Banbhatt Ki Aatmakatha

The Autobiography of Banabhatta - Hazari Prasad Dwivedi The secret of Acharya Hazari Prasad Dwivedis prolific creative prowess lies not in his extensive scholarly knowledge, but in his transparent vision of life, which sees the truth not just of a particular era but of all ages. His genius has utilized history as a third eye, and has been astonishingly successful in connecting the flow of consciousness of the past with the current of life. Banabhattas Autobiography, despite being a work of fiction in its novelistic structure and style, possesses the grandeur of an epic. In it, Dwivedi has artfully woven the scattered life threads of the ancient poet Bana to create a narrative landscape that offers a soulful encounter with the truths of life. It utters words as sacred and meaningful as a Sama song: For the sake of truth, fear no one, not even a guru, not even a mantra; Not even from the people, not even from the Vedas. The narrator of Banabhattas autobiography is not a mere sentimental poet, but a dedicated and struggling warrior. For him, the body is not merely a burden, not a lump of clay, but greater than that, and he is deeply anxious to be the instrument of Aryavartas salvation. When his love for Niuniya, who sees the meaning of life in giving herself completely, and for Mahadevi Bhattini, who is absorbed in the practice of forgetting everything, reaches its pinnacle, this echo remains in the end: Is renunciation so great that a poet feels proud only after incinerating the god of love in the fire of her eyes?