Book Review The Mahabharata is a complex work. Gods, demons and human beings interact freely making us wonder what really distinguishes one from the other. Who is good and who is bad? What is morality? What is dharma? The fabulous epic does not give very clear answers to these questions. Is the complexity and inscrutability an integral part of the cosmic plan that unfolds in a process which we cannot alter much? In other words, are we puppets in that cosmic game? Do we really have free will? Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s novel, The Palace of Illusions , is a retelling of the great epic from the point of view of Panchali, as Draupadi likes to call herself in the book. The plot is the same. The very same characters not leaving out the man-like gods and the whimsical sages. The point of view is different and that matters pretty much. Panchali is a rebel in Banerjee Divakaruni’s retelling of the epic. “Perhaps that has always been my problem,” Panchali tells us
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