Publisher: Karmic Odyssey Books
Pages: 344
Price: Rs. 545 INR(Paperback)
ISBN: 978–8193127803
Buy here: https://amzn.to/3apmO5K
He explained, “Arjuna’s egoistic evaluation of himself as the greatest warrior was being put to test by this fratricidal war. To keep his honour and prestige intact, he was anxious to attain a victorious outcome. When he saw the vast Kaurava army, Arjuna feared defeat since their army was considerably smaller. He mistakenly assessed the fratricidal war wherein he desired a personal victory to establish his supremacy in that era as the greatest archer. He perceived himself: a single ego, fighting with other individual egos. He forgot the all-important dictum that it was one army fighting another one, wherein the cause was a glorious one since Lord Krishna sought to redress the skewed balance between Dharma and Adharma.” “In this war, neither was personal egos being assessed nor were personal issues to be sorted out. Everyone had to temporarily lose his or her egoistic individuality and merge to form one army. There are many different facets of Arjuna’s despondency. Lord Krishna silently heard every logical and convincing argument put forward by Arjuna. Arjuna was confused by Lord Krishna’s unflinching silence. The mental crisis that besieged the powerful personality of Arjuna completely transformed him. He portrayed a bewildered and confused personality, overcome with grief at the thought of committing the felonious sin of killing his clan. He loses his basic self-confidence as his traumatized nerves denounce the occurrence of a fratricidal war. His neurotic mental condition portrays a restless mind which involuntarily seeks the human frailty of escapism.” “Diverse complicated situations that life offers to us, continually is subtly comparable to a conflict on the battlefield. When you delve deeply into the subtle nuances of Lord Krishna’s philosophy, you may find yourself caught in a moral battle between Dharma and Adharma, which often strain familial relations. We have to accept every external crisis as an occasion to enhance our inner life.
About the author:
Hema Myer Sood released her first book at 29. The Eternal Ocean of Brahma depicts the wisdom of the Bhagavad Geethaimbibed through intuitive perceptions of the waves of the ocean. She received notable reviews and was compared to Newton and Archimedes for her unprecedented perceptions. Another two books successfully followed within a few years.
Two decades later, The Karmic City trilogy was released in the genre of New Age Philosophy. Karmic Cords is a poignant narrative of the author’s personal loss of her only sibling.
Her foray into historical fiction interwoven with New Age Philosophy created a unique thriller — The Crown of Tijarawhich will be released in 2020.
My take on the book:
Karmic City: The City of Lord Vishnu is the second installment in the Karmic City Trilogy, after the book of Lord Brahma. While the first book introduces the major characters and direction for the discussion around Soul, the second book takes forward the thought process that Lord Brahma signifies creation of life and Lord Vishnu for our deeds, known as Karma. The book is divided into two parts for ease of reading and understanding, with part one touching upon the multiple levels of consciousness, Karmic bank balance, the teachings of Lord Krishna in Bhagavad Gita and the learnings for everyday life, while part two explains about the human spiritual energy centers — the kundalini and the chakras.
The narrative continues with the Soul explaining these concepts to the four main characters of the book — Aditi, Vaidehi, Virat and Karthik while clearing their doubts and confusions. The Soul dissipates the myths around Karma and how most of the society assumes these are for the elderly without realizing their importance all through their life and lamenting at a later point on the missed opportunities to grasp this knowledge. As with the first part, there are some beautiful poems used through out the book; the conversational style of explaining by the Soul to the protagonists helps the reader understand even the most complex concepts. The author packs in mind-blowing ancient wisdom especially from the Geeta and Vedas which is generally inaccessible to the younger generations. The author also touches on how to enrich the human body by drawing from the nature (Prakriti) around us and how the chakras in the human body must be aligned, to be inline with highest level of consciousness.
While this is the second book in the trilogy and it is always a recommended practice to read the former part before diving into this one, other than the main characters and their backgrounds introduced in the first part, the reader can as well read this part standalone. Since I have read both the parts in that order, I can confidently say this part is even more impressive and enriching with the vast information packed within few pages. The authors command over the topic is unbeatable, so is the language and narration style. If you are looking for something beyond the obvious knowledge available on ancient wisdom, then this should be your next read.
My rating:
5/5.