Veerappa Moily's epic on Bahubali is about peace

Mangaluru: Congress MP Veerappa Moily, who straddles the political and literary worlds with equal ease, is now on the verge of completing another epic-poem. This time it’s on the much revered figure among Jains, Bahubali, son of the first Tirthankara Lord Rishabdev.
"My canvas of the epic poem is the entire world. It’s not confined to Bahubali, the person.This will also deal with the psychology of war veterans and the trauma they undergo," said Moily.
Moily won accolades and the Saraswati Samman for outstanding poetry in 2014 for his five-volume magnum opus "Ramayana Mahanveshanam".
What's different about Moily’s Bahubali is that he is taking forward Bahubali’s journey after he attains Kevala Jnana (omniscience). "Nobody has written about what happened to Bahubali or what he did after attaining omniscience. He goes all around the world, particularly where his brother had pillaged and looted, to counsel and soothe the war veterans. This is a big transformation and I’m shedding light on it. This is the first time anybody will be doing it," he said adding the Adi Puranas which he researched gave him some clues on this aspect.
"What Bahubali strongly personifies is peace. His message is violence cannot bring peace, war cannot bring peace. Only peace can beget peace. This book is dedicated to world peace and I think it’s apt in these turbulent times," notes Moily adding the title of the book is still undecided.
So what prompted him to pick up his pen again? "To be honest, I never wanted to write any more epic poems as I was exhausted after my previous efforts. I wanted to write a novel. But Shravanabelagola Digambara Jain Mutt head by Charukeerthi Bhattaraka swamiji urged saying that nobody has done justice to Bahubali. He said Ratnakaravarni has only glorified Bharatesha. Adi Purana is more of a religious text. But you must give poetic justice to Bahubali. He has been pressuring me since two to three years. I had said no Swamiji. But he was so persistent that ultimately he succeeded in getting me do what he wanted," Moily observed.
To Moily’s surprise he has almost finished the work in a short time unlike his earlier epics. "It’s really surprising. My earlier epics took 10 years – five years in preparation and another five writing it. This is happening within two and a half years," Moily said.
The voluminous book, running into a thousand pages, will be released before the Mahamasthakabhisheka at Shravanabelagola. The event is held once every 12 years in veneration of the 57 ft high statue of Bahubali. The anointing ceremony is going to take place in February 2018. Moily expects the epic to be released two months prior to this mega event.
The book is currently undergoing editing and chapterisation. Moily also had help from his daughter Dr Rashmi Patel, a therapist, who has done a study on war veterans in the United States of America to delve into what trauma war veterans undergo.