Symbolism in the Three Plays
of Tagore –
Muktadhara, Natirpuja
and Chandalika
K. V. RAMA RAO
Veeresalingam Theistic College,
Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
was one of the finest flowers of Indian Renaissance. The span of his life
witnessed hectic activity in all fields of national life. Especially, the
emergence of an independent national spirit, rediscovering itself was a
spectacular phenomenon. And Tagore made rich
contribution in the matter of redefining the Indian spirit in the modern context.
In Stray Birds, that book of sweet musings, Tagore
said, “No, I will never be the leader, brothers, of this new age of new
Tagore was essentially a poet. His characteristic
utterance was naturally a symbol or an image. His imagination gave him eyes,
ears, wings and a melodius voice. Whether he wrote a
play or a novel or a short story, Tagore the poet was
there with his harp, and the result was a musical
thought.
“Quiver, O heart, in
the pain that rends,
Fetters fall, and bondage ends”
–so sings Vairagi Dhananjaya
when Muktadhara is freed finally. These two lines may
be taken as the leitmotif of all the three plays “Muktadhara”,
“Natirpuja,” and “Chandalika.”
With quivering hearts and bated breath we witness the pain that rends the
central characters – Abhijit, Srimad and Chandalika and their final victory. It is a victory over
tyranny, meanness and selfishness. It is a victory of love, of infinite love.
It is a victory of the spirit, of the supreme expression of spirit that this
frail vessel is capable of Abhijit and Srimati not only find their deliverance through sacrifice,
but they redeem others too through their self- sacrifice.
“When Tagore applied his mind to a current problem–social, political, economic – the heart ruled the head; and the heart in its turn, beat in response
to abiding intuitions, not the restrictive formulas of creed, caste or custom.
The light of the soul’s illumination led him, not the will-o-the-wisp or
agonizing dialectics. Whatever the problem, Tagore
leapt from the circumference to the centre and
seized it in terms of universality. The poet sees clear than others, further
than others.” This well-considered opinion of Prof. K. R. Srinivasa
Iyengar clearly defines the nature of Tagore’s drama.
The three plays Muktadhara,
Natirpuja and Chandalika
are highly symbolic. Each page is a blue sky bespangled with image-stars.
The images employed by Tagore do not only appeal to
our eye, ear, and heart, but they touch the soul. An image is a graphic
representation of an object, an idea, a feeling or a theme. As Caroline
Spurgeon puts it, “It is a little word-picture used to illustrate, illuminate
and embellish the thought.” Almost all the figures of speech come under
Imagery. (E. g. “Fear fastens its fangs only in those who hate”, says Vairagi Dhananjaya. Here “fear”
compared to a snake.) “In the sound of this water I hear my mother’s voice” is
a fine image appealing to the ear and the heart.
On the other hand, a symbol expresses two
levels of meaning. That is, symbolic words refer to something which suggests a
range of reference beyond itself. A symbol works through association or
suggestion. “Cross” is associated with Jesus and his suffering; “white” is
associated with “purity”; “dove” with peace and “hawk” with cruelty and war.
Hence they suggest these different things in the proper context. Symbols are of
two types–Conventional or Public (the cross, the shepherd, the earth, the
tiger, the eagle, etc. ) and Private or Personal
(“dam”, “call” and “light” In Tagore are symbols). A
symbol is an integral part of a context, whereas an image can exist without a
context. An image has only one meaning, whereas a symbol can have layer after
layer of meanings. It is rich in suggestion. Thus, a symbol is an irreplaceable
literary device.
The Tagorean drama
is more a play of symbols than of characters and incident. Most of the
characters are shadowy and featureless. They are important only in so far as
they stand for an idea or a feeling. They symbolistically
express a philosophy “Not the logic of careful plotting, but the music of ideas
and symbols is the soul of this drama.” (K. R. S. Iyengar)
Even the titles of plays and names of characters are
symbolic. Thus “Muktadhara” is not only the freed
flow of a river by the name but the torrential flood of “love” of the
prince which has been held back by the “dam” called throne, and now released
self-lost in the vasts of God. “Natirpuja”
Is not just the worship of a Nati called Srimati, but it suggests that God loves to accept the
worship not of the princesses but of the “lowly” and the “lost”. “Chandalini” is an ironic commentary on the meaninglessness
of caste-labels. All these plays are replete with imagery and symbols. It is a
thrill and a revelation watching the play behind the play suggested by these
symbols. Tagore’s symbols and images are charged with
profound intimations.
In Muktadhara
and Natirpuja the unfoldment of character and action is carried out through
many symbols. Almost all the names are symbolic. “Bibhuti”
stands for wealth and power (through machine). “Ranjit”
is a victor in wars. “Abbijit” is a name of Lord
Vishnu – the Protector and Life-giver of the Hindu Trinity. “Srimati”
is one who is rich and good in sense. “Lokeswari” is
a negative symbol. It means one who is the empress of the whole world – actually she is a beggar at her own doorstep, spiritually speaking. “Suman” is
the flower crushed under the wheel of conscription, in building the dam. The
“dam” itself is a mighty symbol of a wall or barrier which stops the free flow
of water as well as of love. The prince considers tbe
throne his dam. The flower girl from “Deotali”
represents the angels from Devasthali, i. e., heaven, who shower flowers on heroes!
Moral insensitiveness, indifference to
others’ pain, assertion of one’s ego, thirst for power and greed for wealth –
these are the dark clouds that surround Prince Abhijit
and call forth his Inner self. Critics like Krishna Kripalani.
Edward Thompson and K. R. S. Iyengar have found “Muktadhara” a magnificent play rich in symbolism and Dhwani (suggestion). Ranjit, the
king of Uttarakut has got built a great dam to hold
back the waters of Muktadhara from reaching the
plains of Shivatarai, so that he might keep the Shivatarayans under permanent subjugation. Prince Abhijit the lover of freedom, and champion of the
oppressed, breaks the dam at the weakest spot thereby freeing the waters. In
the process, he dies.
The prince sees “roads.” He opens the
As Prof. Iyengar
points out the issue in “Natirpuja” is between the
temporal power, the king and the spiritual power, the Buddha. Srimati is chosen the instrument of the great Affirmation.
Love conquers and the power of spirit is irresistible. Like air or water or
fire, it freshens, it cleanses, it purifies and it transmutes dross into gold.
Inspired by the teaching of the Buddha, King Bimbisara
and his son Chitra embrace the Dharma, and retire
voluntarily handing over the throne to the ambitious Crown Prince Ajatasatru. This causes a great distress to the
Queen-mother Lokeswari and she turns bitterly against
Buddha and his creed. She once welcomed it and loved it. Under the influence of
Devadatta, a rival of the Buddha, King Ajatasatru persecutes the followers of Buddhism and forbids
worship at the holy shrine in the Asoka garden.
Meanwhile Bhikshu Upali brings the message from the Sangha
to Srimati the palace-dancer, that she should offer
worship at the Lord’s shrine, in preference to the princesses whose privilege
it has been to worship the Lord on Vasanta Purnima, his birthday. Incensed, one of the princesses Ratnavali obtains an order from the king that Srimati should dance before the Stupa.
This is to humiliate her. Knowing that she is the chosen one, Srimati combines her worship and her dance, and her performance
is an amazing spectacle of devotional ecstasy. She casts of all her outer
garments and stands in the ochre robe of a Bhikshuni.
The guard strikes her dead, thinking that he is obeying a king’s order. But the
king has already revoked his former order, following the killing of his father Bimbisara. Fearing a popular upheaval he has started
appeasing the Buddhists now and comes himself to offer worship, But the
greatest transformation is that of the obdurate Ratnavali
who is shaken to the roots by the humility, sincerity and pure devotion of Srimati.
In Natirpuja
the Sadhana and worship or the Nati Srimati is developed
artistically and its climax is shown in her self-sacrifice, for the sake of
Dharma. When the Bhikshu Upial
says, “Spring, the king of the seasons, touches the flowering woods – he himself awakens them to sacrifice,” he is hinting at a spiritual principle
that God in His own time, prepares people to speak for him and to die for him,
if necessary. “Are you the only one awake today in all this
city?” Here “awake.” also means having the knowledge of God and waiting for
him. The words of Malati, “There’s a voice like fire
in every wind today” refers to the spiritually-charged atmosphere and the voice
or call of God or Dharma. In Natirpuja “call”,
“waiting,” “readiness” are used symbolically and
represent things spiritual. In the mockery of the princesses the word “Hanga” is repeated a number of times; thus it has acquired
the quality of a noisy symbol expressing their shallowness. One of the humble
princesses Nanda says, “No, child. The petals of the
lotus open to the morning light, but not the walls of the palace. “Here lotus
stands for the simple village folk who are pure and innocent; the palace walls
represent the proud kings or their family members, with hard hearts; and the
“morning light” is the light of spiritual knowledge. Srlmati
sings, “At your call the new dawn comes with a pitcher of light in her hand:
and the deep darkness answers.” What a fine image and what a powerful symbol!
At the call of God, darkness (in Srimati’s soul)
answers, disappears and merges itself in the blazing light of the Lord.
Unlike in the other two dramas Muktadhara and Natirpuja
the deliverance of the heroine Prakriti in Chandalika does not come through
self-sacrifice, but it comes through the grace of the Lord. The three plays are
built in an hour-glass pattern. In the first two aspiration
and prayer reach upwards. But in the third “Chandalika”
forgiveness flows down to the lowest of the low.
In the popular Buddhist legend, the girl gave
him water and fell in love with the beautiful monk. She drew him back to her
through magic. But the monk, at the last moment, saved himself through prayer
and went away. This crude plot of the popular tale has been transformed by Tagore into a psychological drama of intense spiritual
conflict. “Chandalika” is not the story of a wicked
girl roused to lust by the physical body of the monk, but or a very sensitive
girl, condemned by her birth to a despised caste, who is suddenly awakened to a
consciousness of her full rights as a woman and a human being.
Of the three plays Chandalika
is the shortest (only 20 pages), but most powerful. It is a poetic drama. Imagery
and symbols playa vital part and all the conflict takes place in the theatre of
the soul. The Buddhist monk Ananda awakened self-awareness and self-respect in Prakriti by saying, “Give me water” and accepting it in his
cupped hands. Prakriti is transformed. The simple
words “Give me water” acquire an incantatory effect
and run through the fabric of the play as a sliver thread. They symbolise her “awakening” and freedom from bondage. “My
birth is washed clean” says Prakriti. The new “birth”
she refers to is her “self-knowledge.”
Prakriti, now awakened, does not want to sink back
into darkness and dirt. She wants to dedicate herself to the great one. “Make
me forget that I am born of dust” says the “flower.” She also says, “The earth
must offer its worship through me.” Thus the individual desire of the low-caste
girl Prakriti, becomes the universal urge of Nature to regain its
original status of the Divine, in this cosmic Drama of Descent and Ascent.
Ananda, with some other Bhikshus
passes by the well, unmindful of Prakriti. Her heart
is broken. She becomes as one possessed and makes her mother use the primeval
spell of magic to drag the proud monk down to her door. Mother argues and
cautions her. But Prakriti is impetuous. The spell is
cast. There is a great spiritual fight and intense suffering in all the three
for fifteen days. At last Ananda comes with a distorted and agonized face. All
the glow and fire of purity is missing. Prakriti
stops the spell and begs his pardon. The great lord forgives all. Mother dies.
There are innumerable small and great symbols
throughout the drama. The king’s son, “hunting” for the “beast” symbolises all those who see only the flesh of the woman
but not her soul. “The house of darkness”, is the state of ignorance of the self. “Water” is the symbol of love.
“Black stone” (on my heart) is the weight of caste label. “Fire” is a great purifier and a symbol of purity; dust = lowliness, flower = woman; bloom = full development
of soul; light = self-knowledge
or love. Autumnal clouds symbolise free floating
things, detached persons like the monks.
“Why
hurt will I bathe
In the deep waters of my pain’s
immensity”
This “pain’s immensity” refers to the
suffering heart of Prakriti and her unbounded oceanic
love. “His suffering and mine are one today. What holy fire of creation could
have wrought such a union? says Prakriti.
This is a complex symbol. It is a union of souls. Souls unite through the fires
of suffering. She also speaks of the fusion, of “gold” and “copper” in the great
fire. Gold stands for Ananda and copper for Prakriti,
for spirit and earth, for heavenhood and earthhood. That is why she tells him boldly in the end, “ I have dragged you down to earth, how else could you raise
me to your heaven?”
Thus “Chandalika” is
a cosmic drama. Prakriti stands for Nature. Mother for the earth, a symbol of patience, suffering and understanding. The
primal spell may be taken as the “force of attraction” in Nature, particularly of sex, Ananda stands for spirit,
the awakening and bliss. Even the word “Chandals” is
made to represent people with “mean spirits.” The union of
“The King of the Dark Chamber” and “The
Post Office” are considered the most symbolic of Tagore’s plays. But they are mystical in nature and deal
with personal quest. But Muktadhara, Natirpuja and Chandalika
study contemporary social problems, at the same time presenting a spiritual
drama of great interest, in symbolic terms. Thus Tagore’s
vision of the universals behind the particulars is effectively conveyed through
these highly symbolic dramas.