Kaivalya: A Fire Within is a novel written by Ekta Saigal Pandit. It explains the concepts of Karma, Karmic Baggage, Rebirths, & Freedom from Cycle of Karma in detail.
It’s basically the story of Mansi, who somehow is gifted to see the glimpses of her past incarnations and is able to connect the dots in terms of cause & effect relationship across these reincarnations.
Title and Subtitle of the Book
The title of the book is the Sanskrit word Kaivalya, which denotes non-duality. It literally means ‘only.’ The author defines it using the metaphor of waves & ocean. According to her, it’s the only truth—the only one.
The subtitle is ‘A Fire Within.’ The phrase is often used to express the idea of desire or passion of an individual in the context of motivation for an act, but it could also be used to represent rage. You’ll get to see different aspects of fire in the book.
The author believes that every act one performs is a step towards happiness, and one continues to act until one finds true happiness. The goal is freedom from Karmas and attainment of Kaivalya. Karmas are the actions one does through all incarnations.
Cover of the Book
The cover aptly matches the theme of the book and is rich in symbolism. In the dark background, appear pictures of a tiger & a palace, as if under the spotlight. The yellow printing of the title also represents light. There’s a line in the book:
“The absence of light had simply hidden all that was already present. Nothing changed between day & night except for the visibility.”
A picture doesn’t become a symbol unless one starts to see meaning in it. The picture of the tiger on the cover could be understood as a symbol in many ways:
- The solitary nature of the tiger complements the title of the novel.
- It is known for its stealth, strength, & determination.
- It also represents wildness, which further reminds of the transient nature of life. The awareness of this transience germinates a feeling of gratitude within. The author has beautifully explained this aspect in the book, highlighting the difference between the humans of wilderness & the humans living in concrete cities and also throws some light on how city dwellers take life for granted.
- In spiritualism, it represents transformation of anger into wisdom. Goddess Durga rides on it. Lord Shiva sits on its skin. It is one of the Four Dignities in Buddhism.
There’s one remarkable thing that the author pointed out in the book is it’s the tigress that kills to survive; the tiger also kills offspring of other tigers so that it could mate with tigress & produce offspring of its own. So, it’s a tigress not a tiger on the cover of the book.
Stories in the Book
The book revolves around Mansi, who is working with Surya on a documentary, Our Planet and Beyond, for a television channel. They are required to camp in & shoot films in remote locations where people are known to have witnessed strange, inexplicable phenomena, & sometimes strange animal behavior. Each camp reminds Mansi of one of her past reincarnations associated with that place.
Though Kaivalya isn’t the story of Mansi’s present life only but past lives also, it could be perceived as a collection of seven stories, each representing one incarnation of Mansi.
Jay Singh – Vrinda -> Story of Quest
Manu – Mohan -> Story of Revenge
Munni – Pundit Ji -> Story of Understanding
Raja – Meera -> Story of Betrayal
Aradhana – Rajeshwari -> Story of Conspiracy
Sita – Dr. Patterson -> Story of Forgiveness
Mansi – Surya -> Story of Kaivalya
Style of Narration
Like her previous book, Let Go of Me, the writing style is a fusion of fiction & non-fiction. Her emphasis is more on the message than on the story.
The book is divided into seven units, and each unit begins with a poem.
Kaivalya and Classification of Mentality
Most of us are aware of the classification into Shudra, Vaishya, Kshatriya, and Brahmin based on their roles, but Ekta presents another aspect of this classification. She talks about Shudra mentality, Vaishya mentality, Kshatriya mentality, and Brahmin mentality.
According to her, Shudra mentality is about performing actions to escape punishment. The motivation to act in such cases is solely fear. To know about the rest of the mentality types, read the book.
Kaivalya and Nitty-gritty of Karma
The concept of Karma is the backbone of the novel. Ekta painstakingly explains how our choices & their consequences of all our incarnations constitute Karma and decide our tendencies, nature, & thought process.
She also talks about maintaining the records of Karma in some sort of energy fields and presents an elaborate theory on how Karma whether good or bad form vortices that need to be neutralized & removed to reach our full potential and know our true identity.
She not only tells how Karma works but also suggests how one can transcend it through Nishkaam Karma.
The author beautifully conveys that the consequences of our actions aren’t some kind of reward or punishment but are opportunities to transcend Karma, through these lines:
“Life has a way of teaching us all that we need to learn. These circumstances given to you have, within them, all the lessons you need to learn.”
Kaivalya and the Extent of Empathy
In an incident in the book, someone is trying to peep down the neckline of the protagonist. She doesn’t find any fault in the person but concludes that looking lustfully at women is his way of trying to find happiness in his life.
She has an understanding that a person would try everything one could to find happiness, till one has tried everything. The definition of everything includes killing, rape, loot, plunder, etc.
She thinks that if she doesn’t feel inclined to do something to find joy, it isn’t because she’s a better person, but because she has already tried these in her previous births.
In fact, this idea is the conception point of this book. The author came to aware of this in a discourse of Parmahansa Yogananda in the year 2016.
Other Topics Covered in Kaivalya
- Comparison of fire in the hungry stomach with the fire in Yajnas.
- Concept of Annadanam or food donation as a way of neutralizing Karmas.
- Identity within the confines of roles & beyond.
- Inputs on decision-making.
- Marriage, its prerequisites, & roles of men & women in it.
- Relation between suffering & Kaivalya.
- Designing of attires as per the roles of gender in the society.
- Aum as vibrations of creation, preservation, & destruction.
- Why people smoke & drink?
- What goes inside the mind of a prostitute?
- Concepts of Mind Waves, especially in Meditative State.
Excerpt to Exhibit Author’s Writing Skill
A part of Sadhvi cringed for the role that had been snatched from her. A part of her did not. She sat with her back resting against the wooden enclosure. The arbitrary jerks amidst the rhythmic clip-clop of the bull’s hooves and the jingling of the bells tied to their necks, made her aware of the sudden breaking of her rhythmic life.
Some Quotes from the Book
- Wisdom is not taught in institutes. It’s in the air. In the space. One just has to tune in to gather it.
- Sometimes the pleasure of being fulfilled is almost as painful as the pain of not being fulfilled. There is much to be learnt from either of these pains.
- Actions which are not laced with selfish intentions do not make the sac heavier.
- Relative to animals, survival for men is no longer basic and elementary. Survival reeks of insecurities and thus greed and avarice to accumulate more than needed.
- Money and power can satisfy the ego, for a short while, but eternally it is love that can conquer everything.