Not Your Mother's Mahabharata

S.P. Jayaraj, Azure Anderson

The Mahabharata is this epic Indian work that encapsulates a great deal of Indian Mythology. It is a magnificent story that is constantly being rewritten and retold since its inception that was somewhere between 3000 BC and 1500 BCE ‘Not Your Mother’s Mahabharata with SP Jayaraj’ is a podcast where S.P. Jayaraj tell the story conversationally to his wife Azure Anderson and to friends, most of whom have never heard of the tale. Listeners familiar and unfamiliar with the epic are treated to their entertainingly honest first reactions.Doing it conversationally as opposed to it being a straight up reading allows there to be  variations in the story and the chance to pick apart some of the ideas about life that the Mahabharat brings to the forefront. This podcast’s goal is to make this great work accessible, and entertaining to an adult audience. Come in expecting some laughs, some pop culture tangents, and some adult language. This is a labor of devotion to the Mahabharat quite unlike any other you might come across.

  1. 5d ago

    NYMM 59: 'You Think I'm ALONE?'

    We are delighted to welcome local artist and fellow nerd, Leslie Barlow to the podcast.  Krishna has come to Hastinapur to give the Kurus a final chance to give the Pandavas their due and avoid war. Krishna even tries calling his mom, but Duryhodan just digs deeper and deeper in, and possibly does the dumbest thing he's done yet which leads to a mind blowing spectacle. S.P. Jayaraj is the creator of the mythic world of Adijari that is the setting of his two novels, The Secret of the Zipacna Dragons and Legacy of the Crow.  He is also a Creative Life Coach through his business Imagination Life Coaching. The Mahabharata and other global mythology inspires him in all his projects. spjayaraj.com Azure Anderson-Jayaraj  is a musician, a maker, a cat mom, an arts administrator and now a podcast editor. Leslie Barlow   is an artist working in Minneapolis, MN. Barlow believes art and art making is both healing and liberatory, through the power of representation, witnessing and storytelling. Her life-sized oil paintings are inspired by community and personal experiences, and often serve as monuments to community members and explorations into how race entangles the intimate sphere of love, family, and friendship. Barlow received her BFA in 2011 from the University of Wisconsin- Stout and her MFA in 2016 from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. www.lesliebarlowartist.com Confluence ConFluence’s mission is to build creative, inclusive, and liberating spaces for BIPOC nerds where everyone can feel connected, inspired, and seen. Through both free and ticketed events, ConFluence offers diverse communities opportunities to share interests, foster relationships, exhibit and sell work, learn skills, and play.  www.confluencemn.com Support the show Have an imaginative day. Artwork  and music by Azure Anderson

  2. Aug 3

    NYMM 57: LIVE at Convergence Minneapolis. Into the Womanverse

    Recorded LIVE at Convergence in Minneapolis, MN on July 3, 2026.  Friends, we were really lucky to do a live recording of this episode at Convergence 2026 in front of an audience!  #CVG2026 We do apologize for the background sound that was outside of our control for this episode. The running theory is that it was the Reverend Matt Kessen causing a ruckus in the neighboring room.   Fellow podcaster and friend, Aaron King, joins us we go back to the moment when Shiva opens up his third eye and turns the god of love into ash- but this time we follow the story of the ash, the birth of a three world conquering demon, and we learn about the wonder that is Lalita Tripura Sundari, who is certainly the greatest entity we have run across in our podcast. Lalita IS the universe, and from her she spawns legions of women warriors and other amazing goddesses as her generals.  Even for an epic podcast- this is pretty epic! An audience member asked about my Mahabharata reading list. Here are the books I generally read in preparation for an episode. Sometimes I find tangents and corroboration online. Ramesh Menon's Mahabharata Amar Chitra Katha Mahabharata Devdutt Pattanaik's Mahabharata Amit Majmudar's The Mahabharata trilogy Satyarth Nayak's Mahagatha S.P. Jayaraj is the creator of the mythic world of Adijari that is the setting of his two novels, The Secret of the Zipacna Dragons and Legacy of the Crow.  He is also a Creative Life Coach through his business Imagination Life Coaching. The Mahabharata and other global mythology inspires him in all his projects. spjayaraj.com Azure Anderson-Jayaraj is a musician, a maker, a cat mom, an arts administrator and now a podcast editor. Aaron King  is a game designer, editor and collage editor, and cohost of the podcast ‘Read The F****** Manual’ where they and their cohost read and review Roleplaying Game Manuals. They're also the co-host of Nighcrawler is My Boyfriend. A podcast where two game designers read classic X-Men comics on a quest to make the perfect X-Men RPG!  Hosted by Aaron King (Patchwork World, SpeedRune, RTFM Podcast) and Caleb Zane Huett (Triangle Agency). Support the show Have an imaginative day. Artwork  and music by Azure Anderson

  3. May 26

    NYMM 52: That's Where They've Been this Whole Time?!

    We welcome Jeenee Lee for to tell her the exciting story of the Kauravas figuring it out. After not being able to find the Pandavas for most of the year, which means Duryhodan will be obliged to give everything back, he figures out that they've been in the Matsya kingdom the whole time. Now he needs to rout them out by sending his allies to attack the southern side of the kingdom, while he prepares his own forces to attack them from the north. Because all the Matsya generals were secretly killed by Bheema (listen to the last episode because it was a real killer.) It's up to 4 of the Pandavas to protect the southern border and battle like they never have before- yet still need to maintain their disguises. Then, for the north battle, the young prince of the Matsya kingdom talks tough because there is no charioteer to actually drive him into battle, that is until Brihanalla the 'eunuch' shares her skills with Draupadi, forcing the naive prince to live up to his bragging. It's part 1 of 2 of an epic end to the the Pandavas exile, one way or the other. S.P. Jayaraj is the creator of the mythic world of Adijari that is the setting of his two novels, The Secret of the Zipacna Dragons and Legacy of the Crow.  He is also a Creative Life Coach through his business Imagination Life Coaching. The Mahabharata and other global mythology inspires him in all his projects. spjayaraj.com Azure Anderson-Jayaraj is a musician, a maker, a cat mom, an arts administrator and now a podcast editor. Support the show Have an imaginative day. Artwork  and music by Azure Anderson

4.2
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

The Mahabharata is this epic Indian work that encapsulates a great deal of Indian Mythology. It is a magnificent story that is constantly being rewritten and retold since its inception that was somewhere between 3000 BC and 1500 BCE ‘Not Your Mother’s Mahabharata with SP Jayaraj’ is a podcast where S.P. Jayaraj tell the story conversationally to his wife Azure Anderson and to friends, most of whom have never heard of the tale. Listeners familiar and unfamiliar with the epic are treated to their entertainingly honest first reactions.Doing it conversationally as opposed to it being a straight up reading allows there to be  variations in the story and the chance to pick apart some of the ideas about life that the Mahabharat brings to the forefront. This podcast’s goal is to make this great work accessible, and entertaining to an adult audience. Come in expecting some laughs, some pop culture tangents, and some adult language. This is a labor of devotion to the Mahabharat quite unlike any other you might come across.