I am not sure that I am a man said Yuvanashva. I have created life outside me as men do. But I have also created life inside me as women do. What does that make me Will a body such as mine fetter or free me Among the many hundreds of characters who inhabit the Mahabharata perhaps the worlds greatest epic and certainly one of the oldest is Yuvanashva a childless king who accidentally drinks a magic potion meant to make his queens pregnant and gives birth to a son. This extraordinary novel is his story. It is also the story of his mother Shilavati who cannot be king because she is a woman of young Somvat who surrenders his genitals to become a wife of Shikhandi a daughter brought up as a son who fathers a child with a borrowed penis of Arjuna the great warrior with many wives who is forced to masquerade as a woman after being castrated by a nymph of Ileshwara a god on fullmoon days and a goddess on newmoon nights and of Adinatha the teacher of teachers worshipped as a hermit by some and as an enchantress by others. Building on Hinduisms rich and complex mythologybut driven by a very contemporary sensibilityDevdutt Pattanaik creates a lush and fecund work of fiction in which the lines are continually blurred between men and women sons and daughters husbands and wives fathers and mothers. Confronted with such fluidity the reader is drawn into Yuvanashvas struggle to be fair to allthose here those there and all those in between. Product description About the Author Devdutt Pattanaik is a medical doctor by education a leadership consultant by profession and a mythologist by passion. He has written and lectured extensively on the nature of sacred stories symbols and rituals and their relevance in modern times. His books with Penguin India include The Book of Ram Myth = MithyaA Handbook of Hindu Mythology The Pregnant King SitaAn Illustrated Retelling of the Ramayana and the Devlok series of stories for children. Devdutts unconventional approach and engaging style are evident in his lectures books and articles. To know more visit www.devdutt.com.