Epic
Themes in Indo-English Plays
Dr. S. KRISHNA BHATTA
In
Indo-English literature, drama is, of course, not so
rich as poetry and fiction. Yet we find some 400 plays and playlets
as shown in the latest
bibliography prepared under the auspices of
Pre-Independence
Phase
T.
P. Kailasam is one of the major playwrights in the
pre-Independence phase. Though essentially a Kannada playwright, he has to his
credit some plays and playlets in English also: The
Burden, The Purpose, Fulfilment,
The Curse or Karna and Keechaka.
While the story of The Burden is
from The Ramayana, the other plays are based upon some episodes from The
Mahabharata. A blending of genius and vision, a fertile imagination can be
found in his plays in general, and ready wit and subtle humour
in his Kannada plays in particular. In his treatment of the epic themes, he
tries to highlight the greatness of the epic characters.
The
Burden is
perhaps Kailasam’s indirect attempt of modification
of Bhasa’s Samskrit work Pratima
natakam (The Statue-play) further elevating the
theme to tragic heights.
While
returning from their grandfather’s place to Ayodhya Bharata
and Satrughna scent some catastrophe in the capital by
seeing the dimlit royal path. They first meet two
aged Chamberlains-at-court and make enquiries with them, who are too sad to
narrate the incident. At last, with great difficulty they get information about
the death of their father Dasaratha and the
banishment of Sri Rama; and they are totally upset. Bharata
is so much enraged that he even takes the Royal Priest Vasishtha
to task for not having saved his father. In the end, Vasishtha
consoles him and directs him to do his duty next.
Next,
The Purpose, a play in 2 acts, is one of the main contributions made by Kailasam to Indo-English Drama. It is a matter of wonder
that the only a few words mentioned by Vyasa about Ekalavya in Adi Parva and a passing reference made in Drona
Parva of The Mahabharata could become a
powerful play in his hands.
While
in The Burden Bharata is directed to do “the
man’s task of bearing the burden that fate hath placed” and thus the title is
significant, the title of The Purpose highlights the purpose of Ekalavya’s life. In this direction, Kailasam
makes his own imaginations. He naturally makes his Ekalavya
observe from a distance the skills in archery, and then practise
in his place with the image of his Guru in his mind. Further, when Drona is helplessly caught in a mental conflict on Arjuna’s serious charge, Ekalavya,
though, placed in between dual loyalty (towards his teacher on one side and his
fawns on the other), realises Drona’s
awkward position and voluntarily sacrifices his right thumb as gurudakshma. This voluntary act creates a
romantic world altogether and takes the story to dramatic heights; and the
scene is so moving that even Drona is aghast looking
at the maimed hand of Ekalavya. There cannot be a
better denouement for the suspense though the playwright’s attempt to make his Ekalavya a tragic hero of the Elizabethan type has not met
with full success.
In
handling the theme of The Purpose, Kailasam
lays an emphasis on the power of penance, its potentiality of concentration and
a single-minded effort on the one hand and the purpose of doing a thing (here,
learning archery) on the other. Among the three kinds of people whose purposes
are different, Ekalavya belongs to the third category
whose “one aim is in his labour that others might
reap the harvest his toils without the least profit to himself (karmana pararthaha).”
Kailasam’s next playlet Fulfilment is a natural sequel to The
Purpose. It is said that Dr. C. R. Reddy, after listening to a recital of The
Purpose, posed a question: “Well; what becomes of Ekalavya
then?” Kailasam readily replied, “Fulfilment”
and Reddy said, “Kailasam, you must write the whole series.”
As Sri B. S. Rama Rao informs, a MS possessed by him connects the two pieces
(forming a full-fledged tragedy), and according to it, Ekalavya
had given his consent to join the Kauravas in the
ensuing fray.
In
Fulfilment, the divine-human
The
romantic sense of Kailasam calls for such a drastic
dramatic imagination, and it is no wonder if Dr. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar is tempted to remark, “Fulfilment
is almost the crown of Kailasam’s dramatic art.”
But, however, the playwright’s imagination, one has to question the probability
of Ekalavya’s joining the Kauravas
in view of the fact that Ekalavya’s sacrifice of his right
thumb has already rendered him almost unfit for archery. Further, compared to Ekalavya, Lord Krishna of the playlet
seems to be debased as highly selfish and partial. One would be simply stunned
and would find it difficult to reconcile oneself to the horrible treacherous
act committed by
Next,
The Curse or Karna also bears evidence to Kailasam’s originality in handling the theme from The
Mahabharata. To Kailasam, the entire epic is
nothing but the tragedy of Karna (as remarked by
Befooled
babe ’gainst fate’s bewild’ring
odds!
Bejewelled bauble of the jeering gods!
In
the play, Kailasam creates a romantic atmosphere and
gives all importance to characterisation,
particularly in some scenes. In the court scene, instead of rejoicing at the insult
attempted by Dussasana to Droupadi,
Karna shows chivalry by threatening the tyrant with
the words, “Desist! Move but a step and you die!” His loyalty to Duryodhana and helping nature are highlighted in the play.
Further, even just before his death, he takes Aswatthama
to task for the latter’s curse; this innovation made by Kailasam
adds a sense of pathos and deepens the tragic situation.
Like
Bhasa, the playwright ennobles Suyodhana
who advocates Karna’s right to become a king:
Thy
lowly birth, my brother, it will prove
No
robber of thy noble worth, not while
I
am Crowned Prince of Kuruland.
According to
As
Dr. K. R. Srinivasa Iyengar remarks, “the working out
of the curse punctuates the dramatic action, giving every time a new edge of
despair to Karna’s giant endeavours
to redeem himself and his royal friend and master Duryodhana,”
and thus the tragedy deepens at each stage. But it is difficult to understand
how the play could be “an impression of Sophocles in five acts” though Kailasam calls it so. Still less is the playwright’s
success in making Karna a tragic hero of
Shakespearean type for want of a major tragic flaw of his own. Further the play
lacks suspense as the ill-fated Karna reveals the
secret of his curse at every stage; and also the whole piece looks like a
series of pictures.
Next,
Kailasam’s Keechaka
is disappointing so far as the handling of the epic theme is concerned.
Entirely different from Keechaka of The
Mahabharata, the playwright’s hero is so much exalted and idealised that the essense of the
original story is lost, though the romantic impulse is there. Yet some of the
changes made by Kailsasam could interest the audience
of romantic temperament. Unlike the cruel and lusty epic hero, the playwright’s
Keechaka is a man of valour,
who is highly skilled in mace (not in archery) and who returns disappointed
from the wedding contest of Draupadi where, to his
misfortune, archery is given importance. Thus frustrated, he resorts to war
campaigns and brings wealth and fame to the Virata
kingdom every year. Also, he differs from the epic hero as he is tired of too
many victories and thus he himself craves for defeat and death at the hands of
an equally strong man. Some of his virtues are his chivalry, his impartiality
in seeing potential talent in others and his reverence for Guru. Further, in
taking the audience to a world of romance, Kailasam
shows his knowledge of wrestling and gives details of some grips like the
death-grip used in the fight between Keechaka and Valala.
To
conclude, Kailasam can effectively present the epic
themes on the stage so as to highlight the great qualities of characters. While
The Purpose serves as a good example in this regard, the playwright goes
to the other extreme in Keechaka (because
of his over-idealisation and excessive
sentimentality), the other plays coming in between. In
handling such themes, he does not fail to create the world of romance; and also
he shows his ability to make sequences (like the learning of archery by Ekalavya) logical. But, compared to Sri Aurobindo, Girish Karnad and others, he does
not seem to be so much inclined to presenting contemporary problems through old
myths and legends as to show greatness in his epic heroes.
Another
playwright in the pre-Independence phase who draws his theme from The
Mahabharata is K. S. Ramaswami Sastri. The story of the epic as presented
in Droupadi his verse-play in 5 acts
revolves round Droupadi as nucleus, at the same time
highlighting the divinity of Lord Krishna. The playwright dramatises
some important incidents connected with the heroine’s life, viz., her marriage,
the game of dice between the Pandavas and the Kauravas the former losing everything, their life in the
forest and incognito, Keechaka’s death, the war, the Pandavas’ victory :and the final journey of their life.
Like
Kailasam in The Curse or Kama,
Sastri tries his best in all the scenes to focus light on the central character.
Particularly, the revengeful attitude of Droupadi is
well-portrayed in the scene lot the Pandavas, defeat
in the game, her suffering in the forest and in the Virata
kingdom, and finally the death of Dussasana and Duryodhana. Though thus revengeful, she could redeem even
enemies like Aswatthama and also rise to spiritual
heights making a final appeal to the Lord “to absorb me in thy love’s eternal
sea”. Thus Droupadi of the play is idealised to some extent compared to the heroine of the
epic. But the idealisation is not carried too far to
make us forget the original story itself as done by Kailasam
in his Keechaka. But in dealing with
the theme, the playwright unnecessarily introduces some imaginary conversations
of citizens, and thus fails to maintain the tempo of the play on the stage.
Post-Independence
Phase
Among
the Indo-English plays published after
As
expounded in the works like Valmiki’s The
Ramayana, Plato’s republic and Lewis’ The Magnetic
Mountain, it is but natural that the concept of an ideal State differs from
time to time though the basic principle remains the same; and it is in the
light of this fact that Aiyangar’s play is to be analysed. As Sir C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer points out, “he has, with the instinct of a true
playwright, interwoven into the ancient story, episodes and lessons bearing on
the life of today.” The modern concept of democracy and socialism is traced in
the ancient benevolent monarchy; which idea is expressed in the statements like
“the king is like a common man and the common man like a king” and “All food is
the common property of those who are hungry”; and the hero of the play is
portrayed as one who is wedded to truth, justice and service to humanity. But
the playwright does not develop the plot so as to present a continuous story,
and thus the “five acts” look like some fragments artificially knit together.
Further the play may fail to impress the audience on account of its excessive
dialogue without action and the lack of suspense in it.
Another
attempt to view the hero of The Ramayana from a modern angle and make
him more human than divine is made by Mathuram Bhoothalingam in the play Alone in Ayodhya. Here is
an imaginative reconstruction (in 6 scenes) of an episode from the last part of
the epic (sending Sita to the forest). The inner struggle of Sri Rama, the
conflict between his duty as a king and his human emotions constitutes the
theme of the play. Of course, the epic story is there–Sri Rama’s
order of banishment of his queen Sita, the purity of whose character is doubted
by the malicious tongue of a washerman as she had
lived in Ravana’s capital for a year. With this
nucleus, the playwright develops the plot inventing a number of events to
highlight the struggle; expecting Sita to declare her purity before the People’s
Assembly; the character of Soudasa the Governor of
the province of Madhuvana and the Lavanas’
rebellion; the intrigue of Rama’s ministers, Mantrapala and Jayanta, and their
attempt to lower the power of the Chief Minister, Sumantra;
the assault on the sage Uttama by his son Somadeva; the language and other issues.
Thus,
in addition to maintaining the nobility of Rama, the playwright makes him
perfectly human with the aid of innovations of various political intrigues and
his democratic way of treating the People’s Assembly; and also, unlike Aiyangar’s Ramarajya, Mathuram’s play has a coherence of sequences and logical
plot-construction; and does not give an impression of a collection of
unconnected fragments. Further, unlike the heroine of the epic, Sita of the
play is not fully submissive; in spite of her deep love towards Rama, she
argues and also desires to participate in the politics of the kingdom. Also,
like the heroine of Maithilisaran Gupta’s Hindi work Saketh, Urmila is
given much importance and portrayed as a woman of high self-respect who takes
her husband Lakshmana to task for being too proud of Raghu’s race and neglecting his wife; but her conversations
occupy an unwarranted space in the play, making the main plot somewhat loose
and thereby impeding its development.
Next,
as in the pre-Independence phase, The Mahabharata supplies themes to some plays in this
phase also. Smt. K. B. Thakur’s
Mother and Child, a Bhavan’s Journal Competition Prize-winner, is a 3-act play
which deals with the tragic story of Karna of the epic.
The playwright concentrates on a few events of Karna’s
life: The sage Durvasa’s boon to the maiden Kunti, the Sun-god’s grace leading to the birth of Karna, leaving the child for the fear of social scandal,
Krishna’s useless persuasion (at Kunti’s instance) of
Karna to desist from the war, finally her revelation
of truth of Karna’s birth and her direct persuasion
resulting only in a promise to spare his other brothers excepting Arjuna.
As
in Tagore’s
Karna and Kunti, Mrs.
Thakur focusses light on the
natural inseparable bondage between a mother and her child and the consequent
conflict she has to undergo when it comes to a question of occurrence of her
child’s birth in a manner not sanctioned by rigid society. As this natural
attraction and the conflict from the nucleus here, the playwright judiciously
chooses only such events as are directly pertaining to them, though it is
rather an unbearable strain on the audience to imagine the hero’s life in the
big gap left between the first and the second acts, between Karna’s
birth and the commencement of the war (where the Pravesaka
technique of our classical Samskrit drama would have come to her aid). In addition
to the maiden Kunti’s curiosity to test the effect of
the sage’s boon, the unfolding of her motherly feelings is well-presented (in Act
I) by her strong wavering to part with the child. Now, in the second act, she
is the legitimate mother of the Pandavas, and though
she is compelled to hide the birth of Karna, her
motherly dimensions are broadened. Here are the outpourings of her maternal
heart: “A mother’s heart trembles for the safety of her sons who alone are her
life” and they are similar to what Kailasam’s Radha says to her foster-son. In the last act, the
playwright enhances the conflict in her Kunti who is
helplessly swayed between her tender motherly heart and the man-made code of
conduct, vis-a-vis the loyal and
outspoken Karna. Thus, with suspense she successfully
develops her plot concentrating on the theme of relation between the mother and
the child.
The
theme of D. A. Sadar-Joshi’s 5-act play Acharya Drana is also drawn from The Mahabharata and, as
the title suggests, it attempts to glorify the life of one of the great
characters of the epic. According to the play, Acharya Drona
the preceptor of the Pandava and the Kaurava princes has a material-minded wife by name Krupi. She induces her husband to be the Commander of the Kaurava forces in the war; at which Sakuni
raises a great controversy by attributing the charges of his partiality towards
the Pandavas and traces them to the affair of the
teacher’s fee that he demanded from his tribal student Ekalavya.
Caught in a mental conflict arising from the moving incidents around him, he finally
accepts Generalship against his own will and also against the currents and cross-currents
of opinions about him. Though he reconciles himself to fate, he performs his
duty with all sincerity in the battlefield and meets his downfall on account of
the net tactfully spread by
The
playwright is successful in his design of universalising
the teacher’s character by his imagination of other suitable characters like Drona’s wife who is unable to rise from the general social
order to her husband’s level of thinking and also of the acute mental conflict
encountered by the Acharya at the time of his acceptance of the Commandership
of the Kaurava army; and this addition to Vyasa’s portrayal of the great Acharya contributes to the characterisation of the hero in shining contrast with
others...Here Drona is the symbol of a teacher who,
with his simple living and high thinking, is always engaged in moulding the character of his pupils and unfolding their
hidden power to sustain them through the storm and stress in the ever-changing
phases of life; who, frank and outspoken, stands on principles without caring
for the consequences; and who, in addition to his rich spiritual heritage of a
Brahmin, is a master of archery. Further, there seems to be an echo of the Sankhya philosophy in the play (vide the
terms ‘Prakriti’ and ‘Purusha’
mentioned in the dialogue) and this may inherently mean the Energy in the form
of the universal teacher activating the inert Matter of the world.
But,
there is no suspense except in the scenes presenting his mental conflict; and
moreover, the speech being more and action less, the whole play looks more like
an essay on Drona’s character than a well-developed
plot suited for the stage. Further, in his enthusiasm to idealise
the character of Drona, the playwright unwarrantedly
imagines a conversation between Ekalavya and some
tribesmen in act 2; and this unnaturally prolongs the tense moment of Ekalavya’s offering of the teacher’s fee and impedes the
tempo of the main plot. Also, while Kailasam makes
his Ekalavya first observe the practices in archery
from a distance and thereby gives a natural tinge to the epic story, Sadar-Joshi lessens our interest in the episode by simply
arranging an earlier meeting of the teacher and the pupil. These factors can
make the play rather dull on the stage though the thought-provoking dialogues
make good reading.
Next,
in his one-act play Uttara Gita or The
Gita Reminded, Padmanabhi Krishna Murthy
conceives a scene in the last portion of The Mahabharata in order to
highlight the Vedantic thought enshrined in the Bhagavad
Gita. After the war, Arjuna is grief-stricken on
account of the loss of his kith and kin as well as his elders like Dronacharya. He has no mind to attend the coronation
ceremony of his elder brother Yudhishthira; nor would
he accept the post of the Commander-in-Chief offered. He decides to renounce
all mundane pleasures and lead the life of a vanaprastha.
To put him in the path of action again, Lord Krishna takes him to a forest
where they meet a family of a Brahmin. The son of the Brahmin is dead; but none
of the members of the family is upset by it. First they treat the guests and
tell them that they will attend to the funeral rites of the dead man only
afterwards. At last, the maid-servant explains the practice enunciated in the Gita.
This reminds Arjuna of the immortal poem, and then ashamed
of his conduct, he returns to the capital thinking of his duty.
According
to the epic, it seems that, after the war, Yudhishthira
(and not Arjuna) develops disgust at the kingdom
gained at the cost of so many lives of the nearest and the dearest, and hence thinks
of going to the forest; and, persuaded by Droupadi, Arjuna and others, he occupies the throne. Thus, in the
context of the original epic story, it is rather difficult to appreciate the
playwright’s imagination that Arjuna seeks the life
of a hermit...However, the play has suspense and action throughout and each
minute of the host’s treatment of the guests at the critical moment arouses curiosity
among the audience. Further, according to the requirements of the one-act play
form, the playwright concentrates on the single theme of reminding Arjuna of the preachings of the Gita;
and it is but natural that man (symbolised here by Arjuna) needs such frequent reminders from the Lord in
regard to discharging his worldly duties without much attachment to both the joys
and the sorrows of life. Thus, so far as the plot-construction is concerned,
the play is stage-worthy; but the language in raw style employed in the
dialogue can mar its success.
Dramatic Dialogues
In
Indo-English Drama, there are a few dramatic dialogues (not full-fledged
plays), the themes for which are drawn from the epics. “Ketaki”
conceives two such dialogues of which one is about two characters of The
Mahabharata (and the other about those of The Bhagavata. (“Bheeshma and Drona” by “Ketaki” –Triveni, Jan. 1951). His dialogue Bheeshma and Drona is
imagined to have been held just before the marriage of Droupadi.
Drona tells that he is in search of a young Kshatriya
whom he can train in archery so that the insult suffered by him at the hands of
Drupada could be avenged. Bheeshma
who foresees annihilation, welcomes Drona to train
the future kings of the Kuru race; for “you are the
fittest person to train them in the art of hatred, filled to the brim, as you
are yourself with hatred.” Their conversation next turns on to Karna’s story, the evil steps taken by Duryodhana
against the Pandavas and finally the Kaurava’s preparation to go to Droupadi’s
Swayamvara. Thus, in the dialogue, the author does not
concentrate on a single topic; but he achieves success in his design of
contrasting the wisdom of Bheeshma with the skill, in
archery and determination of Drona.
In
Gandharee and Aaikeyee,
Kamala Subramanian extends her imagination too far and brings together two
queens (probably in heaven) belonging to two different yugas.
Each explains to the other her standpoint about the peculiar situation
which caused some mistaken notions among the people. Kaikeyee
tells Gandharee how she first rejoiced at the news of
Sri Rama’s coronation and then how Manthara’s words forced her to demand Sri Rama’s exile and her son’s coronation. According to Gandharee, it is her extreme affection to her son Suyodhana that urged her to hear the tinkling laughter of Droupadi insulting Suyodhana, but
not her sobs when she was insulted by him at the royal court. Thus, within the
scope available, the author projects the image of two characters; Kaikeyee as the victim of circumstances and Gandharee as a mother to whom
blind affection towards her own son is of greater importance than protection of
another lady’s honour.
In
conclusion, one can find that only a few Indo-English playwrights have
attempted at interpreting the ancient myths and legends of our country from a
contemporary angle of view; but in handling the epic themes, many have
successfully portrayed the greatness of their heroes. However, it is
disappointing to note that, in Indo-English Drama, the rich fund of material
available in our ancient lore has not been fully tapped.