Book Review: The Courtesan and the Sadhu

The Courtesan and the Sadhu, A novel about Maya, Dharma, and God by Satya Avatar; Dharma Vision LLC; Price: $20.95; 361

One of the most difficult challenges that every Hindu parent living in western societies faces is how to educate their children about the complexities of Sanatana Dharma. With its multitudes of gods, numerous texts, hundreds of sampradayas, thousands of religious gurus and numerous regional, caste, and linguistic communities, Hinduism is perhaps the most fragmented religion in the world. One of the reasons for Sanatana Dharma aka Hinduism to be such is its open and accepting philosophy. Hence there is not one straightforward, black and white way by which one can explain all the tenets of Hinduism to children, teenagers, and young adults. This ambiguity in the faith often leads to fundamental questions in a teenager’s mind.

This need to explain Hinduism to his teenaged son motivated Satya Avatar, who hails from Mysore, Karnataka (South Indian) to write a novel drawing heavily upon certain historical incidents in India’s history. “More than four years ago, my son came to me and asked me how we related to God in Sanatana Dharma. As I progressed in formulating an answer to my son’s question, it occurred to me that the best way to explain the basic tenets of Sanatana Dharma to my teenage son was to write a novel set in ancient India and explain the tenets through the spiritual journey of the characters in the story,” writes the author who came to the United States in 1978 to pursue graduate studies at State University of New York at Buffalo where he received his Ph.D in 1981. Since then he has worked in the high-tech industry where he has held several technical and management positions in research and development, product management, and marketing.

Set in ancient India just after Alexander’s invasion, The Courtesan and the Sadhu takes the reader through the spiritual journey of two seekers: Kautilya and Manu. The former is a highly learned and erudite Vedic scholar, whose life takes an unexpected detour, and he ends up building the Mauryan Empire. Although successful in re-establishing dharmic values in the Indian subcontinent and getting rid of the vestiges of Alexander’s invasion, he continues to have inner struggles about the path he has chosen.

Manu, the other seeker, is an elite warrior in the Mauryan Army but ends up becoming a seeker of Truth at a young age. Disappointed in love, he tries to find answers to his spiritual questions, first as a Buddhist monk and later as a Sadhu. In this story, the author takes the reader through the intriguing journey of the two seekers as they finally overcome Mâya to reach Moksha (emancipation).

The book starts off with Kautilya being asked by a Greek (Yavana) general to modify the Vedas and perform a yagna (vedic ceremony) to praise his accomplishments. A completely angry Kautilya decides to take matters into his hands and seek help of the king of Patliputra to chase the Yavanas out of the Arya land (India). “As Kautilya entered Pataliputra, he was surprised to see that it was much larger than he had imagined. It was a well-planned city with large boulevards and stately buildings. The city was bustling with commerce, and trade. There were stores stocked with expensive and fine jewelry, clothes, and furniture. Many stores were selling vegetables, grains, and wine. He could also see many dance halls, restaurants, and temples,” explains the author speaking about Kautilya’s journey.

One of the most interesting facets of The Courtesan and the Sadhu is that apart from being an absorbing story, the book subtly teaches the readers about Hindu theology and scriptures. Written in the deceptively simple style characteristic of American writing Satya Avatar effectively communicates the anger, insecurity, adventure, pains, fears, and wonderment the characters of the story. The author has taken pains to describe in exacting detail the various aspects of his story and how they relate to various aspects of the Sanatana Dharma and its allaccepting philosophy. This book would be highly useful to all those people who wish to learn about Hinduism and its philosophy.

“It is interesting to note that for Manu and Kautilya, Dharma without a Creator God was not acceptable, whereas for Chit-Ananda and Chandra Gupta, the existence of a Creator God was immaterial. What mattered to them was the spiritual experience in the material world. The greatness of people of Aryavarta is that they respect and honor all these paths with or without a Creator God,” concludes Satya Avatar in the epilogue of his Magnum Opus.