The best quotes by the author we have brought to you
“A good brother will not just blindly follow his elder brother’s orders,’ said Naarad. ‘He will do what he thinks is in the best interest of his brother, even if it means disobeying him.” (War of Lanka Quotes)
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“A great warrior is neither an enemy nor a friend. He is just a great warrior. The elephant and Kumbhakarna. Both lonely and tragic. Both had been blessed with what such males deeply hanker for. A good death.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“A life that burns bright with passion, even for a short while, is better than one that flickers and struggles for a long time.’”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“A man does not become a father merely through his body. A man earns the privilege of fatherhood with his protection, his care, his ability to provide. A man earns fatherhood by being worthy of emulation. A man earns fatherhood through love.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“A noble man is frequently surprised. Sometimes by the lack of nobility in those he expects it from. At other times, by a display of nobility in those he does not expect it from.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“A person often meets his fate on the road he took to avoid it.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“A profusion of Ashok trees, especially around the cottages in the centre, established the literal intent of the nomenclature. But there was more. The old Sanskrit word for grief was shok. Hence, ashok meant no grief. This garden, this Ashok Vatika, was an oasis of happiness, joy, even bliss. But Indians are philosophical by nature; therefore, naturally, they also have a penchant for digging deeper. And ashok can also mean ‘to not feel grief’.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“A troubled mind cannot solve a problem. It only makes it worse.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Among the most important components of a strong society is the spirit of aggressive masculinity. Without it, society would be weak and vulnerable. It would be conquered by outsiders. It would fall apart. But aggressive masculinity without the control of dharma transforms into toxic masculinity. It leads to chaos, even more than that caused by conquerors from elsewhere.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“An army built on promises of plunder and wealth suffers desertions at the first sign of serious trouble. On the other hand, an army built on the far more precious emotion of patriotism will fight to the last man.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“And that’s where war is different. The more war there is, the more people grow tired of it. Excessive warring creates conditions for a long period of peace. Peace that will last at least a few generations.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Ants, like human beings, conduct wars and exhibit complicated battle strategies. Enmities last generations. Their main competitive advantage is that an entire colony, comprising perhaps a million to twenty million ants, has a hive mind. Millions in one colony can self-organise and work together, like an eerily coordinated superorganism. When moving together, this ‘superorganism’ stretches many hundreds of metres.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Bharat smiled. Leaders delivered speeches to charge and motivate troops. But only a few truly meant the words they uttered. Ram was one of those few. A unique leader of men.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Brothers in arms. Together. Stronger together. Nothing could break them. Not the poison of life. Not even the sweet release of death.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“But grief, on the other hand, drives you insane. You are not satisfied with anything. Anything. How do you banish that grief from your life? How? By changing the world, or so you think … For no matter how much you change the world, you will not find happiness. Why? Because the only way to be happy is by being drugged; by managing your own mind, rather than changing the world. That is why the only people who bring about change are the ones who are not happy, the ones who are grief-stricken.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“But the ancestors had designed pilgrimages to be difficult. The journey must be a penance. It must prepare you for the destination. The old Sanskrit word for a place of pilgrimage was teerth sthan. The root of this word was ‘the point of crossing over’. So, a pilgrimage place was where one’s soul could cross over and touch the divine. Which is why, often, pilgrimage temples were built in inhospitable terrain, arduous and difficult to reach; the journey would serve as a preparation, purging the body to prepare the soul.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Death may be the greatest of all human blessings.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Desire, Emotions and Intelligence. They arrange themselves in a hierarchy, with Desire at the bottom and Intelligence at the top. Desire and Emotions can be allowed to drive decisions at times. But Desire must never be allowed to override Emotions in decision-making. And Emotions must never overpower Intelligence. When we allow our behaviour and decisions to be primarily driven by Intelligence, then we have the opportunity to live wisely.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Dharma dictates that a warrior must defeat his enemy fair and square.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Do not devalue grief. It can bring clarity to the mind.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“For Indrajit was a combination of his father’s physical appearance and fearsome capability, and his wife’s unblemished character.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Freedom comes from understanding that there is no perfection. Nothing in this universe can ever be perfect. Nothing can have all qualities. Gold has no fragrance; sugarcane has no fruit; and sandalwood has no flowers. But that doesn’t take away their beauty, does it?” (War of Lanka Quotes)
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Fresh drops of grief do not cause any ripple in an ocean of anguish.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Great does not mean good, Sita. Great only means the person makes a real impact on the world. Ordinary people do not impact the world, they are only impacted by it. Now, with great people, the impact can be good or bad. But know this: Happy people can never be great.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Great men never fall. Everyone falls some time or the other. Great are those who rise after they fall, dust themselves off and get right back into the battle of life.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Grief can provide the fuel for greatness, but it can also be the trigger for evil.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Hanuman looked down at his friend. ‘Give him … nobility in his death …’ Hanuman’s heart felt heavy. Even in his last moments, Kumbhakarna was thinking about his elder brother, Raavan. His dada. His blessing. His curse.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Hanuman was a Vayuputra, the tribe left behind by the previous Mahadev, Lord Rudra, the Destroyer-of-Evil. The Malayaputras were the tribe left behind by the previous Vishnu, the Propagator-of-Good, Lord Parshu Ram. These two tribes worked in partnership with each other, even if differences cropped up on rare occasions, for they represented the Gods that had once walked this earth.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Happiness is like a drug. The ultimate drug. It makes you accept life as it is. Just inject the drug into your mind, be blissed out and don’t achieve anything, don’t change anything. Just be a joyful idiot.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Happiness is like a drug. The ultimate drug. It makes you accept life as it is. Just inject the drug into your mind, be blissed out and don’t achieve anything, don’t change anything. Just be a joyful idiot.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“He ran his fingers through his son’s hair. But I will leave this world like you did … In a blaze of glory … I will go like the sun … For the sun does not go quietly into the night. As he sets, he rages. He turns the sky into vivid colours of orange and purple as he burns everything around him with his fury. I will not go quietly. I will go in a blaze of glory…”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Humour among warriors, in the face of death, is a sure sign of courage. And manhood.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Humour among warriors, in the face of death, was a sure sign of warriorhood.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“I know my strengths. I also know my weaknesses. Every person should know these things. With honesty and without any self-delusions. For that is the only way to be the best you can be.’ ‘True,’ said Ram. ‘But while most find it easy to celebrate their strengths, they fine it difficult to event acknowledge their weakneeses.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“I once read that winning wars is different from winning peace. You need anger to win a war. Anger in the moment. And that is why the Mahadevs have always been those with immense anger. But to win peace… that requires something different. You and I can win wars. But war can only take away an injustice. It cannot create justice. War can only take away Evil. It cannot create Good. To create Justice and Good, you need peace. And to win peace, you need a leader who will stay the course, no matter what comes along – grief, suffering – to sway him from his path.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“I will only think of what is good for our land, not what is good for your father. Only the nation matters, Indrajit. Only the nation is most precious.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Ideas are more powerful than wealth and weapons. Few get this. And those who do, rule the world.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“If the universe spreads to infinity in every direction, then where is the centre? Is it even possible to find a centre within infinity? Wise men say that your centre is where you stand. Spiritually wise men say that the true centre is where your true love stands.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“If you find yourself awake and troubled in the late hours of the night, when there is nothing that you can do about what troubles you, then the best idea is to simply go to sleep.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“If you want to burn wheat, start at the top.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“In the simple words of the warrior, it can be stated that in order to remove the effect we must first remove the cause. To remove the seven colours we must remove white light. To end the enmity, one of the foes must die.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Indians, like most civilised people, washed rather than wiped.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Indrajit recalled a conversation with his mother. He was sixteen at the time. ‘Life, at its core, is very simple, my son,’ Mandodari had said. ‘We build complicated nonsense around it to avoid looking at the simple truth. Maybe because the truth troubles us. Maybe because the truth makes us unhappy. And so, we waste our lives living a lie.’ Indrajit had said nothing. Just listened quietly. He had recently found out about Vedavati, the Kanyakumari; apparently, the love of his father’s life. It had redeemed his father in his eyes, somehow. A father he had despised earlier for his debauchery and life of excess. He was shocked to discover that his mother already knew about Vedavati. ‘You live in the fond hope, my son, that there is some good in your father. Like your uncle Kumbhakarna does. Your uncle is a good man, who is wasting his life living a lie. The lie that your father could ever have been a good man. Do you think your father would have been different had the Kanyakumari lived here with us in Lanka, rather than in the Land of our Ancestors?’ Indrajit had nodded. ‘I think he could have been a better man, Maa.’ ‘No,’ Mandodari had answered. ‘It’s the nature of the beast. Your father would have behaved himself for a while. A short while … to impress the Kanyakumari. But his innate nature would have ultimately prevailed. The Kanyakumari, Vedavatiji, was lucky that she passed away before she could be disappointed by Raavan. Otherwise disappointment would have been inevitable. The true nature of the beast, ultimately, always prevails.’ Indrajit had shifted uncomfortably. Like any good son, he wished to love his father. Even if his father gave him no cause for it. And he was clinging, with fond hope, to the one thing that indicated to him that his father was more than just a cruel, selfish, debauched pirate. An extremely capable pirate, with fearsome intelligence and extraordinary talent. But a pirate, nonetheless. ‘My son,’ Mandodari had continued, ‘it is said that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. It is not so simple. Power doesn’t corrupt, it simply unveils. The hidden character of a man remains what it is. Whether in power or not. Power just brings it all out in the open. Why? Because a powerful man thinks he can get away with it. You will be a king someday. And a king must always see things for what they are, in all their ugly truth, rather than what he would like them to be. The delusional view should be left to fools in universities; let them formulate air-headed theories. Kings and administrators need to live in the real world. That is the only way they can actually do their jobs. So many silly fallacies and maxims float in this world. Like ‘All people are decent at their core’. Or ‘All religions are the same and none of them preach hatred’. Or ‘All cultures are worthy of respect’. The truth is ugly. All people are not fundamentally decent. Some are actually good, and some are actually bad. All religions are not the same, and some do preach hatred. Just read their scriptures. Some cultures are better than others. That is reality. Strip the nonsense away and have the courage to see the simple truth. Remember, life is not complicated. It is simple. We make it complicated to avoid seeing the simple truths that trouble us. Don’t we?’ ‘Yes, Maa.’ ‘And you have to understand the truth about your father and yourself. You will be a warrior when you grow up. In many aspects you already are.’ ‘Yes, Maa.’ ‘Warriors are so male. With all their masculine glory and also its hideousness. Some willing to sacrifice their lives to protect the weak. And others willing to kill and rob to get what they desire. We – the ordinary people – we cannot have a normal relationship with warriors. We either admire them beyond limits or despise them so much that we cannot even bear to see them exist. We either worship them like Warrior-Gods or despise them like Warrior-Devils. There is no middle ground.’ Indrajit remained silent. ‘You will be a God, my son. You will not be like your father. You will conduct yourself in a manner that is worthy of admiration.’ ‘Yes, Maa,’ said Indrajit, out loud.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Innocence and truthfulness were so rare among adults. Life had a way of torturing those characteristics out of people, leaving resentment or cynicism in their place. Some adults gave their bitterness another word – maturity. A gracious word to hide their selfishness and cowardice.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“It assumes that the seed itself rises. But we know that is not what happens. The seed will remain dead like a stone if it is not buried in fertile ground. The seed has to be buried. And allow itself to be destroyed. So that a glorious tree emerges from its shattered chest. That is the purpose, the swadharma, of the seed. For as long as the tree lives, songs will be sung of the seed that experienced death – even though it was already dead – to allow the tree to emerge. The seed is either lifeless above ground, or wrecked below ground. But when it rips open to allow a tree to emerge, it becomes immortal. Through the only way any living thing can become immortal: in the memory of others who live on after them. Its sacrifice makes the seed immortal.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“It is said that the fate of truly great people is to suffer, but they confuse correlation with causality. It is actually the other way around. Because they suffer, they become great.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“It was a delight to see this rare combination of fierce courage, quiet truthfulness and pure innocence … and in one who had suffered so much. This man, this king of Ayodhya, is special.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Janani Janmabhumishcha Swargaadapi Gariyasi.’ Mother and Motherland are superior to heaven.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Kumbhakarna stared at Sita. It was beyond astonishing. She was almost a replica of Vedavati. Almost, but not entirely. For Vedavati was calm and gentle while Sita clearly could be aggressive and combative.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Kumbhakarna’s last expression, the one that his immortal soul would record as the residue of this life’s final thought, was not the agony of immense pain but the smile of happiness. ”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Life is all about learning how to live, my son. As Seneca – the great intellectual living far to our west – once said, ‘As long as you live, keep learning how to live.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Love needs to flow, for it is the energy of youth and life in a soul. Love should not be static, for then it becomes disconsolate.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Lucky are those who escape early. The others are kept around long enough to suffer more.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Mandodari had refused to compromise on her choice of life. She had steadfastly spurned the life of luxuries that, she said, had been paid for by crimes and piracy. By adharma. She was very clear: if I live a life of luxuries provided by my husband’s life of crime, then I am a partner in his crime. If the tree is poisonous, the fruit of that tree will be poisonous as well. A simple maxim. But it took a woman of Mandodari’s clear conscience to put it into practice.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Mandodari leaned over and kissed her son’s forehead. ‘The only role that I wish to play, my child, is that of a proud mother. The proud mother of a magnificent man.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Mritaih praapyah svargo yadiha kathayati etad anritam. Paraksho na svargo bahugunamihaiva phalati.’ Ram had recited a couplet from an ancient Sanskrit play: They say that only the dead are allowed to reach heaven. But that is false. True heaven is not beyond us in this life. It is right here on earth. With the one you love.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“No warrior wishes to be killed by inferior hands, like hyenas surrounding a lion. If he must die, then it must be in a duel with a worthy adversary. Another lion.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Om Shanti.’ The Vedic Indians acknowledged a soul’s journey as it leaves a body with two words: Om Shanti. Thereby wishing for peace, and, hopefully, moksha for the departed soul.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“One should not pray for one’s own death. For it should happen when it’s meant to happen. But one should contemplate it, plan for it, even design it … to the extent possible. For is there anything more beautiful in this entire benighted earth than a good death?” (War of Lanka Quotes)
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“One who doesn’t feel love cannot know how love feels. One who doesn’t know love will feel no need for vengeance.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Ordinary citizens sometimes value soldiers, who protect them. But warriors make the ultimate sacrifice even for unworthy countrymen, who do not appreciate their valour. Why? Because that is what heroes do.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Parents have a greater influence than a mere teacher.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“People assume that depressed people look like they are in depression. That they cry all the time. Or mope. No. Most people who are depressed, smile. In fact, they smile more than necessary. Because they hide their grief from the world.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“People’s status and regard in society should be defined by their karma and not their birth.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Physical pain can break a weak mind. But it has value to a mind that is strong. For it can bring focus. ”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Pitralok was beyond the constraints of time and space. Three generations of ancestors remained in pitralok. And generations beyond either came back to earth for their next life, or attained moksha, liberation from the cycle of rebirths.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Prince Kumbhakarna, said Bharat, ‘many tactics are fair in battle. We don’t hold a grudge against you. But one tactic is never fair; knowingly hurting innocent civilians. That is adharma.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Raavan smiled, wiping his left, good eye. ‘My grief and anger will die with my death. I will be free. I will be healed.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Ram doesn’t understand. But Sita will. She will not come back with Hanuman. She will not. She knows she cannot. Even if that means risking her life.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Ram had been decent. Ram had been gracious. Ram had been dharmic. But Ram had made the cardinal mistake of most gracious people. They expect grace in return.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Return my wife to me. Return Sita to me. Or I swear upon the blood of my ancestors, I will burn the world down! I will burn the entire world down!”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Rivers are the best passageways in the world. A quick and efficient path to get from the coast to the hinterland, or vice versa. A cutter boat on a river can accommodate many more travellers than a horse on a road. You don’t need to stop during mealtimes; you can eat on the boat itself. Most importantly, if you are sailing downriver, a river is a road that moves; it carries you to your destination much quicker.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“She is the morning to my night. She is the destination to my travels. She is the rain to my cloud. Whatever be the questions of my life, she is the answer.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“So, it is in the interest of the elite to help the poor. Be mindful of them. When in doubt, help the poor. When you have nothing else to occupy yourself with, help the poor. The default position of a smart elite must always be: help the poor.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Some among the masses gradually become a part of the elite. They work hard, educate themselves and rise. But the problem is that the elite cannot keep expanding. There are only so many elite positions. There can only be one king. There can only be one chief general of the army. There can only be one chief priest of a religion.
Amish Tripathi
A big lie told to children today in civilised societies is that all of them are special, all of them can aspire to reach the top. This is nonsense. The top does not have endless space. The nature of a complex society makes the elite a small class. And if there are more and more aspirants for the elite class, logically more and more people will be denied their ambitions and psychological space under the sun. And these aspirants then get frustrated and become the counter-elite.”
War of Lanka
“Some battles are best left unfought.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Some men don’t express love in words but in their actions. And the more love they so express, the more the cutting banter they indulge in.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Some people say that focus requires a mind with a fearsome intellect. They are wrong. What it needs most, in fact, is a calmly breathing heart. For a fearsome intellect without the curb of a calm heart is like an unguided missile. It can blow up and destroy anyone, even itself.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Sometimes the hero and the leader can fuse in the same individual. But often this does not happen. A hero does not need followers, a leader cannot be imagined without those he leads. A hero sacrifices himself, while a leader may not succumb to this magnificent impulse. A hero must be courageous, a leader does what must be done, even risk being perceived as cowardly sometimes. A hero inspires the storytellers, a leader lives on in the hearts of his followers. A hero is concerned with what the Gods will think of him, a leader is concerned with protecting and nurturing his people and his land. A hero will not leave the moral high ground, even if it hurts his people, while a leader will step down from the moral high ground if need be, and even sacrifice his own soul for the good of the people he leads. A hero will fight the enemy against insurmountable odds and embrace death with a flourish. A leader will respond calmly and deny the enemy a key strategic advantage in a battle.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Sometimes, not offering battle is the best way to win that battle.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Standard warrior rules. Always check the equipment before battle.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“That grief and suffering can serve as engines that move life forward. Happiness is overrated. Hatred, of course, is destructive.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The ancients say that even the best foreteller cannot beat female intuition.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The Asura Divine, it was believed, had imposed one strict diktat: that the crow’s nest must not be placed at the absolute top-point of the mainmast. For the top of the ship was the seat of their God, who guided the sailors of the ship. And, it was believed, their God did not like crows. Not beside him.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The Dashrath vow. An open-ended promise that could never be broken. No matter what the circumstances. No matter what the time. No matter what the space.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The difference between great people and happy people. Great people always keep striving, keep achieving, as if they have a monster living inside them that will not let them rest. It is so strong, this monster, that it makes them want to keep growing and achieving even after they die. So, they want others around them, especially the ones they love, to also be great. Happiness as an accidental by-product is acceptable, but it is not the purpose of their lives. Happy people, on the other hand, are satisfied people. Satisfied with what they have. Their smiles are genuine, the kind of smile that reaches the eyes. Their hearts are light. They are warm to everyone around them. And they want others, especially the ones they love, to be joyful, to accept what life has blessed or cursed them with, and be satisfied with it. Basically, their mantra is: Be happy by managing your mind rather than changing the world. Great people, on the other hand, want to change the world. Happy people just want to make their minds accept whatever the world throws at them, so that, in their little cocoon, they can be joyful. Like people who are drugged.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The elephant, used by its mahout for his own glory in war. Kumbhakarna, forced into a lifetime of managing his brother’s actions.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The message from her husband was clear. ‘Come back with Lord Hanuman. You are the Vishnu. The Vishnu has no right to unnecessarily put her own person at risk. We will return to Lanka with an army later. We will teach Raavan a lesson in dharma.’”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The one woman – besides Vedavati – whose moral force Raavan acknowledged, was his wife Mandodari. But he had never loved Mandodari. There was space in his heart only for Vedavati. If he was honest with himself, though, he would accept that in the dark suppressed corners of his heart, he was afraid of Mandodari.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The paralysis caused by grief does not mean that one’s karma is over,’ said Sita. ‘All it means is that one is paralysed by grief. Which is perfectly understandable. But this paralysis will end. For change and movement are the very essences of life. We must not give in to grief.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“The truth must be spoken. And the only truth that matters is love.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“There are four kinds of power: military, economic, political and ideological. Military power is based on the ability to use violence. This could be the army or police or any other such agency. Economic power is not about just wealth, but the ability to use that wealth. For example, a wealthy businessman may have more personal wealth than the managing partner of a large trade guild, but the managing partner can wield power derived from the guild’s money. So, this hypothetical managing partner of ours may have less money than the businessman, but she is more powerful. Therefore, she is elite. Political power is exercised by politicians and administrators; basically, the king, top bureaucrats, the judges, et al., who use the administrative machinery of the State to enforce their will upon the people. Lastly, ideological power is the ability to make the masses buy into ideas and memes that are supportive of the elite group’s grip on power.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“There is no glory in war. Only pain and devastation. Bhasa – the greatest Sanskrit playwright of antiquity – had written, this war-ground is actually a sacrificial ground, where dead warriors are the sacrificial victims, war cries are the mantras, dead elephants are the altar, arrows are the sacrificial grass, and hatred and enmity are the burning fire.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“There is no glory in war. Only pain and devastation.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“There is no sight more magnificent than a dangerous and powerful man, with complete control over his own base desires, who also has an innate yearning for justice and a deep, abiding love for his land and his people.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“There was something ethereal about the painted lady’s beauty. Her face. Her eyes. Her serenity. Sita had never imagined herself so full of beauty.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be happy. Many people make that choice. But you must realise what you are giving up – you are giving up any chance of becoming great.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“They buried us, but they did not know that we were seeds?”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Think of the sun,’ said Raavan. ‘It is, after all, a gigantic, radioactive ball of fire. No life is possible close to it. And within it is only death. But a mere eight minutes of light-speed away is Mother Earth, teeming with life made possible by the sun. The sun is like a grievously hurting man, burning himself up with his suffering. But his suffering makes life possible some distance away. That is greatness.’ ‘Yes, but like you say, some distance away. Not alongside the sun.” (War of Lanka Quotes)
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“This is not about the varna that people belong to. It is about power; those who have it and those who don’t. The elite class is defined by one thing alone: power. Those who exercise power over others in their society are members of the elite.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Vayur anilam amritam; Athedam bhasmantam shariram. This temporary body may burn to ashes; But the breath of life belongs elsewhere. May it find its way back to the Immortal Breath.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“War elephants are usually male. And there are multiple reasons for this. Testosterone gives male elephants robust bone density, substantial muscle mass and strength and, most importantly, fierce aggression. Critical for war. Male elephants have long tusks as well, whose tips can be sharpened and used like spears by adept mahouts in battle.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Wars are not won by great warriors only, noble Vishnu,’ said Shabari. ‘They are also won by brilliant engineers who can forge into reality that which most ordinary people consider impossible.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“We are all going to die in any case, Kumbha. What makes life worth living is figuring out what is worth dying for. And then dying for it.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“We are Suryavanshis, brother. We are the descendants of the finest among men, the greatest among the greats. We have the blood of Ikshvaku and Raghu running in our veins. We will not bring dishonour to the name of our clan. We will fight hard. But we will fight fair. With dharma. Not adharma.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“We must try, of course. If there’s the slightest chance of saving innocent lives, then we must at least try.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“Wealth is like sea water; the more we drink, the thirstier we become.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“What can be more important than battle preparations before a battle?’ asked Sita. ‘Art,’ answered Raavan. ‘Art?’ ‘Yes. I will never again be able to paint or sculpt or play instruments or sing. So, I have been enjoying as much of that as I can.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“What is true among lovers is also true among warriors. It requires great wisdom and discernment to differentiate unavailability from desirability. But there is something about love and bloodlust which diminishes the ability to be wise.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“When in captivity, these abandoned male elephants bond deeply with their human mahouts, who are the only ones who treat them like family. Like good soldiers, they do whatever the mahout orders them to do. Without a second thought. Very useful for war. Abandoned and lonely male elephants, just like abandoned and lonely men, can make for efficient killers.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“When you lose the one you love, when there is nobody to give love to, then love ripens into grief. Grief is disheartened love.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“You are healed when you remember rather than relive. For then you can smile with your heart…”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“You are young. And young people like to be heroes. It takes wisdom to do adulting.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“You can either have inclusiveness, where everyone feels involved, or you can have excellence, where those who are good at a certain thing are given the freedom and encouragement to achieve, with the hope that society at large will also benefit. But you have to pick one, either inclusivity or excellence. You cannot have both. And without excellence, civilised life is not possible.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“You don’t measure your worth only with the love in the eyes of your friends. You also measure it with the admiration in the eyes of your enemies.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
“You may as well kill me now,’ growled Sita. ‘I will never allow Ram or the Malayaputras to negotiate with you for my release. You have nothing to gain.”
Amish Tripathi
War of Lanka
