'Balanced Action' in Modern Hindi Literature
Reading 20th-century Hindi-literature, one is struck by its repeated references to the Bhagavadgita, a philosophical Sanskrit text which dates back to the first millennium of the Christian era. Not only are literary characters often found to read the work, but also one of its principal teachings especially seems to have inspired several texts. This is the theory of disinterested action leading to a release from the cycle of rebirths. In order to reach that goal, one should fulfil the duties which are inherent in one's social position in daily life, while acting in a disinterested and balanced way, that is, without pursuing egotistic goals and without being disturbed by emotions which tend to accompany action, such as pleasure or disappointment.
By THEO DAMSTEEGT
For example, this ideal of balanced action is found, whether implicitly or explicitly, in texts dealing with the violent or non-violent struggle for independence, like Ajneya's stories about revolutionaries written in the 1930s, Vrndavanlal Varma's novel Jhamsi ki rani laksmibai (1946), and Jainendra Kumar's novel Sukhada (1955), all of which focus on the use of violence. But it is also present in texts dealing with ordinary, present-day life in Indian society. Several stories written by Giriraj Kishore (born 1937) could be cited as an example. The Bhagavadgita is explicitly mentioned in his story 'Bahar ek suhanapan tha' (i.e. Outside it was pleasurable, in Shahar-dar-shahar, 1976), which deals with an ambitious staff member in an office. One day he tells the chief clerk: 'I have adopted the theory of the Gita in my life. I believe in acting, and have always been indifferent towards the results (-). I have never let my desires grow rampant, because they become a jungle then and man gets entangled in them.(-) Now a chance has come, only because I have acted and patiently waited [that is, he has acted disinterestedly]. But even now that it has come, I am neither happy nor sad.' The real feelings of the man, who tries to achieve a better position through manipulation are in sharp contrast to his words, and he fails to realize his wishes. Most pertinently the story shows the present-day relevance of the theory of the Bhagavadgita in the view of a modern Hindi writer.In other stories by Kishore the inspiration remains implicit. His 'Cimni' (i.e. Chimney, in the same collection) has a former Sub-Superintendent of Police who has been fired from his job and has been behaving in an anti-social way ever since as its main character. The story is narrated by a character-bound narrator (an 'I') who happens to meet the man on repeated occasions. The text mainly features external focalization by this narrator, that is, the reader is made acquainted with the perspective of the narrator-I at the moment he looks back and narrates, instead of the perspective he had as an actor at the moment the events took place, but this narratorial perspective does not seem to be very much different from the actorial. The actor-I tells another character in the story that the former SSP is a 'weak man (-). An employee must have strong nerves. He should not find too much difference between being kicked and being praised.' He thus speaks of a balance which expresses itself in not letting oneself be affected too much by outside influences, whether they be positive ('being praised') or negative ('being kicked'). In another statement by the actor-I, the balance is said to consist of steering a middle course between being an 'employer' and an 'employee', terms which are here metaphors for assuming a position of power and dominance on the one hand, in which one feels totally independent from others, and one of absolute subservience on the other, in which one feels completely dependent on others, on their comments, their blame or praise. The story shows how the SSP's ambitions, which imply a lack of disinterestedness and balance, have led to his downfall.
One would expect that the actor-I in this story, who judges the former SSP's behaviour in terms of balance, to act in a balanced way himself. A systematic analysis of the text, however, shows that this is not the case. Thus, both in this story and in 'Bahar ek suhanapan tha' even such characters who are consciously aware of the theory of balanced action fail to put it into practice. And the same situation is found in stories by Kishore which deal with family life or politics (where the concept of seva 'disinterested service' discussed by A.C. Mayer appears to be based on the same Bhagavadgita ideal). It reveals a rather gloomy perspective of present-day Indian society on the author's part, one in which characters are ruined because they fail to realize the ideal even though they are aware of it. Indeed, only a few among Kishore's stories feature characters who manage to fulfil the ideal, among them 'Tilism' (i.e. Magical spell, 1967). *
Dr Theo Damsteegt teaches Hindi at the Kern Institute of Indology of Leiden University, The Netherlands. His recent publications include 'Giriraj Kishor's Yatraem, A Hindi novel analysed', Groningen: Egbert Forsten, 1997, and a volume he has edited with Vasudha Dalmia entitled 'Narrative Strategies, Essays on South Asian Literature and Film', Oxford University Press, 1998.