Gendering Samskarai

Sarah Claerhout and Nele de Gersem ii

Abstract: Both in India and in the West, U. R. Anantha Murthys celebrated novel
Samskara was, and still is, received as a book brilliantly depicting the Indian
social reality and its problems. In this article we argue the contrary, namely, that
it does not teach us much about the Indian social structure, about the Indian
traditions or about the Indian way of going about with the world. This novel
merely reproduces the stereotypesespecially those about low-caste women and
about Brahminsthat one culture, the West, developed about another culture,
India. Hence, the question we want to submit to the readers: do Indians today
still want to celebrate novels that reinvigorate the western colonial stereotypes
about their society?

Since its Kannada publication in 1965, Samskara,iii the famous novel by U.R.
Anantha Murthy, has been presented as a revealing description and honest report
of some of Indias most pressing societal problems. As Europeans and outsiders
to the Indian society and its debates, we are puzzled by such claims: why has the
novel been received as a tale of liberation, both in India and abroad? How is it
possible that in many parts of the world it is used in classes on Hinduism? Why is
it considered helpful in understanding the Indian social structure and attitudes
towards life and death?
Let us explain our puzzlement: on the one hand, the novel depicts the Indian
society as though it is corrupted by caste and is inhabited by hypocritical, greedy
and pervert Brahmins. On the other hand, lower caste women are valued
merely for their sexual availabilitythey say Yes to everything, never a No. iv
These descriptions are problematic because they (1) replicate the old western
oriental stereotypes about Indian culture and society and, therefore, (2) cannot

possibly reflect the experience of the Indian peopleeven though they

sometimes seem to do that. Therefore, it might be more accurate to suggest that
the celebration of Samskara epitomizes the continuing success of 200 years of
colonialism in India and that its greatest achievement consists of a reproduction
of the colonisers characterisation of the Indian society.
We will argue this point along three lines. First, we will go deeper into the general
depiction of the Brahmins in the book and argue that even if this depiction is
understood symbolically, it is suspect. Second, we will say something about the
authors description of women. Whether liberating (in the case of the outcaste
women) or stifling (in the case of the Brahmin women), both groups are referred
to almost solely in the context of satisfying or hindering the satisfaction of male
sexual desires. Again, even if interpreted symbolically, one wonders what to
make of this. Third, we will argue that even looking at the book as a piece of
literature does not solve the problem we formulate.
Liberation of a Brahmin vs. Liberation from the Brahmins?
The most common interpretation of Samskara is that it depicts the liberation of a
Brahmin (Praneshacharya) through the intervention of a lower caste woman. It is
about a kind of rebirth: gradually the acharya becomes conscious of his situation.
He attains insight into his own hypocrisy and that of his fellow Brahmins. This
story has often been readboth literally and symbolicallyas a representation of
the stifling nature and hypocrisy of Brahmanism in general and of the necessary
emancipation from its clutches. It is believed to hold a mirror to the Brahmins in
Karnataka.
The representation of Brahmins in Samskara takes the form of stereotypes.v
These stereotypes attribute the behaviour and attitudes that one finds among
certain individuals to an entire group, as though such a portrayal sketches the

psychological profile of this group. That is, properties such as hypocrisy, greed,
duplicity, envywhich can in reality only be attributed to certain individuals (in
all groups)are transformed into the properties of the Brahmins as a social
group. This harbours several problems.
The first question is: where do these stereotypes about the Brahmins come from?
Historical research shows that the descriptions of the Brahmins as cunning
priests have European roots. If we browse through the European descriptions of
India from the 16th century onwards, we see the European texts describing the
Brahmins as crafty and self-serving priests, who have created a tyranny of rituals
and dogmas in order to misguide the laity. vi This description developed against
the background of the European culture after the 16 th-century Reformation and in
the theological debates between the Catholics and the Protestants. What was
pivotal in these debates was a new understanding of false religion and its
priesthood. According to the Protestants, the Catholic priests had corrupted the
true religion and had misguided the masses of believers into idolatry. They were
the servants of the devil trying to prevent the growth of the pure and true religion
of God. In the same way, the Brahmins were considered to be the priests of the
false Hindu religion. Priests, in this European experience, were a hypocritical
group. Hence, the stereotypes which described the Brahmins as crafty,
cunning, hypocritical, etc. helped the Europeans in their goings-about with
the Brahmins. These statements made sense against the background of the
European Christian understanding of the priests of false religion. Samskara
reproduces such stereotypes as though they are a true description of the
Brahmins. Its entire narrative revolves around these stereotypes inherited from
the Europeans.

Second, when it comes to groups such as, say, the Jews or the Muslims in Europe,
this kind of symbolic representation of a social group in the form of stereotypes is
no longer accepted in literature today. There has been a long tradition of such
portrayals in the European culture. Anti-Semitic stereotypes shaped the depiction
of the wandering Jew in European novels, for instance: the Jew was greedy,
untrustworthy, cunning, etc. In recent European history, we have the deplorable
example of where this might lead a society: the systematic extermination of the
Jews in the Holocaust. It is shocking to see how a celebrated novel like Samskara
reproduces hateful stereotypes concerning the Brahmins, as though such
properties really characterize this group of people. The risk exists that such
novels, instead of liberating readers, rather form the experience of a certain
group in society and stimulate people to experience the social reality in such a
way: they induce hatred towards Brahmins, in the same way that novels about
the Jews induced and reinforced hatred towards this group. This encourages
racism and this is frowned upon by the international community and its
legislations. One only needs to read the resolution (2002/68) of the United
Nations' Commission on Human Rights on Racism, Racial Discrimination,
Xenophobia and Related Intolerance to understand the illegitimacy of such a
practice.

Is India in Need of Sexual Liberation?

The novels description of women is even more revolting and it also reminds one
of the European colonial sources. What is striking is that the women are depicted
almost solely in terms of their willingness or lack thereof to satisfy the sexual lust
of men. Either they give free, generous and uncomplicated sex without any

commitment involved: these are the modes of being attributed to lower caste
women; or they are dried up, unattractive and asexual creatures who merely use
sex as a means to blackmail and manipulate their husbands: these are the modes
that are attributed to Brahmin women. This can hardly describe the Indian reality.
Does the author intend to describe the attitude of Brahmin men towards women?
We would like to suggest that this cannot be the case. First, these descriptions
cannot reflect reality: while we can find men who see women as objects for their
own sexual satisfaction in all human groups, this attitude cannot be attributed as
a necessary psychological characteristic of an entire social group. Second, in
several cases, Anantha Murthy describes factual events and situations and not
the attitude of Brahmin men towards women. Take two examples: (a) the
situation where Shripati listens to erotic Sanskrit poetry being recited by the
acharya and runs out because he becomes too excited. He runs to the river,
jumps into it to cool down, and finds himself in front of a half-naked outcaste girl.
Then they have sex, as though the girl had always been waiting and ready for
him.vii (b) While walking back from the temple at night, Praneshacharya is
followed by Chandri. She is overwhelmed by compassion for him and falls at his
feet. Willing to bless her, he touches her breast and the next instant they are
making love. Again, Chandri seems to have been waiting for the Brahmin to make
use of her body.viii These passages do not so much describe the attitudes of the
Brahmin men towards lower caste women as they depict events, which give the
impression that all lower caste women involved in the novel happily offer
themselves as objects for the sexual satisfaction of men.
To appreciate this point better, consider the following two descriptions.
A description of the low caste Belli:

What if his wife should tighten and twine up her thighs? There was Belli. An outcaste, so what? As Naranappa
sayswho cares if shes a goddess or a shaven widow? But Belli was neither. Which Brahmin girl, cheek sunken,
breast withered, stinking of lentil soups, which Brahmin girl was equal to Belli? Her thighs are full, when shes
with him she twists like a snake coupling with another writhing in the sands. Shed have bathed by now in water
heated in mudpots outside her hut, shed have drunk her fathers sour toddy, shed be warm and readylike a
tuned-up drum. Not utterly black-skinned, nor pale whiteher body the colour of the earth, fertile, ready for
seed, warmed by an early sun (Anantha Murthy 1976: 36).

A description of the low caste prostitute Chandri:

Born to prostitutes, she was an exception to all rules. She was ever-auspicious, daily-wedded, the one without
widowhood. How can sin defile a running river? Its good for a drink when a mans thirsty, its good for a wash
when a mans filthy, and its good for bathing the gods images with; it says Yes to everything, never a No. Like
her. Doesnt dry up, doesnt tire. Tunga river that that doesnt dry, doesnt tire. Before these Brahmin women
bear two brats, their eyes sink, cheek hollow, breasts sag and fallhers do not. Perennial Tunga, river that
doesnt dry up, doesnt tire. Naranappa had guzzled at her body like a ten year old, tearing and devouring like a
gluttonous bear at a honeycomb (Anantha Murthy 1978: 43).

Are all low caste women voluptuous, waiting and ready to have sex, as the novel
seems to suggest? Such a suggestion would be trivially false. Are some low caste
women like that? This could be true; there are nymphomaniacs everywhere in the
world. The same consideration applies to the Brahmin women as well. Do they
all have sunken cheeks and sagging breasts, as described in the novel? This
is false. Of course, some do have these characteristics. The upshot of this is the
following: the author cannot possibly be describing the Indian reality in so far as
he talks about all Brahmin and low-caste women. If he is talking only about
some women, he cannot be describing the Indian reality either because what
he says in such a case would be applicable to every country and culture in the
world, past and present. Therefore, in neither of the two cases could he possibly
be speaking about the Indian reality.
Actually, if we string together all the passages about women one after the other,
what one gets looks like an adolescents pornographic fantasy.

a. In different passages of the book the author deems it necessary to emphasize

that the breasts of the low caste women are big, round and tight: they are
bursting out of their saris, they can hardly cover them by their rag saris, etc. ix
This is contrasted with the breasts of the Brahmin girls and women which sag,
hang and are withered.x It is a basic fact of human biology that breasts,
especially large breasts, cannot but hang no matter what the age is. In fact,
the round swollen breasts he speaks of are found only in pornography (and
maybe in the statues of the apsaras) but not in real life. Whether a Brahmin or
low caste women, all have to obey the laws of nature; gravity plays its role on
how womens breasts behave and growing older has its influences on the
body.
b. The author often speaks in terms of the Brahmin women as dried up. What is
he talking about here? The context makes clear that it cannot refer to the
breasts that have no milk anymore. It is not about having a dry mouth, a dry
stomach or a dry skin either. The only possible reference for the dried up is a
dry vagina. The same consideration applies when he talks about ready
women. He is talking about their vagina. In other words, when the author is
talking about women, he is mainly talking about their vaginas. Again, this is
more like a sexual fantasy than it is a symbolic representation of the liberation
of a group.
c. A last example is his representation of low caste women as nymphomaniacs:
they are waiting wet and dripping vagina to receive the semen of the men.
You might be shocked by this, but this is how they are described in this novel.
There is no mention of either the sexual pleasure or the orgasm that the
women could or might experience in this novel. Not only that. They ought to
shut up instead of talking: they are good for sleeping with, but not for having

a conversation with.xi So, the low caste women are mere sex dolls with big
breasts.
Taking into account the impact the book has had since its release and the way in
which is has been accepted as a description of the Indian reality, we almost have
to conclude that Indian men have no knowledge of some basic biological or
sexual facts or that they are sexual perverts. We do not think either of the two is
the case, but then one has to explain why this novel was not marginalised
instead of being celebrated. We are puzzled about how this could be interpreted
as a tale of liberation. We really wonder what made some of the low caste
movements pick out this book as though it is supportive of their case.
A Work of Art?
Some Indian colleagues from the social science departments of Karnataka
universities told us that they experienced a similar unease with the depiction of
women and Brahmins in the book and that they did ask similar questions when
the book first came out. But often they were blocked by their teachers: because
the novel is a work of art, one cannot read it as a representation of society. Is
Samskara a work of art?
Let us consider the possibility that Samskara is a literary work, a work of art,
which defies mundane interpretations such as the role of gravity on womens
breasts and the dryness and wetness of the vagina. There is a bigger puzzle then:
how can Samskara be called a work of art?
Consider the following four problems. First: when the characters merely hear of
sex, even after they are married, fire burns in their loins. xii Such a fire burns only
in the loins of adolescents who have never seen a womans body, but merely
fantasise about it. Or, take the situation in which Chandri falls at the acharyas

feet: her single breast touches his knee because of which, presumably, the
buttons of her blouse tear open; since it is too dark to see the buttons tearing
open, the touch of the breast is sufficient for a sexual arousal. xiii Such
instantaneous erections are more likely to occur with virgin adolescents than with
sexually experienced men even if, as we will see later, the experiences of the
adult men are based on erotic literature only. Or, for instance, when a character
tries to recreate his sexual experience, he has the feeling of pursuing a dream.
xiv

Surely, such pursuit of dreams occurs in pendulum swings between convincing

oneself that the act of sex was an act of compassion and the belief that it was a
lustful craving. An attempt to restrict experience and thinking about such an
experience to the realm of imagination is to reduce the rich experiences of an
adult into the experience of an adolescent (getting aroused by his knee touching
the breast of a sexually experienced woman). In short, the characters are
credible only as long as they are adolescent virgins from a Mills and Boon novel
getting seduced by the luscious bodily charms of ripe and experienced women.
Thus, we face the second problem. Because they drink lentil soup, the Brahmin
women stink: either from their mouth or from other bodily orifices. xv Of course, it
is not the lentils that stink, but the spices used in making the soup, mainly garlic
and onion. One rather typical property of the Brahmins is that they eschew garlic
and onion in the preparation of food because it stinks. It is also a fact that the socalled low caste women use these spices the most. Of course, one grants the
author an artistic licence to turn the world upside down and make only the
Brahmin women stink of lentil soup. However, artistic freedom must at least
involve credible consistency: it is not just the Brahmin women who consume
onions and garlic; how about the male Brahmins in Samskara, who eat what their
wives cook, including the stinking lentil soup? In Anantha Murthys world, the

stink of the lentil soup from the male mouth and the onion smell from low caste
womens mouth are not foul; they function as aphrodisiacs.
Third problem: some of the characters, we are told, are torn by guilt. xvi However,
nothing, either in the novel or in the culture that embeds the novel, allows us to
localize the source of guilt. How could guilt arise in the central character who
commits adultery? Neither the Indian gods nor the Indian people could have
problems with prostitution the way Europeans have them: in the Kama Sutra
Vatsyayana spends a whole chapter on courtesans and prostitutes, while
detailing how one should conduct business with them; the apsaras, after all, are
prostitutes populating the heaven of the gods. Nor could the problem be about
adultery: the same Kama Sutra spends an entire chapter in telling us when it is
morally good to be adulterous and the gods are not averse to seducing wives of
other men either. So what exactly is the character feeling guilty about? Clearly,
the Victorian pornographic input lies at the root of the characters guilt. We can
only understand the internal dilemma of guilt when we presume a conflict
between conscience (a uniquely Christian anthropological notion) and an
unbridled lust and desire for women which is frowned upon (a typically Victorian
description). Without this, how are we to understand that the Brahmin characters
of Samskara get the problem that Victorian prudes had?
The problem of guilt, then, is a fictitious problem in this novel. We do not find any
reflections in the novel, the way the Christian literature abundantly portray,
either about lust or about the struggle with the evil that lust is supposed to be.
Instead of finding rich and multi-layer psychological descriptions, we find
cardboard characters with bi-dimensional psychologies, obsessed by adolescent
dreams about womens bodies.

10

The fourth problem brings us back to eroticism and to what a work of art is
supposed to be. The Indian traditions are rich with real works of art and we do
find magnificent erotic passages and descriptions. Sringara, one of the foremost
Rasas, is more ample in the Indian literature than Chandris breasts in Samskara.
Quite surprisingly, reading such pages troubles the characters in the novel: they
are forbidden to interpret them and they can only enjoy reading them. xvii How,
one wonders, can one read something and understand it without interpreting? Or,
then again, one gets aroused carnally by listening to luscious puranic
stories.xviii Obviously, the characters are a further degeneration of an adolescent
Indian boy. Surely, as many Indian men have told us while recalling their
students experience, an adolescent boy (as any normal human being) has the
ability to be moved by the beauty of the description when, say, Kalidasa
describes Parvatis naked torso by the movement of the raindrop. But then, when
we speak of Kalidasa, we speak of literature.
All the foregoing is meant to forestall the objection that the novel is a work of art
and that the characters act according to the logic of the novel. Quite frankly, we
do not see this logic. Because of its internal textual deficiencies, its sloppy
language-use, its cartoon-like characters, its lack of plausibility, and so on,
Samskara fails to be a work of art, even by the relatively mild standards that one
would use to judge the novels of Barbara Cartland and Robert Ludlum.
To conclude, we would like to draw the readers attention to a bigger issue at
stake. Forgetting the vulgar and racist assumptions of the book, we would like to
come back to the puzzlement concerning the impact the book has had. Both in
India and in the West, Samskara was, and still is, received as a book brilliantly
depicting the Indian reality. This understanding unfortunately does not teach us
much about the Indian social structure, about the Indian traditions or about the

11

Indian way of going about with the world. The novel merely reproduces the
stereotypes one culture, the West, developed about another culture, India.

12

At the yearly Dharma and Ethics Conference2-3 February 2008, Kuvempu University

(Shimoga) on the theme The Depiction of Caste in Kannada Literaturea lively debate
developed on the representation of women and the caste system in the famous U.R. Anantha
Murthy novel Samskara. The paper we presented at this conference was the basis for this
article.
ii

The authors would like to thank the participants in the conference for their insightful

comments and engagement into the topic. Their help and support was formative for both the
discussion and the ensuing article: Prof. Dr. Sadananda Janekere and Dr. Rajaram Hegde and all
the research students of the Centre for the Study of Local Cultures (Kuvempu University) and
the Research Centre Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap (Ghent University, Belgium).
iii

U.R. Anantha Murthy (1965) Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man. Oxford and New Delhi: Oxford

University Press, English translation by A.K. Ramanujan 1976.

iv

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 43.

Balagangadhara, S.N., De Roover, Jakob, Claerhout, Sarah, Keppens, Marianne, Bloch, Esther

and De Gersem, Nele (2008) Stereotypes: A Theoretical Hypothesis. In preparation.

Extensive research on the nature of strereotypes has been conducted by the Research Centre
Vergelijkende Cultuurwetenschap and the Centre for the Study of Local Cultures in the
framework of a EC Asia-Link Project DEVHAS: Development of Human resources and Strategies
for Education on the Stereotypical Images and Cultural Differences between Europe and South
Asia. (Also in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands and the
University

of

Peredenya,

Sri

Lanka).

See

for

more

information

on

the

website:

www.cultuurwetenschap.be
vi

This point has been argued in Gelders, Raf and Derde, Willem (2003), Mantras of Anti-

Brahmanism: Colonial Experience of Indian Intellectuals. Economic and Political Weekly,

38(43), pp. 4611-4617. See also: Mani, Lata (1998) Contentious Traditions: The Debate on Sati
in Colonial India. Berkeley: University of California Press, pp. 83-157.
vii

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 24.

viii

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 61-62.

ix

See for example Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 8.

See for example Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 43.

xi

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 40.

xii

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 24.

xiii

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 61-62.

xiv

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 95.

xv

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 36.

xvi

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 25 and p. 95.

xvii

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 25.

xviii

Anantha Murthy, Samskara, p. 25.