Hayavadana is a play which is projected with the myth of Lord Ganesha who is a summation of both- ‘embodiment of imperfection’ and ‘of incompleteness’ and is worshipped as the destroyer of incompleteness. According to Kirtinath Kurtkoti,
“The source of the plot of Hayavadana comes from Kathasaritsagara, an ancient collection of stories in Sanskrit.”
Vetala Panchavimsati and Somdeva’s Brihat Kathasaritsagara - these two works compose the same tale of the transposition of heads. Only certain characters and places have been given fresh names.
In these two works, there are two stories. In the work of Vetal Panchavimsati, the story is as followed-
In the city of Shobhavati, there is a temple where through …show more content…
She wrongly puts the head of her husband on the body of her brother and that of her brother on the body of her husband. Both of them were given life. Madanasundari then realizes her mistake, but what has been done cannot be undone. At this stage Vetala asks Vikram, ‘Who is Madanasundari’s husband, the man with her husband’s head, or the man withher husband’s body?’ The King’s answer is that the person who has Dhavala’s head on his shoulders is the husband.
In ‘Vetala story’, the problem seems to have been solved thus though it is not proper solution.
The same story has been told by Thomas Mann in his The Transposed Heads and the same story is again revived to create Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana.
This story is dealt about Shridaman and Nanda who are very intimate friends.
The former belongs to Brahmin by birth and the latter is a cow-herd as well as blacksmith.
Shridaman falls in love with a woman named Sita whom he happens to see when he and Nanda - both are travelling together. He asks Nanda to act as a messenger between him and Sita. First, he laughs to listen the idea, but at the request of his friend, Nanda agrees to do so. Sita is agree to his proposal and
marries …show more content…
He becomes angry and challenges Nanda.
They begin to fight and kill each other. Sita performs the role of ‘Sati’ by sacrificing her life on the funeral pyre of her husband and her friend.
Andhak remains alive with the social identity as Sati’s son.
In the play Hayavadana, Girish Karnad projects the story of the transposition of heads with so many characters with different names and identities. Karnad has created a sub – plot of Hayavadana which is purely his own inventive creation with esemplastic imagination which adds to the total impression and significance of the play.
Esemplastic Imagination or Secondary Imagination is a kind of creative power which is strong and energetic upon the vitality of primary one. The term
‘esemplastic’ is a word borrowed from the Greek ‘to shape.’
Coleridge in the 10th chapter of Biographia Literaria describes the ability of Imagination as ‘Esemplastic’. Esemplastic Imagination is the synthetical power and it dissolves, destroyes, breaks and melts things in order to recreate new forms. Karnad, in his plays, has used Indian Mythology with supplementation of his
“The source of the plot of Hayavadana comes from Kathasaritsagara, an ancient collection of stories in Sanskrit.”
Vetala Panchavimsati and Somdeva’s Brihat Kathasaritsagara - these two works compose the same tale of the transposition of heads. Only certain characters and places have been given fresh names.
In these two works, there are two stories. In the work of Vetal Panchavimsati, the story is as followed-
In the city of Shobhavati, there is a temple where through …show more content…
She wrongly puts the head of her husband on the body of her brother and that of her brother on the body of her husband. Both of them were given life. Madanasundari then realizes her mistake, but what has been done cannot be undone. At this stage Vetala asks Vikram, ‘Who is Madanasundari’s husband, the man with her husband’s head, or the man withher husband’s body?’ The King’s answer is that the person who has Dhavala’s head on his shoulders is the husband.
In ‘Vetala story’, the problem seems to have been solved thus though it is not proper solution.
The same story has been told by Thomas Mann in his The Transposed Heads and the same story is again revived to create Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana.
This story is dealt about Shridaman and Nanda who are very intimate friends.
The former belongs to Brahmin by birth and the latter is a cow-herd as well as blacksmith.
Shridaman falls in love with a woman named Sita whom he happens to see when he and Nanda - both are travelling together. He asks Nanda to act as a messenger between him and Sita. First, he laughs to listen the idea, but at the request of his friend, Nanda agrees to do so. Sita is agree to his proposal and
marries …show more content…
He becomes angry and challenges Nanda.
They begin to fight and kill each other. Sita performs the role of ‘Sati’ by sacrificing her life on the funeral pyre of her husband and her friend.
Andhak remains alive with the social identity as Sati’s son.
In the play Hayavadana, Girish Karnad projects the story of the transposition of heads with so many characters with different names and identities. Karnad has created a sub – plot of Hayavadana which is purely his own inventive creation with esemplastic imagination which adds to the total impression and significance of the play.
Esemplastic Imagination or Secondary Imagination is a kind of creative power which is strong and energetic upon the vitality of primary one. The term
‘esemplastic’ is a word borrowed from the Greek ‘to shape.’
Coleridge in the 10th chapter of Biographia Literaria describes the ability of Imagination as ‘Esemplastic’. Esemplastic Imagination is the synthetical power and it dissolves, destroyes, breaks and melts things in order to recreate new forms. Karnad, in his plays, has used Indian Mythology with supplementation of his