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ABSTRACT

OF

HARINDRANATH CHATTOPADHYAYA’S DEVOTIONAL PLAYS: AN EVALUATION

A versatile genius, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya is

well-known poet, a dramatist, an actor, a painter and a musician-all

rolled into one. He is amazingly vigorous literary personality and his

deeply philosophical poetry and plays made their impact on his

contemporary literary world. It is a fact that in “hopeless aridity” in

the field of Indian English drama, Chattopadhyaya is “the oasis

hidden in the desert”. He has a large number of plays to his credit and

his dramatic works have been published by various sources. His Five

Plays include social plays like The Window, The Parrot, The Sentry’s

Lantern and The Evening Lamp. Harindranath Chattopadhyaya has

written seven excellent devotional plays like Pundalik, Eknath,

Saku Bai, Chokha Mela, Jayadeva, Tukaram, and Raidas. These

plays deal with the life of saints and religious leaders who made great

contribution to the well-being of society. These plays reflect our

social milieu. The probable source of inspiration is hidden in our rich

history, myths, lives of our saints etc. Themes have not been imposed

on the basic structure of the plays by the playwright but they evolve

gradually from different situations dealt in his plays.

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His plays are the creation of a man who loved the theatrical

experience and could reproduce it very accurately. Abdul Hassan was

written when Harindranath was only eleven and the play drew big

crowds when it was staged in Madras (now Chennai). In fact,

Harindranath put his heart and soul into them and wanted to make

much of them by using them as a vehicle of exploring various aspects

of society and religion. The plays of Harindranath are rich in content.

They can be staged without requiring elaborate stage paraphernalia

and the sophistication of the modern stage.

Religion has been the basis of Indian thought and life, and the

guiding principle of our civilization all through the ages. India has

steadfastly held on to this principle against the varied vicissitudes of

our history. Ekam Sad, Vipra Behudha Vadanti─ is the message of

Rig Veda─ that which is one has been described by the sages in

many-fold ways. Just as water falling from the sky goes to the sea, so

the salutations offered to the various gods reach God alone. And these

“various gods” often give rise to the misunderstanding regarding

Hindu Monotheism. Actually, the basis of Hindu theology and of

course, of all the Maharashtrian saints is absolute Monotheism, and

not Polytheism. The various gods are the forms of one Absolute

alone. Different gods bearing different names, such as Rama, Shiva,

Krishana, Vishnu, Vithoba, Hari, Vithal, Pandurang and others are

the different names of One Absolute alone. The Maharashtrian saints

sang the glories of Vithal of Panduarang, the incarnation of Lord

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Vishnu. The different names of the One Absolute were a means of

God-realization. All these saints professed faith in one God, though

they assigned different names to Him, and hence their Monotheism.

All the Maharashtrian saints regarded God realization as the summum

bonum of human life and conduct. God is the only ‘good’ and there is

no end higher than His realization.

Harindranath under the noble influence of his secular mother

and scientist father, wrote devotional plays on the lives of

Maharashtrian saints, such as Pundalik, Eknath, Saku Bai, Chokha

Mela, Jayadeva, Tukaram, and Raidas. These plays, in essence, are

for the masses, obviously the so-called victims of the Brahminical

thraldom and tyranny. In these plays, the dramatist directs his holy

crusade against dogmatic Brahmins, who had for centuries distorted

the scriptures for their vested interests and tried to imprison truth and

shackle God in set dogmas, empty rituals, and fostered barriers of

caste. In these plays, Harindranath vehemently protests against the

shallow Brahminical theology which inculcates narrow-mindedness,

fosters intolerance and engenders irrationalism and dogmatism among

the clergy as well as the laity. His is a scientific approach to religion.

He is of the firm conviction that religion should be for the good of

man and society, and man cannot be sacrificed at the alter of clerical

rituals. The dramatization of certain situations from the lives of these

religious saints serves as a vehicle for the playwright to disseminate

his rational and highly scientific outlook on religion.

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Harindranath Chattopadhyaya has revealed and portrayed the

prevailing religious, political and sociological problems of his time.

Variety and versatility are the two distinguishing marks of

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya as a playwright. Curiously enough,

Harindranath wrote dramas all through his creative years and evinced

considerable interest in this genre. His plays are the creation of man

who loved the theatrical experience and could reproduce it very

accurately. Abdul Hassan was written when Harindranath was only

eleven, though the play was first published in 1918. Abdul Hassan

drew big crowds when it was staged in Madras (now Chennai). His

devotional plays like Pundalik, Eknath, Sakubai, Chokha Mela,

Jayadeva, Tukaram and Raidas-the Cobbler Saint came in rapid

succession, when he was in his twenties. His social plays, The

Window, The Parrot, The Sentry’s Lantern, The Coffin and The

Evening Lamp were written in 1937. These plays deal with various

problems ranging from the social to the aesthetic. His play

Siddhartha-Man of Peace is a massive historical play. The Saint

exposes the fake sadhus and saints. The Sleeper Awakened is an

indictment of evil influences of Western civilization. Then, in 1946

he created a farce named The Saint. His most ambitious work,

Siddhartha-Man of Peace, was written in 1956, after the Second

Great War and the emergence of Nehru on the international scene as

a pioneer of peace and friendship. The plays of Harindranath are rich

in content. In fact, Harindranath put his heart and soul into them and

wanted to make much of them by using them as a vehicle of

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exploring various aspects of society and religion. As most of his plays

are short, these are pre-eminently suitable for T.V., Radio, College

stages and Nukkar shows.

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya is a true artist and literary

genius, who has worked out his themes in terms of dramaturgy. To

project his views on various aspects of society and its social, political

and religious institutions, the dramatic form becomes the natural and

inevitable medium for Harindranath Chattopadhyaya. He has

successfully exploited the resources and potentialities of the stage for

the exposition of his serious views. Like all other renowned

dramatists, he avoids to present a disorganized jumble of facts and

incidents. He singles out only those incidents and facts which are

essential for the exploration and communication of his themes and

vision. In all his plays (except Siddhartha-Man of Peace), the

monotony of the long drawn tale has been avoided. He has

dramatized his ideas in terms of concrete spectacle of life, life-like

characters and incisive dialogues─ the very fundamental ingredients

of successful portrayal of ideas. The ideas contained in his plays have

been pressed home to the audience with the help of limited number of

characters and unified action. We do not come across sub-plots in his

plays and this is an added advantage. His keen awareness of the sharp

realities of life and his astute understanding of the psychology of

human nature raise his world above to the level of a sociological

treatise or an abstract philosophical discourse. His plays are a

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precious human document that presents a living picture of humanity

in its varied shades and hues. The issues raised by him in his plays

will continue to appeal to the people of all ages because of their wide

universal significance.

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya grew up in the religious

atmosphere of his house. He was much influenced by the religious

nature of his secular mother and scientist father. He wrote seven

devotional plays on the lives of Maharashtrian saints, such as

Pundalik, Eknath, Saku Bai, Chokha Mela, Jayadeva, Tukaram and

Raidas. These plays, in essence, are for the masses, obviously the

so-called victims of the Brahmincal thraldom and tyranny. In these

plays, the playwright directs his holy crusade against dogmatic

Brhamins, who have for centuries distorted the scriptures for their

vested interests and tried to imprison truth and shackle God in set

dogmas, hollow principles, empty rituals, and fostered barriers of

caste. In these plays, Harindranath vehemently protest against the

shallow Brahminical theology which inculcates narrow-mindedness,

fosters intolerance and engenders irrationalism and dogmatism among

the clergy as well as the laity. His is a scientific approach to religion.

The dramatist is of the firm conviction that religion should be for the

good of man and society, and man cannot be sacrificed at the altar of

clerical rituals. The dramatization of certain situations from the lives

of these religious saints serves as a vehicle for the dramatist to

disseminate his rational and highly scientific outlook on religion.

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As we know, Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist in the

firmament of literature. He has written verse drama also. In his early

plays, Shakespeare used rhymed couplet but, later on, he adopted

Blank Verse in his plays. He has used short lyrics or songs in Blank

Verse in many of his plays like As You Like It, Tempest, etc. T. S.

Eliot is also known as the writer of poetic drama. His first play

Murder in the Cathedral, published in 1935 was written in verse. It is

a great ritual play in simple and classical style. As a conscious artist,

Harindranath has used verse in his devotional plays successfully with

a purpose.

Significantly enough, Harindranath has largely used verse in

his devotional plays. If the play deals with social themes such as the

helplessness of an individual in society, horrors of slum-dwelling,

exploitation of the poor at the hands of unjust social order, evils of

war, etc., the medium of prose is more suitable. His social plays deal

with a kind of theme that seeks to give the spectators an illusion that

they are watching a close imitation of life. The verse drama in

contrast is concerned with a different order and level of reality. It is

meant to explore the complex reality of the human psyche, the

situations which shake our souls, the moments that require us to make

painful choice and the occasion which stirs the elemental passions.

Such a subjectmatter can be faithfully depicted only through the

medium of verse. In the verse play, we have an intensity of vision,

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which cannot be obtained through prose. Verse alone can convey the

agony and ecstasy of life very effectively. The themes of universal

significance, involving the interplay of mighty-passions, emotional or

spiritual crisis and tragic situations, should better be treated in verse

drama. The themes of Harindranath’s devotional plays are conveyed

through the subtle, suggestive power of verse.

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya’s devotional plays based on

certain situations in the lives of our religious leaders, show degree of

his artistic excellence. With excellent care only those incidents and

facts have been dramatized which contribute effectively to the theme.

The playwright has ignored the insignificant happenings and

incidents in the lives of the legendary saints. Only those facts and

events have been given prominence which establishes certain moral

and universal truths, viz., right conduct, right thinking, sacrifice,

compassion and humanity.

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya’s devotional plays successfully

bring out the futility of dogmatic religion, distinctions of caste, creed,

religion and colour, worthwhileness of the sanctity of soul and

rejection of excessive materialistic pursuits. In Pundalik, the

protagonist is a profligate, debauch, arrogant and hot tempered youth,

who squanders his money and time on sensual pleasures and hates

everything that does not “minister to his carnal instance”. He enjoys

even torturing his own parents. He is so much cruel and reckless that

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he always ill-behaves towards his old parents and even longs for

death for them. He always wants to absorb in the lustful and

lascivious use of body. He firmly regards woman, wine and

sensuality as his gods. When he sees the three holy rivers Ganga,

Yamuna and Saraswati in human forms as the most beautiful damsels,

he is, at once, attracted and enchanted by their beauty. The

protagonist runs after them and expresses his lustful and sensual

attitude towards the three holy sisters. Then, the three holy sisters

chide and rebuke him for having ill-treated his old parents and

desecrated the name of God. He is reminded of his past life’s noble

deed that has led him to such a religious place. Interestingly a change

takes place and the protagonist repents for his misconduct and evil

deeds, and pleads for mercy and grace of holy sisters. Then, the holy

sisters suggest parental worship for his expiation. Now after serving

his parents, the protagonist becomes a completely transformed man.

Thus, Pundalik dramatizes the process of transformation that is

wrought in the life of an utter hedonist and insolent youth, who caters

to his bodily needs with a vengeance. Spiritually and morally blind,

he ultimately comes to realize, by the grace of God, that God of gods

is one’s own parents. The play serves as an object lesson for the

estranged sons.

In Eknath, the author dramatizes the simplicity and

ordinariness of the character of the protagonist. Eknath is such a

simple soul that he fails to recognize the Lord in the guise of a

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Mussalmaan in his own house while his Guru, Janardhan, at once,

recognizes the Lord. The Lord again appears before Eknath in the

form of a fakir followed by a dog and a woman. But Eknath again

fails to recognize the Lord. Actually the dog is the cow Kamdhenu

and the woman is Lord’s consort, Maya. His Guru, Janardhan is

aware of the fact. Maya milks the dog and the Lord, then offers it to

Janardhan. At last Eknath is offered milk and after some hesitation he

drinks the milk. As soon as the protagonist drinks the milk, he

realizes the truth in a flash. Here Eknath has got knowledge and is

transformed into the enlightened one. Eknath feeds the Brahmins as

well as Shudras. He is rebuked and criticized by the high-born

Brahmins for abrogating the age-old sacred custom but Eknath

establishes the truth that distinction of caste and religion are all

man-made, and God dwells in everyone, Hindu or Mussalmaan, a

low-born Shudra or a high-born Brahmin. So Eknath is a model for

hesitant believers. The play also throws light on Harindranath’s

concern for the Shudras, who occupy low position in Hindu society.

The incident chosen for dramatic treatment, in which Eknath serves

food both to the Shudras and the Brahmins to celebrate the mystic

Shradha of his ancestors, gives the playwright an opportunity to voice

his protest against the distinctions of caste and creed. For his love of

humanity, Eknath is amply rewarded by his ancestors, when they

praise and bless him.

In Saku Bai, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya throws light on a

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few significant incidents in the life of the protagonist. Saku has been

presented as the true devotee of Lord Vithoba and the sole end of her

life is only God-realization for which she has to tolerate the atrocities

at the hands of her cruel mother-in-law and her insincere husband.

Saku has an intense longing in her heart for the darshan of Lord

Vithoba. Thus, she does not care for the extreme hardship of her life

and always remains absorbed in her ardent devotion to her Lord. This

is because of Saku’s unshakable faith in God that Lord Vithoba

Himself has to take charge of her domestic obligation and helps Saku

to join the band of pilgrims bound for Pandharpur. The Lord Himself

in the guise of Old Woman sends Saku to Pandharpur for the darshan

of Vithoba with a Messenger. The Lord Himself works as a servant in

her husband’s house in the absence of Saku. At Pandharpur, when

Saku beholds Lord Vithoba in person in the shrine, realizing her

earnest desire, she breathes her last instantly. Then, Rukmini, Lord

Vithoba’s consort, brings Saku back to life pouring a few drops of

holy nectar-like liquid over her bones. Now Saku has been

transformed into a true saint. She is asked to go back to her house and

preach the message of the Lord among the people who love Him.

Thus, Saku Bai dramatizes that no man-made hurdle can stand in

the way of realizing Him. Saku Bai is an ardent deovtee of Lord

Vithoba. The dramatist conveys the message that pain and pleasure

are nothing but the shadows of our ignorance, and the Divine mercy

of God can be attained only by true faith and devotion.

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In Chokha Mela, the protagonist of the play is a low-born, a

Panchama, whose sole-aim of life is God-realization. The haughty

Brahmins do not allow him to worship Lord Vithoba because they are

only entitled to pray to God. They regard worshipping God as their

sole birth-right. These uncompromising Brahmins regard that the

low-born people like Chokha Mela pollute the image of the Lord.

Such act of sacrilege by any low-born cannot be tolerated. One night

these Brahmins find Chokha Mela entering the temple and allege that

he has polluted the image of the Lord. They denounce and speak-ill of

Chokha Mela for polluting the image of the Lord. But simple Chokha

Mela is quite aware of the fact that it is not possible for man to

pollute the Lord. He logically presents the truth that the great God is

beyond human pollution. But the Brahmins are blind in their pride of

high birth and do not hear any logic. These Brahmins owing to their

ego, censure Choka Mela and order him to go out of the temple

immediately. But interestigly enough, the same host of Brahmins slap

the low-caste Panchama for having violated the religious dogmas and

do not hesitate even to have Choka Mela’s beautiful wife for their

amorous dalliance. This shows the moral degeneration and spiritual

downfall of the high-caste Brahmins. Thus, in this play, Harindranath

Chattopadhyaya records his own concern and sympathy for the

so-called low-born who because of low-caste are denied access to the

religious shrines. The dramatist, through the character of the

protagonist of the play, establishes the truth for realization of God,

the only requisite is the purity of soul. Caste, religion and creed and

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other forms of distinction cannot debar a man from realization of

God.

In Jayadeva, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya portrays the ideal

life of Jayadeva as the saint-poet. The different incidents of the play

vividly bring out the saintly strength and patience of the protagonist.

Jayadeva has been established as a renowned poet-singer of great

merits and fame. People belonging to different walks of life admire

him for his mellifluous verses and heavenly blessed poetic talent.

Jayadeva’s poetic composition, Gita Govinda─a collection of twenty

four songs─is hailed as a great work of literature. King Satwick is a

poet-singer and wishes that his songs should be on the tongue of the

people. But the people are more dedicated to Jayadeva’s songs. When

the two books, one composed by the king and the other Gita Govinda

by Jayadeva are placed side by side in the shrine of God, king’s book

of hymns is thrown out of the shrine. This shows that God’s verdict is

in favour of Jayadeva. The next scene of the play depicts Padmavati,

wife of Jayadeva. The Lord Himself manifested to Padmavati’s

Brahmin father in his dream that the poet Jayadeva is a limb of Him,

and commanded him to marry his daughter to the poet. At Merchant’s

house, the poet saint regales the devotees of God with his sweet

hymns. Merchant bids farewell to Jayadeva with gifts but in the

forest, two robbers mutilate the limbs of Jayadeva and deprive him of

all his gifts. When king Crouncha comes in the forest for hunting, he

hears the sweet hymns of the poet-saint, Jayadeva and is much

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attracted by his songs and preachings. The king Crouncha is so much

impressed by his utter sense of generosity and wisdom that he gives

up hunting and animal killings once for all. Jayadeva is so generous

that he forgives the robbers who mutilated his limbs.

In Tukaram, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya dramatizes a

number of incidents from the life of the protagonist of the play.

Tukaram is the great Maharashtrian saint-poet, who advocates social

equality and brotherhood through his religious songs. But the

conservative, malicious and uncompromising Brahmins do not

appreciate his philosophy of equality and brotherhood. Tukaram

protests against the discrimination prevailing in orthodox society in

the name of caste, creed and religion. He always remains lost in the

meditation of God, and pours forth the message of love and sacrifice

through his religious songs. Tukaram is so much absorbed in devotion

of God that he does not care for his domestic affairs, and leaves

everything to the care of God. Tukaram’s wife, Avalai is miserably

fed up with his singing and always complains against her husband’s

attitude. She is sharp-tongued and has become irritable by her

husband’s ignoring his family obligations. But she loves Tukaram

and boldly faces the haughty Brahmin, Rameshwar, who insults her

husband in her presence. Rameshwar confiscates Tukaram’s book of

songs and throws it into the river but surprisingly enough, Tukaram

does not lose his temper. This is due to his meditation and faith in

God that Tukaram has conquered his ego, anger and envy. Tukaram

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teaches his wife the significance of love and sacrifice. He wants to

instil into his wife the spirit of sacrifice and pleasure of giving.

Convinced by her husband, Avalai gives all her belonging to the

passersby and waits for God’s favour, as she was advised to believe

in God for everything. When no miracle happens, she feels that she

has been fleeced owing to her ignorance. Strangely enough, she in a

moment of wild rage taking a stone in her hand rushes towards the

temple to break the feet of Lord Vithoba. She hears Rukmini’s voice

to get all that she desires. When the gifts of jewels are sent to

Tukaram by king Shivaji, he does not accept the gifts and orders the

king’s servant to take back the jewels to the king, as he regards the

jewels as useless as rubbish and garbage. The playwright has brought

out the merit of the spirit of sacrifice and advocates that the real

enlightenment lies in rising above jealousy, greed, pride and passion.

Tukaram is above the mundane world and its vulgar cares. He is

wealthy because he is self-contented and free from the base aspects of

life like pride, anger, envy and greed.

Raidas-the Cobbler Saint has been written in sympathy with

the so-called low-born cobblers. Harindranath Chattopadhyaya,

through the character of Raidas, the protagonist of the play,

emphasizes the truth that God dwells alike in the cobbler and in the

saint. Raidas used to worship the image of the Lord seated on a

leather seat surrounded by utensils made of hide for worship. The

three Brahmins mad with priestly pride of higher status in caste

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heirarchy firmly refuse the simple-souled low-born cobbler, Raidas

the right to worship the image of God seated on leather seat and also

because he does not wear the sacred thread. Logically enough, Raidas

puts forth the arguments against this injustice but all in vain.

Emotionally surcharged, the inspired Raidas, then, rips open his chest

with his cobbler’s rapier and reveals to the diehard and insolent

Brahmins the sacred thread under his skin. Thus, he makes the

Brahmins realize that caste and creed play no role in God-realization.

The single incident, chosen from the life of the protagonist for

dramatic treatment, gives Harindranath an opportunity to point out

the criminal folly of the distinctions of caste in the way of

God-realization. Like the high-born Brahmins, Raidas the cobbler is

also a dedicated and humble devotee of God. The great God humbles

the pride of the insular Brahmins who question Raidas’ right to

worship the Idol of the Lord. Thus, the single incident dramatized

from the life of the low-born saint amply demonstrates that anyone

imbued with love, compassion and purity of heart and soul can realize

God, irrespective of the man-made barriers of caste and creed.

Harindranath, through these devotional plays, has registered

his own protest against the dogmatic Brahmins, who have always

tortured and tormented the low-born in the name of caste, creed and

religion. Even today Harindranath’s devotional plays can serve as

torch bearers to our strife torn society wherein people in their mad

race for selfish ends do not hesitate to raise the demon of

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communalism, regionalism and capitalism. The country, at present,

bleeds with fissiparous and secessionist tendencies that pose an

imminent danger to our cultural and national integrity.

A dramatist should write for the theatre; a play is not written

for the “theratre of the mind” like Thomas Hardy’s Dyanasts. This is

true that the drama is a literary work written by an author or several

authors in collaboration in a form suitable for the stage. It explicitly

implies that a play must have “as its primal purpose the suitability for

the stage”.1 It must appeal to an audience. In this connection, Elmer

Rice observes: “Many of the works written in play form by the

masters are imbued with thought; imaginativeness and beauty, yet

they are not suitable for stage presentation”.2 Harindranath

Chattopadhyaya, too, is fully aware of the requirements of the stage.

He loved the dramatic experience and could reproduce it earnestly. At

the age of eleven, he wrote a play, Abdul Hassan, which drew big

crowds at Madras. Audience acknowledged him the master-dramatist.

He records this fact in his autobiography:

The theatre was packed with audience night after night; people even came from far away towns and villages to see our play….The play established for me, beyond doubt, a reputation to be envied by artists. I had become famous as a “really fine” actor and writer, not only of verse, but of plays.3

From the concluding part of Harindranath’s statement, it is clear that

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the stage production of Abdul Hassan brought his fame as a “fine

writer of plays”. He perceived the significance of the stage and

moulded his stories or “objective correlatives” as would suit the

requirements of the stage. Most of his devotional plays have been

produced not only in India but also in many other countries. Tukaram

has been staged successfully in Little Theatre London and several

times in India mostly in colleges. His devotional plays, modelled on

the lives of our religious leaders, contain some moral truths, viz.,

right conduct and right thinking pursued and propagated by these

saints. Their lives serve as a convenient medium for projecting the

playwright’s views on morality, religious dogmas, religious

orthodoxy and ceremonial ritualism. Through the medium of drama,

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya brings home to the audience some

social and religious views prevalent in the caste-ridden Hindu society.

Significantly enough, he has got the great success in his mission.

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya makes a commendable effort to

engage his audience in a theatre of ordinary feelings and facts

presented with intensity by his careful marshalling of the material. In

order to make his plays suitable for the stage, Harindranath carefully

avoids the introduction of sub-plots and several episodes. He builds

up his plays on single overall crisis. In the devotional plays, it is

unthinkable to maintain all the three unities because of the wider

hagiological canvas. But even in these plays unity of action has been

strictly observed. Harindranath attaches importance to theatrical

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possibilities, and builds up all his devotional plays on single overall

crisis.

Religious experience has always been a challenge to the

dramatists since the very inception of drama. The great masters of

drama like Aeschylus and a few others had invented their own

methods of circumventing it. Many who, tried hands in this field met

with failure. Even Milton had to face much difficulty in depicting the

epic material on the stage. It is a well-known fact that despite his long

and careful explorations of the material, he had to abandon the plan of

writing Paradise Lost as a play. In his devotional plays, Harindranath

Chattopadhyaya, like a master dramatist, creates a new dramatic form

of many scenes, arranged in quick succession. This cinematographic

technique has been created by him to embody and project his rational

and scientific outlook on religion and helps him to focus on the

criminal folly of a variety of distinctions like caste, creed and

religion. For example, in Tukaram, the opening of the play brings out

explicitly the worthlessness of dogmatic creed and bookish learning.

The quick succession of scenes portrays the significance of the virtue

of sacrifice. Again the next scene rapidly depicts the detachment of

the hero from the mundane world when he refuses to accept the gifts

sent by king Shivaji. These swift moving scenes successfully

dramatize the saintly ideals of the legendary saint, his spiritual quest

for God-realization, Tuka’s detachment from the worldly cares and

concerns, his modesty and generosity for the needy poor and his final

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departure for Vaikuntha. The swift moving scenes in Pundalik

successfully dramatize Pundalik’s emotional and spiritual conflict, his

lethargy, his utter insolence towards his old parents, his surging inner

conflict that brews in his heart, his sense of remorse and his

enlightenment, when finally he washes the stains of his character by

an extraordinary devotion and service to his parents.

What lends an extra grandeur to Harindranath

Chattopadhyaya’s devotional plays is that he presents his material on

the stage without requiring any elaborate machinery and sophisticated

paraphernalia of the modern stage. These devotional plays of

Harindranath are short and brief and are not crowded with too many

characters. They are also eminently suitable for the college

curriculum, T.V., Radio programme and Nukkar theatre. Therefore, it

may be averred that Harindranath’s devotional plays which, are not

only rich in ideas, but also extremely stage-worthy, can contribute

significantly towards making the theatre a living experience and

lively interest among the audience.

The credit goes to Harindranath Chattopadhyaya that his

devotional plays are not lengthy, and not crowded with characters.

The effective portrayal of various situations and characters helps to

highlight the main issues. Harindranath maintains aesthetic unity, as

his themes, plot and characters are interwoven in the design of his

devotional plays. Avoidance of sub-plots and episodes contribute to

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the effective delineation of ideas which the playwright wishes to

impress upon his audience. A conscious artist with spiritual

philosophy, Harindranath Chattopadhyaya concentrates on vices and

injustice prevailing in our society. His devotional plays sufficiently

expose the evil and corrupt practices of the so-called religious

leaders. The situations conceived by him in his devotional plays are

sufficiently well-wrought. And the characters, developing the action

of the plot, express the author’s critical judgments and mature views.

The speeches assigned to the characters are as natural as people really

speak in day-to-day life.

Brevity in Harindranath’s devotional plays provides

concentration and intensity to the realistic dramatization of his ideas.

The limited length of his devotional plays should not be regarded as a

handicap. His devotional plays are, no doubt, brief as compared to the

full length dramas of Five Acts or Three Acts, but all the more they

are crisp and incisive by virtue of their ideas, intensity of purpose and

they merit serious attention.

George Bernard Shaw, John Galsworthy, Granville Barker,

Henry Arthur Jones and others generally confined themselves to the

mundane issues pertaining to the social, political and other aspects of

English society. They neglected the spiritual aspects which certainly

contribute much to the genuine development of man’s personality. It

goes to the credit of Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, who besides these

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worldly problems, has tried to probe into the innermost recesses of

man’s spiritual life. His judicious and wise selection of incidents from

the lives of religious leaders such as Pundalik, Eknath, Saku Bai,

Chokha Mela, Jayadeva, Tukaram and Raidas evidences the

pragmatic outlook of the playwright. These legendary saints from

time to time, not only raised social and other allied issues but also

strived hard for the cleansing of the perverted and destructive

psychology of the people of their times.

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya has touched most of the social,

religious and political problems of his time. Variety and versatility

are the two distinguishing marks of Harindranath Chattopadhyaya as

a dramatist. The issues, which Harindranath Chatopadhyaya has

raised in his devotional plays, have a marked relevance to the

contemporary India which, at the moment, seems to be shrivelling up

in the absence of high moral values, righteous thinking and just

conduct. True worship of God lies in the service of humanity,

Harindranath forcefully contends, in this arid land of spiritual

bankruptcy where compassion and charity are the twin remedy to cure

the people of the world of its mundane depravity. These devotional

plays of Harindranath have a timeless and world-wide appeal by

virtue of the ideas and the moral truths presented in them. India has

an exceptionally rich cultural heritage of right conduct and thinking.

They have preached love, compassion and spiritual bliss, and have

urged people to rise above the narrow loyalties of caste, creed,

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religion and colour so that the whole world might be held as one

family. To them service of humanity is the greatest service to God.

Harindranath Chattopadhyaya, through these devotional plays,

impresses upon us the worthlessness of dogmatic religion, and the

various distinctions that afflict our society. These devotional plays

were written eighty years ago and the social milieu has considerably

changed since then, but the distinction of caste and creed and

insularity and caste arrogance; though in different shades and hues,

still persist in our society. The religious and social issues raised,

through the actual incidents in the lives of these saints, are still

relevant. The ideas examined in these devotional plays will claim our

attention until barriers of caste, creed and religion, insularity and

priestly maglomania of the clergy are completely scraped.

Poetry in drama is not merely a sort of decoration. Verse in

drama must justify itself dramatically and not simply a piece of

decoration. It must be in the manner of a language which is a means

to express the idea dramatically. In every case the use of verse should

justify its inevitability for dramatic purposes. The fact remains a

particular language or expression can be justified in drama by its

dramatic merit on the stage. The dramatist thinks in terms of both

speech and action. It should be capable of expressing the author’s

ideas clearly and effectively on the stage. Regarding manner of

speech, the actions of the actor are a part of the stage direction. Use of

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poetry can make the drama precise not only for the actor to work

with, but also for the audience to react to it. Through dramatic poetry,

the author can secure the depth and intensity that he wishes to

achieve. Just as in poetry there are certain words which enhance the

depth of meaning so also in drama these poetic words enhance the

intensity of themes and action. Shakespeare’s uses of intense poetic

expressions are examples in point. Realizing the high potential of

verse in presenting intensity of thought, Chattopadhyaya has

successfully and cleverly used verse in his devotional plays. The

reasons for verse in a play apart from any tradition current at the time

stem from the need of the dramatist to write in a language specific

and explicit. The use of verse in Chattopadhyaya’s plays is

significant. It gives intensity of emotion, passionate appeal, brevity,

freedom of speech.

The devotional plays dealing with the lives of the saints’

present complex, reality of human psyche situations which stir our

souls and elemental passions. This agony and ecstasy of life, the

interplay of mighty passions, emotional and spiritual crisis have been

successfully presented through verse which has suggestiveness and

symbolic significance. Thus, his devotional plays which have

relevance in our contemporary social and political situation and the

technique used by Harindranath have rightly established a permanent

place for him in the repertoire of Indian English drama.

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REFERENCES

1 A. Nicoll, The Theatre and Dramatic Theory, (London: George G. Harrap and Co. Ltd.,1965).p. 39.

2 Elmer Rice, The Living Theatre, (London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1960), p. 35.

3 Life and Myself, Vol. I. p. 141.