Muna Madan, the finest piece of work in Nepali literature, still remains the highest selling publication since its first official publication in 1996 B.S. The publisher Sajha Prakashan claims the short epic as the most popular of its all publications making it the highest grossing book to date.
The book, according to Sajha Prakashan, has already been printed in 24 editions and sold around 1 million
copies. A total of 515,000 copies of the book were sold from its 14th edition in 1933 B.S. to its last known edition in 1965 B.S. With the book also being published by Jagadamba Publication, the actual number of books sold could be more than the official figure. However, Sajha Prakashan is the official copyright holder of late Laxmi Prasad Devkota’s literary masterpiece.
“People have started treating the book as a public property. That’s why they have started publishing it illegally without the consent of the official copyright holder. The illegal publishers should be ethical on this,” says Padma Prasad Devkota, founder of the Devkota Study and Research Center (DSRC).
Hom Nath Bhattarai, chief of literary division at the Sajha Prakashan, adds: “The book is very popular with the common readers of Nepali literature. There are also youngsters who start reading Nepali literature with Muna Madan.
“We label a book as best seller when it sells a thousand copies, but Muna Madan is par excellence.”
“Muna Madan’s popularity among everyone is because of its precise language and its human touch. Its short length and technique of Jhyaure Folk also helped it to become very popular” adds Devkota. “Royalty of Muna Madan and all other published book of Devkota come in a bulk on yearly basis from Sajha Prakashan” claims Devkota.
Muna Madan with its ever-growing popularity has now been translated into English, German, Russian, Korean, Maithili, Avadhi and recently in Chinese. There have also been numerous plays and a movie on this masterpiece.