Sri Aurobindo's Plays- A Thematic Study (An Old and Rare Book)

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The philosophical, political and spiritual aspects of Sri Aurobindo's versatile genius were so dominant that the dramatist in him got overshadowed. It failed to attract much scholarly attention till very late though, as a matter of fact, his dramas also mark a high peak of "this Himalaya of various extremes of height." Perhaps, the first, though very brief reference to Sri Aurobindo's dramatic genius was made by Prof. K.R.S. Iyengar in his celebrated book, in 1945. In his second monograph on Sri Aurobindo, published in 1961, all his complete plays were examined, but again very briefly. The studies of the plays, published by Mr. M.V. Seetaraman in 1964, were more detailed. These were followed by Mr. P.C. Kotoky's brief reference to them in his book in 1969, and by Dr. Prema Nandkumar's learned articles on the plays in Sri Aurobindo Circle, etc., between 1963 and 1977. Dr. A.K. Sinha's thesis on Sri Aurobindo's dramatic art also appeared in 1979. But in it his main interest obviously is in the art of the dramatist rather than in a detailed study of themes in the plays.

Thus, though one might not necessarily agree with P.C. Kotoky, who says that "occasional magazine notices are all that can be had by way of critical appreciation of his dramas", one does feel that there still existed a need to study independently the themes in the plays of Sri Aurobindo. However, it is not possible to study the themes in isolation. An appreciation of some of his philosophical and spiritual moorings is a must for a fuller grasp of the themes in the plays.

The present study makes no tall claim to lay bare before the reader all that lies hidden in the labyrinthine deeps of the works of a dramatist of Sri Aurobindo's stature In it, an humble attempt has been made to collect stray materials related to the themes at one place; make whatever additions are possible to the existing interpretations on the strength of an intensive study of the text as also to show the relationship of the themes of Sri Aurobindo's plays with his philosophical concepts, with a view to highlighting the unity of vision, idea and purpose that is visible everywhere in the multitudinous creations of Sri Aurobindo. Extended over eight chapters, the present study makes in its introduction some observations on Sri Aurobindo's career as a dramatist, his place among the Indian English dramatists, his views on drama, and the extent to which he himself observes his dramatic principles. Touching briefly on influences on him of the English and the Classical Sanskrit models of drame, a few distinctive features of his plays, related with the themes, have also been mentioned. The next five chapters (ie. from two to six) are devoted to the exposition of the leit-motif or inner meanings of the five complete plays. In the seventh chapter, Prince of Edur and other fragments of his plays have been studied together. Here it may be mentioned that there has been, perhaps, no special reason for deviation from the usual pattern of theme wise division of chapters in a study like this except that, in view of the rather small number of plays, a play wise study has been considered more appropriate. In the pattern adopted here, it has been possible to provide introductory information regarding choice of themes in individual plays, their narrative sources and ostensible influences, if any, on the dramas-all contributing in some way to the appreciation of the themes. In the concluding chapter, an attempt has also been made to show that there exists an integral relationship not only among the various themes in the plays, but also between their central theme and the chief vision of the writer as reflected in his other literary and philosophical works.

Writing about Bankim Chandra Chatterjee's versatile genius, Sri Aurobindo said:

Bankim, the greatest of novelists, had the versatility developed to its highest expression. Scholar, poet, essayist, novelist, philosopher, lawyer, critic, official philologian, and religious innovator, the whole world seemed to be shut up in his single brain.

"The whole world shut up in [one] single brain"-the words are at least as true, if not more, of Sri Aurobindo him-self. He was a journalist, revolutionary nationalist, poet, prose-writer, critic, dramatist, philosopher, Yogi, seer, and what not? This variegated expression of his innate abilities, the rich variety of subjects encompassed in his tremendous mass of writings, comprising as many as thirty volumes of fairly big size, and the multifarity of interest envinced in them suggest 'God's plenty' in Sri Aurobindo's creative world. His was a life replete with ceaseless activities, scholarly and academic, political and literary and, above all, yogic and spiritual. As such he is described variously as the fiery evangelist of Nationalism, the interpreter of Veda, the Vyasa of the inner life, the poet-seer, the Columbus of Supermind and so on. However, as Prof. Iyengar points out, the nationalist, the Yogi, the philosopher, the poet and the rest "are indeed all of a piece or rather, it is the same diamond-the Immortal Diamond-with different facets turned to our gaze at different times." The man of letters in excelsis is an important aspect of the multi-faceted personality of Sri Aurobindo. His massive literary corpus, as impressive in quality, makes his greatness in the field of literature self-evident. However, the imprimatur of august bodies like The Times Literary Supplement has also come forth in his case: "Of all modern Indian writers, Aurobindo-successively poet, critic, scholar, thinker, nationalist, humanist-is the most significant and perhaps the most interesting."3 He is a poet in the splendid tradition of the Vedic and Upanishadic poet-seers whose contributions to the fields of poetry, philosophy and Yoga are equally enormous. Due to their 'vividly worded vision' and 'expressively rhythmed emotions', his poetic creations acquire a unique resemblance with the hoary Indian poetry of the Vedic and Upanishadic age, heralding at the same time in the world a new golden age of what he calls 'overhead poetry. But if Savitri is among the pretties flowers in the garden of poetry. The Life Divine (his magnum opus), The Future Poetry, The Synthesis of Yoga, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity are some other masterpieces of prose by this man of extraordinary genius.