SUBALTERN NARRATIVE OF BHIMA LONE WARRIOR BY M.T VASUDEVAN NAIR – A MYTHOPOEIC STUDY

Abstract

M.T.Vasudevan Nair has reconstructed the epic Mahabharata from Bhima's point of view to bring the Marxist concerns such as class conflict, oppression of the marginalised to the forefront. In this novel MT has presented Bhima as an ordinary man with all human weakness. MT through this novel projected the emotional trauma of a second born child Bhima. This novel is a mythopoeic study of the Mahabharata. MT proves that Bhima is worthy enough to be the hero of Mahabharata than anybody else. In this novel Bhima is presented as a subaltern, because he was marginalised and treated as the 'other' in his family. The author has attempted to bring out the hidden tensions between the Aryan and non-Aryan races. He has portrayed cultural and political discrimination against the low-born warriors like Karna, Ekalavya and Ghatotkacha and women in general.