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Samskara

Prof. U. R. Anantha Murthy

A study of 'Samskara', a novel written by

U.R.Anantha Murthy, Indian novelists.

I. Introduction
U.R. Anantha Murthty’s ‘Samskara’ was
first published in 1965 and it was made
into a film in 1970. Since then, it had
created a lot of controversy in academic
and non-academic circles. The theme of
the novel is the story of a decaying
brahmin agrahara in the old Konkan
region.

The title of the novel ‘Samskara’ has

different meanings. According to ‘A
Kannada- English Dictionary’ by Reverent F.
Kittel, the word ‘Samskara’ has the
Following nine possible meanings:
1. Forming well or thoroughly, making
perfect, perfecting; finishing refining,

refinement,accomplishment.

2. Forming in the mind, conception, idea,

notion; the power of memory,

faculty of recollection, the realizing of past

perceptions.

3. Preparation, making ready, preparation

of food etc., cooking, dressing...

4. Making sacred, hallowing..

5. Consecration, consecration of a king,
dedication etc.

6. Making pure, purification, purity.

7. A sanctifying or purificatory rite or

essential ceremony (enjoyned on all the
first

three classes or castes).

8. Any rite or ceremony. Funeral

obsequies.

Interestingly enough, the novel

incorporates most of the meanings of the
word ‘Samskara’ in its scope and content.
According to A.K. Ramanujan, who
translated the novel into English, the title
refers to a concept central to Hinduism.
The sub-title of his translation, ‘A Rite for a
Dead Man’ , is the most concrete of these
many concentric senses that spread
through the work.

The central theme of the novel is the death

of Naranappa and the complications
connected with the issue of his burial.
Naranappa was an anti-Brahminical
Brahmin who spent all his life in defying
Brahmin beliefs and lifestyles. He brought
a lower-caste prostitute to the agarahara
and lived with her in his house. He even
invited Muslim friends to the agrahara and
openly consumed alcohol and non-
vegetarian food so as to insult the other
Brahmins.

When Naranappa died, his burial became a

complicated issue. The Brahmins did not
want to do the last rites of Naranappa
because they were afraid that the guru at
Shringeri might excommunicate them for
burying a heretic. At the same time, they
wanted the burial to be over as soon as
possible because they were not even
permitted to eat or drink anything while a
Brahmin corpse awaited cremation in the
agrahara. Finally they left the issue to
Praneshacharya who was the head of the
village.

Praneshacharya searched all the holy

books to find a solution to this problem.
Chandri, the concubine of Naranappa,
submitted all her jewels at his feet to meet
the expenses of the burial rites. This act of
Chandri further complicated the issue
because all the Brahmins suddenly turned
greedy on seeing such a large quantity of
gold. Now they all wanted to do the rites
so as to get the gold. Praneshacharya
became afraid that the love of gold might
corrupt the whole agrahara.

Praneshacharya couldn’t find a solution to

the dilemma of the burial issue even after
consulting Manu and other holy texts. So
he went to the Hanuman temple and
prayed for some divine direction. But the
monkey-God refused to enlighten him in
anyway. While he was returning from the
Hanuman temple, Chandri tempted him in
the darkness. He fell to the temptation and
made love to her then and there.
The sexual relationship with Chandri
totally transformed Praneshacharya. He
felt that he no longer had any moral right
to continue as the spiritual leader of the
agrahara. So he refused to direct the
Brahmins in the issue of the burial.

Chandri became desperate and she

approached the lower caste people to do
the burial. But they refused “to meddle
with a Brahmin corpse even if she gave
them all eight kinds of riches”. Finally she
went to the Muslim section and pleaded to
Ahmed Bari, the fish merchant. Ahmed
Bari accepted the challenge and secretly
cremated the dead body at midnight.

Chandri wept for her dead lover and

returned to Kundapura, her native village.

2. The Character of
Praneshacharya
Praneshacharya is the leader of the
Durvasapura agrahara. He is in his late
thirties. He was a great Sanskrit scholar
and got 15 lace shawls and silver platters
by winning arguments on religious topics
with other super-pundits. He learned
Sanskrit from Kashi and knew the Vedas
and the scriptures thoroughly.

Praneshacharya married an invalid woman

called Bhagirati so as to get greater
opportunities to purify his soul. In spite of
20 years of married life, he could not enjoy
the pleasures of sex; nor could his ailing
wife give him a child. But he was not
disappointed. He believed that Lord
Krishna wanted to test him on his way to
salvation.

Every morning the Acharya started his day

by bathing his wife Bhagirathi. He took his
breakfast only after feeding his wife and
the cow in his house. These routine works
filled the mind of the Acharya with
pleasure and a sense of worth as sweet as
the five-fold nectar of holy days. Thinking
about his own lot he proudly swelled and
felt “By marrying an invalid, I get ripe and
ready”.

The death of Naranappa created a

controversy in the agrahara and the
Brahmins were divided in their views on
the burial of this anti-Brahminical Brahmin.
They left the issue to the decision of
Praneshacharya. Everyone was ready to
accept his verdict.

This situation put heavy responsibility on

the shoulders of Praneshacharya. He
consulted Manu and other holy texts and
tried to reach at a decision. But he couldn’t
find any right direction from any of these
holy texts.

This incident revealed the weaknesses in

the personality of Praneshacharya. He
studied the Vedas from Kashi itself and
established himself as one of the most
respected Brahmin pundits of Karnataka.
But when a real situation came, his vast
knowledge didn’t prove useful. The proof
of the pudding is in the eating. The body of
a dead Brahmin lied awaiting cremation in
the agrahara and he, the head of village,
couldn’t give any guidance to his people
even after several hours of waiting.

The reader of the novel placed him in high

esteem in the beginning but this incident
was sufficient to drive away all our
fascination for him.

By evening, Praneshacharya became

desperate as he couldn’t arrive at any
conclusion. So he crossed the river and
went to the Maruthi temple where the
Brahmins of this agrahara worshipped
Hanuman. Inside the temple, he waited
desperately for the god’s favour, His
solution. “Without a proper rite, the dead
body is rotting; O Maruti, how long is this
ordeal going to last?” - he pleaded. “If it
shouldn’t be done, give me a sign, at least
the 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. In the lamp light, the
flower-decked Maruti didn’t yield; gave
neither the right flower nor the left.
The experience at the Hanuman temple
disappointed Praneshacharya very much.
“I didn’t get the answer in the Books, and I
didn’t get it here”, he cried, “How can I face
the people who have put their trust in
me?”.

Finally Praneshacharya returned from the

Maruthi temple because it was time for his
wife’s medicine. He walked out of the
temple into the dark forest outside.
Chandri stood there in the darkness to
learn the result of his prayer. She
overflowed with Compassion for him and
fell on his feet. They came closer,
unconsciously embraced and caressed
each other in the darkness. As if in a
dream, Praneshacharya made love to
Chandri then and there. It was midnight
when the Acharya woke up. His head was
in Chandri’s lap. His cheek was pressed
into her low naked belly. Chandri’s fingers
caressed his back, his ear, his head.

Praneshacharya lost his senses for

sometime and asked himself :

‘Where am I?’

‘How did I get here ?’

‘What is this dark?’

‘Which forest is this?’

‘Who is this woman?’

After his sexual experience with Chandri,

Praneshacharya became a changed man.
He lost interest in guiding the other
Brahmins. Very soon his wife Bhagirathi
died. After the cremation of his wife the
Acharya did not return to the agrahara. He
did not want to take any of his
possessions or money from his house.
Intending to walk wherever his legs took
him, he walked to the eastern side. He
walked for a long time without thinking
about the place or the direction.

It was during this aimless wandering in the

forest that he met Putta. A young man
joined him in the walk and introduced
himself like this.

“I am Putta, of the Maleras. Going for the

car-festival at Melige.”

Praneshacharya didn’t want to talk and

want to be left alone as his mind was in a
disturbed condition. But Putta persisted
and continued to give companionship to
the Acharya in spite of the latter’s
continuous efforts to shake him off.

The friendship with Putta was the

beginning of another complicated
experience for Praneshacharya. It was to
reveal before him further secrets of God’s
blessings, which lied unknown to him in
spite of his vast knowledge of the
scriptures.

3. The Character of Putta

Putta is the second most important
character of the novel ‘Samskara’. But the
novelist does not give any clear idea of
Putta’s native place or other details. We
are only told that he belonged to the
Malera community. This community is
considered low in others people’s esteeem
because they were the offsprings of
brahmins and their lower caste
mistresses.

Putta and Praneshacharya met each other

for the first time on the forest path
between Durvasapura and Melige. Putta
took the initiative and introduced himself
to the Acharya. But the Acharya was not in
a mood for conversation. He tried to
discourage Putta by talking as little as
posible. But Putta was an extremely
talkative person. He went on talking to the
Acharya and never left him alone from that
moment. He was oblivious to the fact that
Praneshacharya was trying to get rid of
him.

When the Acharya said that he came from

down the valley, Putta replied that he knew
people from that place. In fact, his father-
in-law lived there!

Praneshacharya wanted to be left alone.

So he tried to shake off Putta by sitting
under a tree as if utterly tired. But Putta
also immediately sat down under the
same tree. To make himself comfortable,
he even took out matches and bidis from
the pocket and started smoking one.

Praneshacharya decided to escape while

Putta was busy with his bidi. He rose to his
feet and started walking again. Seeing this
Putta also got up and started walking and
said:

“You know if you have someone to talk to

on the road, you forget the road. I, for one,
always need someone to talk to”.

The Acharya tried his best to get rid of

Putta but Putta “stuck to him dike a sin of
the past. That way his way: if you stop, he
will stop too; sit, he will sit. Walk faster, he
will walk faster; if slower, slower; won’t
leave your side.”

Putta not only followed the Acharya

closely, but also started giving him many
pieces of advice. Putta had no idea that
this gentleman was a great Acharya, the
very Crest-jewel of Vedanta. He noticed
that the Acharya was walking barefooted
and so advised him to buy a pair of
sandals. After that Putta started asking
riddles to the Acharya so as to pass time.
“A river, a boat, a man with him, the man
has a bundle of grass, a tiger, a cow. He is
to cross the river one at a time in the
boat....” Thus went the riddles of Putta.

Praneshacharya could easily find out the

solutions to the riddles. But he was in a
dilemma: If he gave the answers, he would
be holding out a hand of friendship to
Putta. If he didn’t, Putta will think him dull-
witted. As they approched Melige, Putta
moved on to more familiar terms. He
offered coconut pieces and jaggery to the
Acharya. He even narrated the quarrels
with his wife.

Through the character of Putta, U.R.

Anantha Murthy depicts the simple
lifestyle of the lower caste people.
Certainly they do not have the knowledge,
class or aristocracy of the brahmins. But
Putta is a very frindly and helpful type of
person. He extended his campanionship to
the Acharya and insisted on remaining
with him throughout the journey.
4. The Quest after Divinity
The two characters Praneshacharya and
Putta are very intelligently placed to
explore the concept of divinity.
Praneshacharya’s quest after divinity
began in the mainstream Brahmin
scholarly pattern but he arrived at any
acceptable results only after meeting the
lower-caste character Putta.

Putta is introduced only towards the end

of the novel but even then this character is
crucial to the development of the central
theme. The total length of the novel is 138
pages (O.U.P. 1978. Second Edition) and
Putta appears only from page.101
onwards.

Putta appears to be so low

in social status that he
shouldn't even be a walking
companion to
Praneshacharya. The Acharya
is very eager to shake off
Putta because he wants to
be left alone in his
present psychological
condition. But Putta is
very unreserved,chatty and
 amiable, and he clings to
him like a leech.

Praneshacharya spent all his life studying

the Vedas and the Puranas. He was a
principled man and always stood rooted in
these beliefs. He willingly married an
invalid woman to accept the challenge of
implementing the principle of selfless
service in his life. Every morning and
evening he gave a recital of Vedic stories
to the people of the agrahara. He spent his
days by worshipping God and in looking
after his ailing wife.
Even after 20 years of married life he never
experienced the pleasures of sex. He
believed in abstaining from carnal
pleasures and fulfilling his duty which, he
expected, would lead him to salvation. ‘His
duties in this world grew lighter and more
fragrant like sandalwood rubbed daily on
stone.’

All the knowledge he acquired became

futile when the problem of Naranappa’s
burial popped up. Naranappa led an anti-
Brahminical life and so no one was
prepared to perform his last rites. At the
same time something had to be done
immediately as Naranappa's dead body
lied rotting in the agrahara. Being the
village head, it was the Acharya’s duty to
take a decision.

He was caught in a life-changing changing

dilemma. “Is Naranappa, who drank liquor
and ate meat, who threw the holy stone
into river, is he a brahmin or is he not? Yet
it is not at all right to keep a dead
brahmin’s body waiting, uncremated”.
Praneshachrya was supposed to be a man
of great wisdom, insight, strength and
willpower. Nobody would've expected him
to succumb to temptations. But when
Chandri seduced him in front of the Maruti
temple, he took only a few seconds to
acquiesce to the temptation and his belief
in the strength of his spiritual personality
was shattered.

After the sexual relationship with Chantri,

the Acharya became a changed man. He
lost faith in his position as a great Sanskrit
scholar. With the death of his wife, he lost
all roots in the village of Durvasapura. He
left the village and started walking through
the forest path with no specific destination
in his mind.
The novelist introduces Putta at this
juncture. Putta is a loquacious man and is
always in need of good listeners. He is not
a bore, he speaks interestingly and
intelligently about various things around
him. He has a naturally friendly personality
and offers coconut pieces and jaggery to
the Acharya who had not eaten anything
for several hour. Even when the Acharya
tries to avoid him, Putta continues to give
him companionship. When the Acharya
and Putta reached the temple-town of
Melige, it was three o’clock in the
afternoon. They climbed down into the
temple tank and washed their hands and
feet. It was very difficult to walk along the
temple road, the crowd was so thick that, if
you scattered a handful of sesame, not a
seed would fall to the ground’, But Putta
very carefully led the Acharya along the
streets like a little child.

The novelist uses the example of the

Bombay Box to illustrate the personality of
Putta. There was a man in the festival
ground who showed the people various
pictures for just one coin. Putta
immediately got interested in the
peepshow. He gave a coin to the Bombay
Box man, pulled the black curtain of the
box over his head and sat there looking
into the pictures. Putta was a person who
lived in the present. He gave importance to
enjoying the little pleasures of life. He did
not pretend to be very spiritual or high
headed.

As they neared the temple, beggars sat on

either side of the narrow road. There were
beggars with stumps for hands or legs,
blind men, people with two holes in place
of a nose, cripples of every kind. For the
Acharya, this was a disgusting sight to
see. But even this unpleasent sight was an
interesting experience to Putta. He
behaved as if he was the judge in a
pageant competition and threw a coin to
the most attractive of the cripples’.

The temple town was filled with people.

The shops were full of village women,
shyly drinking soda-water, farmers,
children. To them the whole festival was a
matter of enjoyment, experience and
contentment.

Through all this excited activity and

movement, Praneshacharya walked as one
entranced, following Putta. He was the
only person who could not enjoy the
festival since he was incapable of being
involved in anything.
Finally Praneshacharya found a pretext to
get rid of Putta. He said that he wanted to
sell some jewellery. But instead of leaving
him alone, Putta volunteerily offered his
help in negotiating the price with the
goldsmith. In fact Putta personally knew
the goldsmith and wanted to ensure that
the Acharya was not cheated.

Thus we find that Putta extends his hand

of friendship to the Acharya upto the very
end of the novel. Even when the Acharya
returned to Durvasapura, Putta didn’t leave
him. “How can I send you alone?” he
asked. But Praneshcharya did not have the
capacity to appreciate and honour the
friendship of this helpful human being.

5. Conclusion
Praneshacharya spent all his life in
intellectual and spiritual pursuits. He
married an invalid and tortured himself so
as to purify his soul. His wife advised him
to marry another women so as to get a
child, but he refused to yield. He believed
in Lord Krishna’s advice : ‘Do what is to be
done with no thought of fruit’.

The novel begins with this admirable

aspect of Praneshacharys’s personality.
But very soon he falls in our esteem
because he is not able to take any
decision regarding the burial of
Naranappa. As the spiritual leader of the
Durvasapara village, it is his duty to guide
the Brahmins in this difficult predicament.
But he simply went through the holy books
umpteen times without reaching at a
definite conclusion.

The defects in his personality are further

sublimated when he falls to the attractions
of the prostitute Chandri outside the
Hanuman Temple. The Acharya’s great
faith in God and his vast knowledge of the
scriptures did not give him enough
willpower to overcome the temptation.
Just like any other ordinary man, he made
love to her and even ate taboo food from
her hands. The Acharya was not able to
recover from the shock of this incident. He
wandered aimlessily along the forest
footpath until he met Putta.

Compared to the Acharya, Putta had a

stronger and more pragmatic kind of
personality. He was chatty, amiable and
eager to help. He belonged to a lower
caste community called Maleras. His
knowledge and intelligence was limited.
But in spite of all his limitations, he had the
capacity to carry an interesting and
intriguing conversation. It would seem to
the readers that Putta was wiser than the
Acharya in some aspects.

The earth is the only planet that has water

resources and an oxygen envelope around
it. The rivers and the mountains , the
meadows and the lakes were all
beautifully built by God for our enjoyment.
People like Putta lived in this world,
enjoyed it and found meaning in God’s
kindness. For people like Praneshacharya,
divinity was something you found by
indulging in holy books and scriptures.
Praneshacharya searched for divinity all
his life. But when God himself appeared
before him in disguise of Putta, he could
not recognize Him. He even could not feel
comfortable in the heartfelt friendship of
Putta. His only desire was to get rid of
Putta. Putta is like a lottery ticket. Your
scratch the aluminium foil and the prize
comes out. Your scratch Putta and God
comes out of him and all you have to do is
to fall down at His feet. For Putta, the
festival ground is a source of infinite joy.
He makes use of each and every element
of festivity. When he sees a soda-pop
shop, he drinks a soda. When he sees a
coffee-shop, he enjoys a cup. When he
sees the Bombay Box, he peeps into it.
Even the ugly beggars do not dampen his
spirit. Instead, he made the most of the
situation and enjoyed himself.
Praneshacharya, on the other hand, cannot
enjoy anything in the Melige town. Though
he is thirsty, he cannot come in terms with
drinking soda at the roadside shops.
Ribbons and pipes mean nothing to him
because he has noone to send a gift to.
Even a cup of coffee cannot be enjoyed
because he fears that it might be impure
with lower-caste contact.

When they reached the Melige temple,

Putta suggested that, being a Brahmin,
Praneshacharya could eat the temple
dinner. The Acharya relunctantly went
inside the dining hall and sat before a leaf;
he was afraid that someone would
recognize him. He was very much irritated
when the Smarta brahmin sitting next to
him started asking questions:

‘Can I ask from where you come?’

‘From where exactly?’

‘What community?’
‘What sub-group?’

‘What is your descent-line?’

Praneshacharya was very much agitated

at his inquisitiveness.He had a feeling that
he would find real happines only by living
with Chandri. But how can he do it?
Chandri belonged to the extreme lower
caste and the Acharya was a Brahmin. Not
an ordinary Brahmin but a Smarta Brahmin
who is renowned all over Karnataka as ‘the
Crest-jewel of vedic learning’. Even if the
Acharya married Chandri, it is not sure that
he might be allowed to live with her
peacefully. On any day, someone might
stop him on the way and ask:

‘Who is this woman?’

‘Which caste?’

‘Which sub-caste?’

‘Why do you walk with her?’

U.R. Anantha Murthy does not make things

clear even at he end of the novel. We find
Praneshacharya getting into a bullock-cart
that is going to Agumbe. He will travel for
four or five hours. What comes after that?
He did not know the answer. The very last
sentence of the novel is like this:
‘Praneshacharya waited, anxious,
expectant’. According to A.K.Ramanujan,
the translator, ‘the novel ends, but does not
conclude’.

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