शिवाजी सावंत कृत छावा

Chhava by Shivaji Sawant
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

A historical bildungsroman, although Sambhaji hardly deserved the sobriquet of छावा – a lion’s cub or, for that matter, a छत्रपति. From the book I gather that he was a dissolute and frustrated person, ever aspiring futilely to reach the heights his valiant father had achieved as an Emperor.

He committed the ultimate crime of defecting to the enemy and compounded that with the heinous act of seducing his Prime Minister’s daughter-in-law. This led the disgruntled courtiers to insurrection and conspire to dethrone him. He was given to drunken bouts in the guise of Shiv worship, as a tantric – while ignoring his royal duties of protecting his Kingdom for the marauding Aurengzeb.
He could not consolidate the kingdom he inherited from Shivaji. Under his rule, the Maratha kingdom could not be saved. He scored no famous victories on the battle-field, had his kingdom nibbled away by pirates and the Portuguese, and engulfed by the Mughals. He was outwitted by the British. He faced the ignominy of having his sister, pregnant wife and infant son captured by the same enemy he had earlier defected to. Ultimately, he was captured, publicly humiliated and tortured to death.
Needlessly verbose and painfully long – 855 pages! There are occasional flashes of brilliant writing

उस समय देवमहल में इतनी भीषण शांति का साम्राज्य छाया था कि 'शांति' शब्द का मन-ही-मन उच्चारण करने से भी वातावरण की शांति भंग हो जाय!

संस्कृत भाषा के सौंदर्य ने उनका मन मोह लिया था। सायंकाल के समय गगनसुंदरी ज्यों पूर्णचन्द्र के खिले हुए पुष्प को अपनी नीलवर्ण अलकावलि में गूंथ लेती है, ऐसे ही सुमधुर थी वह भाषा।

मावल-खंड के सूर्य की गगन विहारिणी किरणें दिनभर विस्तीर्ण आकाश में दौड़-भागकर थक चुकी थीं : इंद्रायणी और भीमा नदियाँ उन्हें वात्सल्य भाव से अपनी छाती से लगाकर लहरों के हाथों से उन थकी-माँदी किरणों की पीठ सहला रहीं थीं - प्यार से, दुलार से।

His final capture and torture at the hands of Aurangzeb seems to be exaggerated, and he eventually succumbs after twelve days – the account takes a tortuous 47 pages of narration.

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