Iyer - Avishi: Vishpala of Rig Veda Reimagined

Avishi

Reimagining Vishpala of the Rig Veda

Avishi

Reimagining Vishpala of the Rig Veda

Author: Saiswaroopa Iyer

Editor: Sridevi Datta

Cover Art: Anirudh Sainath (Molee Art)

All Rights Reserved

Saiswaroopa Pinni 2017

Contents

Dedication

To Saraswati, the eternal intellect and knowledge that guides us

To Krishna Vaasudeva, my divine companion and the universal Guru

To Veda Vyasa, the Guru who compiled the ageless knowledge

To Sayanacharya, whose interpretations we owe our understanding

Acknowledgements

Writing this section is an overwhelming experience that reminds me of the contributions of all those whose support made this book happen.

My mother Usha Krishna Swamy and my father Krishna Swamy Kumar are the reason behind me reverence, fascination and love for Vedic civilisation and Sanatana Dharma. Waking up to my fathers chanting of the Vedic hymns since childhood and discussing with my mother as she read through her vast collection of scriptures defined my foundation. May the Gods bless me so that I am born their daughter in all lives to come.

Arvind, my soulmate and companion in the vibrance of life and serenity beyond as he quotes, is my strongest pillar of support and inspiration. His strength and faith holds me together in my direst moments of need. I remember my in-laws who lovingly indulge in my ambition and passion.

I remember my grandparents, uncles and aunts with a lot of fondness and gratitude. Each one of them had a unique role to play in the distance I covered in life. I owe my story telling abilities to all my cousins. Our family reunions are always memorable because of those.

Writing the manuscript is the first step in producing a book. Sridevi Datta, my editor whose thorough work and words of encouragement helped me through the phase, Anirudh Sainath (Molee Art) who delivered a super human turnaround on the breath-taking cover art of Avishi, Vrinda Baliga and Mayuresh Didolkar, fellow authors, whose in depth critiques gave me just the right mix of encouragement and actionable feedback. I owe the completion of this book to them all. Marketing and promotion is the nightmare for any author. Debdatta D Sahay of b00kr3vi3ws is that friend in need who took on the reins of promotion when I needed it the most. I also remember Safeena Chaudhuri of Novel London, who in a way accelerated my publishing schedule by encouraging me to read out in the prestigious venue of Waterstones.

Those who know me would know that Avishi is my second novel. There were hands that guided and blessed me through the success of my first novel Abhaya. Harikiran Vadlamani and his wonderful initiative Indic Book Club served as a sounding board to many of my ideas. Through this wonderful group, I got to interact with scholars no less than the likes of Sri David Frawley (popularly known as Pandit Vamadeva Shastri). Vamadeva ji was the first scholar who I approached with the idea of expanding this story and he graciously obliged with an insightful background of Rig Vedic Devatas and the civilisation. I am deeply grateful to authors Amish Tripathi, Vamsee Juluri, Sangeeta Bahadur and Vineet Aggarwal for their support and kind blurbs for Abhaya and for enlightening interactions while writing Avishi. I lost count of how many times I bothered Vamsee Anna for inputs and his patient mentoring taught me a lot about crucial aspects of writing and publishing. I have benefitted from the wise words of many other senior members of Indic Book Club too.

This effort would not have come to fruition without the scholarly inputs of learned people. My special thanks to HS Raghav who helped me with understanding Sayanacharyas commentary on the RigVedic sources pertaining to Vishpala and Ashvinas. I remember reaching out to other scholars who kindly responded to my research queries like P Namboo Narayanan, Sudarshana HS, Hari Tirumalai,

I cherish the constant support and friendship of Ritesh Kala of Readout Loud Publishing. Apart from printing and distributing Abhaya, his inputs regarding the business of publishing have gone a long way in me shaping my outlook as a writer.

I am thankful to various online portals and their editors for their constant encouragement and endeavour to bring out my writing to larger audience. Creative India Magazine, Swarajya Magazine, Myindmakers and Indiafacts deserve a special mention among the rest. Richa Singh of Blogchatter is another great friend whose experience and advice benefitted me in the journey of digital publishing. Thanks to TBC Blog tours for featuring me in their Tornado Giveaway.

The reviewers who wrote on Abhaya have a significant role in propping up my confidence in pursuing Avishi and in furthering my profile as a novelist. Thanks to Sindhuja R, Anuradha Goyal, Abhinav Agarwal, Pankaj Goyal, Chitra Iyer, Jijith N Ravi, Jay Jina, KV Subramaniam, Ravish Mani, Shiva Subramanian and Aniruddha Pathak for their well thought out reviews.

Friends and internet-family have a unique way of extending support. They come up with unconventional ideas, insightful reviews and many more things when I just need them. Thank you for every bit of that, Umashankar Das, Dimple Kaul, Yogini S, Nupur J Sharma, Shashank Davanagere, Shanti Pasumarti, Reddy GVSB, Rama S Kandarpa, S Ganesan, Chandrashekhar K, Sukhi Jutla, Jyothi G, Arun (Vakkeli), Karthik Yanamandra, Lokesh Acharya and others.

In the digital age, being a part of enlightening groups like Alliance of Independent Authors, For Love or Money (credits, Sue Kay Quinn) and For Writers By Authors (FWBA) among others helped me with informed opinion about various phases of book production from writing to editing and about promotion.

Weeks before I published Avishi, I had the privilege of sharing the wisdom from fellow authors Sudesna Ghosh, Adite Banerjee, Preethi Venugopala, Paromita Goswami, Ruchi Singh, Vandana Saxena, Devika Fernando, Reet Singh and Esha Pandey. Need I say more? Hope this new friendship stays and grows.

I am sure there are many more names that deserve a mention here. Memory might be eluding me when I need it the most. I am indeed fortunate to have you all in my life. Above all, thank you dear reader for picking up Avishi. I pray to the whole Vedic Pantheon for your well-being. I pray to Lord Krishna, my Ishta Daiva to delight you all.

Authors note

Thank you for choosing to read Avishi. I shall not play down the challenge trying to imagine the story of the obscure but inspiring heroine Vishpala. The hymns that mention the exploits of Ashvinas granting a metal leg to this early female warrior are also the worlds first reference to prosthesis. Something that must make every Indians heart swell with pride. The very fact I had discovered cemented my conviction to stick on to my writing endeavours!

One of my well-wishers and a learned scholar had even commented that the sources we have about Vishpala dont even suffice for a short story, forget a full-length novel! What made me pursue this idea and take it past the finish line is still beyond me. Thanks to the forces, seen and unseen, known and unknown, you are holding a cop of Avishi in your hand and I hope you would enjoy the journey through ancient Jambudvipa.

Expanding the precious few hymns into a full-length novel required me to invoke a generous amount of creative liberty. But having had even a momentary glimpse of the marvellous phenomenon that is Rig Veda, I am obliged to summarize what the ageless text says.

The story of Vishpala is mentioned in the hymns dedicated to the twin gods, Ashvinas, the divine physicians and miracle workers of the Vedic Pantheon. Etymology suggests that the word Vishpala refers to Ruler (or head) of a settlement, implying that even the name of Vishpala has been lost to our memory. The name Avishi was chosen for the protagonist, the word referring to Earth or alternatively, a river, both of which are defining aspects of Vedic civilization. Vishpala is mentioned in the Rig Vedic hymns (Rig Veda 1.112, 1.116, 1.117, 1.118 and 10.39). The information we get from the text is that she lost her leg in Khelas war (her leg was cut off like a wild birds pinion as mentioned in 1.116) and was granted a metal leg by the twin deities so that she can move/fight when the war starts again. The next hymn 1.117 mentions the great Rishi Agastya, implying that they graced her upon being invoked by him.