LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 21:7 July 2021
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
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         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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The Portrayal of Self-Sacrificing Love for the Motherland:
A Study of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee’s Anand Math

Suresh Kumar

Abstract

Indian novelist, poet and journalist, Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1838-1894) is widely known as Sahitya Smrat [Emperor of Literature] in Bengali. Anand Math is considered one of his most significant novels in which he presents the heroic accomplishments of the ascetics under the leadership of Swami Satyanand who manages to hold the courage of his rebels even during the adverse circumstances against the Muslim ruler’s local army as well as in front of the strategic plans of the British commanders. This paper will analyze that how deprivation, starvation, and oppression of the poor result in the endless, ever-growing self-sacrificing love for the motherland i.e. Bengal. It will also showcase that how the implementation of the heartless decisions by the rulers i.e. administrative faults on part of Muslim Rulers and oppression in matters of revenue collection on part of the British turn a stratum of society into protesters who seek abolition of such a rule by liberating their motherland from them without paying any heed to their sufferings or comforts.

Keywords: Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Anand Math, starvation, oppression, self-sacrificing love, motherland, protestors

After the Original publication in Bengali in 1882, Anand Math got published in several languages including English. It is set in Bengal in the late 18th Century projecting the clashes of the sanyasis [ascetics] with the army of the local Muslim ruler and with the British army. Anand Math or the hermitage is situated amidst the dense forest in the hills. Bankim Chandra Chatterjee projects Satyanand as the leader of the rebels and chief of the sanyasis in the hermitage, plays the pivotal role in arousing the patriotic sentiments among the natives of Bengal, the motherland. The sanyasis are called the children of Lord Vishnu or the motherland. The opening of the novel introduces the readers to the famine of Bengal and its aftermaths in the form of starvation, abject helplessness compelling people to loot anyone anywhere for survival reminding Charles Darwin’s doctrine, i.e. survival of the fittest. Under repeated series of utter helplessness, people start looking for alternatives for their survival. Whosoever has a bit of possession become insecure even in homes. Such a sense of insecurity compels Mahendra and his wife Kalyani to leave their home in Padchihn in a hope of some safer place towards the city along with their little daughter Sukumari, But the circumstances lead Mahendra to have oath being a Sanyasi until the goal is reached, and separates from his family for a larger purpose of liberating the motherland. He meets Bhavanand, Satyanand, Jeevanand there in the hermitage. Besides, Shanti, Jeevanand’s wife in the disguise of Naveenanand contributes equally to the plot. They are not the real Sanyasis in the real terms who remain dependent by begging alms, but they have a mission, and the mission is to bring emancipation from the atrocities of the local Muslim ruler and the financial exploitation of the British. As much as the oppression gets increased, the ascetic’s love for their motherland also increases and by renouncing their comforts, familial responsibilities for the sake of their larger duty towards the motherland they devote their lives.

The beginning of the British colonization of India is traced back to the battle of Plassey in 1757 with the defeat of the Nawab of Bengal, Seraj-ud-Daulah by the governor of East India Company, Lord Clive (Chandra 64). The disloyal and treacherous conduct of Mir Jafar and some other chief commanders of the Nawab had paved a way for the victory of the British Company as Mir Jafar had been offered the new Nawab of Bengal on the Company’s terms. Through the new puppet Nawab, the Company started monopolizing the in trade, and commerce in the Province as per terms and conditions (Grover 51). Thereafter, the implementation of the dual government in Bengal (1765-1772) invited resistance from the native masses, especially from the farmers. The dual system fixed the responsibility of the administration of Bengal with the Nawab whereas the right to collect revenues was given to the Company. As a result, the masses were exploited in both ways. Nawab had no power to enforce law and justice while the English disowned the responsibility of the government. All resulted in disorder and anarchy (Mahajan, 126). Bankim Chandra Chatterjee depicts the events realistically as, “realism is said to represent the life as it really is” (Abrams 333) by projecting the reasons for the Sanyasi Rebellion in the late 18th Century India.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Suresh Kumar
Assistant Professor, SLET, UGC-NET
Department of English
Govt. College Seraj, Lambathach 175048
Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, India
vijaysuresh8890@gmail.com
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