Publisher's Synopsis
It was from Swamiji Nirmalanadagiri Maharaj of Kayarampara in Ottapalam that I heard, most unexpectedly, about death and the chances of dead people coming back to life. He had cited the story of Satyavan and Savitri from the Mahabharata as an example for that.Will the dead come back to life... ? Should they come back... ? As long as one lives here, the desire to keep oneself alive is the need of nature also. But the return of something that has lost its life is not an inevitable need of nature. Then, under what circumstances will a dead person come back to life? Is it possible to know beforehand when a person will meet his death? If that is known will anyone be able to escape from death, will anyone be able to save that person from death? It is doubtful if anyone has answered these questions. Whatever answers have been given, have not been convincing enough for most people; none has believed them completely. Today, science has developed a lot but does man believe completely in science? In the twentieth century many battles were fought against superstitions, rather against beliefs which were considered to be false and hence categorized as superstitions. But even today man is drawn to such beliefs that are beyond the grasp of science. Is it because he has come to understand that science will not be able to find answers to all his problems or is it because he has come to realize that those beliefs which are not accepted by science may give solace to man? Is it a return to superstitions?The longing to escape from death may be termed as the fear of death. But it can also be considered that more than a fear of death, it is the desire to perpetuate the existence of nature as life is essential for nature to exist. The natural growth of a living thing and the journey that it undertakes to meet death once it completes its time here after it has striven to keep itself alive, are both part of the truth of nature. But untimely death shocks us and makes us think about it. Why should there be untimely death? Isn't it a fact that if it were due to some worldly matters, it could be avoided? It may be unavoidable circumstances, or those where the effort to avoid it had failed, that leads life to untimely death. Is there a way to escape from such untimely deaths? Will it be possible to keep life away from such circumstances? How will one recognize such circumstances? Man must have been battling with innumerable such unanswerable questions from beyond the time of recorded history. Many great scholars have answered these questions. I have nothing to say which has not been already spoken by those great souls. But, as I stated in the beginning, when Swamiji invited my attention to the story of Satyavan and Savitri, I felt an inclination to treat it in writing. As I went on with the writing, I found that I could write much without being conscious of doing so. Matters that had never entered my thoughts till then came to mind. I feel that I could give it the form and tone to call it a novel. The story of Satyavan and Savitri occurs in the Mahabharata. But it raised certain questions in my mind. Will a father send his daughter forth to find a husband? If he did so, what must have been the circumstances that forced him to do so? Will Narada or anyone else, be able to predict the future and death? Will the recital of a mantra give the power to meet the riddle of death? What could have been the basis of the prediction of Satyavan's death? What chances were there for that to be wrong? Did the prediction prove to be wrong or did the Mrutyunjaya mantra have the power to prevent untimely death? It is impossible to find answers to all these questions. But some questions, for which each of us can seek answers have been raised in this novel.
