The Palace of Illusions

Welcome, friend! After discussing the retelling of the Ramayana (Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel) with Ariel, today I am excited to share about another retelling. I had read The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni back in February! With all the wedding planning and thinking more about customs and traditions, I have been attracted to stories about India. For books I never planned on reading, epics of Ramayana and Mahabharat were an integral part of my education and to come back to them through new lenses of retellings is an experience I never imagined I would have. I am discussing with book with Lauren who I read Moon of the Crusted Snow with!

Take a look at the synopsis of the book and then let’s get started.

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The Palace of Illusions

Whole book Discussion

Lauren, it gives me so much joy when I play a role in making you want to read a book and I am very excited to discuss this one with you! Did you have any knowledge about the epic of the Mahabharat before you read this retelling?

I knew the epic only by name and that it was about a great war, and I must admit I had little knowledge of the characters and their lives and missteps that would bring about such a cataclysmic ending. I have read the Bhagavad Gita, which is a part of the Mahabharat epic, but doesn’t appear in this story at all. Reading The Palace of Illusions was like stepping into a story which I felt like I had been privy too but had never seen its beauty and tragedy unfurled. 

The Palace of Illusions is the epic retold from the point of view of Draupadi. Though the original centres around the five pandava brothers mainly, their wife, Draupadi, was still a presence and a name that is known. I think her two aspects that were emphasized in those versions were the fact that she was publicly disrobed when the oldest Pandava, Yudhishthira, gambled her away to his cousins, and that she was married to five men. There are little instances here and there where her fierceness shines through and that is the character author Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni takes and portrays in depth through this amazing human woman who knew she had a destiny, and she may not be divine like Krishna but she had her character to vouch for her.

I did not know that Draupadi was born out of a fire until I read The Goddess and the Girl. It suddenly connected the dots for me between the importance of fire and its relationship to women in Hindu epics. Fire is integral in all auspicious functions and prayers because of its holiness and yagyas are performed around fire. Through Panchaali, as Draupadi is also called, I thought that she was coming out of another kingdom, the heavens where all gods live, where she also resides. I had never thought of Draupadi as a goddess and I was blown away and so happy that she is portrayed that way. Did you read anything more into her birth from fire? Did that conjure any expectations from you?

The fire was such an interesting element in this story, not only did Draupadi and her brother emerge as children born from the fire, but she also returned into the fire when the great sage Vyasa, also the author of the Mahabharata, invites her into the fire to tell her of her future.The fire is certainly a symbol of her divinity as no human child is born without a womb, and thus from her birth she is set apart, and her divility established. Again when she returns to the fire to hear her future told she enters from the outside perspective but for only a second, but inside feels vast amounts of time pass. She is like a meditation, externally simple, internally vast. She is more than she appears to be, more than a mere woman named for her father, she has a purpose, a divine calling – she will change history. 

I also liked the end of the book when Draupadi reflects on her life and is told how she was instrumental in this whole chain of events. She had a purpose all along. Could it have been as simple as experiencing being human, because that is why gods are reincarnated afterall?

So true! That is one of my favourite parts of Hindu mythology, the gods and goddesses do not know they are of divine origin, they live the lives of any human, face the struggles we all face. It adds magic into the lives we lead, it shows us we are no different than gods and goddesses, simply unaware that divinity lies within until we awaken to our purpose. 

My favorite part about Drapadi was that she was truly human in behaviour. In spite of knowing that her influence on history is vast and that there would be three times when making a wiser choice would have been better, she does what she does. Does she regret it later and beat herself up about it? Yes! She watches and she adapts. She is true to the vows that she makes and will hold others to theirs no matter the price. It must have been hard though to carry this responsibility and there were times in the story when she asked for counsel and I appreciated those moments where she accepted help. What did you think about her friendship with Krishna and the portrayal of Krishna himself?

Draupadi and Krishna’s connection was beautiful to witness. To see how he brought her out of her shell as a child, that he alone could make her feel like she was special somehow – he saw her. Perhaps it was the divine in him recognizing the divine in her? In her darkest moments, she could call on his image, the memory of their time together and feel safe. Is that not what we all seek from connection? Someone who not only knows you and does not judge you, but makes you feel safe, cared for, loved. 

Krishna is one of my favorite avatars of Lord Vishnu. After reading Kaikeyi, which seriously challenged my thoughts and assumptions of Rama, I realized how different the two are and looked a bit into them. Ram was a previous reincarnation of Vishnu. He is known for his moral values and mission to uphold dharma, do the right thing. He is born a prince, who ends up being exiled before he resumes Kingship. In contrast, Krishna may be born in a royal family, he is raised in a family of cowherders before he even takes the role of a price. He is a mischievous child that continues to be notorious (and often infuriating and vague as Draupadi experienced). I loved the Krishna in this book and he was as true a friend as I had expected him to be. Krishna is also human. 

It is hard to explore the concepts of destiny and self-determination. I ended up asking Google if the epics, Ramayan in particular, were written before they transpired and I got some mixed answers. One person said the saints could see past, present and future. That doesn’t mean the saints didn’t exist during the epics themselves. They are part of the story too as Draupadi’s encounters with Vyasa continuously show. Someone else said it was a pointless question, indicating time is more efficiently spent in learning its teachings. In your mind does the timing of the text help have anything to do with the question about destiny? 

It’s an interesting question to ponder and makes me think of fate. Are we all born with a fate on which our lives are destined to play out, or do we have self determination and free will that builds the story of our lives? This book definitely brings that question into the forefront. From birth, Draupadi feels she is destined for something more, and her brother is told clearly that his destiny is to vanquish and kill Drona, the enemy of their father. When Draupadi enters the flames with Vyasa, he tells her she is to marry 5 men and outlines the 3 moments in her life where she is to act according to his guidance. And while she does marry 5 men, the Pandava brothers, she does not heed Vyasa’s warning and act as he prescribed when the moments he warned her of present themselves. Perhaps this is the very outline of the paradox between fate and free will. While our lives are fated to follow a path, we have the freedom to walk that path as we might. Both are true, we have a destiny and we are destined to choose it. 

While I don’t think it’s not related, it makes it harder to judge whether our characters did what they did because they wanted to or because they had to. Storytelling that reveals the nature of the characters comes in very handy! By knowing these characters, I felt that they would have done these actions anyway. They are who they are, which is why they do what they do.

The seeds of the Mahabharata were sown long before the Draupadi came to be when Bhisma chose his vow of celibacy over marrying Amba, being just one of those events that reach their climax in the epic battle. She was reborn as Sikhandi to exact her revenge. If Bhisma had known this would bring war, would he have done this anyway? I think so. That is who he was. I am pretty sure Amba must have told him as she walked off that he would regret it, and when you live knowing divine beings exist, that gods are incarnated as humans, that gods grant boons and let their weapons be used on Earth by mere mortals (or god blessed), something bad can very likely happen. But that doesn’t mean one should go against themselves, does it? Should we live in fear of being constantly judged for our actions and their repercussions? What is living? A lot of follow ups I was not expecting.

The Bhagavad Gita is a part of the Mahabharata, when faced with a tough decision, Arjuna cannot make up his mind and Krishan appears to him in his divine form and parts him seom guidance. I loved seeing this scene through Draupadi’s eyes. It is an unforgettable part of the story and what would have been a long time for Arjuan and Krishna, time stood still everywhere else and Draupadi didn’t exactly know what happened. Anyone who has studied the concepts of relativity and time would really appreciate how this experience shows both sides of the occurrence.

Thanks for joining us today! Will you pick up The Palace of Illusions?

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Photo by Souravi Sinha on Unsplash