Bolara Baburao‘s Vagdevi, published in 1905,
deals entirely with the goings on in a religious ‘matha’ or monastery. The
novel is set in the Kumudapura monastery, whose head Chanchalanetra Swami (the
name itself is ironic and symbolic of the nature of the man; ‘Chanchalanetra‘
means ‘restless eyes‘ or ‘roving eyes‘), supposed to remain celibate, is
enamoured by Vagdevi‘s beauty and contrives to bring her into the monastery.
The poverty stricken parents of Vagdevi, aware of the implications, override
her reluctance and convince her of the benefits of moving into the monastery.
Chanchalanetra‘s lust and her parents‘ greed
force Vagdevi to accede to the repeated entreaties of Chanchalanetra and the
entire family shifts to the monastery. Since
the monastery is the moral guardian of the society and its religious affairs,
it wields a lot of power and wealth. Vagdevi‘s
parents are more enticed by the power they could wield if their daughter
becomes the beloved of Chanchalanetra, than their daughter‘s honour and
welfare. Vagdevi‘s husband, a slothful
creature, is most satisfied as long he has enough to eat and he does not have
any say in the entire show. In fact, he
is genuinely happy that he can now eat to his heart‘s content at the expense of
his wife.
A number of sub-plots
intersperse the main narrative involving a number of people from all walks of
life. As these people are in some way
connected with the monastery, a number of shady dealings involving them and the
monastery are also portrayed. The focus
in this novel is more on maintaining the sanctity of places of religion and
worship.
Ideas of reform do not seem to
influence this world, but, in terms of satire, the tone in Vagdevi is
much more incisive than in Gulvadi Venkatarao‘s novels. The story which begins
in a small social unit called Kumudapura slowly spreads across all social units
and layers. Vedavyasa, tired of
Chanchalanetra‘s misdeeds, meets the four religious heads around Kumudapura and
seeks their help. When no help comes
forth, he meets Thimmayya, the ‘peshkar‘ of that state. After this he meets a series of officials and
goes right up to the king, where he ultimately gets justice. Bolara Baburao, in his sharp social critique,
stands at every level of society, describes the scene there, and seems to
reflect how contemporary Hindu society at every level is filled and rotting
with irreligiosity, debauchery and greed. Baburao seems to ask how such a society can be
healthy.
Vagdevi was published in 1905 by Kannada Prapancha
Prakashana, Mangalore. If I am not
mistaken, a second edition appeared in the 1950s or 60s. The Directorate of Kannada and Culture,
Government of Karnataka, brought out the third edition in 1985, as part of a package
of books published to commemorate the World Kannada Conference.
Vasantha Prakashana,
Bangalore, recently published the 4th edition of Vagdevi. This edition is what researchers might call a
‘scholarly edition,’ with a solid introduction by T. P. Ashoka, a brief
biography of Bolara Baburao, and overall good production values. It was in this edition that I was able to
glean some information about the author.
Bolara Baburao was born in
1848 in Bolara, Mangalore. He attended
the Basel Mission School in Mangalore, and thereafter, completed his FA (First
Arts) from Presidency College, Madras. His
first job was as a clerk in the District Collector’s office in Dakshina Kannada. He went on to serve as English Head Clerk, Deputy
Tahsildar at Karkala and Hosadurga, and then as Tahsildar in Kundapura, Udipi,
Puttur, and Kasargod. Before he retired
as Tahsildar of Mangalore, Bolara Baburao was the Town Magistrate in Mangalore. After retirement, he served as President of
the Second Division Bench Magistrate’s Court. He was also one of the prime movers behind the
establishment of Canara Public Conveyance in 1914.
Bolara Baburao wrote two more
books, Shivaleelamrita and Bhakta Mahime.
He also wrote a number of articles in prominent periodicals of the time. He passed away in 1919 at the age of 71.
No comments:
Post a Comment