Sirisampige kannada pdf download

CHANDRASEKHARA KAMBARA Siri Sampige Translated by Rowena Hill with K.P. Vasudevan and M.S. Ramaswamy Editor Dr. Jayashree C. Kambar Sampige Prakashana Bengaluru 7

INTRODUCTION Tradition is a much-misunderstood word in India today. That it is a Western import (from the Latin tradere-to hand over or deliver ) is the last thing in the minds of those who believe themselves to be its votaries. What the urban Indian artist, desperately seeking his roots, is doing is not so much inheriting tradition as inventing it. Certainly, this is worlds removed from native notions of parampara but let us clarify. In traditional art forms like music and dance we are still in unbroken contact with the past. But in modern art forms like drama (to use an older nomenclature), it is a truism that what we have is really the anglicised Parsi theatre of the close of the century. It is the tradition of this theatre that has inspired the popular or commercial stage with its various gimmicks like the revolving stage, cyclorama and of late, even shameless borrowings from the cinema much admired in plays produced in Madras. It is against this background of groping for roots that Chandrasekhar Kambar s ethnic theatre has to be placed and evaluated. I still retain vivid memories of the explosive impact of his Jokumaraswami in 1972 in the alfresco setting of the back of Ravindra Kalakshetra that B.V. Karanth had devised for it. Something still needs to be said of the bayalata form in which this early play was so imaginatively clothed. Bayalata, as Kambar is never tired of repeating, is total theatre. It includes dance, drama, narrative, song, sex, death and religion (Kambar, Folk Theatre As I see it ). Both the audience and the actors participate in what is ultimately a shared religious experience in the form of a play (ibid). A traditional bayalata performance begins with prayer and ends with the audience as well as the players going to a temple early in the morning. Certainly, Jokumaraswami began with a prayer but it ended with a call for the birth of a more just society. Of course, Kambar is aware that in times of change bayalata-relevant only to organic, undivided societiescannot survive. His subsequent experiments in theatre have taken him beyond bayalata. He has now turned to yakshagana and its possibilities for theatre today. The revival of the yakshagana form owes a great deal to Shivram Karanth. Although many feel that he has bourgeoisified the folk form and trimmed it to suit Western and Festival of India audiences. By etiolating the form and removing dialogue altogether he has brought it closer to Western ballet and has, to quote theatre historian Rustom Bharucha, diluted rather than strengthened the energies of the folk. Marathi playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar has acidly characterised the borrowings of this theatre artistic kelptomania. Kambar has tampered far less with the native form and his chief innovation has been the introduction of the playwright with its modern connotations. This has entailed a shift from the third person narrative of traditional yakshagana to a more dramatic form where the individual voices of the characters are allowed to be heard. The only restriction on the playwright is that he has to imaginatively enter into the world of the community s myths and deploy these myths to structure his plays. Siri Sampige, the fruit of such a creative intervention into traditional practices (which is basically symbiotic rather than parasitical or so Kambar claims), was made possible through a Ford Foundation fellowship. The writing of the play began in May 1986, (the well-known yakshagana bhagawathar, Sri 8

Prabhakar Hegde was summoned to Bangalore to assist in the process) and by July 1986 the first draft was ready. The scene now shifts to Heggodu, a tiny village in Shimoga, where the play went into production under the direction of K.V. Subbanna, the modest visionary, who has been the guiding spirit of the cultural organisation Ninasam. The play was extensively revised and rewritten several times and suggestions from B.V. Karanth (who was present) were incorporated. On 20 August 1986 the play was finally staged in Heggodu and on 28 August the same year it was produced in New Delhi in the Ford Foundation workshop at Sri Ram Centre for Arts and Culture. The question remains: How much does Kambar s Siri Sampige go beyond a traditional yakshagana performance to justify his claim that it is a legitimate extension of a basically religious form (with its attendant notions of punya for those witnessing it) into the secular domain of the modern stage? In other words, have we here moved from the celebratory mode of traditional yakshagana to the critical mode of modern playwriting? Does the absence of a shared myth between audience and playwright automatically and unfailingly activate the critical consciousness? A brief glance at the plot of Siri Sampige might be in order here. The Prince of Sivapura, son of King Nagara Nayaka has reached the age of sixteen when, on his mother s wish, he is to be married. But the Prince himself has fallen in love with the impossibly perfect lamp-maiden who comes to life one night in his bed chamber and disappears dancing into his own body. His account of this experience is couched in the most extraordinary terms and worth nothing. He says that while he was all alone and fast asleep... The wall of this palace cracked, and someone drew a sword from its scabbard and let my thighs feel its edge. He now demands that his body be split in two and the equal parts stuffed into two pots. Out of one he emerges unscathed (as he, according to prophecy, can only die if his brother dies and he happens to be the sole heir to the throne). But out of the other pot emerges, not the lamp- maiden of his dreams, but a hooded cobra. Marriage to Siri Sampige, daughter of King Pushparaja of Sevantipura, ensues but the Prince, in the grip of his earlier infatuation, will have nothing to do with his young wife. He periodically takes to visiting the lamp-maiden in a pool outside the town into which he gazes. Meanwhile Siri Sampige herself has been charmed by the snake-god, Kalinga, yields to him and conceives. Suspecting his wife s infidelity, the Prince orders a trial in which Siri Sampige proves her chastity. She takes the snake which coils round the Nagalinga, on her own body. She remains unharmed. In the end in a fit of jealousy, the Prince kills the snake and dies himself, fulfilling the ancient prophecy that he will die upon the death of his brother. The play, then, recapitulates the growth of human consciousness from simple narcissism to full adulthood and genital sexuality. The symbolism of the snake is unmistakable, only from the abundant Freudian literature but also explicitly in the play itself, when Siri Sampige becomes pregnant by Kalinga who turns out to be the rejected body of the Prince. In the parallel sub-plot, involving the court jesters, Awali and Jawali, the sexual theme reappears: Jawali can make love to Kamala only when he turns into a snake. The negative influence of the Prince s mother on his sexual development (which we may broadly characterise his Oedipal problems) cannot be ignored. Widowed when the Prince was barely a year old, the Queen 9

Mother dotes on him and cripples him emotionally. The collective deaths of the Prince and Kalinga, as well as their thematic doubles, Awali and Jawali, may be viewed as the tragedy of the self-regarding narcissistic self. The play punctuates in wholly Indian, non-derivative terms the passage to maturity. In achieving these larger truths through the use of Indigenous myths, Siri Sampige goes way beyond traditional yakshagana T.G. VAIDYANATHAN 10

A NOTE ON YAKSHAGANA This play is written in the form of Yakshagana. Narration is the soul of this form and it makes extensive use of song, mime and dance to create a total theatrical experience. The Bhagavata (narrator) tells the story in third person and other characters dramatise in the first person what he narrates. In the beginning, the characters have no independent existence; they are just a passive part of the narrative. Later they become full-blooded characters. While the Bhagavata is singing the story, the characters interpret it through mime and dance. Later they transform the same song into a dramatic event. CHANDRASEKHAR KAMBAR 11

Siri Sampige was first produced in Kannada by Ninasam at Sivaramakaranth Rangamandira in Heggodu on 21 August 1986 and then at New Delhi at the Sri Ram Centre for Art and Culture on 28 August 1986 with the following cast: -1-2 J SIRI LAMP-MAIDEN KAMALA ELDERS DIRECTION DANCE COSTUME AND STAGE Gopal Heranjal T. Narayana Bhatt Madhav Nayak Chandrsekhar Manjappa Sushila Sudha Sarada Phaniyamma Prabhakar Hegde Yesu Prakash Iqbal Ahmad Ganapati Prabhakar Srinivas KV. Subbanna and Atual Tiwari Madhav Nayak and Gopal Heranjal C.R. Jambe The hindi version of this play was produced by Goa Kala Akademi Theatre Art Faculty on 9 May 1990 and directed by B. Jayasree. 12

SCENE 1 Bhagavata and the chorus (Dedication) Before we speak, a thousand salutations to you, great Lord Siva of Savalagi, split in your divine play into man and wife, dancing Nataraja Ardhanarishwara, body and mind, spirit and matter you are, split into two and beyond duality, hail Siva! On Earth shining Sivapura s King Nagara Raya is dead. Queen Mayavati lives and rightfully rules. Mayavati enters Hear me! I am Mayavati, rightful wife of King Nagara Nayaka of Sivapura city whose Virtue shines upon the earth. My revered husband, after a long and virtuous reign, was borne away by time into timelessness. Since then I, like my revered husband, have continued to look after the interests of my subjects without the slightest flaw in my attention to them. And now to tell you of my household affairs, in brief. When my revered husband departed this life, our son Sivanaga was only one year old. As well as looking after my subjects, I took constant care in fondling and feeding him. I was happy watching his infant antics. From his fifth year onwards, my son received from the mouth of a teacher knowledge of all weapons and scriptures. Growing day by day like the waxing moon, he has now reached the age of sixteen, heir not only to his father s kingdom and treasury but also to his courage, daring and other virtues. Strong as a mountain, he is well fitted to be Lord of forest and field in this Kingdom. While I, looking forward to being relieved of my worries after his coronation, one day a strange incident occurred. Hear! Our family God spoke through an oracle, and foretold his future. See! Two dangers threaten: When his voice breaks he may become a monk, when his brother dies, he also dies. How should it be that on a full moon day the milk to be offered to our family God was curdled, an inauspicious sign? While I was thinking with my head in my hands, Oh Siva, why should this happen? Our family god spoke through an 13

oracle in the palace to tell me why. What he said was this: Daughter, There are two hindrances in the way of your son s good fortune. When his voice breaks, he may become a monk, and if not he may die because of one who is heir to what he is heir to. On hearing his words, I anxiously grasped the feet of the god and said, Lord God, I will offer you the taste of palm wine, I will perform the five-torch ritual for you, I will build you a temple ay Siva s right hand and place offerings at your holy feet. Let my son s family be a family of milk and gold; let him be without troubles, oh Lord! Our family god blessed me with a small smile and said, When your son s voice breaks, arrange without delay for his marriage. Make sure he does not see his own image in water. Beware! Thus saying, he vanished. Since I have borne no other child, my son s life is not in danger. But if the Prince sees his own image in water or in a mirror, he may become disinterested in worldly pleasure and riches and his mind may turn towards the ascetic life. Thus I myself have looked after my son with care so that he should not see his own image in water. My son is of robust beauty and lively. He can neither stand still nor sit still, but like a fresh young bull is always active, and I have seen the young girls of the clan sighing as they watch him. Just a few days ago his voice broke, and now we cannot delay any longer. After his marriage has been celebrated, he is to be crowned. To this the people have given their consent, but the Prince himself evades it each time with a new excuse. So many maidens have been shown to him, but still disappointed. I am worried now whether there exists anywhere on earth a maiden he can admire. The more he makes excuses and postpones the wedding, the more my worries and anxieties increase. The Prince has now to be called and forced into marriage. So be it. Listen, Bhagavata! Speak, Lady! Send for the Prince immediately! Enter the Prince Mother, I bow to your lotus feet. You sent word telling me to come immediately. For what reason, Mother? Son The Mother said, My Son, your voice has broken so this is the right time to marry. Hear me now-wed a woman and rule the world, please your mother and live long! Child, you have to be informed of a very important matter; that is why you have been called. I am only a woman and becoming the old, and I can no longer bear responsibility of the kingdom, so I desire to celebrate your 14

marriage in a way acceptable to you, witness your coronation and spend the rest of my life in peace. The Elders of the family have therefore been sent to Sevantipura to see King Pushparaja s daughter Siri Sampige, and have approved her as a bride for you. Now you must accept. Why do you want me to marry straightaway, tying a grinding stone round the neck of a child at play? Why should responsibility fall on me while there are elders living? Please don t make me unhappy, Mother, by constantly telling me such cruel things. Do not foster our anxieties, dear Son, by continuing to say no. Our lineage has been hurt with curses and sighs. You were raised with care and planning, in order not to offend the pride of the family god or allow the eyes of the evil gods to fall on you. If some whirlwind sweeps away the plant raised by our sweat, then what will be the future of the lineage, my dear? Enough of the obstinacy you have shown lately! You don t want your mother s worries about your marriage to burn her to death with their pain, do you? Kindly do not speak such words, Mother! If you feel pain in your mind, please forgive me. Only because the maidens you chose all had some defect or the other, I have refused to marry. For no other reason. Which maiden is flawless? Son, if you want such a maiden, then you yourself must be your own wife. I have faith that a flawless one must exist Mother. From the day my voice broke. I have felt that she is hiding somewhere, like butter in milk. She is also trying to come out of her hiding place somewhere. Give me time to show her to you. Do you need time to tell me the name of the maiden you admire? Or is this just another excuse to postpone the marriage. That s enough. You shall have one weeks time to say who the maiden is. If you give me her name, well and good. If not, you will marry Siri Sampige. Is that understood? Yes, Mother. ** 15

SCENE 2 Enter Awali and Jawali, dancing. J J J You and I are a great pair of twins, we two together play and sing, Awali Jawali, Jawali Awali. We smile, they all smile; we cry, they all cry. Those who never laugh will laugh with us, those who never cry will cry with us, the laughing pair, the laughingstocks. What sort of a Bhagavata is this? Doesn t he talk to the people who come in? How should you be addressed? Hail, brave warrior! All right, that s what we ll call you. What place are you from? To whom does Sivapura belong, have you heard? To the King s mother, Mayavati Devi, so we have heard. Are you she? No, no! We are... Those who make the cosmic egg and all lives that come out of such eggs laugh, or make them cry; the emperors of humour, the laughing -stock monarchs, the great twins Awali and Jawali. Do you know who we are? No notion. That s who we are. Oh, so you are the twins! Between you two who is the elder brother and who is the younger one? I am the elder brother and he is the younger one. 16

BOTH J BOTH J No sir, I am the elder brother and he is the younger one. Is there no agreement between you? I am the elder or the younger brother. This is like a riddle. Sir, I will ask you a riddle, will you solve it? What is it? If this is there, that is not there; if that is there, this is not there. What is this, say? I don't get it. So you give up? I give up. When there is a bride, there is no groom, and when there is a groom, there is no bride. What does that mean? You know the prince, our friend there are brides for him, yet if he is asked to marry, he refuses. And we men we want to marry but there are no brides for us. There is a girl, will you marry her? Oh, yes. There s only one girl, how can both of you marry her? Oh, you are right. Elder one, Jawali, you get married. Well, say I got married. Since you resemble me so much, my wife may go to bed with you mistaking you for me. What then? No, no, you marry. What did you say? 17

J J J The same, as you just said. I said you must marry. And I said you must (with anger) If I had a couple of fangs, I would have sucked your blood. I have spared you because don t have them. (with anger) If I had a couple of horns, I would have run them through your belly. I have spared you because I don t have them Meanwhile a woman enters dancing. Both forget about fighting and stand staring, looking dazed. WOMAN WOMAN J J Who are you lady? Oh, Sir, am I not the one who asked you to look for a bridegroom? Oh, of course. Now, I remember but I ve forgotten your name. What is your name? Should I say it again? Well listen: Mire is her birth place. Water is the place of relations. Looking at the man of light, she blooms. Say, what is it? Shall I say, sir? Go ahead, my boy. Mire is your birth place, Water of rains, your in-law s place Man of light is your lamp. Blooming one, aren t you? Your name is Big frog, Isn t it? Your name is Big frog. All except Jawali laugh. Look, how enthusiastically he exhibits his foolishness. Sorry 18

sir. Shall I say it? Yes. She, who is born in the mire, She, who floats on water She, who blooms in light Green moss, aren t you? Hey, hey woman! Isn t Green Moss your name? All except Awali laugh. J J J J J Can t you guess this much? Her name is Kamala, the lotus. I knew it sir, but she looks lovely when she laughs, so I said that to make her laugh. (Kneeling in front of Kamala) Lady, to this much I swear, I will take the vow of obedient husband hood for ever, and will serve you according to your dictates, This is the aim of my life. Won t you fulfil this wish? My sacrifice cannot be less than this. Awali, I will sacrifice my very determination for your sake. I will marry her myself, right? Lady, won t you fulfil my wish? (He too kneels in front of Kamala) Why do you repeat all that I say? That s exactly what I am asking you. You know how angry I am? How angry? Very, that is, extraordinarily, that is, anger simply boils within me Boils? I will boil my grams in it. Please let me do it. How? Say what I say. Now let us see. (Slapping his chest) Kamala is mine. 19

J J J J KAMALA J (slapping his chest) Kamala is mine. (Pointing Awali s fingers towards himself) Say, she is mine. Will you stop this and bark out something else? Will you kindly bark out something else? I knew sir, that he was neither my elder nor younger brother, that he was a rat or a bandicoot. Look, how soon he has snapped the cords of brotherhood between the two of us. I knew sir, that he is neither my elder brother nor younger one and that he is a wolf or a fox. Look, how he devoured the bond between us. I had decided to see the greatest fraternal disloyalty on earth and then die. I have seen it. I must die now. See you later. How will you come back to see me after dying? He will somehow come back to kill me, sir. Hark, if there be any petty deities around, come and save me. Look, what is this? Do you think Kamala is a lottery? Isn t she the one to decide which of you she wants? Kamala, choose your man. How is it possible, sir? Both are alike. Let them fight a duel. The winner is my choice, agreed? Agreed. Look, I am ready for the fight. (To Jawali) Hey, you huge stray dog, pig... Don t reel out your titles in front of me. Come fight, quick. Now take this. Slaps Awali. Awali begins to cry. Ah, ah... Oh my family god, save me. If you come here now, grant me this boon, that... 20

J KAMALA J Let Kamala be my wife. Amen (She clasps Jawali s hand). So, it is done. Kamala herself solved the problem. Now, I guess you both can live in peace. How can there be peace now, sir? I will go to the forest, do penance and return a God to bestow the boon of death on both of them. Look, I am going to the forest. Wait, wait. First see us getting married and go there burning with jealousy. Sir Bhagavata, please bless us. Jawali and Kamala bow to the Bhagavata. He blesses them. J (in sorrow) Hey sir, one last word. What is it, son? We have both served the prince, our friend, till now. Now, I am going to the forest. Ask him if he will carry on the work whole-heartedly. I say all this because when I imagine the prince without me, helpless and crying out oh friend, Awali, I feel overwhelmed with sorrow. Tell him sir, that if he leaves the city immediately, I will serve the prince with total dedication. It is the prince s bedtime. Ask him to go aid guard the prince. Awali goes out weeping. J Go, elder or younger brother, the river is dry. Fill it up with your tears. Let us see if it will begin to flow. ** 21

SCENE 3 Bhagavata and the chorus Thus the Prince in Indranivas Palace having lain down full of worries -how can I believe my eyes?- saw the carved lampstand come to life, saying Beloved, beckoning, inviting intimacy? Was that the wonder? From the scabbard came the sword came alive between the thighs. While the above song is being sung a statue of a woman bearing a lamp comes to life and starts dancing. The Prince is awakened, and while he attempts to catch the woman she vanishes, dancing, inside him. The Prince is in a state of high rapture. J J J Oh! What a marvel! Could it be some goddess under a curse, turned to stone all this time, who has now rid herself of the curse and come to life again? Or some nymph who fell in love with me and hid in the stone waiting for me, and has now come out of her stone hiding place and blossomed into life? That creature who kept the burning lamp in her palm and leapt like flashing lightning has dissolved into my body! Is she suggesting that this is how I should get married? Yes, she must be the woman that satisfies all desires who I have been longing tor these many days. If that is so, I have found my bride. Friend, get up! I have found her! (walking) You don t even let me sleep, man! Wake up quickly! How can I wake up any more than this? I ve found the one. Who have you found? I m right here. Uff! You don t understand me! 22

J J J J J Then tell me, man, so I can understand, who is the one you have found? Where is she? Have you hidden her under the bed? Stop joking. Please listen. Please speak. While I was fast asleep, it seemed that wall of this palace cracked, and someone drew a sword from its scabbard and let my thighs feel its edge. I immediately woke and sat up, and dreams that were hidden in the corners seemed to spring up before my eyes. Wasn t there a figure of a woman bearing a lamp in that corner? Well, it suddenly filled with life, and its face bloomed with youth, and blossomed with a mysterious smile. While I went on watching it-no, her-she started to dance around me holding the holy flame in her palm. As she danced the sight of her flooded my limbs with pleasure and the pleasure became a creeper winding tightly all round my body and blocking my breath so that I was stumbling and in this tight embrace she dissolved into me. It sounds to me from what you say that it must have been the mischief of some female ghost. Dear friend, it would be good for you to keep a metal pot full of water beside your pillow. Do you know what for? So ghosts won t linger near you. This was no ghost, fellow. How can I tell you? Look, in that corner there used to be a figure of a maiden with a lamp, do you remember? Ah! Where has it gone? Didn t I tell you? It came to life and dissolved into me while dancing. I am still perspiring with wonder. Run straightaway to my mother. Tell her to arrange a meeting of the Elders in the morning. Atleast let the morning come, man. No. Can t you see that it is dawn? Mother is worried. Go 23

immediately, and tell her that the Prince has agreed to marry, with some conditions. J What? you ve finally agreed to marry? Who s the beauty? I ll tell you. First go and tell my mother. Jawali exit. ** 24

SCENE 4 In the Palace: The Queen Mother, Prince and Elders. 1st ELDER 2nd ELDER 1st ELDER 2nd ELDER 3rd ELDER Elated as she heard the news, the Mother woke, circling hailed the family god; soon all were gathered together in the court, the Son arrived like the moon after an eclipse. Body and mind, mangled by horrid dreams, felt all the pleasure of the seven worlds at the news that our son had agreed to marry. On the wave of this pleasure, the Elders of the clan were brought forth to the palace. Thus our royal summons was sent, and none refused to hear it. All have come and are honoured in their respective places. Honoured Elders, our son has agreed to marry. He says he has some conditions. Being a woman, how can we handle this matter? You are equal in our eyes to gods. You, friends, must take care this of matter. We are all happy at this pleasing news, Lady. Speak, oh Prince, make your desires known to all. My Elders, to me, are not distinct from gods. Your desire is that I should be married, is it not? l agree to do as you desire. For the rest, you should agree to what I desire. We also agree. It is I who will say which girl is to be my queen. We are agreed. In whatever form she is. You will get her for me. Wherever the maiden you desire may be, in whatever form she is, it is our responsibility to get her for you. Do you swear by the feet of family god we will get her? Yes, yes. We swear by the family god you will get her? 25

2nd ELDER You have sworn. Your words are no different from the prophecies of gods. Do not ignore my words, thinking me only a boy, but listen carefully. Split, split my body into equal halves, chop, chop it into even pieces. Place at once those pieces in two pots! Mother, comfort-giving Mother, after a fortnight with your own eyesopen, know and all rejoice. Listen, I ll tell you. With this sword which you see before you, and with family god as witness, I am to be split into two equal pieces. Siva, Siva! Do not utter such inauspicious words, my son! That is not all. After I have been cut into two, each piece should be stuffed into a pot. Both pots should be buried among flowers. On the next full-moon day, when you open the two pots, you will see come out of one a Prince of matchless charm, that is, myself. From the other will come the palace lampmaiden, a woman of statue-like beauty holding a light in her hand. Then you should get the two of us married. If this is agreed, there will be a marriage. If not, no. We have seen many wonders and assimilated them. But of such an unlikely happening we have never heard. You have sworn before the family god, don t forget. This is madness, my Son. Some spirit has entered you to make you act like this. What entered me was not spirit, Mother, but a beautiful woman in the form of a lamp-bearer. And this is the means by which she who has dissolved into me can be brought out. Can human being who has been split in half come to life again? Can a woman be brought out of a dead body? It is possible, Mother. If you have the courage, and if you believe me, I will show you and you will see with your own eyes. 26

Can we play childishly with such things? The Elders of the clan are not common men. Each of them knows a thousand wise sayings. You must act according to their experience. If the Elders act according to the word they have given, they are the equals of god and the fates. If they do not, they are the equals of human worms. If mother consents to this, she is the equal of the goddess of creation; if not she is the equal of the black goddess. If you agree to what I say, there will be marriage. If not, you will see me leave here as a wandering monk. The Prince rushes off. 1st ELDER Is the curse coming true? Is our family sin overflowing? Is our acquired merit wasted? Has this lineage begun to burn? Oh Siva, I never expected that the punishment of fate would so soon leap upon me! Listening to my son s words my fears were aroused to haunt me. Oh Elders, you know the history of our lineage from beginning to end. It is your responsibility to protect it. We have heard from legends and histories how in the past one or two kings of this lineage split themselves in two in this way. But now this situation has come about in truth and in our own lifetime! Console yourself, Lady! Now you are the one who must take heart and hearten others. We, the Elders, not knowing the mind of the Prince, promised in the presence of god to do as he says. Or perhaps fate itself, unknown to us, made us utter those words. Anyhow, since the Prince has no brother to share his inheritance, there is no fear of his death. Whether your son is to become a monk will be a test of the strength of the family god, will it not Lady? Oh Elders, I have placed the scion of this family in your hands. Do whatever you will. ** 27

SCENE 5 Mother and Elders 1st ELDER 2nd ELDER 1st ELDER In flowing light the Elders gathered, the feet of all the gods were worshipped, the Prince s body split and buried then opened. See, what is this like the sun burning, a precious gem its hood adorning, lifting its hood like a big basket as it moves? Saying Careful! Tittering, scattering, Saying Hit it! Kill it! They attacked it. Alas! They saw it disappearing into the forest. Anxiously, the pot remaining they raised and opened, calling on Siva. The smiling Prince, the best of men came out. Where is the Lamp-maiden? What is this madness, Son? Listening to the words of your youthful rashness, we have done many things that we ought not to have done. All this comes from the curse on our lineage. Why else should it happen? By the blessings of the family god, you have come through to a new birth, at least. That is enough. Why? Did the Lamp-maiden not come out of the other pot? What came out was a hideous, horrible demon! An evil creature. A ghost. Cheated! Who is cheated? We are. For having tested thus the family god we will have to pay a thousand penalties. And now we all must make new marriage arrangements. ** 28

SCENE 6 Kamala and Jawali in their house KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA Husband, ever since our marriage, you have looked worried, Why? Marriage? Whose marriage? Mine? The King s? Or Awali s? Our marriage, that is, yours and mine. Oh, is that so? My love, last night in my dream, I was comparing you to a bird. But the comparison did not seem right because Awali had, on the same night, in his dream composed a poem in which he compared you to a bird. Please don t think of him too much, because then he appears in your dream. Husband, about your younger brother Why do you... Not younger, Elder. What is Awali to you? Elder or younger brother. Well, your elder or younger brother is not here. Why do you hate him so much? Do I hate him? Impossible! To tell you the truth you are the apple of one eye and he of the other. I hold you both equal, you know? Because my elder or younger brother is not beside me, I am so afraid that I don t know what to say. Look into my eyes. (He does so) Don t you know what to say now? I do. But today in one of your eyes I see myself and in the other my brother has appeared. (closing one eye) Now look, who do you see? Awali. (opening the eye she had closed and closing the other) Now? Still Awali, even now. What is he doing? 29

J KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA J KAMALA KAMALA J J J J He is looking at you and sighing. Awali has become a ghost to worry you. Not a ghost, a wolf, a hungry wolf. Then imagine that I am a tiger, and the wolf runs away. Oh, no, no, you be Kamala. I m more afraid of the tiger. You keep talking about Awali, why you let him go? I wanted to finish him off. But what to do, the wretch is so much like me, you see, I thought, let me respect myself, at least and let him go. O sir, this has gone too far. What? You got us married. But instead of making love, all he does is remember his elder or younger brother and pine away for him. Hey Jawali, I got you married thinking that you were a gentleman. If you go on doing this, I will have to change my opinion of you. What shall I do, sir? As soon as I look at Kamala with desire, my younger or elder brother appears in both her eyes. If I think of making love with the light off and our eyes closed, I get scared that he, who has hidden in her eyes, may rise up. That is why my eyes sting when I think of love. But you can t ruin Kamala s life! Today is Monday. Both of you go and consult your family god. Not today, the Queen has given me some urgent work to do. What work? You must have heard the rumour about how my friend the prince sneaks out of the palace at odd hours? We have. The Queen has asked me to trail the prince when he sneaks out and find out everything. After I come back, on some other day, we will go and consult the family god. Till then, I pray, keep your good opinion of me. 30

Well... Jawali and Kamala exit, on opposite sides of the stage. ** 31

SCENE 7 The Queen Mother and Elders in the Palace 1st ELDER Siri Sampige he married but she could not satisfy him, everywhere he went searching only for the Lamp-maiden. The Prince s ever-growing madness made his ageing Mother worry, What god, what angel can protect our family? Who ll guard our lineage in the future? Lovely Queen Sampige Devi s Lotus face? How can I bear to look at? So much we possessed. Elders, and what has become of it? I had hoped to spend the last days of my life gazing on my son as King and head of a family, playing with my grandchildren. How can Siva punish me so? They say that after marriage a son leaves the mother that bore him and falls under the spell of his bedfellow. No such thing happened here. I have not seen husband and wife laughing together even once. From the first day of their marriage, he would disappear at any time. Come back at any time. He goes off as if searching for something he has lost and returns as if hopeless at not finding what he seeks. He does not talk to anyone. When the family god was consulted, he sobbed and did not open his mouth to say anything. I cannot bear to see the face of my daughter-in-law, who is weeping he was split in two he said that the Lamp-maiden of Indranivas Palace had come to life and danced before dissolving into him. What is surprising is that the statue has also vanished since that day. Has the prince looked at least once at his goddess-like Queen, Lady? If he had seen her, this problem would surely not exist. The problem, Elders, is deeper than you have realised. Once not being able to see the Lamp- maiden in Siri Sampige s eyes he said, You are not the bride I desire-go away! Once, and only once it seems, he started to stare at Siri Sampige s face. When she became shy and covered her face with her hands, apparently, he rushed to her and pulled her hands away and caught her face in his palms, fixing his eyes on hers. But at once he said dejectedly, letting go of her face. There is no Lamp-maiden in your eyes, Lady, and left her. It was fortunate that the Lamp-maiden was not to be seen in her eyes. If he had been there, he might have plucked the girl s eyes out. Jawali has been sent to follow him without his noticing, to find where he goes and what he does. Look he is coming now. Jawali enters and falls at the feet of the Queen Mother. 32

J J J J J Come, son. You must have found out the which is still hidden even after many servants have been sent to see. Tell me, where is the prince now? What is he doing? I am eager to hear, in detail. Were you able to follow him to the end? I was able to follow him, Mother, but what I saw there was terrible. That is what I want to know. Tell me! Weeping, seeking the Lamp-maiden, wandering over hill and mountain to a pond he came then, thirsty for water. Oh water, water, say who is she! Is she not Lamp-maiden? Saying I have her, he fell to the tempting reflection. Last night I followed the prince, according to your orders. It seemed the prince was going on a journey without preparations and without saying farewell to anyone. He went in fear, looking behind him, not seeing the way, stumbling, hiding wherever hiding places were to be found. Anyone who had seen him then would have said he was some criminal or convict fleeing running away. Becoming thirsty, he went to a pond near the forest. The moon was out, and the sky was shining in the pond. Clouds had come up there, and beyond them infinite depths could be seen. He didn t notice that I had stolen up behind him and was standing there, and he looked into the pond. At the touch of his breath, as if angered, the water in the pond trembled and waves rose and broke up the reflected clouds and the deep blue sky seemed to be sliced by cruel knives. But my friend and Prince did not drawback. Until the play of the water was finished he remained still, and then again, he looked at himself in the water. His reflection camp up there like a floating corpse. The moment he saw it his face shone. Tears of happiness came to his eyes. In his ecstasy no word came from his mouth. As if silently talking with that corpse, he sat there, still. Strange! And then? He caught the reflection in his cupped hands and looked at it. The water spilled out between his fingers. Again he caught it and again it spilled. Then, as if the whole forest were crying, he raised his voice saying Maiden, Maiden! And weeping. Did he say Maiden? Yes. Did he weep? Yes, Mother. Listening to your tale has made me afraid,son. What should not have happened, what I was guarding against for sixteen years, has happened now out of my sight. 33

The only difference is that he, who should have become a monk on seeing his reflection, is now thinking of the Lamp-maiden. 1st ELDER 2nd ELDER 3rd ELDER SERVANT J This is a strange madness, one never seen or heard of before. There is no doubt about it. Have people lived who have loved their reflection in the water like this? My daughter-in-law is a thousand time prettier than that reflection, is she not? Reason cannot give an answer to madness. The Prince, in the bloom of youth succumbed rapidly to the fascination of woman. The right thing to do will be wait and see, Lady. The prince is coming, Madam. Let him come. Jawali, you two are boyhood friends. You can open your minds to each other. Try to find out the reason for his madness. Very well, Mother. All exist except Jawali. The Prince enters. On seeing Jawali he is disturbed. J J J J J What is it? Why are you looking at me like that? It s nothing. I ve gone mad-that s what you think, isn t it? But! I can tell you that this is definitely not madness. My difficulty is that I cannot prove that all of you are cheats. Cheats? How have we cheated you? You said there was no Lamp-maiden anywhere. Yes. She wasn t found. So you say I was lying. Not lying... But she s nowhere to be seen. Yet she exists. Do you know I go out every day and see her? Do you really? Tell me all about it. You won t tease me? 34

J J J J J Do you doubt even your friend? She came floating on the water, beauty in the waves swimming-could I cast a fishing line and pull her in? Slowly, slowly in the play of ripples I saw the goal I was seeking. In that case, listen. Today I was beside a pond. She was inside it. She was swimming in the waves and ripples, glittering like a fish, moving her tiny arms, I must cast a line to catch her, I thought. No, I thought, I can catch her in my hand, and I stretched out my cupped hands. When my breath touched the water in my hands-do you know?- she trembled for love? Slowly she dripped down again between my fingers, Saying Silly girl! I pinched her cheek. She laughed-do you know?-like lines running in the waves. Seeing her I laughed too, and I spoke. She also spoke as I did. Everything I did she did too, or everything she did I did too, there was so much harmony between the two of us that like two halves coming together we had become one. Gradually we became, both together, an indivisible zero, transcending form, becoming the Sivalinga, becoming God. Nor did the shadow of imperfect sorrow linger around this new god. Both of us together became this new god-ah!-it was like air, it was like light, it was like the blue of the sky, it was like empty space-it seemed it was impossible for anything physical to touch him. After seeing that god, I realised what beauty is and what ugliness is. Suddenly I felt that there is something lacking in this world we live in. Ah, God! It is a puzzle how we go on living with so much lacking in this world. Friend, is that god just sprouting a moustache? Yes. And is there a dark mole on his right cheek? Yes. How did you know? How could I not know? What you saw was your own reflection. Ay! Blast my foolishness in arguing with an ignorant person like you. Seeing One s reflection and becoming one with it means seeing the shape of the soul. But you can t understand all this. You are stuck to the body. People who refuse to see any further than the body cannot understand such things. To me body means an empty stomach, and soul means a full stomach. What do you say? What? Are you teasing me? The Prince looks for some time at Jawali, annoyed at his apparent teasing, then goes off dejectedly. Jawali follows him. ** 35

SCENE 8 Enter Kalinga Ask not where he went-the Serpent has made its dwelling deep inside you, go not searching for your lost one living deep inside the anthill of the mind (to Kalinga) Bravo, sustainer of the serpent lineage! Who does the nether world belong to, do you know? We have heard it is Lord Kalinga. We are that Lord. For what reason do we suddenly see you here? Aahaaah! We the traveller and acclaimed great hero of the eight directions and the fourteen world were resting once after our daily duties in our palace in the nether world, when a girl s voice appeared to be calling us. While we were wondering how a woman s voice could be making itself heard in a bachelor s palace, as if descending to plunder our world she appeared before us. Losing all sense of ourselves, we knelt before her. Was it a dream or was it real? Such a thing might perhaps occur once in a while, but that was not the case here; every day we saw the same vision. Why should we be thinking about a woman who belongs to someone else? But that also did not seem to be the case. She seemed to be our rightful wife, known to us for a long time. From the day we saw her, the desire to possess her stirred in us. Very well. We decided to go in search of her Sampige appears. Oho! Is this the lovely beauty, she who appeared to us in visions? If she won t be mine my life is wasted; till my dying breath I cannot give her up. Aahaah! So where was she, the girl who seduced my mind? I went round searching every region of the earth, but she is to be found here in the backyard of Indranivas Palace in Sivapura. There she is, the girl over there. She s the one who stole my mind away! Even at this distance the smell of ploughed earth that her body exhales make me tingle. Aha! She is not an easy woman. She must be the prettiest in the province! All right. I will go up to her and make myself visible. Who is this comes riding up my body, who is he that I don t know, but yet upon my mind is printed? Wherever I go I see arise and stand by me his handsome shape and longings of desire are born to trouble me. 36

Who is he? As if the five elements came together and took shape, he came walking from the direction of the anthill. For quite some time he has been chasing me; wherever I go he is looking at me with hungry eyes. Wherever he steps, sparks seem to fly. I do not know him, but he appears to be already etched on mind, and as I see his handsome form my desire rises. Longings I had not known before are now standing with their mouths open. Who is he? Pleased as if he s found a treasure Kalinga swollen proud and vain says whether she is maid or wife She must be mine, I ll plunder all her joys. Aha! Her body is like a festival for my aroused senses. It seems to be beckoning eyes trained in hunting. Whether she s maid or wife, even if my life is lost in the attempt, It doesn t matter. Unless I bed her, my life has been wasted. One must not yield to base desires- It s fitting to advise him so. He ran up, she stopped him, but she looked, and fell under the wizard s spell. I have become like a boat caught in a storm and overturned. Someone is opening the doors of my youthful breast, and shaking all my desires to awaken them. No, I must not sacrifice my judgement to such base desires. I will talk with that man who is coming to seduce a woman belonging to another, scold him and send him away. She goes a little further forward and hides. Kalinga also goes running toward her. Sampige closes the door and stands at the door. Who are you that chooses a time when no one is near and comes to chase me wherever! Go! It is the Queen of this country herself who you are provoking! You must be a shameless rogue to dare as much! Aha, your voice is like honey, my lovely. Your angry words sound sweet. You make me want to catch and kiss the words as they are born from your mouth. Answer the question I asked you. If you try any mischief I ll tell the King, and he ll have you chained and dragged through the streets. You have already bound up my heart and mind with your long hair, girl. The only thing left is for you to put chains on my body with your smooth arms. And I am prepared for that. 37

The intoxication of youth has gone to your head. It seems you don t understand civilized words. Wait. Mother! (She shouts). You are a good actress. When I came to shut the door, and now you pretending to call someone to protect are you. Your kind of woman finds force very attractive, I know. So here you are! (from outside) Siri Sampige! The Queen Mother has come. If you want to live, hide! Don t talk so proudly. I can protect myself. If you have any courage, open the door! Sampige opens the door. The Queen Mother enters. Kalinga immediately changes shape, becoming the King. What a surprise. Husband and wife together and happy! Day and night I do penance to bring that about! Son, my eyes dried up from joylessness, you have showered the rain of a new joy. Wait,wait! I will straightaway make a sacrifice of an eight-legged animal to the family god. Son, Siri Sampige is very delicate. Do not make her shout again with your roughness, do you hear? (resting his arm on Sampige s shoulders; she moves away from him) We ll tame her. Don t worry, Mother. Sampige only called you for fun, didn t you my Goddess? Yes. No, no, I really called. (Aside) So much joy wells up in me at his touch. Who is this wizard who has come to plunder me? Son, stop your roughness. Siri Sampige is already trembling like a flowering creeper. What is an eight-legged animal, Mother? It means a pregnant animal I will sacrifice so that our Siri Sampige will quickly give me a grandson. In the pools of her eyes I can already see suffused and shining the golden colour of tomorrow s dream. If you stand here like this, my evil eye may fall on my dear daughter-in-law. Close the door. Exit Mother Before madness overcomes me, please tell me who you are. You were like a hissing snake, and now you are like the Prince. How many existences do you have? 38

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