Ramayana- The Game of Life - Part Two: Shattered Dreams

Overview of the book:

Shattered Dreams is the sequel to the national bestseller, Rise of the Sun Prince, in the new spiritual and motivational series Ramayana – The Game of Life. Twelve joyful years have passed in Ayodhya since the wedding of Rama and Sita at the end of Book 1.

Now, in Shattered Dreams, Shubha Vilas narrates the riveting drama of Rama’s exile. Through tales of Rama’s unwavering and enigmatic persona, the book teaches us how to handle reversals positively; through Bharata’s actions, it teaches us to handle temptation; and through Sita’s courage, to explore beyond our comfort zone. This complicated family drama provides deep insights on how human relationships work and how they fail.

With Valmiki’s Ramayana as its guiding light, Shattered Dreams deftly entwines poetic beauty from the Kamba Ramayana and Ramacharitramanas, as well as folk philosophy from the Loka Pramana tales, to demonstrate how the ancient epic holds immediate relevance to modern life. Experience the ancient saga of the Ramayana like never before.

Know the author : Shubha Vilas

Shubha Vilas, a spiritual seeker and a motivational speaker, holds a degree in engineering and law with specialization in Patent Law. His leadership seminars are popular with top-level management in corporate houses. He also helps individuals deal with modern-life situations by applying the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana and other dharmic traditions.

Almost everyone in India knows the story of Lord Rama. Yet, it never fails to enchant with its many twists and turns. Rama’s story is in fact a thesis about living life in the pure and noble way. Shattered Dreams talks about the wisdom Rama exhibits while handling the reversals of fortunes, Keikeyi’s greed for power, the love and faithfulness of Bharata, Laxmana and Sita -the shattered dreams of Dasaratha.

When I started reading this book, I was excited, as I had been greatly impressed by the part one of the book. The book did not disappoint me at all. Filled with wisdom and many tales, which is not usually part of the versions of Ramayana that I have read, this book is an absolute delight. The footnotes make you pause and think. And these footnotes are written in a way to make the tech savvy generation pause and take note as they speak to them in their lingo.

An example:

Footnote 53 on page 65: “Death is a universal virus installed in every individual, programmed to terminate and dissolve the machine itself. Narada was encouraging Ravana to find the anti-virus software for the virus named death. A mission impossible.”

Another footnote on page 314 talks about forgiveness:

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the sandalwood tree leaves on an axe that cuts it, the stone that grinds it and in the smoke that burns it.”

The book has separate sections, which elaborate and stress on the lessons hidden in the dialogues or actions of the various characters. Page 17 lists the six inner demons or Anarthas to conquer and why they should be conquered. The author talks about Lust, Rage, Ego, Greed, Illusion and Envy here.

A section on page 129 talks about the essence of true communication and explains the deep and communication between Rama and Sita. It explains how communication can be inaudible yet integral or heartfelt. It explains how good relationship begins, grows, survives and thrives through healthy communication.

The section about negative emotions as tools to display positive love on page 169 is a lesson for any modern day couple. It shows how even disagreements can bring about agreements.

Yet another section that begins on page 334 talks about the five tenets that form the most important limbs of a leader’s portfolio, where Rama teaches Bharata how to rule Ayodhya in his absence.

The book fills you with the power of positivity and truth and encourages us to venture beyond one’s comfort zone in the pursuit of contentment in life. Life lessons has never been told in a more lucid and eloquent manner than in this book. A sense of calm empowers you and makes you turn pages to take in more of the wisdom that lies hidden in the pages that lies ahead. It heals the soul with the tales it tells and I was sad when the book ended. I am now waiting for the sequel.

But this is not a onetime read. This book is more like a guidebook, which will always shed light on life’s many questions. We can adopt the lessons from the Ramayana in our own lives as it teaches you the efficient way to handle relationships and confront the vices. Shubha Vilas gifts us the literary treasure of Ramayana with all the subtle and enduring wisdom of the epic captured and encapsulated for the benefit of the present generation.

Verdict: A must have in your home library.

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