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“...kahāniyā͂ ākhir bantῑ kaise hai͂?!” (“…how, after all, do stories originate?!”). The Clash between Indian and Western Literary Traditions in Ajñeya’s Short Stories

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Miążek T.

Cracow Indological Studies

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2015

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tom 17: Crossing over “on the Birds’ Wings”: South Asian Literature in Local and Global Contexts

169-211

EN

The aim of this paper is to prove that Ajñeya (pseudonym of S. H. Vātsyāyan, 1911–1987), a Hindi writer of poetry and prose, formulated some theoretical essentials for kahānī as a literary genre, which influenced its further development in the second half of the 20th century. Examples from his selected short stories and theoretical essays have been quoted to illustrate issues which preoccupied the Hindi literary environment in its transition from tradition to modernity. The issues discussed in this paper refer to more general questions of a modern Indian writer’s attitude towards a loss of traditional values and a search for identity in an encounter with the West. Ajñeya’s contribution to the development of the modern short story still requires recognition because he was often criticized for excessive intellectualism and individualism. This situation started to change after his centenary jubilee celebration in 2011. The paper includes an outline of trends prevailing in Hindi short stories, which helps us to examine Ajñeya’s modern approach. Materials analyzed in subsequent sections reveal demands which he formulated towards modern authors of short stories. His claim for the liberation of a writer and the personal experience as a source of literature has been illustrated with quotations from the short story Kalākār kī mukti. It proves the writer’s awareness of tensions which affected Hindi literature in the time of transition. In this context the term mukti is presented as one of the key-words of his writings. His deliberations on the change within the concept of reality in Indian literature and transformation of Indian literary audience are discussed. The quotations from further short stories (i.e. Nayī kahānī kā ploṭ, Alikhit kahānī, Kavitā aur jīvan. Ek kahānī, Tāj kī chāyā me͂) reveal how realistic, mythical or romantic plots and characters are juxtaposed in one work. The examples from: Paramparā. Ek kahānī and Sikṣā present Ajñeya’s postulate of revealing deeper truths in literature. The usage of symbols, the means of suggestive language as well as techniques of building an “atmosphere” of the modern short story are analyzed (Gaiṇgrin, Alikhit kahānī, Darogā Amīcand, Hīlī-bon kī battakhẽ). In this context an application of traditional poetics of rasa to contemporary texts is investigated. The paper leads to the conclusion that while mastering the skill of short story writing, Ajñeya acted also as a theoretician, who attempted to teach Hindi writers and critics how to save their own tradition and identity in a clash with the West. He postulated that modernity should not exclude exploring one’s own traditional literature and art, it should focus on its transformation into modern idioms. This claim is presented as the writer’s literary manifest. Ajñeya’s demands analyzed in this paper are explained as resonating with some criteria of a modern short story later defined by the writers of naī kahānī school. It leads to the final conclusion that his achievements is this genre possess model features for creating modern short stories in Hindi.

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Terminy nīras, nirastā w opowiadaniach Agjeja. Ślady sanskryckiej teorii estetyki rasa we współczesnej literaturze hindi

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Miążek T.

Academic Journal of Modern Philology

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2014

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tom 3

43-54

EN

The main focus of this paper is to admit a possibility of interpreting some ideas present in modern Hindi literature in terms of the Sanskrit theory of aesthetics, originally conceived for stage performing arts. The author is aiming at presenting a symbolic context of rasa and its validity for usage in literature. Examples from Ajñeya’s short-stories point towards the possible connotations of the term nīras with the terminology of Sanskrit aesthetics rasa. The contribution of Saccidānand Hīrānand Vātsyayān known as Ajñeya in Hindi literature is presented in short. Some meanings of rasa known from Nāṭyaśāstra, especially the symbolic meaning of colors, are depicted as employed in modern literary criticism. Hindi terms: nīras “without sap,” “without taste” and nirastā – “dullness,” “emptiness” are discussed in relation to the Sanskrit term rasa “juice,” “taste,” “aesthetic experience,” “aesthetic category” and to its symbolic colors. The results of this discussion could serve as proof for an unbroken flow of Indian literary tradition since 500 BC till nowadays. Moreover, they acknowledge Ajñeya’s affirmative attitude towards the Sanskrit tradition.

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The Legend of Ashoka’s Hell and References to the Torture Chamber of the Mauryan Emperor in Ajñeya’s Play Uttar Priyadarśī

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Miążek T.

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2021

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nr 14

257–274

EN

This paper discusses the legend of Ashoka’s hell relating to the ancient Indian emperor of Maurya dynasty and his conversion to Buddhism as depicted by the Hindi writer Ajñeya1 (1911–1987) in his play Uttar Priyadarśī of 1967 as well as references made by him to a torture chamber in the imperial palace in Pataliputra. The thesis proposed here is that Ajñeya, while re-telling the old Buddhist legend and referring it to the emperor’s material prison, seeks to renew how it is perceived and prove its underlying concept. While looking for overlaps between history and legend and focusing on Ashoka’s prison-hell, he aims to present the truth about the reason and manner of the emperor’s conversion. References to the Buddhist story in Indian and Chinese versions and history of Ashoka are studied to reveal their mutual role in the play. His version of the tale is compared to the relevant part of the Aśokāvadāna, regarded as the most reliable source on the legend of Ashoka. It is illustrated by passages from Ajñeya’s play translated for the first time in this paper and the available English translations of the Aśokāvadāna with some references to its text in Sanskrit. The analysis presented here proves that the playwright emphasises descriptions of torture and terror that correspond to the state of Ashoka’s mind, which is tormented by the phantoms of war against the state of Kalinga. Thus, he provides psychological insight into the main protagonist’s Self. Ajñeya transforms the legend by making the emperor’s regret the main reason for his renunciation of war and conversion to Buddhism. He also changes its ending so that it suits the final message of his play. Priyadarshi’s salvation from hell has to be read as liberation from one’s exaggerated Self, the reason for his suffering, which is only possible once it is renounced. The analysis proves Ajñeya’s skills in evoking an ancient dramatic style, and language while presenting Ashoka’s dilemma as a modern conflict. In the end, the motif of “entering hell” is referred to as one of the oldest known topoi in world literature.