Samskara: A Rite For A Dead Man (Paperback)

Samskara: A Rite For A Dead Man is a religious novel about a deteriorating Brahmin colony in the south Indian village of Karnataka.
Summary Of The Book Samskara analyzes the caste system, religious rules, culture, and traditions and also the uncertain relationship between traditional cultural values and the new values of the modern world. It also goes deeper into the moral and philosophical issues about how one can lead a righteous life, the legality of customs, and the Brahminism concept in a modern world. The novel starts with the death of a member belonging to an orthodox clan of Brahmins who do not follow the established customs. Naranappa is the disreputed person of the agrahara (Brahmin settlement) who offends the whole community by indulging in forbidden things like wine and women, and meat-eating. When he dies without a heir nobody from the brahmin community agrees to perform his last rites due to the fear of disgracing their caste. For getting a solution, they take the problem to Praneshacharya, the most revered person of the Agrahara. Praneshacharya does a detailed and prolonged search of the scriptures without success. Then he retires for meditating in the Maruti temple hoping for God's guidance for disposing the body. For solving the problem the Brahmins seek help from a colony in the neighbourhood and later, a monastery. Meanwhile, there is a break out of plague in the agrahara due to Naranappa's rotting corpse. Praneshacharya becomes frustrated due to his inability to arrive at a decision. As he staggers out of the temple he sees Chandri, the low-caste mistress of Naranappa and has an affair with her. This incident is a turning point in Praneshacharyas life. Meanwhile his wife dies due to the plague. He cremates his wife and then leaves the agrahara not able to confront the people who had respected him until then as a learned teacher. Samskara has been adapted into a movie. About U. R. Ananthamurthy Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy was born on December 21, 1932. He is a contemporary critic and writer in the Kannada language and is considered as one among the pioneers of the Navya movement. His popular novels include Bharathipura, Bhava, Divya, Avasthe, and Stallion of The Sun And Other Stories. Besides English and Kannada, he has also written in Hindi and Marathi. He has written poems too. Ananthamurthys novels have much to do with the psychological aspects of people in different circumstances. Ananthamurthy is popular among Indian authors. He has Masters degree in Arts from the University of Mysore and a doctorate from the University of Birmingham titled, Politics And Fiction in the 1930s. He has written over two dozen books in Kannada, including five novels. Translations of many of these are available in English and other Indian as well as European languages. He has received Padma Bhushan and Jnanpith awards. He has served as vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, chairman of National Book Trust India, and also as the president of Sahitya Akademi. He is a visiting professor to many renowned Indian and foreign universities, and is currently the chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India. Quite a few of his books have been made into movies. He is married to Esther and has two children. He lives in Bangalore.

Book Summary of Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man, Second Edition (O...
About the Book: Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man

Examining the caste system, culture, religious rules, and traditions, as well as the ambivalent relationship between handed-down cultural values and the new values of a changing world, Samskara looks at deeper moral and philosophical issues like how to lead a righteous life, the validity of customs, and the concept of brahminism in a contemporary world. A classic of modern Indian literature, it is both a religious novel and a contemporary reworking of ancient Hindu themes and myths. Probing multiple meanings of the word 'Samskara', which means rite of passage, ritual, preparation, transformation, as well as death rites, this novel is an engrossing tale of the personal transformation of a man living in a community that refuses to change with the times. This Oxford India Perennials edition includes detailed notes that explain Hindu myths, customs, Indian names, flora, and other terms, an afterword that explores the various dimensions of the novel's substance and meaning, and an essay by Susheela Punitha based on an interview with the author.

About the Author: U.R. Ananthamurthy

U.R. Ananthamurthy is one of India's best-known writers. He is the author of more than two dozen books in Kannada, including five novels, many of which have been translated into English and other Indian as well as European languages. Recipient of the Padma Bhushan and Jnanpith awards, he has served as vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University, chairman of National Book Trust India, president of Sahitya Akademi, visiting professor in many renowned Indian and foreign universities, and is currently the chairman of the Film and Television Institute of India. A.K. Ramanujan was a distinguished Indian poet, critic, translator, and academic. He taught in many renowned universities in India and the US and is widely credited for his distinguished contributions to the discipline South Asian Studies. Recipient of the Padma Shri, among many other awards, he is best known for his English renderings of classical Tamil and medieval Kannada poetry.

Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man

The quote, The more corrupt the State, the more numerous its laws, is attributed to Publius Cornelius Tacitus (56 - 120 AD). From the sheer volume of legal documents, briefs and revisions that is being passed through the hands of Indian editors, it is apparent that we are moving in the wrong direction. Rather than streamlining our legal system, we are tying ourselves into knots.

I am currently reading Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man by U. R. Anantha Murthy. The plot involves a Brahmin who dies under irregular circumstances. Since his station demands that his body be touched only by Brahmins, and the irregularity prohibits any Brahmin from performing the rites of cremation, the body is left to rot in the agarahara (Brahmins quarters, district or village). The Vedic texts also prohibit Brahmins from eating until the body had been properly disposed of.

It is a quandary in which we now also find ourselves. Our nation is literally starving. Our economy is essentially dead. When Americans voted for Obama, they essentially voted for dictatorship. Dictatorship does not make the dictator infallible. Though the signs (even then) were obvious, Americans believed that there was something immutable that would mitigate any wayward impulse by a president: America. They did not foresee the possibility that America itself could actually be dismantled bit by bit.

America is the dead Brahmin in Murthys story. We are doomed to suffer its rotting corpse at least until our laws permit us to proceed with a proper burial. It is not until Obama is removed from office that we can move forward and re-make America into the entity we so desperately desire(d).

In Murthys story, the acharya (head of the Brahmin colony) consults the Vedic texts over and over again, yet he can find no solution. The strictures are difficult and numerous, but precise and unyielding. Expedience cannot be a factor - neither can common sense. Even when rats begin to overwhelm theagarahara, it is not enough to break the stalemate.

Our problem is simple to define. Obama is killing the country. Most people get it. Yet, our own laws that we passed to serve us - proscribe his removal for at least two more years.

Samskara

I read V.S.Naipaul's "India - A Wounded civilization" and since then i have been in a limbo on how to write a review to that book.The reason is the thought that my review should do some justification to an awesome book like that.Then i decided to put it away for a while and write the review, some other time.Before i could get out of the wounded civilization thoughts, i read samskara.And this one again placed me at the same position.It is again another book that is hard to write a review, for it is not a run of a mill book, it is a literary achievement that has been analyzed and scrutinized by many.I didn't want to add this one also in my list of, "too be reviewed books".So i wrote my stupid 2 lines on this Book.I wrote the above lines to let u all know that the book is a lot lot more than what i am going to write. ----story---This controversial novel by padma bhushan, jnanpith Dr.U.R.Ananthamurthy is a landmark book in the indian literary

history.It tells the story of a decaying brahmin colony. The colony in question is the agrahara of durvasapura ,where around 20 madhava brahmin families live.The problem starts on the question of who has to perform the last rites(samskara) of Naranappa, a fellow brahmin, who took to un brahminical ways of drinking, eating meat and womanizing. The acharya of the colony is made to decide on that.what follows is a closer look into the aghrahara and its hypocratic brahmins.The novel later moves on from the problem of the samskara(last rite) of a dead man to the samskara(transformation) of the acharya. -----------The book is divided into 3 parts.The first part leads to a sin being committed by the acharya.The problem that the agrahara faces at the start is a great imagination by the author and he plays with various characters to bring forth the various bad things of the community. In the second part it is about the sin and immediate aftermath.The book changes from a general one which was addressing the community as a whole to something that talks more about the acharya. In the third part it is all personal.It is all about the acharya, and his attempts to get redemption for his sin.The acharya, who is on a quest to find answers for his personal questions, comes across a low caste man names putta, who accompanies the acharya to his destination. This character becomes an important one in changing the views of the acharya and provides him with answers for various

questions. This is a short book, around 140 pages.On a first look it might look like yet another brahmin bashing book. At least that is what i thought.Even though it is partly true, this book is lot more than that. What is great about the book?.The book works on multiple levels.It tells an interesting story, a social commentary, does good characterization and all the other things of a good novel. But that is just one dimension of it. The book is also philosophical, it asks a lot of questions like how to lead a right life, the validity of the customs , who is brahmin? etc. Also the book is filled with allegories and points to mythological stories, for examples. Above all the book gives space for you to imagine, analyze and conclude things for yourself. The book is open ended and there are so many events and characters which provide us with so many pointers for imaginations and conclusions.There is hardly a character or a line which does not convey an idea.This is a complete book, rich with various literary components. For example, in the 3rd part where the acharya is going through a transformation(The first 2 parts are less philosophical compared to the third where the acharya goes through the transformation).The confused and pensive acharya walks out of the agrahara and wanders aimlessly through a forest. There he meets a villager named putta on the way. Putta who walks with the acharya for company, compulsively sticks to him and takes him to a festival fair. Putta lives in the moment, he enjoys the various small amusements

available in the fair. He goes to see a half snake-half women show, bets and wins in a cock fight, eats dosa from a local restaurant, buys ribbon for his wife and donates money to a beggar. And when putta is doing all these things the acharya is thinking about his sin and how it could be corrected. For a normal reader the behavior of putta might sound something that is mundane and a usual habit of any villager. But when we think about what the acharya said at the start of the third part "yoga is the stilling of waves of mind....May one's life be like that of a sunshine. A mere awareness, a sheer astonishment, still floating still and self-content, like the sacred brahmani-kite in the sky.Legs walk, eyes see, ears hear.O to be without desire. Then one's life becomes receptive. Or else in desire it dries to a shell, it withers, becomes a set of multiplication tables learned by rote.That kanake, illiterate saint-his mind was just one awarness, one wonder,that's why he came to his master and asked:'You want me to eat the plantain where there's no one.Where can i go,where can i do that?.God is everywhere,what shall i do?.God has become to me a set of tables, learned by rote. Not an awareness, a wonder as he was to Kanaka-so no more god for me." You realize that Dr Anantha murthy uses the normal festival setup to drive his point.The acharya does not participate in any of the things that putta did.The acharya thinks that it is a sin to watch a show or participate in a cock fight.So he stays away while putta enjoys himself.Putta talks about how he fights with his wife and later buys a ribbon for her.He bargains with a goldsmith for the acharya, he asks the acharya to eat with the brahmins while he waits

outside and donates alms to the cripple beggars. when all these things where happening the acharya was just WATCHING ,putta lives in the moment and by all his acts at the fair he becomes a complete human being. Whereas in the kaleidoscopic picture of the festival fair the acharya is a viewer, who stands outside the action and watches time pass by. It is the same in the life also, he is a viewer but the kaleidoscope is just bigger. When the acharya is accumulating good karma for a better life after his death, putta cherishes the god given life and lives when he is alive. On another level if you compare these two characters of Acharya and putta and there experience at the fair.It is an interesting contrast study. The acharya is an Upper class Brahmin, where as putta is a lower class mahler. The acharya is an intellectual, who is called the 'crest jewel of vedantha', where as putta is a pimp. The agrahara is supposed to be pure and residing place of all good things(Heaven) where as the fair is the residing place of all sins(Hell).The acharya who comes out of his agrahara after crossing a forest lands in the fair.In the forest, the buffer between good and bad he meets Putta, who takes the acharya on a sensual tour, a feast to the various senses to make him realise what he is missing in life. Again this crossing of forest by the acharya could be viewed in the context of the different stages of a hindu human life. BRAHMACHARYA, GRIHASTHYA(married life), VANAPRASTHA(retirement into forest), SANYASA(Renunciation of pleasures).Here the physical crossing of forest can be viewed as the vanaprastha stage of a human being. And when you look at from that point. You can know that the acharya is mixing the various

stages of a human being. This is just one small part that i wanted to talk.The whole book is like that, this small 140 page book expands into a much much bigger one as you start analysing it.The book starts its multiple meaning for every thing that is conveyed in the book right from its title samskara. The book is simply fascinating with its characters. Narannappa, putta, acharya and many more characters from the agrahara are beautifully sketched. The book brings forth the characters and incidents so vividly. Also this is a book that reach's the western reader as a indian regional book and not as those books that are written with western audience in mind.It evokes anger and hate against the practices of the upper caste people of that agrahara. This book is kind of similar to Herman hesse's "Narcissus and Goldmund"
The Acharya who wants to acheive god by the scriptures and naranappa who wants to acheive god by loving the life given by him can be related to narsissus and goldmund.The book is philosophical at times and puts lot of deep questions, without providing any answers. The book was written in 1965 and made into a movie by girish karnad later.This book is still a powerful one which talks a dig at the brahminical attitudes.I can imagine the amount of protest he would have got in 1965 when it was released in kannada. The translation of the book should be mentioned.Excellent translation by A.K.Ramanujam.It is a multilayered deep one and an excellent character study.

Dharma in Samskara Written for Religions of South Asia Sophomore Year - Fall 1998 In Hinduism, a person is offered many paths towards salvation depending on his or her caste. The only toll to pay on this path is that of dharma, or duty. If one fulfills ones dharma, then one comes closer to liberation (moksa). For a woman, this means obeying her husband. For a brahmin man, this means living his life according to the four life-stages (asramas) and practicing the vedic rituals. In the novel, Samskara, U.R. Anantha Murthy contrasts many possible paths to salvation including that of Naranappa and that of Praneshacharya; at first glance, a sinner and a saint. However, throughout the novel it becomes less clear who, if either, of these two is actually performing their dharma. I do not believe that either Naranappa nor Praneshacharya are successful at performing the dharma of a brahmin man because neither fulfilled both the life stages and the performance of the rituals. Dharma can be loosely translated to mean "duty... religion... justice... law... ethics... religious merit... principle... and right." (Flood 52) It is the idea that each person in society has a certain path or duty to follow and it is by following this path that a person obtains salvation. It is most important in Hinduism to actaccording to your dharma rather than just to believe that it is good to do so. (Flood 12) Dharma differs for each caste in Hindu society. For the brahmin male, in particular, it involves performing the vedic rituals and progressing through the four life stages, or asramas. "The four stages are: that of the celibate student (brahmacarya), householder (grhastha), hermit or forest-dweller (vanaprastha), and renouncer (samnyasa)." (Flood 62). In Samskara, both Naranappa and Praneshacharya are brahmin males living in the agrahara, Durvasapura. Praneshacharya is considered the wisest brahmin in the agrahara because he studied the Vedas in Kashi. Naranappa, on the other hand, cast off his brahminhood for more hedonistic ways. (Murthy 21) He leaves his wife for Chandri, a low-caste woman and begins to eat meat and keep company with Muslims. At the beginning of the novel, Chandri tells Praneshacharya that Naranappa has died. Thus, the central question of the first part of the novel becomes whether or not the brahmin men in the agrahara may perform the funeral rights for Naranappa. In other words, did Naranappa still possess his brahminhood despite the way he lived his life? In attempting to answer this question, Praneshacharya begins a spiritual journey in which the question becomes whether or not he has truly fulfilled his dharma in the way he has lived his life. Murthy makes it obvious to the reader that this is the most important question in the novel by having Chandri secretly cremate Naranappas body. Thus, the question of the funeral rites no longer exists and the

reader is forced to turn to the issue of Praneshacharyas dharma and path to salvation. Praneshacharya obviously experienced the life stage of a celibate student. His education is mentioned and praised many times throughout the novel. In the life stage of the celibate student, a brahmin man is expected to abstain from sex and study the Vedas. (Flood 62) The celibacy of this stage is necessary to retain energy for the study of the Vedas. It is a Hindu belief that semen contains energy that "can be sublimated for a religious purpose." (Flood 63) After a period of study is complete, the brahmin boy is expected to marry and enter the stage of the householder. However, I believe Praneshacharya never truly crossed to this stage because he married Bhagirathi, an invalid woman. Part of the householder stage of life is experiencing desire, including sexual desire. However, with Bhagirathi as a wife, Praneshacharya was never able to experience that desire. More importantly, he purposefully chose to marry Bhagirathi in order to completely avoid sexual desire and intercourse. He attempted to move from the life of a celibate student to the life of a renouncer or forest-dweller in which a brahmin gives up desire. However, I believe that in order to make the life stages of the forest-dweller and renouncer meaningful, one must first experience desire. He tries to skip the stage of the "man-in-the-world" (Flood 89) and move directly to the life of a renouncer. Praneshacharya tries to have the best of all worlds by combining all four life stages. He attempts to exist in the social world among the brahmins while still attaining the spirituality and separateness of a renouncer or forest-dweller. He never seems able to give up the world of any stage in order to move to the next stage. Naranappa, on the other hand, represents the other extreme. He sets out to experience desire whenever he can. He sleeps with Chandri, eats meat, and drinks liquor. He knows desire and gives into it at every moment he can. He leaves his wife, ignoring his duties as a householder and casts off the traditions of brahminhood altogether. Thus, neither Praneshacharya nor Naranappa completely fulfill their dharma. However, only Praneshacharya is given the opportunity to discover his past mistakes and perhaps learn from them. The entire novel represents a samskara, or rite of passage, for Praneshacharya in which he attempts to discern the correct path to salvation by becoming a part of the world instead of a being beyond it. Praneshacharya had spent his whole life studying the Vedas and the Puranas without once knowing for himself what the desire they spoke of was like. He knew only of those things transcendent to this earth. Worldly desires were foreign to him because he avoided them. Praneshacharyas samskara takes place in three phases similar to those of other Hindu samskaras like the upanaya for brahmin boys in which a young man is initiated into his time of learning the Vedas.

First, Praneshacharya is isolated from society. When he sleeps with Chandri, his immediate reaction is that he has lost all of his authority in the community. He feels that he is no better than Naranappa and that the other brahmin men should not pay attention to what he says. The action of sleeping with Chandri is the moment of his psychological separation from the community of the agrahara. He believes that he has fallen from grace for giving into his sexual desires. Praneshacharya compares this fall from grace to "a baby monkey losing hold of his grip on the mothers body." (Murthy 75) In other words, salvation was something Praneshacharya worked for his entire life. He laid out his path to salvation when he was sixteen by marrying Bhagirathi and never allowed desire or any other obstacle steer him from that path. The Lord did not choose Praneshacharya; Praneshacharya chose the Lord. The gambler in Praneshacharyas story, however, was chosen by the Lord. A brahmin gentleman addicted to gambling could not rid himself of his vice no matter how hard he tried. After being shunned from his community he prayed to the Lord: "O, Lord! Why do you make me a gambler?" (Murthy 48) The gods answered his call instead of appearing to the brahmins in the temple. The life of conflict turned out to be the quicker path to salvation than a life like Praneshacharyas in which conflict was avoided at all costs. After his psychological separation from the community, Praneshacharya experiences a physical isolation, as well. He leaves the agrahara after he cremates his wife and begins to wander the forest. At this point he exists in a phase of transition which lasts the rest of the novel. This is the usual second stage to a samskara. During this time, Praneshacharya becomes more aware of the physical world around him. He recognizes beauty (in Chandri) and ugliness (in his wife) for the first time. But, at the same time, his transition is not yet complete. He expects people to recognize him as the "Crest-Jewel of Vedanta Philosophy." (Murthy 115) He is still primarily unable to look at the world from a view other than a transcendent one. He still sees himself as not yet of the world but above it. It is at the car-festival that Praneshacharya reaches a revelation about his place in the world. Taking in all the spectacles of the festival he suddenly realizes: "That art Thou." (Murthy 121) Everything around him, is also part of him; and he, in turn, is a part of it all. The narrator in the essay, "All That is You," comes to the same realization. At first it seems exciting and beautiful to the narrator. She sees herself in all the good things of the world. But then she comes to understand that she is not only part of the good but the bad as well. She cannot say to a butterfly: "That is you." unless she also says of Hitler and the Nazis: "They are you." Up until this point at the car-festival, Praneshacharya most probably did experience a sense of oneness with the world, but only with the transcendent world. He certainly saw himself in the Vedic teachings and in his teachers when he was a student. But he never allowed himself to carry that feeling out to other parts of the world. At first he probably felt that way about his friend Mahabala at Kashi but as soon as Mahabala fell from grace Praneshacharya ceased to see himself as part of that

"sinner." At the car-festival, Praneshacharya finally realizes that he is not only part of the brahmin world but of the low-caste world as well. In other words, he belongs not only to the transcendent but to the earthly. This brings him one step closer to knowing that he is part of the whole world. Praneshacharya comes to the knowledge that he is not immune to "desire," nor should he be a stranger to its "fulfillment." (Murthy 121) Throughout his life, Praneshacharya had struggled to avoid desire in order to attain salvation. He planned his path to salvation while he was still a child and did only those things in life that allowed him to continue on this path, including marrying his wife. At the very beginning of the novel, Praneshacharya says that marrying Bhagirathi makes him "ripe and ready" (Murthy 2) the implication being that it made him ready for salvation. At the end of the novel, it begins to become clear to Praneshacharya that he married Bhagirathi not because he felt compassion towards the invalid woman to follow his path to salvation. He did not marry Bhagirathi because he was compassionate but because he was selfish. When the novel ends, Praneshacharya is still in his liminal phase. He comes to no concrete conclusion about what to do. He merely gets on the cart to Durvaspara. It is clear that Praneshacharya was unable to fulfill his dharma as a brahmin because he never let himself experience any of the life stages fully. Naranappa did not completely fulfill his dharma either because he did not follow the vedic rituals. Murthy makes the point in Samskara that brahminism in must be a combination of the two forms exhibited by Praneshacharya and Naranappa. A brahmin cannot afford to be completely of the world as Naranappa was because he will lose the qualities that have made him a brahmin since the beginnings of vedic tradition; namely, the rituals. But he cannot afford to be completely beyond the world either as was Praneshacharya because then he will not know conflict or desire and; thus, to renounce them would be meaningless. To live either as Praneshacharya did or as Naranappa did is too easy and will not lead to salvation. To be able to do both; to live part of your life as a householder, experiencing the worldly desires, and then to be able to shun those desires and live as a renouncer, is the hardest thing of all and perhaps the only way to fulfill the dharma of a brahmin.

Samskara By: U. R. Anantha Murthy First published in 1965 in the Kannada language. English translation by A.K. Ramanujan. Published by the Oxford University Press in 1978 The short novel "Samskara" by U. R. Anantha Murthy, professor for English at the Mysore University, created a big furore in Karnataka when it was published more than thirty years ago. With this novel Anantha Murthy, a brahmin himself, held aloft a clear mirror to the brahmin community. He raised the question "What is actually culture (Samskara) - is it achieved by blindly following rules and traditions, is it lost when they are not kept?" The background for this eternal question, which actually remains unresolved even in this novel, is the samskara (funeral) of Naranappa, a brahmin who rejected his brahminhood. (Among the several meanings of the word samskara, some of the important ones are culture, funeral and ritual.) In 1970 "Samskara" was made into an award-winning film, one of the few art films of its kind in the Kannada language. Samskara is the story of life in an agrahara, a narrow street in which brahmins belonging to the Madhwa community (followers of guru Madhwa; Shankara, Madhwa and Ramanuja are the three most famous philosophers of ancient India) live. The agrahara of Samskara is situated in a tiny hamlet called Durvasapura, somewhere in the western ghats (mountain range) of southern India. The brahmins of this agrahara are utterly decadent, narrow-minded, selfish, greedy, jealous. Their brahminhood consists solely of fulfilling rules, following traditions which are thousands of years old. They do not understand why they follow the rules. They do not care to understand. They are afraid that if they do not follow the rules, disasters will fall upon them. They feel safe as long as they follow rules and traditions. In this way the agrahara of Durvasapura is nothing special. Until a few years ago many villages and towns in South India had such agraharas. Still, Durvasapura and its agrahara are famous in the surrounding area, because of two brahmins who live there. One of them is Praneshacharya and the other one is Naranappa. Praneshacharya went to Kashi (Benaras), studied there, and returned with the title "Crest-Jewel of Vedic Learning". He is the local guru of all the brahmins, not only of Durvasapura but also of those living in the surrounding villages. He believes completely in the saying of Bhagavadgita, "Do what is to be done with no thought of fruit!" Praneshacharya wants to attain salvation, and is ready to undergo all kinds of tests on the path to salvation. He has deliberately married an invalid and sick woman. He leads a celibate life and is proud of his self-sacrifice. His life is pure, totally devoted to religion, utterly devoid of selfish motives. The other "famous" brahmin who lives in this agrahara is Naranappa. He is brahmin who has actually rejected brahminhood. He has brought home Chandri, a prostitute from Kundapura, a nearby town. He lives openly with her, drinks alcohol sitting in his front veranda, invites muslims to his house and eats meat with them. He has thrown Saligrama, the holy stone which is believed to represent God Vishnu, into the river, and has spit after it. If the flowers in the backyards of the other brahmins are meant mainly for the altar, and if their women wear only withered flowers gathered from the altar in their hair which hangs at their back like a rat's tail, Naranappa grows the night-queen plant in his front garden. Its intense smelling flowers are meant solely to decorate Chandri's hair which lies coiled like a thick black cobra on her back. Their smell haunt the brahmins of the agrahara. Naranappa, with his muslim friends, has caught sacred fish from the temple tank, has cooked them, and eaten them. Other brahmins are aghast at this sacrilegious act. They

had believed, till then, that these fish should not even be touched, that whosoever touches them will vomit blood and will die! Naranappa has even corrupted the youth of the agrahara. Because of him one young man left Durvasapura and joined the army, where he - the agrahara believes so - is forced to eat beef. Another young man left his wife and home, and joined a travelling group of singers and actors. Naranappa's only ambition in life seems to do everything that destroys the brahminhood of the agrahara. His only sorrow is that hardly anything of it is left to destroy, except for the brahminism of Praneshacharya. The brahmins of Durvasapura are afraid and sick of Naranappa. Left to themselves they would gladly tell their guru in Udipi to excommunicate Naranappa and thus get rid of him. But Praneshacharya is against this radical step. He still wants to, hopes to, win Naranappa over, and lead him back to Dharma, the proper path. Who knows how long this battle between Dharma (adhering to the right path) and Adharma (rejecting the right path) would have otherwise lasted? Some days ago Naranappa went to Shivamogge, a town far away, and returned with high fever. Soon he developed a big lump, and died within a couple of days. When the novel opens, Chandri is hurrying to Praneshacharya's house to inform him of Naranappa's death. Because one of the rules that is followed by the brahmins is that when someone dies, the body should be cremated immediately. As long as the dead body is lying around nobody should eat food. Samskara deals with the complications which arise due to Naranappa's death. The immediate question is, "Who should cremate Naranappa?" Every brahmin is afraid to volunteer, because he fears that his brahminhood would thus be polluted. Neither can they let a non-brahmin cremate the body, because Naranappa was theoretically a brahmin when he died. Alive, Naranappa, was an enemy; dead, a prevention of meals; as a corpse, a problem, a nuisance. The brahmins look to Praneshacharya to solve their problem, to find in the holy books an answer to their question. Reading the holy books he had during the entire night does not help Praneshacharya find an answer. Next morning he goes to the Maruti temple to pray to the Monkey-God to help him find the solution. But neither does an entire day spent in the dark, damp temple bring a solution. With broken spirit Praneshacharya leaves the temple and walks through the forest homewards. On hearing steps behind him, he stopped. It was Chandri who, overcome with compassion for this helpless brahmin, bent down to touch his feet in devotion. Praneshacharya, bewildered by the tight hold of a young female not his own, bent forward to bless her with his hands. He felt her breath, his hair rose in a thrill of tenderness as he caressed her loosened hair. The Sanskrit formula of blessing got stuck in his throat ... It was midnight when Praneshacharya woke up. His head was in Chandri's lap. Her fingers were caressing his back, his ears, his head.... Praneshacharya decides to speak out in front of the brahmins, to tell them that he slept with Chandri, that he has fallen from the height of Dharma. He returns home. Chandri goes back home, sees that the dead body of her former lover has started to rot, gets hold of a muslim, who unknown to anyone carries the body and cremates it in the dead of the night. After the cremation, Chandri leaves Durvasapura, and returns to Kundapura. In the morning as Praneshacharya helps his wife as usual to bathe, he is full of disgust at the body he sees in front of him. It was as if for the first time he was aware of beauty and ugliness. He had of course read all the classics. But until then he had not desired any of the beauty he had read in them. Till then all earthly fragrance was like the flowers that go only to adorn the god's hair. All female beauty was the beauty of Goddess

Lakshmi, queen and servant of Lord Vishnu. All sexual enjoyment was Krishna's when he stole the bathing cowgirls' garments, and left them naked in the water. Now he wanted for himself a share of all that. ... The novel "Samskara" deals with eternal questions; with the question of who should cremate Naranappa, a brahmin who has rejected brahminhood, with the question of what Praneshacharya, a pious man in whom life is finally stirred by the female contact, should now do. Should he be courageous and say openly what he did, should he hide it and live as if nothing has happened? Initially Praneshacharya decides on the second course of action. He even runs away from home after his wife dies of plague. But wherever he goes he is haunted by the fear of discovery and haunted by Chandri's touch. The novel ends as Praneshacharya decides to return to Durvasapura, and to own up his fall. But Anatha Murthy, the author of "Samskara", does not answer the other important question. It is the question of what the brahmins should do when they are confronted with the confessions of Praneshacharya. What does one do when faced with such truth? As the translator A.K. Ramanujam puts it, the novel ends, but does not conclude.

Samskara: A journey of ones fAith

Connor Grant Professor Gitomer Hindu Thought and Culture June 6th, 2010 Word count: 3,407

Throughout Samskara, the reader learns of the power that Hinduism has in culture and society, and a greater understanding of how the world is viewed in the eyes of a follower. Praneshacharya, the protagonist of the story, develops from an admired and respected Acharya of his town, into a liberal practitioner. Once Naranappa dies, a plague hits the city, and the surrounding families are thrown into turmoil over what ritual rites should be performed. The plague that hits the city can be seen in a symbolical sense, because it allows for Praneshacharya to rid himself of what he once knew about himself and the world around him. As a result, the window of Hinduism through which he interpreted the world is shattered, and he is reborn with a new view towards life. Praneshacharya is a well-respected Brahmin who is well-connected to his faith in his agrahara neighborhood. He is thankful for being in the caste and situation that is, and praises Krishna. The Lord definitely means to test him on his way to salvation; that's why He had given him a Brahmin birth this time and set him up in this kind of family. 1 Praneshacharya sees life in this sense as a means of being tested; he understands his existence as a result of reincarnation to ultimately be led to his salvation. Praneshacharya follows the traditional teachings of a Brahmin
1

Anantha Murthy, 2.

student. Discussed by Knott, individuals like Praneshacharya study Vedic scriptures and texts to eventually become a Shankara-acharya, which means leader or master:2 Before taking on the mantle of religious authority, these leaders receive a traditional training undertaken by many Brahmin boys in which they learn to recite Vedic textsOnce they are selected as future leaders, they travel for many years as gurus in their own right, giving spiritual advice and helping people to carry out their religious duties.3

When the news of Naranappa is revealed that he has passed away, the town is thrown into an uproar. Everyone looks to Praneshacharya to see should be done and what rituals must be passed. Praneshacharya is so connected to his faith in the beginning of the story that even though he has cut off all connections with Naranappa, he still refrains from eating because it is a tradition of death. He couldn't eat, even though he had quarreled with Naranappa, severed all relations with him, and shed his kinship long ago...Alive, Naranappa was an enemy; dead a preventer of meals; as a corpse, a problem, a nuisance.4 The problem that arises out of Naranappas death is that he does not have any children, and considering his wife is a prostitute, the townspeople will not allow her to cremate his body, as it goes against religious practice and standards. Until his body is cremated, no one in the agrahara can eat. This problem begins to plague the agrahara and its' inhabitants; people who are connected with their faith and found answers to life problems are no longer able to do so in the particular crisis the town is facing. Everyone begins to rely on Praneshacharya to have the answers, because of his caste placement and respect of everyone in the city. People begin to use the teachings of their faith
2

Knott 13.
3

Knott, 13, 14.

4

Anantha Murthy, 3.

to find a possible solution to disposing of Naranappa body. It's but right we should go by the ancient Law Books. Acharya, you are our greatest scholar, your word is Vedic gospel to us. Give us the word, we'll do it.5 Immediately, Praneshacharya is given the burden of figuring out what is to be done. Because of his caste rank, he is given the pressure of finding a solution. The words of Garuda seem to settle the pressure of the situation when he says that in the eyes of everyone in the agrahara, he was hated for talking with Muslims, eating the flesh of animals, sleeping with a low caste woman, and drinking alcohol. However, he never was officially excommunicated from being a Brahmin; therefore, he still died a Brahmin, and the rituals for his death of only letting another Brahmin touch his body are to be upheld.6 Praneshacharya questions what is to be done about Naranappa's corpse, and is being drained mentally and physically by the ordeal and how it is affecting his loved ones around him. He uses what he has always found comforting; religious texts and hymns, to find comfort and knowledge about what to do:

O Maruti, how long is this ordeal going to last?--he pleaded. If it shouldn't be done, give me a sign, at least a flower on the left, please,' he begged. He entreated. He sang devotional love-songs to the god. He became a child, a beloved, a mother. He recalled the holy songs that blamed the Lord, listed his hundred and one faults...I didn't get an answer in the Books, and I didn't get it here, do I not deserve it then?--the supplicant doubted himself. 'How can I face the people who have put their trust in me?7

Anantha Murthy, 5.
6

Anantha Murthy, 9.
7

Anantha Murthy, 62.

Even after devoting time towards praising Maruti, the beloved god of the revered Gita texts, he still found no answer from his faith. As a result, Praneshacharya is seen as questioning the power of his faith. I didnt get the answer in the books and I didnt get it here, do I not deserve then? How can I face the people who have put their trust into me?8 Praneshacharya second guesses himself, and realizes that if he cannot find the answer through his faith, he will not be able satisfy the needs of those counting on him in the agrahara. The next event that took place directly after he was leaving the temple was sleeping with Chandri. Chandri overheard his bickering with Maruti, and came to comfort him. By accident, her breast touches the Acharya, and in the heat of the moment, they sleep together.9 Because of his wife's ailment, Praneshacharya has not slept with a woman for quite some time. This event of sleeping with Chandri causes for him to wake up late when he should have been taking care of his wife. Sleeping with Chandri was a giant leap towards breaking away from his faith. Not only did he sleep with someone who was not his wife, it was a lower-caste woman. After sleeping with Chandri, Praneshacharya opens his eyes to all the possibilities of life. He was not killed or punished by any gods after sleeping with Chandri; if anything, he was awakened to a side of life he has not experienced before. Praneshacharya begins to understand that while Naranappa was viewed by all in the agrahara as polluting the town, Praneshacharya begins to question if Naranappas open lifestyle was truly all that evil. He recalled the words from Naranappa:

to keep your brahminhood, you must read the Vedas and holy legends without understanding, without responding to their passion. Embedded in his compassion, in his

Anantha Murthy, 62.

9

Anantha Murthy, 63.

learning, was an explosive spark, which was not there in the others' stupidity. Now the tamed tiger is leaping out, baring its teeth.10

Praneshacharya finally comprehends these words in a new light. For far too long, he has studied the ancient texts without question, he has sang the holy hymns and songs of praise, but what can be interpreted is that he failed to truly connect his faith to his life. The plague can be seen in a different sense. It may have the negative connotation of being filled with disease and negativity, but for Praneshacharya, a high Brahmin and once revered holy man, it has allowed him to break free of everything he once knew: He'd thought experience was fulfillment of what one wanted, but now it seemed it was the unseen, the unpredicated, thrust into our life like breasts, entering it. Just as he had received the touch of woman, did Naranappa receive the touch of God in the dark, unbidden?...'Till I touched Chandri, I too was a shell, counterwill to his will.11

Praneshacharya finds the touch of a woman particularly more powerful than any touch he has received from God. In fact, Praneshacharya begins to understand that he never felt the same kind of emotions run through him from his faith like he did from Chandri. As a result, Praneshacharya begins to question the importance and role that his faith even has in his life anymore. He is losing connection to his faith because his prayers and cries for direction are not being heard. He is deciding against abstaining from eating, an action unheard of from a loyal brahmin. He is also weakened through the strain of taking care of his wife that he lost the romantic passion that was re-kindled by Chandri's attention. The plague in the novel can thus be seen as a test to

10

Anantha Murthy, 82.

11

Anantha Murthy, 82.

Praneshacharya's commitment to orthodoxy. He has always considered himself loyal to his faith, and found meaning in praising towards the gods.

However, when something truly bad happens such as the predicament of Naranappa's death ritual and the temptation of Chandri, his commitment of his faith is tested. As a result, Praneshacharya begins to understand that his original worldview of Hinduism is no longer being applicable in his life, and that his life-long teachings and practices are beginning to slip and causing him to become a renunciant. The plague of the city reminds Praneshacharya of why he wants to move away from the obligations of his faith. When he thinks of home, he is reminded of a rotting corpse, the stressful demands and guidance that everyone is expecting of him, and the burden of taking care of his dying wife. Praneshacharya returns to where he and Chandri laid earlier, and takes in the scenery: He stood at the place where his life had turned. The weight and shape of their bodies still visible on the green grass. He sat down. Like an idiot, he pulled out blades of grass and smelled them...Like a hen pecking at and raking the ground, he pulled at everything that came into his hand and smelled it. Just sitting cooly under a tree had become a fulfilment, a value. To be, just to be. To be; keen, in the heat, the cool, to the grass, the green, the flower, the pang, the heat, the shade. Putting aside both desire and value.12

Praneshacharya is seen fulfilling the stages of life found in Hinduism culture. These stages follow Brahmacari; or being a celibate student. Grhastha, or becoming married and living in a household is the next stage. Praneshacharya has already gone through the first two stages, but appears to be under the third stage of life which is being a forest dweller. He sees life in new ways,

12

Anantha Murthy, 83.

and is retires away from what he has once known. The last stage that he transitions towards is a renunciant; as he is moving further away from religious practice.13 The Acharya moves through the three stagesthought we see him not entirely into the third stage, but only on its threshold.14 The plague in the story is seen as a symbolic means of stripping Praneshacharya away of all his religious duties and obligations. He loses his connection to his faith, he loses his wife; who dies of the same fever that apparently Naranappa fell victim to. When he touched his wife's forehead, it cold...He brought them back with him, took his wife's body to the burning ground, and she was ritually cremated before dawn.15 The tie to caring for his wife was the last obligation for Praneshacharya to stay in the agrahara. He embarks on a new journey after his wife is cremated and burned, and begins walking where ever his legs will take him. A line from the Bhagavad Gita applies to Praneshacharyas situation:[j]ust as a man leaves behind old, worn-out clothes and puts on others that are new, so the embodied self leaves behind old, worn-out bodies and fastens on others that are new.16 Praneshacharya appears to relieve himself of old clothing, or his old self when he leaves the agrahara and meets with Putta to embark on a new journey to discover his new self or atman. However, even when his wife dies, he does not feel the urgency to go through all of the rituals that come with taking care of the deceased body:

13

Class notes, 4-29-10.

14

Ramanujan, Afterword, 142.

15

Anantha Murthy, 85.

16

Gitomer, David. Translation of The Bhagavad Gita. 2.22

For a fleeting minute he felt remorse that he didnt have the patience to wait and pick out the leftover unburned bones; the remains of his wifes body, and throw them in the stream[b]ut he consoled himself that he had no more duties, no debts.17

Praneshacharya is seen as abstaining from the sacred Upanishad texts with his new view of life to walk where his legs take him. Stated in the Upanishads: Therefore one should not go to [foreign] people, one should not go to the end [of the earth], lest he fall in with evil, with death.18 With the passing of Naranappa and his own wife, Pranescharya relieves himself of his obligations to his community, and with the new thoughts of desire to explore the world; it can be interpreted as a call that will remove his cultural identification of being a Brahmin. Whenever in the past his mind had become overactive, he would chant the names of Lord Vishnu to give it a single point and to still its streaming distractions...He wanted to do likewise. He remembered the first maxim of yoga.19 Praneshacharya is seen as taking on a whole new set of meanings and principles to guide his life. Instead of chanting Vedic prayers and looking towards the gods, he is relying on himself, and using points of the yoga sutras to give his life a necessary balance. The importance of yoga's teachings in Hinduism is to suppress the mind of mental activities.20 Pranescharya suppresses his mind by wanting to do the opposite of what he has been accustomed to through his Braminical activities.

17

Anantha Murthy, 91.

18

Goddall, Brhadaranyaka Upanisad, 45.

19

Anantha Murthy, 91.

20

Weiler. Royal. Translation of the text of the Yoga Sutras. 1.

Praneshacharya reined his mind and stopped it dead, while it was about to get into action, ready to perform brahmin functions by sheer habit.21 Also found in the yoga sutras are the five afflictions. These are: ignorance, egotism, passion, aversion and the will to live.22 The dissociation of these afflictions in ones' life allows for liberation of the mind, and can only be attained through the complete opposites and overcome by meditation. Also stated in the text, is that these afflictions stem from latent mental impressions left by actions previously performed which should be recognized as having either a definable or indefinable origin.23 Praneshacharya clearly suffers from multiple afflictions in his life. In the first section of the story, he is surrounded by ignorance and egotism because of what his faith has taught him. He is born into power through his caste. From this, he is privileged enough to be able to learn of the Vedic scriptures and to be a voice of reason in his agrahara. This sort of power goes to his head, and makes him confident that he is respected by his community. Not until he is actually thrown into a difficult situation such as his wife's sickness and the death of Naranappa is Praneshacharya truly tested to the limits of his faith. With the inclusion of remembering his yogic teachings, Praneshacharya has qualities relatable to those of the Universalistic Smarta Sect. Found in the four denominations, Smartism is an ancient Brahminical tradition reformed by Shankara in the ninth century. Worshiping six forms of God, this liberal Hindu path is monistic, nonsectarian, meditative and philosophical.24Smartas

21

Anantha Murthy, 97.

22

Weiler, 6.
23

Weiler 6.
24

rely on Vedic texts and classical smriti, and the Bhagavad Gita. Considering his caste identification, Praneshacharya can thus be seen as having qualities relatable to that of a Smarta.

Through the understanding of the yoga sutras, Praneshacharya is going through the first few of the eight limbs. These limbs include: fundamental moral concepts, secondary moral concepts, postures, breathe control, withdrawal, concentration, meditation, and lastly, trance.25 He has the fundamental understanding of moral concepts, and is going through withdrawal from walking away from his agrahara into the unknown. He thinks about his actions to himself throughout the story, but he cannot seem to understand why he did what he did: But the moment altered mewhy? Im responsible now for someone whos changedthats the present distress.26 These realizations of his actions allow for him to grow and think differently about how to conduct his life: I must conduct my future differently, not deceive myself even one little bit.27 Praneshacharya's purusa in the story has been the possession of his caste and identity in his society. He has responsibilities and obligations brought upon him that he cannot control, and the ignorance he held towards his ego brought him to the state of despair and anguish that he experienced with not knowing how to take care of Naranappa's cremation or finding answers through praying to Maruti.

Hindus Four Denominations, 3.

25

Weiler, 8.
26

Anantha Murthy, 97.

27

Anantha Murthy, 92.

There is a moment where Praneshacharya comes to rest under a tree after walking for quite some time. He questions his previous actions of leaving his town behind, and walking away after cremating his wife. The agrahara was stinking, one couldnt bear to return to it. Certainly a good reason: the intolerable stench in my nostril, the sense of pollution, certainly.28 As he is pondering his actions, a calf appears and comes close to him. Explained by Knott, cows in India are associated as a very holy figure, with such qualities as non-injury, purity and purification, goodness, and motherhoodprotection of the cow became a symbol for Hindu society29. When the calf approaches Praneshacharya, it begins to lick his hands and face. He responds by suddenly getting a burst of energy and a desire to play with the cow: Praneshacharya rose to his feet, and felt like playing with the calf; he put his hands under its neck and said, uppuppuppuThe calf lifted both its legs, leaped at him, then leaped away into the sunshine and disappeared.30 The event between the calf and Praneshacharya can be interpreted in a symbolical sense. The cow is regarded in Hindu cultures to be a holy and sacred animal; to protect it is a must and the mistreatment of one is completely restricted. By disregarding this and deciding to play with the cow and scaring it, this can be seen as Praneshacharya continuing to question his faith that has enwrapped his actions his entire life. By playing with the cow and scaring it, Praneshacharya is ignoring the values of his faith, and such actions would have not happened if he had encountered the calf earlier in the story when he was still connected to his faith and his wife and Naranappa were still alive.

28

Anantha Murthy, 92.

29

Knott, Kim 114, 115.

30

Anantha Murthy, 93.

Praneshacharya starts as a loyal brahmin, but because of multiple obligations to his village through his caste identity, he rejects the principles of his faith. Through all the events that occur in Praneshacharyas experiences, he leaves his agrahara in search of something new. Through these experiences, Praneshacharya transitions through the multiple stages of life found in Hinduism. We only see him mutating, changing from a fully evolved socialized bramin at one with his tradition towards a new kind of person; choosing himself, individuating himself, and alienating himself.31 Samskara is a not simply a novel to explain the straining possibilities Hinduism or religions in general have on a loyal followers, or even to express Hindu concepts to those unaware, but rather expresses the principle of change that carries with Hinduism and every religion. Religions have uniting capabilities to connect people; however, they also have the potential of separating one another like that of the caste system found in Hinduism. One must understand that to practice faith requires the inclusion of the principles into their own personal life; not all of the material found in the scriptures will be applicable to ones life.

31

Ramanujan, Afterword, 143.