Dashanan: Ādi

Like a seed that fights its way through the soil to reach the light, years of quiet effort have broken the surface in the form of Dashanan: Ādi. In this novel, the author reimagines Dashanan—one of India’s most complex figures: a peerless scholar, a master of the scriptures, and an uncompromising devotee of Mahadev.

The story opens with the echo of “Jai Sri Ram,” a child’s innocent questions, and a grandfather’s startling tale of Dashanan’s revival. From that moment, the familiar outline of the Ramayana begins to shift.

What if Dashanan’s story did not end on the battlefield of Lanka — and what if the seeds of his return were sown deep within the very fabric of time?

While rooted in the timeless world of Indian itihasa, Dashanan: Ādi is, at its core, a work of science fiction. It fuses myth and molecular science, destiny and design, to explore a question that echoes beneath the epics.

Born in Kurnool, India and now based in Boston, USA, Kranti Gopaluni works as a scientist in the biotech industry. His professional life is rooted in data, experiments, and detail, but his imagination has long been shaped by the stories and figures of Indian itihasa.

Dashanan: Ādi is his first novel and the first book of a trilogy, conceived as a tribute to Dashanan and to the fierce devotion of the Shiva Tandava Stotram. In it, he weaves together a modern scientific lens with ancient epic tradition.

Outside of work and writing, Kranti enjoys hiking and camping, drawing inspiration from time spent in nature.