son by Anuja Chandramouli

We have heard many stories about Ganesha, but stories of his brother Kartikeya were limited. I was always curious about Kartikeya so this book was enlightening for me.

Book Blurb

Unravel the puzzle that is the mysterious and misunderstood son of Mahadeva.

Kartikeya was born from the flames of a desperate need, an ardent desire and an utmost devastation. In him was distilled the terrible powers of Mahadeva, at its fiercest and most deadly. Although he fought many wars and slew many tyrants, his gifts to humanity have always been those of mercy, compassion and love. What makes this possible?

For Kartikeya, there have always been more questions than answers. Did he really walk away from his family over a piece of fruit? What about the women in his life—was he the ravisher he is at times accused of being, or the protector of women? Was he the violent warrior who revelled in bloodlust, or a gentle family man? What was his relationship with his more popular sibling, Ganesha?

Anuja Chandramouli weaves together myth, imagination and folklore while looking to answer these questions and recreates for modern readers the story of one of the most enigmatic gods—Kartikeya.

The Kartikeya is the first son of the destroyer Shiva and the goddess Parvati. He was also chief commander of Deva's army. The purpose of Kartikeya's birth was to kill Asura king who has taken charge of heaven and to restore the place of Indra as king of heaven. Kartikeya was a benevolent warrior and a generous soul. The handsome God was also popular amongst the female and every female irrespective of race loved him.

To my surprise, in this book the antagonist was the God of heaven Indra, whose character was shown as greedy and hungry for power. Also, the story of the birth of Ganesh was quite unexpected as I know a bit different version of the story. The book has some adult content so you can't read this book to kids.

I liked this book throughout only the end was a bit odd for me. But overall it was quite enlightening, spiritual and good read.

Talking about ratings

1. Cover - 4.5/5
2. Content - 4/5
3. Characters - 4/5
4. Concept - 3.5/5
5. Overall - 4/5

Book can be found at Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Vamsa - Quest for the Divine Calling by Kavitha Kalyan

I specially requested the review copy of Vamsa to the author. Sheetal from "Halo of books" helped me reach Kavitha. I would like to thank both the ladies for providing such a wonderful book. It took me few weeks to start this book, but I liked the slow paced story of Vamsa.

Book Blurb

A potent ritual in a forbidding forest shakes the peace around the village of Vamsa. When Ranga's world falls apart, he has no choice but to follow the last instruction given by his father. He finds himself heading into the mysterious world of spiritualism when he goes to Vamsa. With uncertainty looming around him, Ranga learns that the future is tough and beyond his understanding and yet there is a strong desire to go through with it in a hope to see his family again. With love blooming on one side and spiritual adventure on the other, he descends into Tantrik faith weaving his way through unbelievable experiences that leave him wondering what does he want most - his spiritual path or his lady love?

As mentioned in the subtitle, Vamsa is the story of Sadhak towards divine location/self-realisation. It is the story of Ranga, Veeru, Madhav, and Urvashi. Urvashi and Veeru belonged to Avanthi. Life was normal and boring for both. Adventurous Veeru heard some stories about the forest. He started venturing into the forest in the night and started witnessing some fearsome rituals. During the same time, Ranga entered into Urvashi's life. He was sent by Urvashi's father Vittala's peer Abhimara. Just like Urvashi, Ranga was not told about sacred sadhana by Abhimara. This opportunity gave birth to spirituality and mission oriented direction to the young generation. I don't want to reveal much of the story so I suggest readers check the book.

The book has multiple things

• The Story Part - It is the bonding part for readers with book
• A Sanskrit shloka (verses) at beginning of each chapter and in between few chapters. These shlokas were given to show us how a verse can be used to show means at multiple levels from verbal to spiritual level
• Spiritual Part - Though given as story but one can easily find out that it is given for readers spiritual upliftment. I found it wonderful during divine journey segment.

The book reminded me "Tantric Curse" book by Anupama Garg to me. Vamsa's main aim was to enlight population about facts like

• Tantric Vidhya / Sadhana is not just black magic.
• Tantra is about meeting divine being & self-realization
• Though many rituals have unconventional ways, it doesn't mean true sadhak will accept the wrong mean to achieve powers.

A completely different book. One should read it if he or she can take slow paced, message drive and, religious kind of book. Talking about rating

1. Cover - 3.5 / 5
2. Content - 4 / 5
3. Characters - 4 / 5 (I especially liked Baldeva's Character)
4. Concept - 4 / 5
5. Overall - 4 / 5

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart

Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads

Book Review - The Evolution of Gods - The Scientific Origin of Divinity And Religions

"The Evolution of Gods" - The Scientific origin of divinity and religions. Don't miss this book, just grab it. One of the best eye-opening book I have read in recent years. Title-subtitle combination is more than enough to capture readers attention.

Book Blurb

Is there really a God out there, or is it something that human created so we could have something or someone to fear in cases where we go wrong? This book asserts the it is the highly imaginative human mind that invented God using scientific research.For most people it is blind faith in a God that they believe existed, and for some there is doubt as to how this whole concept came about. This book takes you back to the era that was about 400,000 to 200,000 years ago when man and woman just came to existence. About 100,000 years ago, humans discovered language as a form of communication. This helped them analyse and think about the world around them. It makes sense that the things that they feared the most were what they would eventually worship. For example: they feared the cold, so they turned to the sun for help and in turn started to worship it. They felt threatened by thunder and lightening, so they worship the sky. Several years ago diseases came into being which brought about another God that served that purpose. This book sets apart religion and science. It tells us that there is a scientific reason for the creation of every God that is worshipped, and that it is the work of the humans themselves.

We accept the theory of evolution but never thought how religions came into existence. If we want to understand the evolution of religion, we have to start with the evolution of mankind. None of the religion came into existence overnight. It took the journey of centuries for religion to conceptualize. Surprisingly if you study various religion on the earth, you will find drastic commonality. If we apply scientific thought process, we will find reasons why that commonalities exist. Everything started from nomadic people, who started worshiping environment in one form or another. Their evolution and growth with time have given birth to organized religion today. Slowly and steadily author has explained this progress with scientific proofs. 

Things I liked about the book

1. Cover - Just loved the artwork.
2. Light and Steady Pace of the book.  
3. The simplicity of Writing - This book falls under factual or documentary genre, but the author has converted into a thought-provoking factual-fictional book.

Few points that I disliked or found lagging

1. Few points were repeatedly mentioned again and again. I think they would have been avoided.
2. Being factual non-fiction, this book should have more images.
3. Though the author was neutral while narrating the history of religions. But at end of the book, I found author's criticism of Hindu religion, I personally found it too much. It may be his first-hand experience which he may not have observed closely with other religions.
4. I don't want to start controversies. But the author has kept Islam untouched, I am not sure whether it was his decision or publishers, but readers would like to know about them as well.

This book is not for religious person nor it is written to doubt your faith. It just throws lights on few dark question we have about the origin of religions. It requires completely different pedagogy to explain the complex concept of religion, and I would say the author has done the commendable job. 

Talking about ratings:

1. Cover Page: 4.5/5
2. Content: 4/5
3. Concept : 4/5
4. Overall: 4/5

Book can be found at - Amazon & Flipkart
Review from other readers can be found at GoodReads