Book Review | Ramayana – The Game Of Life: Stolen Hope



Hi everyone. This is my first time reviewing a book. It’s not that I don’t read Books often, I just don’t know how to review them without possibly revealing the whole plot and being a spoilsport! 😛 I will review more books in the future if I receive a positive response on this one. 🙂 



Few days back, I received this book called “Ramayana – The Game Of Life: Stolen Hope”. Written by Shubha Vilas ji, It’s the third instalment of “Ramayana – The Game Of Life” series. This is going to be a series of total 6 Books. I haven’t read the first two books (Rise of the Sun Prince and Shattered Dreams) yet but fortunately this book has a prologue of other two ones for those who haven’t read them. 🙂 The author has dedicated this book to his parents. Let me introduce you all to him.. 


Shubha Vilas, a spiritual seeker and a motivational speaker, holds a degree in engineering and law with a specialization in patent law. His leadership seminars are popular with top-level management in corporate houses. He addresses their crucial needs through thought-provoking seminars on themes such as ‘Secrets of Lasting Relationships’, ‘Soul Curry to Stop Worry’ and ‘Work Life Balance’ to name a few. He believes that a good teacher, no matter how knowledgeable he may be, always sees the process of learning and teaching simultaneously as an inherent aspect of personal and spiritual growth.



He blogs at http://thoughtsutras.blogspot.com | You can follow him on twitter @shubhavilas
About Ramayana – The Game Of Life: Stolen Hope.. 




In the evil labyrinths of Dandakaranya forest, human values are put to test. Rama’s righteousness, Lakshmana’s loyalty and Sita’s endurance reflect our own sense of values and judgment in difficult times. The story unfolds the facets of human life – the conflict and trickery, the praise, the slander and above all, the hope and the despair in the eventful forest life of exiled royals. Stolen Hope is about extreme deception and extreme love. It is about arrogant power and deep devotion. With every twist and turn, Rama, Sita and Lakshmana find themselves robbed of whatever and whoever they valued the most. Exploring the dynamics of human relations – between father and son, husband and wife, teacher and disciple – and the complex game of power and greed, Stolen Hope mirrors our own dilemmas in the modern world and teaches us how we must overcome them.


Book Information and Availability..


Title – Ramayana – The Game Of Life: Stolen Hope (Book 3)
Author – Shubha Vilas
Genre – Mythology, Spirituality, Motivational
ISBN – 978-81-8495-824-9
Publisher – JAICO Publishing House
Total pages – 312
Formats available – Paperback & Kindle.
MRP – Rs.299/-
Buy Paperback Edition on Amazon | Buy Kindle Edition on Amazon

My Review..

We all have watched, read or heard about Ramayana and it’s characters while growing up, but this version of Ramayana is a little different from the usual one.. The author has re-written it with a contemporary touch, without affecting the essence of original Ramayana written by Valmiki. 


The story slowly unfolds as the trio, Ram, Sita and Laxman walk through the forests of Dandakaranya (meaning – the forest of punishment) during their 14 years of exile. During this period, they met several sages, had an encounter with Rakshash (demon) Viradha who was then killed by Ram and Laxman. After that, they started living in a small cottage built solely by Laxman in the hills of Panchavati. They lived there until the abduction of Sita happened, just 12 months before their exile was supposed to end! The rest of the story will continue in Book 4. I thought I knew all about Ramayana until I read this book. It has so many hidden stories and facts that I had never heard before. Some even have a humorous touch in them, The tales of Sage Agastya, for example! The book also has a part named “Lakshmana’s Diary” where we get to know about the mindset of Laxman during certain incidents that occurred throughout their exile. No book/movie or T.V serial has ever focused on characters other than Ram, Sita or Hanuman, but this book is written in such way that it tells the story of each and every character. 


Most of the people refrain from reading mythological books because they find them boring, but trust me, once you start reading this book, you won’t be able to put it down. This book is full of knowledge and motivation. With every other page, it has a new life lesson to be learnt. Sharing 3 of my favorite lessons and lines (footnotes) from the book..


1. These lines are from when Ram defeated 14 thousand demons alone, including the relatives of Ravana –  “The fair faced Sita peeped out of the cave to see Rama disintegrate the tree that Khara had hurled at him. The tree chopped into so many small pieces that Sita’s jaws dropped. If this could happen with a single arrow, She wondered Why the brothers struggled so much everyday chopping logs for firewood. Couldn’t they just shoot an arrow? She smiled proudly, well aware that they would never misuse their celestial arrows for personal convenience. By struggling hard each day; they set an ideal standard of how to restrict the utilization of the special facilities to when absolutely necessary for a higher purpose”


The brothers had an indefinite amount of power and energy, yet, they chose to do their basic day-to-day tasks like normal human beings rather than using their powers for their personal convenience. This incident taught me that we should never misuse our powers unless it is absolutely required at that point of time.


2Try not to leave footprints in the oceanic shores of achievements; these will be washed away soon by the waves of time. Try to leave imprints in the inland hearts of people; which will be embossed deeper city the stamp of grateful memories.


3. Assumption ruins relations as much as bad weather ruins a holiday. More relationships can be saved if people learned to express their emotions rather than assume that they would be understood.





Thank you Shubha ji for sending across this signed copy, I am going to treasure it forever! 🙂 

I’ll recommend this book to all the bibliophiles out there! You don’t have to be a “spiritual” person to read it, Just read to acquire knowledge and motivation from it! I can’t wait to read the next book!


  1. Rating – 10/10 (Rating system will be different for book reviews) 🙂




Hope you guys enjoyed my book review! Let me know if you read it too! 

P.S – What’s your favourite book of all time?! Tell me in the comments below!

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