The Characters

The ones without whom these stories stay unfinished. Each character’s whole journey, scattered across many texts, is gathered here in one place.

HanumanDevotion and strength in one, the envoy who leapt the ocean.SitaDaughter of the earth, steady in her dharma.KrishnaCharioteer, friend, and the voice of the Gita.DraupadiBorn of fire, who raised her question before the full court.KarnaSon of the sun, held between his giving and his debts.BhishmaAnother name for the vow itself, teaching dharma from a bed of arrows.DeviFrom Madhu and Kaitabha to Mahishasura, the primordial power.