Its a book about a king accidentally become the mother of a child. Written by Devdutt Pattanaik, its a tale of maternal adoration and love by a male species as opposed to a woman. It a beautiful tale of a king and his 3 wives trying to conceive a prince for which the king's grand father is awaiting to go live on vaana prasta. The pitrus are waiting to be reborn but there is no conception of the child. When the king decides to call 2 siddhis - Yaja and Upajaya who perform extravagant ritual to create a potion meant to be given to the queens, the king accidentally drinks it. He eventually becomes pregnant and gives birth to happy healthy boy. The 9 months of pregnancy and the child birth is kept secret.
When the child is born, the only wish of the king is to be called mother by his child. The child refuses. The longing of the king continues till his breath. He keeps wondering "What sounds sweetest, being called Mother or being called Father"
He tries to seek answers from all possible avenues. He is entangled in this dilemma and desperate to find answers. He speaks to Arjuna to whom the king believes Bhishma narrated the story of a man who became a man and then a woman. Arjuna brushes off the query saying he does not remember any such story being told to him.
The king also bears another child through his second wife. So he wonders "I am not sure that I am a man…I have created life outside me as men do. But I have also created life inside me, as women do. What does that make me? Will a body such as mine fetter or free me?"
The king who is supposed to be the upholder of dharma and embodiment of manhood is in deep confusion whether he is a man or a woman.
The book is a good narration of king's wild mind and how he sees the world with a definite distinction between man and woman and at the same time he being a man and woman in himself. There are references to Shiva and Shakti both having different forms and how king relates to Illeswar - The patron God of Vallabhi who is God on full moon days and Goddess on new moon days.
