Book Summary: The Immortals of Meluha
Author: Amish Tripathi
Book Size: 304 pages
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The story of the exceptional man whose exploits from 4000 years ago are preserved now as the stories of Mahadev, the God of Gods, is told in the Shiva Trilogy. Three books — The Immortals of Meluha, The Secrets of the Nagas, and The Oath of the Vayuputras — tell the story.
1900 BC. In the civilization that modern Indians wrongly refer to as the Indus Valley. The people of that time called it Meluha, after the near-preface empire that Lord Ram, one of history’s greatest rulers, had founded many centuries previously. The venerated Saraswati, this formerly powerful empire’s main river, is steadily disappearing, posing grave dangers to its Suryavanshi rulers. They also experience catastrophic terrorist assaults from the Chandravanshi region in the east. To make this situation worse, it appears that the Nagas, an outcast and evil race of malformed humans with incredible martial prowess, have allied with the Chandravanshi.
The Suryavanshis’ last hope is an old proverb that states: “A hero will arise once evil hits epic proportions when everything looks lost when it seems that your foes have prevailed.” Is Shiva, a hunky Tibetan refugee, really so heroic? Does he even desire to be that hero? Will Shiva defeat evil if he is unexpectedly drawn to his purpose by both duty and love?
The trilogy of Amish Tripathi about Shiva, the ordinary tribal man whose legend made him a divinity, provides the answers to these queries.
Part 1: The Immortals of Meluha
It takes place in the hypothetical nation of Meluha, which is physically located in what modern Indians refer to as the Indus Valley Civilization. and is regarded as the almost ideal kingdom built many generations earlier by Lord Ram, one of the finest kings who ever lived, in the year 1900 BC. The tale describes how a tribal leader by the name of Shiva spared them from their battles.
The venerated Saraswati, the imperial empire’s main river, is steadily drying up to extinction, posing serious threats to both its Suryavanshi rulers and its once-proud people. They also have to contend with severe terrorist assaults coming from the east, from the home of the Chandravanshis, who have allied with the Nagas, a despised species of savage humans with physical anomalies but extraordinary martial prowess.
To extend invitations to the tribes who reside there, the current monarch of Meluha, Daksha, sent his ambassadors to Tibet’s North India. The Gunas, whose leader Shiva is a valiant warrior and guardian, are among those invited. After accepting, Shiva and his clan go towards Meluha. When they arrive in Srinagar, Ayurvati, the Meluhans’ Chief of Medicine, welcomes them. The Meehan way of life strikes a chord with Shiva and his clan. The Gunas awaken on the first night of their stay in Srinagar with a high temperature and excessive perspiration.
The Meluhans continue the healing procedure as directed by Ayurvati. Shiva is the only person without these symptoms, though, and Ayurvati discovers that his neck has become blue. The Meluhans identify Shiva as the mythological rescuer known as Neelkanth.
After that, Shiva is brought to Devagiri, Meluha’s capital. He decides to stop on the way there at a location along a river. He leaves to investigate the region while Nandi is sleeping. He eventually arrives across a temple. There he meets a mysterious woman who, although quite attractive, wears a look of penance. He falls head over heels for her right away. When he asks her name and when he may expect to meet her again, her companion responds that he can ask anybody in Devgiri where he can locate Lady Sati, and they would be able to direct him to where she is. Once he arrives at Devgiri, he encounters King Daksha.
The woman Shiva encountered at the temple, Sati, happens to be Princess Sati, the descendant of Daksha, and a vikarma, an outcast in this incarnation owing to misdeeds of her previous lifetimes, Shiva and his companion Nandi learn while living there. She rejects Shiva’s approaches as he makes courtship attempts. Shiva ultimately decides to wed the woman even though Vikarma law forbids it.
Shiva learns of the nefarious battles the Chandravanshis are waging against the Meluhans while he is still in Devagiri. Additionally, he encounters Bhaspati, the Meluhans’ Chief Inventor. Shiva and the royal family are invited on a journey to Mount Mandar by Brahaspati, where the fabled Somras are created using Saraswati river water.
Shiva discovers that the substance that turned his neck blue was simply undiluted Somras, which is fatal if consumed undiluted. Shiva, though, showed no reaction, which was the initial indication that he was Neelkanth. He also discovers that Somras was indeed the cause of the Meluhans’ prolonged lifespan. The royals return to Devagiri, and Brahaspati and Shiva form a strong connection.
Finally, Shiva publicly identifies himself as Neelkanth. Then Daksha counsels him to go and see the whole Meluha realm. On his voyage through Meluha, he is joined by Sati, Veer Bhadra, Krittika, Nandi, Brahaspati, and Parvateshwar. They go to several cities, where Shiva is greeted with tremendous fanfare and numerous pujas are performed in his honor.
A guy insults Shiva during one similar prayer in a city for letting a vikarma (Sati) attend the puja. Sati confronts the person for an Agnipariksha because she is indignant by the man’s contempt for Shiva. Even though Sati had a little chance of winning, she does so and forgives the man instead of murdering him.
The party stumbles upon a community under siege while they are traveling to another city. They learn that the village is being assaulted by Nagas as well as some Chandravanshi warriors as they race to defend it. A naga launches an agniban at Shiva during the conflict. But Sati intervenes and protects Shiva from the arrows. She is brought to the region where Ayurvati cures her after being severely injured. Because of the agniban’s poison, Sati’s life continues to be in jeopardy.
Sati won’t survive for very long, Ayurvati and other physicians conclude after losing hope, and they inform Shiva and the others. Sati is being told to hold onto hope by Shiva as he enters the chamber where she is sleeping. At this point, Sati tells Shiva that she loves him and that she would give her life to be him. Shiva requests Ayurvati to give Sati the Somras after remembering them. Some Sati is restored. When her father, Daksha, visited her, he requested that Shiva marry his daughter. Shiva decides to repeal the Vikarma Law and accepts. Shiva and Sati as well as Veer Bhadra and Krittika are married after returning to Devgiri.
Meluha as a whole is awakened by tremendous noises originating from Mount Mandar one morning. When Shiva and his forces arrive at the hill, they discover that Mandar has been mostly destroyed but many of the scientists have been slain. Brahaspati is unable to be found, but Shiva discovers the Nagas’ emblem, proving their participation in the nefarious Chandravanshi warfare.
Shiva, incensed by this, launches a battle with the Chandravanshi family. Shiva moves toward the Dharmakhet, the border region of Swadweep, the home of the Chandravanshis, after consulting with the chief minister of Devagiri Kanakhla and the commander of the Meluhan Army, Parvateshwar. The Meluhans as well as the Swadweepans engage in a bloody conflict, which the Meluhans ultimately win. A captive Chandravanshi monarch is brought before Daksha. When he sees Neelkanth, he becomes furious and is hauled away. The princess of Chandravanshi, Anandmayi, informs them that their people also believe that the Neelkanth would intervene to save their territory by waging war against the ‘bad’ Suryavanshis. Shiva is shocked and upset at hearing this.
Shiva chooses to travel to Swadweep’s capital city of Ayodhya. Then he goes to Ayodhya’s renowned Ram temple. There he encounters the priest who will serve as his mentor and teach him about karma, fate, and the decisions he will make in life. Shiva hears a cry as he exits the temple. As he runs to the scene, he sees a Naga poised to assault Sati and watches in fear.
