is the first of the seven books on The Krishnavatara by K, M. Munshi. The volume one turned out to be good and informative, I look forward to reading the remaining six volumes, Found it less impressive than “The wrath of an emperor”, Nevertheless, it is well written and gives a good background to the legend of Shri Krishnas childhood, I was fascinated by the political intrigue of the time depicted in this book, कथ लखन म कनहयलल मनकलल मश ज कछ एक कथकर म स एक ह, उनक ७ खणड म वभजत कषणवतर क पहल भग पढ, यह कषण क बल ललओ क और कस क अशर क कस परकर उनहन अत कय उसक कथ ह Gives a insightful and informative glimpse of the life of Krishna, in his many guises this book deals with the early years, Immensely readable, goof storytelling. My parents got the the full set of Krishnavatara books when I was young, but I've never really felt the urge to read them until recently, when I've felt more interested in reading up on parts of my heritage.
I knew some of what was in this volume from the stories that my parents told me as a child, and others from when the BBC showed a sitelinkdramatisation of the Mahabharat back in the early 's but I enjoyed refreshing my memory of those, and fitting them into a single narrative even if it was difficult to keep the various relationships straight in my head.
One thing I liked quite a lot is that the young Krishna feels very human, He's frankly a bit of a git at times, when he steals butter and breaks jars, and the chapter that involved him killing a heron that seemed to just be protecting its children only made any sense when it was revealed that the bird was possessed a couple of chapters from the end!.
It was also very interesting to read the note preceding the chapter on Radha which admits that she wasn't part of the ancient texts, the first mentions only appearing in the first few centuries CE and not becoming fixed in the consciousness until theth century CE.
On a similar note, but within the text itself is the festival of Gopotsava, in which Krishna persuades his village to abandon a festival of Indra based on fear and, instead, celebrate the herdsmen, cattle and mountain that give them life, effectively elevating the landscape to godhood.
I thought that was a fascinating mindset with defiance and grace in one action,
As with all ancient writings, some things don't fit well to a modern mindset: polygamy is normal, and the idea of a childless wife lying with a man other than her husband with appropriate rituals to gain a child is a bit icky, as is the condemnation of women who don't want children.
There's also a slightly uncomfortable connection between physical health and beauty on the one side and goodness and grace on the
other, But all these have to be read in the context of their time,
The stories are full of action and memorable characters, for good or evil it's an easy book to read, I'm not sure if it was written in English or if it's just a very good translation, but it's very readable although I've never figured out the obsession with appending an unnecessary 'a' to the end of many transliterated names: Balarama instead of Balram etc.
I'll definitely pick up the the rest of the series when I get the chance, Thank god for interlibrary loans and for getting to learn about this God's childhood, This is the first novel series I ever read, An attempt to show how krishna was a human and his wits, wisdom and strength earned him the stature of lord, This part revolves around the birth,child hood and Krishna's love story with Raha, Some factual addition has been done which adds to the beauty, super . Great book, looking forward to reading the remaining in the series,
Vol, is low in supply, had to buy in India, so took my sweet time to read the book,
This is a classic collection and a must for every reader who enjoys this genre, it will cause of helpful for human mankind to live life Beautiful K, M. Munshi loves Krishna and his love lies bleeding on every page of this wonderful series of books, I first read allvolumes between the ages ofand, And since then, this series has stuck with me as one of the bestwritten works on the life and loves of Krishna, Highly recommended for all lovers of the blue flautist with the peacock feather in his crown, iwant to read Munshi has humanized Krishna as much as possible in these series but yet has maintained an aura of mystique that will make you adore his Godliness while it is juxtaposed with normal humanlike behaviour.
Munshi has humanized Krishna as much as possible in these series but yet has maintained an aura of mystique that will make you adore his Godliness while it is juxtaposed with normal humanlike behaviour.
The first part Magic Flute is where he gives you the wonderful background story of Krishnas ancestors and we learn about Yadavas in general and their very many clans.
Krishna and his elder brother Balarama are spirited away from Mathura right after their birth and the miraculous happenings that aid their escape are toned down.
Krishna grows up in Gokul and the socalled demons and asuras that Kamsa sends in to kill him turn out to be assassins.
I was particularly touched by Putanas death and her redemption and the guilt that she felt for killing scores of innocent children,
Krishnas musings is a very cute chapter where you get a glimpse into a childs world, His very many pranks and adorable behaviour will capture your imagination, The episode where he meets his soulmate Radha is written beautifully and I was pleasantly surprised to see the cartoon version of 'Krishna in Vrindavan' adopting the same in their screenplay!
Many of the socalled miracles are toned down to give as much a human touch as possible.
Miracles like taming of Kaliya and lifting of Govardhan Mountain are brought about by Krishnas clever and quick thinking,
Krishna and Radha grow up to realize their love for each other and when the summons from Mathura, she instinctively knows that he wont be her Kanha anymore.
The lovely poignant love scene that K, M. Munshi has scripted is so beautiful that it takes your breath away,
Yashodas characterization is also beautifully done, A true mother, she never did doubt the fact that Krishna was not her son, And I was touched by the way she denies the whole thing yet helplessly realizing that it must be the truth,
At Mathura, Kamsa is at the edge of paranoia attack even while he plots to kill Vasudevas sons, The curing of Trivakara the crooked misshapen woman seems a bit miraculous though faith scores bigger marks over there, And it does serve to increase Kamsas unease and paranoia even more than ever,
Krishna also meets the fiery princess of Vidharbha and her foolish brother Rukmi, setting into motion the chain of events that would culminate in the next book.
It seems like people who worship krishna believes in charming nature, love, beauty, and power! krishna is a dark skinned boy who been chosen by the Indian gods to be the savor of his people, actually he has been chosen even before he was born! in another word he never been a human , he was born as forme of God to a human couple!
I think by reading this book you will get a some what clear image of this religion most wonderful values such as devotion, honour, love, dignity, justice, wisdom, courage, the spirit of adventure, the spirit of youth, and motherhood ! i mean their god is not a wise mature man, he is a young charismatic boy who loves the simple life and to push limits! he critizises what been told to him as a givin truth and I think he enjoys being underestimate! he acts like there is nothing in his mind but having fun and serving justice which as some one who you look upcan be difficult.
ps: I loved how the writer didn't stop at the original myth, it did mentions the "gita govinda" and it's origin in some point in the book.
Beautiful, well written.
Looking forward to read the remaining volumes, كتاب عن أسطورة الإله كريشنا. Itsst book of a series of books on Shri Krishna Bhagwan,
The series is named as Krishnavatar,
I am eager to read all books of the series and keep them with me, for entire life,
The series is written nicely and is entertaining, You can't stop once you start reading it,
The book contains lots of inspirational and thoughtprovoking ideas/lines, whatever you say,
I have found myself more closer to Bhagwan Shri Krishna, while reading this book,
Thank you, K. M. Munshi Ji for writing this book,
Thank you, Bhagwan Ji for letting me know that this book exists, An extraordinary tale of Krishna and the prophecy that he had to fulfill, I remember my grandparents telling me bits and pieces of Krishna's and Balaram's adventures but I had never got the full picture up until now when I got a chance to read this book.
This story is beautifully written offering a second, more realistic perspective to other more magical version of this same story, This book took me straight to that era where Krishna was born and I could easily imagine and experience their life, their surrounding, their difficulties with vividity.
This is one of those books where you know that certain events would happen but it wouldn't change the excitement of getting to read those parts nonetheless.
The description of historical places like Gokul, Vrindavan, Mathura with their lush landscapes and palaces and the lives of people are breathtaking.
I felt as if I was transported back in time to those places living with those people,
The book is written in a simplistic yet gripping style that I couldn't help but keep my hands off it, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to forget everything temporarily and go on an incredible adventure with Krishna and Balaram, Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi's versatility and achievements were in a way unique, He was an eminent lawyer, one of the framers of India's
Constitution and a seasoned statesman,
Coming under the inspiring influence of Sri Aurobindo during his student days, Munshi had been an ardent fighter for India's freedom, working at different stages in close association with Jinnah, Tilak, Besant, Mahatma
Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Rajagopalachari and Pandit Nehru.
His achievements as Home Minister of Bombay in, as India's AgentGeneral in Hyderabad before the Police action, as India's Food Minister and as Governor of Uttar Pradesh had been characterised by rare courage and decisive energy.
Acknowledged as the foremost writer in modern
Gujarati literature, he has to his credit a vast and varied literature including novels, dramas, memoirs and history in Gujarati, as also several historical and other works in English, notably Gujarat and Its Literature, Imperial
Gurjaras, Creative Art of Life, To Badrinath, The End of an Era, Krishnavatara, Bhagavad Gita and Modern Life, Saga of Indian Sculpture, Bhagawan Parashurama, Tapasvini, Prithvi Vallabh, The Master of Gujarat and Lomaharshini.
The best part of this book is when the author explains how to morally enfeeble people under a tyrannical or corrupt author open the purse strings of the state and the people will never except anything else from the ruler.
This weakens Dharma and leads to total moral and material ruin, a well written account of the story with great details and a central narrative الملحمة ممتعة لكن الترجمة سيئة جدا I still owe a large part of my knowledge about Krishna to the ACK comics I read as a kid.
The ACK versions covered most of the legends of the son, However, KM Munshi's retelling of the story of Krishna was simply refreshing and mesmerizing,
With hardly any use of flowery language, Munshi literally brings alive the societies that existed in Gokul and Mathura during the reign of Kamsa.
The childhood exploits of Krishna are for me the least interesting aspects of his life, So I'm waiting to devour the remaining volumes,
The only disappointment for me was the poorly designed cover of the book, Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan which holds the copyright to this classic should probably consider revamping this series and making it reach a larger pool of readers! Reread.
I cannot stop myself when I see a book by K, M. Munshi just lying on my desk, Brilliant writing throughout! By far, the first book deals with His naughty and eventful childhood, his mischievous ways around the milkmaids of Vrindavan, the 'rasa' which he was so famous for and of course fulfilling the prophecy of being the 'Deliverer'.
One cannot help admiring how perfect He is in every way possible,
The love between them Radha amp Krishna is so phenomenal, intense, pure and divine that even Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet seems trivial, I feel so lucky that I still have my great grandfather's books with me with little notes scribbled in the margins, I've never met him, but my folks have told me that he loved the entire set of कषणअवतर, Glad that I am able to appreciate the writing too, I wish Munshi was able to complete Bookas well, The series will always be incomplete because no one can portray Kahna better than Munshi, No one! Period. .