Dr. A. N. Jha writes: “It is in her letters that Toru spoke out and laid bare her soul: her deep affection for England; her passion for her garden-house, its flower and fruits and birds; her absorption in Sanskritic studies; and like the refrain of a tragic chorus, her courageous hope that she would triumph over illness and disease”. 41
Toru made a study of Classical Sanskrit literature, and her letters reveal the courses that she undertook in it with assiduity. More than anything else what constantly concerns her is her illness, which she felt would prove fatal for her as it had proved for her sister Aru, and despite that she managed to remain bright and cheerful, planning for future, refusing to be cast down. Repeatedly she has to tell the tales of her lungs, through her letters.
The letters also reveal Toru’s scholarly bent of mind. There are constant records of the arrival of books containing the latest French literature. She showed a fine discriminating taste in the selection of her books. Her reading is not confined to French literature alone; Elizabeth Browning, the Bronte’s, Byron, Thackeray, Coleridge, Tennyson, Carlyle are frequently referred to in her letters.
Here and there, we find criticism of society. Her letters also reveal her keen interest in contemporary events, both at home and abroad. She has her own opinion on the Lieutenant Governor’s fitness for his post, on careers for Indians on sanitation, on Victor Hugo’s speech for the liberation of the French communists, on the Government of Turkey, Art, the Civil Service examination, on the education of Indian girls, and an the visit of the Prince of Wales to India.
Toru also wrote quite a few letters to the French authoress, Mlle. Clarisse Bader. She entered into correspondence with Bader in order to obtain her permission for translating her ‘La Femme dons I’ Inde Antique’, which was readily granted. About her letter to Mlle Bader, Sir Edmond Gosse wrote in his memoir. “These simple and pathetic words, in which the dying poetess pours out her heart to the one friend she had and that one gained too late, seem as touching and as beautiful as any strain of Marceline Valmore’s immortal verse. In English poetry, I do not remember anything that exactly parallels their resigned melancholy.”42The correspondence ensuing there from ripened into a warm friendship between minds, which though widely separated by race and language, were united by similarity of sentiments.
Both writers had never met, but Toru’s letter show to borrow Fr. Carleton’s phrase “How real and beautiful pen – friendship can be”. Mlle Bader appreciates the wonderful talent of this Indian songbird. She gave sympathetic replies to her letters and queries.
The best possible summary of Toru’s character as revealed in her letters is given by Mlle Bader when she remarks:
Her letters revealed a frankness, sensibility and charming goodness and simplicity, which endeared her to me and showed me the native qualities of the Hindu woman developed and transformed by the Christian civilization of Europe.43
The letters are indeed, the invaluable assets of the literary world and a study of Toru Dutt would remain incomplete and injudicious without considering them.
In addition to these works and letters, Dutt sisters, as reported by Govin Chunder in his Prefatory Memoir, kept diaries of their travels in Europe. It is a pity that no portion of these diaries has ever been published, and it is doubtful that they can now ever be traced. No doubt, the diaries would have revealed some valuable – information about that period of their lives, of which so little is known. Added to this is yet another unfortunate fact that all the letters Toru wrote home from France and England were destroyed.
Having gained so much popularity with what she left behind, one wonders what greatness she would have achieved if given more time. Alternatively, would her talent and keen scholarship have diminished? Was she a brilliant prodigy extinguished too soon or would she, if she had lived longer, have lost the freshness of youth, which her writings evinced up to the age of twenty-one? As it is, her output is too trivial to class her among the great writers. In judging Toru, one always thinks of her whole life, with its tragedies and brief years, her poetry and scholarship as part of a whole poem. Her letters and friendships also contribute to this assessment, for her life and her work cannot be separated. Her poems alone, without being associated with her life, may not have stood the test of time but the two together certainly presented a young woman of exceptional work. One could almost wonder with Winfred Owen, whether Toru’s poetry is in the pity of her life.
References :
Harihar Das’s Life and Letters of Toru Dutt, (Oxford University Press, London, 1921),
Ibid,
Ibid.
Ibid.
A.N.Dwivedi, Toru Dutt, (Arnold Heinemann Publication, New Delhi 1977),
Quoted by P.C. Kotoky, Indo-English Poetry, (The University Press, Gauhati, 1969),
Toru Dutt, A Sheaf Gleaned in French Fields, (Kegan Paul & Co. London, 1880),
Ibid.
A.N.Dwivedi, Toru Dutt,
Edmond Gosse, ‘Introductory Memoir’, Ancient Ballads,
Dipendranath Mitra, The Writings of Toru Dutt, Indian Litt.ix, No.2 (April-June 1966),
Toru Dutt, Bianca, or the Young Spanish Maiden, Chapter 1, quoted from the Bengal Magazine, vi (August 1877-July 1878),
Harihar Das, LLTD,
Ibid.
The Saturday Review, August 28, 1874
Edmund Gosse, ‘Introductory Memoir’, Ancient Ballads, p-xxii
Padmini Sen Gupta, Toru Dutt,
Harihar Das, LLTD
P.C.Kotoky, Indo-English Poetry,
A.N.Dwivedi, Toru Dutt, Indian Writers Series,
Ibid.
Toru Dutt, Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan, ed. Amarnath Jha, (Kitabistan, Allahabad, 1969),
Ibid,
Ibid,
Edmund Gosse, ‘Introductory Memoir’, Ancient Ballads,
Ancient Ballads,
B. K.Talookdar, The Poetry of Toru Dutt; (Journal of the University of Bombay), Part-6,
Edmund Gosse, ‘Introductory Memoir’, Ancient Ballads, p-xxii
K. R. S. Iyengar, Indian Contribution to English Literature, (Karnataka Publishing House, Bombay),
Ancient Ballads,
E. J.Thompson-‘Supplementary Review’, LLTD, ed.Harihar Das,
Idem.
Ancient Ballads,
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid.
Ibid,
R. Parthasarathy, Ten Twentieth Century Indian Poets, (Oxford Publication, New Delhi),
Alokranjan Das Gupta, This Fragile Exotic Blossom of Songs,
AmarNatha Jha, ‘Introductory Memoir’, Ancient Ballads,
Edmund Gosse, ‘Introductory Memoir’, Ancient Ballads,
Quoted in LLTD,
03. Myths And Legends
Part-1
Ancient India was a land of myths and legends that are very intriguing and enlightening in the philosophical and spiritual knowledge. The poet of the earlier generation set out to offer an image of India and share his or her cultural heritage with his or her riders through the device of myths and legends.
Myths are narratives about divine or heroic beings, arranged in a coherent system, passed down traditionally and linked to the spiritual or religious life of a community. In the same way the term Hindu Mythology, is used by Western scholars for a large body of Indian literature that deals with the lives and times of legendary personalities, deities and divine incarnations on earth interspersed with often large section of philosophical and ethical discourse. It must be noted that many of the topic that fall under the category of Hindu mythology are cherished beliefs of Hindus.
The native Indian temperament, pantheistic in its make up evinced the love of nature, myths and legends typical of Hindu philosophy. As far as Toru is concerned, she was anxious for the preservation and interpretation of Hindu myths and legends and thus tried to expound the multidimensionality of the Hindu view of life.
Toru respected the gods of ancient India, and there is a deep rever
ence for an old faith in her heart. Toru’s Christian faith does not conflict with her fascination for the deep magic of Hindu religion and epics. She had long been in search of roots and ultimately found them in the ancient myths and legends of her land. She agreeably responded to the heartbeats of the antique racial tradition.
In one of her letters to Mary Martin, Toru exclaimed: ‘How grand, how sublime, how pathetic, our legends are! The legend of Nala and Damayanti, that of Savitri, who followed ‘Yama’ (Pluto of the Heathen) even to the lower regions, and by her wisdom, her constancy, her love, made him gave back to her dead husband alive; the legend of Sacountala and Douchmanta; that of Queen Gandhari, who because her husband was blind, put a band on her own eyes, thus renouncing to enjoy a privilege which nature had denied her husband. Last, but not least, the grand legend of Ram and Sita.1
As a child, she had heard the stories of the Hindu epics and Puranas, stories of mystery and miracle from her parents. Later exploration in the original Sanskrit had given a keener poetic edge still to the stories and the legends. The old ballads, full of heroism and pathos, provided her a chance to have links with the living past of India and she cared not if Christian or septic raised their finger against her attitude.
The interesting aspect of these ballads and legends of Indian Mythology is that they are usually meant to convey subtle facts, rules and maxims to guide our daily life. These stories, which form the backbone of Indian mythology, are a great medium for people, especially parents, to inculcate interest in Indian culture in the younger generation and to impart values of Indian culture to them. From the very beginning, the children live with these heroes and heroines and neither maturity nor sophistication does much to lesson the hold of these tales on our imagination.
Toru Dutt tries to demystify the myths, which used to prevail in Indian Mythology. It was thus with a very sure instinct that Toru sought in these deathless stories the right material for the expression of her own maturing poetic powers.2 The stories Toru chose were quite well known and spoke of an ancient culture and heritage as traditional as the Greek legends. Toru herself commented – “The Sanskrit is as old and as great a language as the Greek”. Toru also had the advantage on the writers of today as being among the first to be able to present Sanskrit themes to a foreign world.3
Ancient Ballads shows how Toru’s intellect while thoroughly assimilating the spirit of French and English literatures found eventually its truest expression in Sanskrit literature. The stories are drawn from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata and from the Vishnu Purana; a wonderful piece containing many legends of kings and sages. These classics embody the highest ideals of culture and civilization in Ancient India. The works of Sir Edwin Arnold and Sir Alfred Lyall created interest in and enthusiasm for the mysterious East in the minds of the western readers through the medium of English verse, but it was Toru’s destiny to be the first of her sex to interpret the soul of India to the west through her ballads.
No doubt, Hindu sentiments and traditions, is the focal point of Toru’s ballads. As such, Toru Dutt has served her motherland and its original tongue in the truest sense. C.F. Andrews is correct in his pronouncement: “Just as Greek and Roman poetry have become the classics of Christian Europe and have not been put under a ban because pagan mythology is mingled with them so the ancient Sanskrit literature of India will remain the classics of the land and its stories will be cherished in future ages by Christian. To Toru Dutt such an assimilation of the best of life of India to Christianity came as a natural instinct. Her passionate love for the traditions of her country inherited from her mother in no way militated against her Christian faith”. 4
Let us take the stories of Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan in the context of Myths and legends. Savitri, the first legend of the volume, is in essence a mythological story taken from the Mahabharata, the great Indian epic. It is an interpretation of life as found in ancient India. It is the longest and the most ambitious piece translated from five cantos between 293 and 297 in the second section of Vanaparva of the Mahabharata. Savitri, is one of the most beautiful legends in the Mahabharata, for it describes in an impressive language the persistence with which Savitri pleads with Death to restore her husbands life. Her pure and deep love for Satyavan is sufficient to overcome all obstacles. It never fails in its appeal to the heart of India. The constancy of the heroine, her purity and her extraordinary devotion to her husband are still considered as the highest standard of conjugal love today, 5 and hence Indian parents bless their daughters “Be thou like her; in heart and head’. 6 The story is narrated in an interesting manner and it is with breathless anxiety that the reader expect the final victory of Savitri.
The ballad is divided in five parts. In the first part, we get information about Savitri’s birth and parentage, her unusual grace and her falling in love with Satyavan, her parents and Narad Muni’s approval of her marriage with the youth of her heart. In the second we have Savitri’s marriage with Satyavan, her going to the hermitage, her constant devotion to gods and goddesses by keeping fasts and vigils and by offering prayers, Satyavan’s departure for the forest along with Savitri and the acute pain in Satyavan’s head. In the third, the session in deaths court is shown and the decision of Yama to go for the soul of Satyavan is communicated. In the fourth, we are told about Yama’s arrival on the death scene, some Satyavan’s death proper, Savitri’s constant following of Yama and the philosophical discussions of Savitri which pleases Yama so much that he grants three boons, including Satyavan’s life to her. In the fifth, we learn about Satyavan’s regaining of consciousness, his pleasant talk with his wife, their return to the hermitage and their happy domestic life.
It is time to make a detailed analysis of the legend of Savitri and its varied aspects related to Hindu myths and legends.
Savitri the only child of Madra’s prudent king lived in “those far – off primeval days of Indian history when women were not “pent in closed zenanas”. She was beautiful in face and form, sunny and sweet of nature like the maid of ‘Browning’s ‘Pippa passes’. Her presence was a benediction for all around her. To her parents she was an ‘invaluable boon’. Her nature was as pure and candid as snow.
As Savitri grew up, her father contemplates anxiously over the question of her marriage, but could think of no suitable match. At last, the crucial matter of marriage was left to God to guide Savitri to make choice for herself.
Months passed and one summer morning, Savitri went through the cornfields on her way to the hermitage and saw some young men intent on sport. She was attracted towards one of a graceful young man among them who was ‘tall and lithe’ and ‘royal in port, so frank and noble’. In an instance Savitri made her choice, reaching the hermitage; she enquired about the youth and learnt that his name was, Satyavan, son of Dyoumatsen, the former king of Salva, who had been deposed by his enemies and now old and blind, lived with his queen and only son as a hermit. Savitri returned home with an unusual happiness. She quickly expressed her new feeling to her mother and not long after this Narad Muni, for whom nothing was a ‘sealed book’ came to the palace. Savitri’s father explained the great sage his own confusion regarding the wisdom of his daughter’s choice. To his disappointment, Muni became strongly troubled and after repeated requests, he declared that Satyavan was doomed to die within a year.
Narad tried to persuade Savitri to choose another husband, which she steadfastly refused to do, and with grave dignity declared:
Once and once only, all submit
To Destiny – ‘tis God’s command;
Once, and once only, have I given?
My heart and faith – ‘tis past recall;
With conscience none have ever striven,
And none may strive, without a fall 7
She refused to change her decision at any cost. At last Nard had to relent as the courage of the beautiful maid touched his heart. Marriage was celebrated with great pomp and pleasure. Savitri was greeted by the citizens of Madra, and ble
ssed by all in a storm of sound. Savitri came to her new abode, a hut made of mud and grass. Satyavan’s parents received the bride with warmth and welcome.
Savitri proved a successful wife doing her domestic work everyday satisfactorily and without any grudge, but she was troubled inwardly by the remembrance of Narad’s prophecy. Savitri devoted her attention more and more to prayers, fasts and vigils. She used to feed the Brahmins and the birds. At last the fateful day arrived. Savitri intensified her prayers. The day passed peacefully. She was perplexed:
To day – to day – it will be seen
Which shall be victor, Death or Love!8
When the evening drew in Satyavan expressed his desire to go to the jungle to collect fruit and flower and return in time and a strange foreboding impelled Savitri to follow him. While cutting the branches of a tree, Satyavan felt an acute headache. With unique calm Savitri supported her dying husband and for hours they remained there looking ‘like statues magic bound’.
In the meantime, a sense of anxiety started to prevail in the court of Death, for prince Satyavan had not yet arrived. The messengers of Death could not fulfill their mission, for one whose radiance around prevented the approach of any ‘soul of evil’ protected Satyavan. Death therefore decided to go personally for Satyavan’s soul.
As Savitri still sat beside her dying husband, she saw a stronger slowly glide beneath the boughs, with a crown on his head and a scarlet vestment on his dark skin Savitri got up and asked about her errand. Death revealed his purpose to her:
And I am come myself to take,
Thy husband from this earth away.9
After completing his job, Yama departed with the soul of Satyavan.
Savitri softly laid down the corpse of Satyavan on the ground and quickly ran after the God of Death, unmindful of Death’s warning to carry out the funeral rites and sacrifices enjoined by the sacred writings. She pleaded Yama to take her too along with him to the land of dead. With firm determination she declared that she must remain with her husband in woe and weal, whether he went somewhere on his own or whether he was carried by some one else. Here the true character of an Indian wife is presented without any doubt.
Toru Dutt Page 6