[1] It may be regarded as a historically notable Malayalam-language novel as it has become a yardstick for epic Malayalam fiction, spawning many Mahabharata based-novels.

It is a psychological study of Karna and Draupadi, set against the background of the main events in the Mahabharata.

[3] A second English translation titled Battle Beyond Kurukshetra is published by Oxford University Press.

Draupadi, the wife of all the Pandava brothers, is unable to understand her sense of guilt surrounding the situation.

The book crafts a contemporary relevance to the tribulations of the tragic hero, Karna, and the struggles of the quintessential woman, Draupadi.

Balakrishnan tells the story of Karna through the eyes of a woman in his award-winning novel, Ini Njan Urangatte.