The story of Buddha, the Sakya prince Siddhartha, who walked the earth 2,500 years ago to change the course of mankind’s spiritual destiny forever, has everything that a world renowned New Age Guru like Deepak Chopra could wish for in the subject of his novel.

And in his latest work— Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment Chopra sets out to present to the reader a peek into the heart behind the enigma called Buddha.

The book, spread over three sections presenting three phases of Buddha’s life— Siddhartha the prince, Gautama the monk, and Buddha the Compassionate One— tells the tale of ‘the awakened one’ in quintessential Chopra style. However, while there is no doubt that Chopra is a wizard of words, which is proved here once again, it is his over-emphasis to fictionalisation of certain characters that mars the brilliance of this work.

Chopra gets so carried away with his narrative excitement while depicting the early life of Buddha as the prince of Kapilavastu that the first one-third of the book reads like a movie script. (This impression of the reader may not be totally baseless as Chopra himself acknowledges film director Shekhar Kapur’s contribution in bringing this novel to life.

So, it won’t be a surprise if Kapur’s next Hollywood project is based on this book!)

So, while the first part of the book lacks depth with a caricaturish presentation of characters like that of King Suddhodana (Siddhartha’s father), Mara (the demon king) and Devadatta (Siddhartha’s cousin) among others, another major flaw in the book comes in the form of the author’s lack of attention to the 10 years of Siddhartha’s married life before he finally leaves the palace in search of the ultimate truth.

Chopra would have scored some extra points had he dwelt a little more on Siddhartha’s subtle dilemma over having to abandon his wife and son despite being steadfast in his decision to renounce the material world. So, though Chopra may have literary justifications for his way of presenting the major events in Buddha’s life, the above aspect that is largely ignored in the book, denies it of an interesting angle that would have taken the book to a new level.

However, if the reader can overlook such disappointments in the book, he/she will be pleased to find that Chopra redeems himself in the later chapters that focus on Siddhartha becoming the wandering monk Gautama and finally attaining illumination to become a Buddha.

Chopra is in his element while capturing Siddhartha’s days in search of the ultimate truth that would set him free. After leaving the illusory world of riches and happiness behind, Siddhartha (now known by his clan name Gautama) wanders from one teacher to another, from one philosophy to another only to discover in the end that the real wisdom that sets one free from the circle of birth and death lies beyond both pleasure and pain.

Spell-binding

At every step of his way Mara, the demon king, attempts to entice him into the web of Maya, but Gautama overcomes all these allurements to emerge as the ‘Enlightened One’, the Buddha. Chopra’s depiction of the transformation of Siddhartha into Gautama and then Buddha is spellbinding for the sheer fluidity of the narrative.
In the ‘Author’s Note’ Chopra says that he intends to tell the story of “a man who was as mortal as you and I, yet attained enlightenment and was raised to the rank of an immortal. The miracle is that he got there following a heart as human as yours and mine, and just as vulnerable.”

And the credit should go to Chopra for keeping that promise throughout the book and refraining from falling into the trap of depicting Buddha as a God, the very thing which the latter didn’t want to be.

Chopra ends the book with panache with ‘A Practical Guide to Buddhism’ that is eminently readable. Despite its flaws, Buddha— A Story of Enlightenment is a page-turner. 

Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment
Deepak Chopra
New Delhi: HarperCollins Publishers, 2007
Pp 278, Rs 395