Sarvajeet D Chandra

She loved a farmer boy in secret, and his broken promise turned her into one of Gupta India’s most dangerous courtesans. Madhavsena, is both deadly & dangerous in the novel: Dhruvadevi – The Queen Who Made Chandragupta

This video follows a single woman’s fall from village love to the courtesan quarters of a great temple city, told through verse rather than narration. It traces how a broken promise, a stolen future and a society quick to judge shaped the life of the ganika (the courtesan class of ancient India, who were as often celebrated artists as they were condemned outcasts).

Her story sits at the uncomfortable centre of India’s Golden Age: a civilisation that produced extraordinary art, architecture and philosophy while offering little protection to the women who lived outside its rules. It still resonates today, in every conversation about who society blames when love fails and who is left to rebuild alone.

The Courtesan’s Song – Thin Neem Soap

But behind her lovely eyes,
Lies a heart that’s sad and broken,
She loved a village boy once,
Who loved her from afar, unspoken?

Downriver, he’d drink the water,
Bitter with her thin neem soap.
He gifted her sweetwood flowers,
Laden with love and hope.

She shed her skirt, her blouse dyed red,
Made love with him where wild vines spread.
She ran off with him to the city of lore,
Where apsaras danced and temples soared.

Downriver, he’d drink the water,
Bitter with her thin neem soap.
He gifted her sweetwood flowers,
Laden with love and hope.

One evening, he vanished, left her alone,
Ditching dreams, promises cast in stone.
His bites, touch lived long on her skin,
As she slept with filthy strangers in sin.

Downriver, he’d drink the water,
Bitter with her thin neem soap.
He gifted her sweetwood flowers,
Laden with love and hope.

A loveless life, but she carries on,
With a big smile on her face.
For she is, after all, a courtesan,
And she truly knows her place.

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About the Novel

Dhruvadevi – The Queen Who Made Chandragupta, a Novel by Sarvajeet Dinesh Chandra.

History remembers Chandragupta. This is the story of the woman who made him.

Traded like property by her husband, the betrayed Queen Dhruvadevi turns disgrace into defiance. With her former lover, she masterminds a bloody uprising that reshapes an empire, and helps Chandragupta Vikramaditya rise to power.

An epic historical thriller, Dhruvadevi’s story is both a celebration of female agency and a critical reflection on the forces that shape nations. More than just a tale of empires, the novel attempts to reimagine history through the eyes of those often left out of it: women, Sakas, Licchavis, Nagas, Buddhist Sangha etc.

The novel speaks as much to our contemporary conversations on gender, autonomy, and nationhood as it does to the ancient world it brings to life. First in a trilogy of novels, set in the Gupta era, the book is crafted for readers who crave intellectual depth, emotional intensity and thriller action.