mokshamargasya netaram bhettaram karmabhubhrtam
jñataram vishvatattvanam vande tadgunalabdhaye

Jaya Jinendra

SARASVATICANDRA (Hindi)
Legendary Gujarati Novel by Govardhan Ram Tripathi
Abridged Hindi translation by Padmasingh Sharma 'Kamalesh'
Introduction by Uma Shankar Joshi
First published 1887
1998 180 x 120 mm 406 pp
81 7201 495 3 Hardcover Rs. 75

It is difficult to gauge the impact of 'Sarasvaticandra' on Gujarati
literature. Sufficient to say that it remains unsurpassed as a
milestone for the Gujarati novel for more than a century.

Sarasvaticandra was first published in 1887. It had tremendous
impact on the intelligentsia of Gujarat. Read, studied, revered,
copied and trashed, it has retained its premier position as the
definitive Gujarati novel and reflects the Weltanschaung of its
period beautifully.

Sarasvaticandra captured the imagination of the people. Many
thought that Sarasvaticandra was based on the life of a real
character.

It is a humongous work, written in four volumes and took
fourteen years to complete. Its instantaneous impact becomes
evident from the fact that across thousands of homes in Gujarat
girls were named after the chief female protagonists of this novel,
Kumud and Kusum.

Interestingly, the novelist has named all this characters according
to their gunas. For instance, the innately pure heroine is named
Kumud (lotus), her oafish husband is named Pramadadhana.

An example of the symbolism of the novel is that the novel starts
with the description of a river, fast flowing and dynamic. The
novel concludes with the hero Sarasvaticandra atop the
Sundaragiri mountain, reflective and calm like the mountain itself.

Sarasvaticandra is the story of a deeply moralistic, brave and
adventurous young man who set out to prove to himself that the
love of his betrothed was his alone.

Like the works of Bhavabhuti and Kalidasa, like the stories of
the Jatakas, like the heroes of Ramayana and Mahabharata,
Sarasvaticandra experienced many adventures in his quest and
they had a great and lasting impact on his psyche.

The entire novel gives ample expression to all nine rasas, but is
dominated by karuna rasa. Kumud reminds one of Rama's Sita.
Govardhan Ram Tripathi's masterly depiction of karuna rasa
alludes to Bhavabhuti. Sarasvaticandra's decision to leave home
is self-motivated and hence closer to the Buddha's
mahabhinishkramana than Rama's vanavasa.

Dante's impact on Govardhan Ram Tripathi is also evident.
Before leaving his house Sarasvaticandra experiences a spiritual
'Inferno'; much later, when he sits introspecting he experiences
'Purgatario'; and later in his dream he visits 'Paradise'.

Sarasvaticandra' character is noticeable for his righteousness,
deeply embedded ethics and reflective nature. In the end, his
'back to life' attitude manifests the changing values and evolving
maturity of its author. Tripathi wrote the first volume when he
was 32 and an aggressively principled romantic. By the time the
fourth and last volume was written the author had mellowed into
an altruistic realist. Hence, at the end of the fourth volume
Sarasvaticandra chooses to spend the rest of his life bringing
about a heaven on earth by helping the villagers of Kalyan build
the ideal hamlet and lead better lives.

Sarasvaticandra left his home to become a sanyasi motivated by
the love of one woman - Kumud. But he gave up his saffron
clothes to come back and live in this world - out of love for all
humankind. Thus, he completes a full circle.

Govardhan Ram Tripathi was part of the Indian renaissance. A
graduate from Mumbai University, he was greatly influenced by
the freedom enjoyed by women in Western society. His deep
knowledge of and reverence for Indian mythology, culture and
history was tempered by his westernised outlook.

He was thus patriot, philosopher, dreamer and a hell of a novelist!

|| parasparopagraho jivanam ||
Manish

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