Azim Premji University

From the SelectedWorks of Vikas Kumar

July 17, 2016

The aS rala Mahabharata as a novel ‘prison- revenge’ story Vikas Kumar Bibudhendra Narayan Patnaik

Available at: https://works.bepress.com/vikas_kumar/244/ www.pbdodisha.in the . . . . Cuttack, Sunday, politicalbusinessdaily July 17, 2016 spectrum II

VIKAS KUMAR AND B N PATNAIK

RANSLATIONS" of the Ramayana and the "TMahabharata into modern Indian languages are The Sarala Mahabharata as a among the defining features of our regional cultures. The dif- ferences between the Sanskrit and regional versions, which are essentially creative retellings, reflect the specifici- novel ‘prison-revenge’ story ty of both the regional epic and the regional culture. The use of 'Duryodhana' as a nam- Dhritarashtra to shield the tell the king that he had smiled In Ravinartaka's Prompted by a prophesy ing word in Odia, might, for couple from inauspicious on seeing a fruit of a banyan Chanakyakatha, King Nanda's Minister Shaktara killed the instance, be explained by the stars. Duryodhana perceived a tree flowing away in the flow kshatriya wife gave birth to a possessed Nanda and humane treatment of classical widow's marriage to his father of his urine. The reply stunned lump of flesh that was cut into installed the real heir villains in the Sarala as an affront and starved his Duryodhana and he appoint- nine pieces that became the Ugradhanvan as the king. Mahabharata. maternal grandfather, his ed Sakuni his mantri. nine Nandas. (In Sarala, When the latter learnt of his The 15th century Odia epic ninety six brothers, and his Somadeva's Gandhari gave birth to a lump "father's" murder, he impris- differs from its Sanskrit coun- hundred sons in a prison. The Kathasaritsagara and related of flesh that was cut into hun- oned and starved Shaktara terpart with regard to the nar- prisoners denied themselves texts contain a similar story. dred pieces, which became the and his hundred sons. rative frame, among other food so that Sakuni, the king's Three brahmin students - Kauravas.) Maurya, their Vikatara, the youngest son, things. In Sarala's story, eldest son, lived. Vyaadi, Vararuchi, and cousin born to the King's survived and was released Duryodhana's annihilation of (Significantly, ninety nine Indradatta - needed a crore of Sudra wife, was the com- somehow. He took revenge his mother's natal family was Kaurava brothers perished in rupees to pay guru dakshina. mander of the army. The with Chanakya's help. the root cause of the the Kurukshetra War.) Sakuni They decided to approach Nandas, who reigned in rota- The originality of Sarala's Kurukshetra war that was made dice out of his father's King Satyananda. He died just tion, were jealous of Maurya, epic in the world of Prison- plotted by Sakuni. Sarala bones, which would obey his when they reached his camp. who enjoyed his office without revenge stories lies in its novel introduced new stories, e.g., call. Indradatta entered the body of interruption. They imprisoned conception of the ethical choic- Duryodhana's crossing of the One day Duryodhana was the king, who came back to life and starved Maurya and his es facing Sakuni. Sarala's river of blood, and new char- urinating under a banyan tree, and became known as hundred sons. Chandragupta, Sakuni refused to return to his acters, e.g., Suhani and Hari when he saw a fruit of that Yogananda. He ordered the the youngest son, alone sur- ancestral kingdom and gave Sahu. He also captured the tree flowing away in his urine. payment of a crore of rupees vived. A rival king challenged up his life in the battlefield. mundane features of the char- A banyan tree is so big and to Vararuchi. Minister the Nandas to take a caged Sakuni's act of revenge was acters, e.g., Duryodhana's strong that even the strongest Shaktala (also known as waxen lion out without open- simultaneously his act of vir- passing urine and Parvati's wind and the heaviest rain Shaktara in some versions) ing the cage. The Nandas tuous suicide. Sarala gave removing lice from Shiva's cannot shake it. Its fruit con- wondered if the revival of the released Chandragupta after Sakuni a second choice where hair. These differences, and tains the seeds of so many dead king and the subsequent he solved the riddle by heating he amply redeemed himself. the limited compounding pos- So, Sarala's retelling of the It is also possible that the banyan trees, and yet it flowed gift to a stranger could be a the waxen lion. Chandragupta In Sarala's eyes, Sakuni was a sible in Odia language, partly Mahabharata, the story of the regional versions, such as away in his urine. These mere coincidence. He feared in due course avenged the sufficiently moral person to explain why Sarala's epic is Kurus, can be seen as a pretext Sarala's, tapped into lesser thoughts made him smile. A that the person who entered family. make that choice. The original- considerably longer than to dwell upon Krishna lila. known parallel classical tradi- female attendant saw him the king's body would leave In Anantasarman's ity of Sarala is evident only Vyasa's. Indeed Sarala referred to his tions, which might explain the smile, and she smiled too. once his job was done. He Mudraraksha sapur- when it is compared with A number of features of Mahabharata as Vishnu Purana. deviation from the classical Duryodhana asked her why ordered the burning of all vasamkathanaka, when King other inter-related tales that the classical version made pos- Innovative retelling was also version. The Sarala she smiled. She said whatever corpses in the kingdom, Nanda Sudhanvan died, an define the story space that is sible these differences. The enabled by the abundance of Mahabharata can indeed be made him smile made her including Indradatta's body. ascetic entered his body and India, where shared narrative context of regional retellings underdeveloped characters read as a "Prison-revenge" smile. Duryodhana then asked Yogananda made Vararuchi distributed alms to his stu- frames have circulated over a was far removed from that of and stories as well as inconsis- story, a few examples of which her why he had smiled, and his minister and imprisoned dents. This aroused suspicion long period of time. the classical period, which tencies in the classical version. are presented below. threatened to put her to death Shaktala and his hundred sons in the mind of Minister necessitated innovations. Also, Moreover, innovations were In Sarala's story, Gandhari if she failed to answer him. fearing a coup. Shaktala alone Rakshasa, who found and Vikas Kumar teaches at Azim the Bhakti environment not culturally unacceptable as was married to a sahada tree She happened to be the atten- survived. He took revenge destroyed the ascetic's body. Premji University, Bangalore; required reorientation of the the Mahabharata was not treat- (and immediately widowed) dant who carried food to with Chanakya's help and Rakshasa then joined the serv- and B N Patnaik is a retired entire story toward the avatara. ed as a sacred text. before being married to Sakuni. Sakuni asked her to retired to a forest. ice of King Parvataka. faculty of IIT-Kanpur

B M MALHOTRA The Partition was in the NDIA'S Partition, which the British rulers in pursuit of their notorious "divide and rule" policy, manoeuvred news recently as an exhibi- Ito inflict on us in 1947 as a concomitant of our long- coveted and overdue Independence, still continues to tion titled, Rising From the revive painful memories, especially of those who were The Partition: directly affected by it. Dust: Hidden Tales from The bloody communal riots that the Partition unleashed resulted in large-scale arson, loot, killings and India 1947 Refugee Camps other atrocities perpetrated on innocent victims by fren- was organized in Delhi in zied mobs and bigoted individuals in certain parts of India, mainly the Punjab and Bengal. May, 2016 when some The Divide also led to an unprecedented forced dis- placement and migration of millions of Hindus and Sikhs Partition-related documents, from the areas constituting Pakistan to the rest of India A painful relic and an almost equal number of Muslims from India to photographs of tented that newly created country comprising West Pakistan and East Pakistan. East Pakistan was of course liberated refugees and sundry other and transformed into a sovereign Bangladesh in 1971. Metaphorically, the Partition turned the golden memorabilia were displayed dreams of Indians for a wholesome Independence into a and some stories of nightmare and they felt that though spring had arrived, it was unfortunately accompanied by a harsh autumn. aggrieved families were The Partition was in the news recently as an exhibition titled, Rising From the Dust: Hidden Tales from India 1947 Refugee recalled with poignancy Camps was organized in Delhi in May, 2016 when some Partition-related documents, photographs of tented refugees and sundry other memorabilia were displayed and some sto- Amrita Pritam's eponymous novel. ries of aggrieved families were recalled with poignancy. Ritwik Ghatak's Bangla films, Megha Dhaka Tara Of human interest were the instances of some Muslims (1960), Komal Gandhar (1961) and Subarnalekha (1961) helping and saving their Hindu and Sikh neighbours and questioned the rationale of the Partition; condemned the friends and vice versa when parts of the country were suffering caused by it, yet highlighted the affected peo- engulfed by the mind-blowing and traumatizing happenings. ple's strong wish for reunification of the sundered part The exhibition was a precursor of a Partition Museum of the country with its parent body. which is proposed to be established in Amritsar by this Henna (1991), Border (1997), Sarfarosh (1999), Fiza, yearend to commemorate the 70th year of that earth-shak- Mission Kashmir and Refugee (all 2000), Gadar - Ek Prem ing crucial event. The Museum is expected to showcase Katha, LOC-Kargil, Lakshya and Veer Zara (all 2003) are recorded oral narrations and the objects such as phulkari some of the films with themes concerning Indo-Pak rela- stoles and other garments which people brought with tions. Sarabjit (2016) is the latest film of this sub genre. them as well as accounts of some later developments. Mahesh Bhatt is now making a movie specifically on the The attainment of Independence by India on August 15, Partition with Vidya Balan in a central role. 1947 was the result of a long-drawn freedom struggle spear- Rabidranth Tagore's, Jana Gana Mana, now our National erland remain in ruins?) in Man Ki Jeet (1944), were the Unsurprisingly, there are still some very senior per- headed and sustained by a unique galaxy of outstanding Anthem and Iqbal's Quami Taraana, Saare jahaan se achha most popular patriotic numbers of their time. sons in both India and Pakistan who experienced first- Indian leaders headed by M K Gandhi. Unique it was Hindustan hamaara (East or West, India is the best) also Kidar Sharma's Bhanwara (1944) had the K L Saigal- hand the onset of the Partition and its aftermath and because such a large number of leaders of high patriotic- lifted the Indians' spirits and provided a strong impetus led chorus, Thukra rahi hai duniya, hum hain keh so rahe who nevertheless cherish fond memories of the halcyon cum-political stature - several of them barristers, education- to the national movement. hain/ … Yeh waqt qeemati hum jhagdon mein kho rahe hain peaceful ambience and brotherhood that prevailed ists and social reformers - have never existed anywhere else. Prose writers such as Munshi Premchand, Sajaad Zaheer, (The world is kicking us and yet we are asleep/ …This among different communities before the Partition. The movement was by and large peaceful and Rajinder Singh Bedi, Krishan Chander, S H Manto and Ismat precious time we are wasting in our quarrels). K A A senior Indian Hindu journalist and author, now in marked by fasts and incarcerations of top leaders as well Chughtai also produced some Partition-related works. Abbas's Naya Sansar (1940) had an explicit and inspira- almost his mid-nineties, feels deceived by the British rulers as other Indians. Revolutionary patriots such as Bhagat Though written after the Partition, Manto's story Toba tional duet, Ek naya sansar bana lein, ek naya sansar/ Dharti and the Indian leaders of the time who allowed or acquiesced Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev, B K Dutt, Chandra Shekhar Tek Singh deserves a special mention here as it offers a ho azaad jismein, jeevan ho azaad/ Janta ka ho raj jagat mein in the bifurcation of India. Hoping against hope, he continues Azad, Ashfaqulla and Ram Prasad Bismil gladly went to sharp satirical comment on the religion-based transfer of janta ki sarkar (Let's create a world in which land and life to nurse the possibility of India and Pakistan reuniting, even the gallows or embraced death otherwise for the cause of population (lunatics in this case) from one country to the will be free and people's rule will prevail). as a confederation of sorts, a few decades hence. This experi- the Independence. other. Ismat's story for the film Garam Hawa (1973) too While V Shantaram's Padosi (1941) and P L Santoshi's enced gentleman who interacted with all the important lead- Unforgettable is the significant contribution of Netaji deserves a recall as it presented the post-Partition dilem- Hum Ek Hain (1946) aimed at promoting communal ers of pre and post-Partition vintage may be in the minority Subhas Chandra Bose, who created the Azad Hind Fauj ma of an Indian Muslim of having to decide whether to amity, Chetan Anand's Neecha Nagar (1946) and Abbas's of one but he is unshaken in his conviction. (Indian National army), whose spirit was pepped by the continue to stay in India or move away to Pakistan. Dharti Ke Lal (1946) carried a plea for national integration His seems to be a simplistic and an overoptimistic song, Qadam qadam badhaayeja/Khushi ke geet gaayeja Incidentally, a film on Manto called, Mantostan fea- and suggested protest against injustice. wish, but who knows? As more time passes, the rele- (Keep on marching step by step with happy songs on turing US-trained script writer and actress Sonal Sehgal Included in film Garam Hawa was a remorsecausing vance and rigidity of untenable aspects of religion and your lips). Netaji also gave the country its popular in an important role has already been made and shown poem of Kaifi Azmi which opened with the words, Taqseem unethical old beliefs are likely to diminish considerably, national slogan, JAI HIND. recently at Cannes. Nandita Das is also making a film on hua mulk to dil ho gaya tukde. /Har seene mein toofaan wahaan while further advance in science and technology and Poets and prose writers too supported and supple- Manto, as she explained at the recently organized bhi tha yahaan bhi (When the Partition occurred, hearts were modernism is expected to bring about an improvement mented the struggle through their writings and inspired "Rekhta" fair in Delhi. shattered both there and here). The poem went on to con- in peoples' attitude and thinking and promote tolerance. people to join the movement. In the 1940s, preceding the Partition, Prithviraj Kapoor demn people who paid no heed to their religious instruc- The all-important peace will then be the common Outstanding in its impact was Bismil's soul-stirring through his stage plays, particularly Deewar, Pathan and tions and indulged in extreme violence with horrible aim of individuals and nations. Hopefully, that peace poem, Sarfaroshi ki tamanna ab hamaare dil mein hai, / Ghaddar had also striven to promote nationalism and results on both sides of the dividing lines. will be free from bigotry, enmity and terrorism and Dekhna hai zor kitna baazoo-e-quatil mein hai (To lay down unity and to ward off the then imminent Partition. TV drama Tamas (1987), based on Bhisham Sahni's book usher in an era of prosperity with improvement in econ- our lives for our motherland is now our ardent wish. / Cinema, which mirrors life and often interprets con- with the same title showed some graphic details of the omy, trade, availability of jobs and circumstances con- Let's measure the strength in the killer's arm). temporary developments did not lack in presenting films Partition, as did indirectly another serial, Buniyad (also ducive for peoples' other preferred pursuits. During their jail term Bhagat Singh and his patriot co- and film songs, though covertly, in view of the strict 1987). A number of literature-inspired films relating to the However, taking into account the actual uncertain prisoners spiritedly sang this as well as another song, Mera British censor laws, to support the freedom struggle. Door Partition and Indo-Pak relations have been made such as state of relations between our two countries, all this rang de basanti chola ni Maaye (O Mother! Dye my tunic in the hato, ai duniyawaalo, Hindustan hamaara hai (Keep off you Earth 1947 (1988),based on Bapsi Sidhwa's novel, Ice Candy appears only as a vague dream far removed from the colour of mustard flowers - the colour of renunciation). foreigners, India is ours) from Kismet (1943) and Nagri Man; Train To Pakistan(1988), adopted from Khushwant realm of reality and beyond the scope of achievement at Bakim Chandra's freedom song Vande Mataram, meri kab tak yunhi barbaad rahegi? (Till when will my moth- Singh's novel with the same title and Pinjar (2003), based on least in the foreseeable future.