Purple Patches in Prakash Bhatt's Ramayana

Prof K L Moza  

Prakash Bhatt is the most outstanding narrator of the story of Rama in Kashmir verse Scrapping away abstruse ontological and redundant proto- historical accretions from the story of Rama, the immortal bard makes it a highly enjoyable experience for a common Kashmin Hindu reader Like every other classic work of literary art, some segments in Prakash Bhatt's Ramayana are no doubt, lacklustre, laboured and diffuse But there are numerous purple patches in the literary transcreation where Prakash Bhatt is an inspired literary craftsman luxuriating in the use of fascinatingly beautiful verbal strokes.

Rama and Laxmana accompany Vishwamitra to Janakpur after killing the demons, constantly desecrating the altar where the sage offers sacrificial oblations to gods, Janaka, the philosopher king. accords a very warm welcome to them Rama, throwing up Shiva's bow, shoots an arrow at it with a splintering smash-crash King Dashratha is informed about Rama's heroic exploit entitling him to marry Sita in accordance with the royal decree. This is followed by pompous and splendorous performance of royal nuptial rites. King Dashratha returns to Ayodhya with four brides for his four sons Shortly after he decides to abdicate in favour of Rama following the law of primogeniture He is eager and anxious to spend the rest of his life in prayer and penance for the realisation of himself and God Rama and Sita spend their time in youthful dalliance like all other young couples in the royal household. At this point of the story Narada stalks into the royal palace. He reminds Rama about the objective and design behind his birth upon the earth. Here Prakash Ram Bhatt, incognito as Narada, expounds the intricate philosophical concept of Maya to a common Kashmiri Hindu reader In charming melodious verse he expatiates upon the essential ephemeral nature of the phenomenal cosmos and emphatically predicates that God alone is the ultimate Reality. The immortal bard also reveals his solipsistic predilections. This purple patch amply illustrates the fact that through the medium of art, abstruse philosophical concepts can be made easily intelligible to common people. It is interesting to mention here that the Puranas are literary works created by our ancestors mainly for making abstruse philosophical wisdom, enshrined in the Vedas and the Upanishads, intelligible to the common readers.

In obedience to the command of his step-mother Kaikeyi, Rama leaves for the Dandak forests along with Laxmana and Sita. Bharata, returning from his maternal grandfather's house, flies into royal rage at his mother's sacrilegious machinations Together with Shatrughan, Kaikeyi and the citizens of Ayodhya, he marches towards the Dandak forests. Here he breaks the news of Dashratha's death to Rama. In the purple patch that follows, Prakash Bhatt expatriates upon the importance of a father to a son. Incognito as Rama, Prakash Bhatt, through introspective dialectics, re-affirms the validity of numerous moral verities According to him the people pure at heart alone should expect God's grace in steering their course to safety through the ocean of Maya, God himself functions as a father for those orphaned at an early age, God himself acts as a protector for unprotected people; those robbed of their possessions by their kith and kin will enjoy eternal bliss, people denied comfort and succour by their own children will surely enter heaven; God is the parent of all those who have none to look after them, all temporal possessions are ephemeral and being pushed out of home should not be a painful experience because any shelter providing comfort is a veritable home.

In the Aranya Kaanda, Sita is kidnapped away by Ravana Catching hold of her hair, he throws her into the Pushpak Viman and speeds along the aerial course leading towards Lanka. Jatayu, transcreated as Jatayun, hears the pathetic tidings from the winged denizens of the forest. The stars witnessing the spectacle melt down in their orbs. In depicting the pathos of the situation, Prakash Bhatt resorts to the use of poetic conceits, hyperboles and pathetic fallacies Jatayun fights desperately and valiantly to foil Raven's lascivious kidnapping attempt. Ravun cuts asunder one of his wings and inflicts fatal injuries upon him. In his dying moments he remembers Rama Joo and recounts the gallant fight of his winged troops to prevent Sita's abduction. In this purple patch, Prakash Bhatt's bhakti rises to the level which Emerson, the American transcendental philosopher, calls God-intoxication.

Swami Vivekanand is convinced that this level of bhakti is attained just by only a few amongst millions in a century. In Kishkindya Kaand Prakash Bhatt's description of the meeting between Rama and Laxmiana with King Sugreve is superb. From the hilly eminence where Sugreve, a fugitive from the wrath of his unrighteous turbulent brother Bali, has taken refuge, the two princes are espied carrying a bow and quiver each. Hanuman disguised as a Brahmin is sent forward to enquire their antecedents. Sugreve and his lieutenants strike friendship with the princes from Ayodhya amidst univers jubilation. As Rama confides his agony to Sugreve, he is shown the ornaments scattered by Sita along the course of her abduction. It is confirmed that Ravun is the abductor Sugreev promises all help in Sita's recovery. Rama promises to destroy Bali for the unrighteousness unleashed by him and for the restoration of moral order. This is a purple patch which has fascinated Kashmiri Hindu readers down the several past decades. In Sundar Kand, reconnaissance parties are dispatched to estimate the strength of the enemy and to determine strategically the most desirable course for launching an attack on Lanka. The reconnaissance detachment headed by Hanuman, Bali, Angud and Zombhuvan are baffled by the vast expanse of foamy wilderness separating India from the charming isle of Lanka. It is unanimously agreed that Hanuman alone can jump across the ocean to bring tidings about Sita. The enthusiasm among the troops, their hopes and fears depicted in chaste Kashmiri, is an ingratiating feature about this segment of the Ramayanic transcreation. As Hanuman, fortified by his tremendous faith in the benedictions of Rama, jumps across the Palk Strait, he lands in Asoka Vatica. He observes Sita surrounded by hags and demons. She is absorbed in her supplications to Rama to rescue her from her miserable plight. Soon guffawing Ravun appears on the scene. He makes lecherous overtures towards Sita. It is a very painful experience for Hanuman to watch Mother Sita in racking agony. He throws Rama's ring in her lap from his hide-out in the boughs and foliage of the tree under which lachrymose and dejected Sita is seated on a rough pavilion This revitalises her hope for speedy re- union with Rama. As she wonders how the ring has materialised before her, Hanuman jumps down and informs her about the preparations being made by Rama and his ally Sugreve to release her from the tyrannical clutches of Ravun. Like a typical devoted Kashmiri Hindu lady, she confides her pangs of separation to the messenger from her husband In consistence with Kashmiri Hindu cultural norms, she identifies the young benefactor as a son Later Hanuman, with his tail ablaze, is brought fettered and shackled before her by Ravun's demoniacal troops Hanuman has been subjugated by Interjit's Brahm-Astar He is to be burnt alive for having indulged into wanton destruction of the Asoka Vatica Sita warns Agni against dreadful retribution from Rama in case Hanuman is harmed by him even ever so slightly. In this purple segment. Prakash Bhatt, with consummate artistic skill, depicts tender feminine sentiments.

In Lanka-Kand the monkey troops at the very outset clash with the demonical forces commanded by Inderjit, the son of Ravun Laxmana, who is commanding the allies, swoons down when struck by an arrow from Inderjit's bow. He regains consciousness with sanjeevani prescribed as a cure by righteous Vibhishana who has joined Rama's camp after being thrown out of the royal palace of Lanka After Inderjit, Rama Joo's troops kill Kumbhakaran in a heroic encounter. Thereafter Ravun seeks help of his friend Mahiravun, the king of the underworld. Mahiravun, making use of his occult powers, kidnaps away Rama and Laxmana to the underworld to offer them as a sacrifice to demoniacal forces for making Ravun invincible. This demoniacal plan is executed by him under the cover of darkness. In the morning the realisation of Rama and Laxmana's abduction, against which possibility

Vibhishana had forewarned, causes great disturbances among the troops. Hanuman in particular is crestfallen because security of Rama and Laxmana is the special trust reposed in him. In this segment of the narration, Prakash Bhatt's bhakti again touches sublime heights. Incognito as Hanuman, search for Rama Joo becomes the principal objective of his existence. In this purple segment realisation of Rama Joo, in fact, becomes existential indispensability Sans Rama Joo the entire cosmos becomes bleak desolation for him Hanuman recovers Rama and Laxmana from the underworld. In the great war Ravun himself commands the demoniacal troops in the last battle. By his occult powers, he causes frightening destruction amongst the invading troops who supplicate before Rama to protect them against the demoniacal fury of Ravun At this point of the narration, there occurs a profoundly devotional long lyric composed by Prakash Bhatt's contemporary Vasudev. This lyric is a melodious expression of Vedanta philosophy It illustrates Vasudev's solipsistic tendencies. This lyric too is a purple patch in the brilliant work of devotional art

In the concluding part of Lav-Kush charita, there are two conversational lyrics in which Rama and Sita express their grievances against each other. These lyrics are a charming depiction of the painless painful connubial experiences and form an ingratiating feature of the superb literary transcreation.

Lalleshwari and Nund Rishi are two most significant names in mediaeval Kashmiri poetry But the mystic philosopher transparently dominates and overshadows the literary artist in each one of them. They represent the mediaeval phenomenon in which poetry was the handmaiden of philosophy. The poems of Lalleshwari and Nund Rishi are mostly abstruse mystical and metaphysical musings. In Kashmiri literature, the first attempts at disentangling poetry from philosophy were made by Habba Khatoon. She depicts the feelings and sentiments of common people in her poetry.

Habba Khatoon was a descendant of one of the Muslim religious scholars who came to Kashmir with Shah-I-Hamdan. The rich tradition of Persian poetry inspired her to perform thematic and structural experimentations in Kashmiri verse. This view is strongly supported by Prof Muhib-ul-Hassan in his Sultans of Kashmir. There is evidence in her poetry that she was initially married to certain Kamaal, one of her own clan, living in Jamalata. After the failure of this marriage her look after was entrusted to certain Abdullah Rather living in the present day Pulwama district Habba Khatoon's subsequent marriage with Yusuf Shah Chak provided her opportunities for fostering and exhibiting her inherent talents and capacities.

Historical Habba Khatoon is an entirely different person from the Habba Khatoon of romantic imagination. She was the first conscious literary artist who adopted Kashmiri language as a medium for communication of common mundane experiences. At a later date we observe Arni Maal following the tradition established by Habba Khatoon. Arni Maal was born and bred up in a highly cultured Kashmiri family She was married to Bhawani Prashad Kachroo, one of the most significant Kashmiri contributors to Persian verse. In this rich literary atmosphere Arni Maal adopted the Kashmiri language as a medium for the poetic expression of her intimate mundane experiences. These experiences, though intimately personal, are universal in essence. Arni Maal too reveals very little interest in mystical and metaphysical matters. She is a poet of common human sorrows and joys,

The effort towards disentangling Kashmiri poetry from philosophy is continued by Prakash Ram Bhatt in the early nineteenth century In his Ramayana, Prakash Bhatt adopts Ramayanic lore merely as a scaffolding. He is, in reality, interested in depicting the sorrows and joys of common Kashmiris. He is not deeply interested in abstruse ontological and mystical problems. He is a fascinating verbal painter of his contemporary Kashmiri Hindu life. Habba Khatoon, Arni Maal and Prakash Ram Bhatt made pioneering efforts for disentangling Kashmiri poetry from abstruse philosophical speculations. They represent three mile-stones in the progress of Kashmiri poetry from medievalism to modernism.

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Courtesy:- M.L.. Nakhasi and 1996 November koshur Samachar