Toru Dutt

by Dr. Sheeba Azhar

  I shall try

  The highest good, the loftiest place to win

  Which the whole world deemes priceless and desires.37

  After making this resolution, he left his father’s palace and went to the woods to live among the hermit. Dhruva fulfilled his resolve by finding ‘the highest heavens’ where he still ‘shines a star’ and where men see him in their nightly walk.. Renunciation of all desires is regarded to be essential for eternal peace in Hinduism. Dhruva renounced the position of worldly power for the sake of spiritual greatness.

  Buttoo :

  Buttoo, another ballad of this volume chosen from the 132nd Canto of Adiparva of the Mahabharata, is a popular description of one of the episode of that epic. For its hero, it has a lowborn hunter’s son who aspires to study archery in the gurukul of Dronacharjya, the great master of magic and archery. On being questioned the young man ‘with kindling eyes’, disclosed his name caste or rank and parentage. He told the master that he knew no fear in the world. At this the great master, make fun of him who was surrounded by the royal pupils, unleashed a magic arrow that felled Buttoo to the ground amid the laughter and scorn of royal youths. But the boy was not be put off, his determination knew no bounds. He left the place and decided to get excellence in the art of archery and to prove that real worth is free of caste and rank and came of gifts well used.

  He determined to live in a beautiful retreat and learn nature’s secret ‘from beast, and fish, and birds with wings, and rock, and stream and leaves and fern’.38 Near his hut, under a tree Butttoo installed a clay idol of Dronacharjya that he worshipped as his Guru. Daily morning and evening, he put flowers and natural perfumes in front of this image and took self-lessons in the art of bow and arrow.

  The talented young Buttoo soon acquired the perfection in archery by his steadfastness of heart and will, and by his constant prayer and by his patience ‘to confront and dare’. He became adept in the art of archery by his own God gifted wondrous might. In spite of all this he attributed his success to his Guru Dronacharjya. There was no bitterness and malice in his heart for him. He was quiet humble, placable and modest even at that time.

  He can handle effectively even the magic shaft a privilege reserved for Arjuna only by the great master. Buttoo’s miraculous achievements in archery makes Arjuna jealous of him and in great resentment, Arjuna sought out Dronacharjya, who had promised not to pass on the knowledge about the magic shaft to anyone else and accused him of treachery. But the master re-assured Arjuna, and accompanied him to the hut of Buttoo, where they saw a human statue and a youth in the dim forest.

  On being questioned, Buttoo narrated the story of his rejection of his solitary, unrelenting pursuit of knowledge and of his subsequent success, modestly avowing still that he was a pupil of Dronacharjya, the source of his inspiration. On hearing this, Dronacharjya enquired if he were willing to yield him, as master, a pupil’s due- obedience. (It is customary in India to give to the Guru whatever he demands as his fees-Guru Dakshina, for the knowledge the Guru has given to the disciple.)

  He made a promise to give him all that he wants so long as he had ‘breath and life’. This is a very touching and pathetic incidence in the Mahabharata. He has taken at his word, though with evident unwillingness on Dronacharjya’s part. The master, having given promise to Arjuna, demanded his due: ‘Give me, O youth, thy right hand thumb’. Buttoo’s loyalty did not waver even at this, unruffled and in a moment the sharp knife severed the thumb, undoing his life work. Still, there was no sign of repentance on his face and he was satisfied on his deed. The master was profoundly touched by the matchless loyalty of the pupil, and before he left he blessed Buttoo :

  Fame,

  Shall sound thy praise from sea to sea,

  And men shall ever link thy name

  With Self help, Truth and Modesty.39

  In Indian, Mythology Buttoo occupies an important place as someone who exemplifies the nature of Guru Dakshina tradition of teaching in India, showing extreme reverence for his Guru.

  Harihar Das observed: All through the poem we have been carefully prepared for Buttoo’s reverent devotion to Dronacharjya, who had aroused in the boy an instinct almost of worship. Under the circumstances, the reader is a little jarred by the unexpectedness of the description of Buttoo’s attitude at the crucial moment of his test for obedience:

  There was no tear in Buttoo’s eye,

  He left the matter with his God.40

  Noted critic Dr. A.N.Dwivedi in this context remarks: “But this attitude is not unexpected since it is only normal human behavior to react thus to a demand which revealed nothing but a spirit of mean vengeance. The teacher in Dronacharjya failed the moment he demanded Buttoo’s thumb. The pupil was now disillusioned, for he now realized that the man of his worship was incapable of rising above petty considerations. For him it was a shock too deep for tears. It is, however, doubtless that politics was held above morality in those days. Buttoo gave a superb example of patience and faithfulness by leaving the entire matter to his God, who alone was competent to judge the right from the wrong”.41

  Sindhu :

  Next legend Sindhu, extracted from the Ramayana, deals with the eternal theme of parental love. Sindhu was an ideal son in his cheerful service of his argumentative, rigorous parents. All the peevishness of old age was met by patience and sweetness on his part, for he loved to be ‘their slave’. He was so dear to his parents ‘that none his place might fill’. They were living in full peace in a small and rude cottage.

  He went to fetch water from the river for his thirsty parents and was struck by mistake, with an arrow shot by the King Dasaratha. The king filled with remorse tried his best to save Sindhu but in vain. He was afraid of a ‘Brahmin’s dying curse’. Opening his eyes, Sindhu read the king’s fear and anguish on his face and comforted him with the assurance that he knew the deed was done unintentionally. Sindhu told him that he accepted his fate as his destiny for a sin once committed, when he had killed one of a pair of doves that rested in a peepul tree. He revealed to the king that the curse of blood is on him now as ‘blood calls for red blood still’. For his own part he was not sad to die but his heart was filled with dismay for his helpless parents. At last, he urges the king to carry the pitcher down the steep lane to the hut among the trees. ‘He pointed – ceased – then sudden died’.42

  The king took up the corpse and the pitcher slowly went towards the hut. With great sorrow and heavy heart, he narrated the unfortunate event that led to the sad death of their son. It was a big set back for the old and helpless parents. Miserable and desolate as they were, requested him to guide them to their bed of moss, for life had become meaningless for them. The King guides them where they desired, and watched beside them until the feeble flame of life flickered out. Before his death the old Muni had predicted that, Dasarath too, should one day die, ‘for a son’s untimely loss’ with broken heart. There after all the three dead bodies were brought to the river Sarayu, where the funeral rites were performed with royal pomp. In due course of time, the old Muni’s prediction came true.

  Prahlad :

  The next ballad Prahlad taken from the Mahabharata, is the description of a boy’s constant devotion to god, in face of bitter opposition and merciless cruelty at the hands of his tyrant father Heerun Kasyapu ‘a terror both of gods and men’. His audacity reached to it’s maximum point when he tore the ‘Vedas’ in shreds, put a ban on sacrifices and all religious rites and rituals, assassinated holy Brahmins cruelly and ordered that all men should bow down and worship him and him alone. The small remnant of Brahmins and pundits fled to the woods and caves and there in secret carried on the worship of the gods, who they hoped would in due time lighten their sufferings.

  Time passed quickly, and brought four children who made his castle full of delight and sunshine happiness. The tyrant father felt proud to see them. He took some trouble to choose for them a suitable tutor. This tutor Sonda Marco by name was famed for his experience and
intelligence, for he knew how ‘to trim his sail and veer his bark’ to any winds that blew. The children were sent to him to be taught all they needed to know, but Sonda Marco was strictly not allowed to teach them anything ‘of the soul, of vows and prayers, religious rites and rituals or of the God who control all these things’.

  Within a very short time, all the boys got the education but Prahlad was the most attentive and thoughtful among them. One day the tutor heard Prahlad discussing forbidden themes among the boys ‘as if his inmost heart was stirred, and he of truth from heaven had gleams’. Sonda Marco, in his fright, privately ordered him not to think of such subjects. He told him that there is no god except the King as he is the only ruler of the world. Again he warned him that his speech would create blunder, but the pupil remained firm in his faith. Heerun Kasyapu faced a strong challenge to his autocracy, in his own kingdom. Prahlad, a contrast to his father in conduct, does not like his irreligious and unholy attitude. He however remained firm in his conviction and boldly declared:

  The gods who made us are the life

  Of living creatures, small and great;

  We see them not, but space is rife

  With their bright presence and their state

  They are the parents of us all,

  ’Tis they create, sustain, redeem

  Heaven earth and hell, they hold in thrall

  And shall we these high gods blaspheme? 43

  King Heerun Kasyapu could not tolerate this rudeness from his own son; he lost his temper and ordered the Captain of the lifeguards to take the adamant boy to a dungeon cell where he was to await the executioner. Soon the report came to the king that the sword had turned down to do its work. Immediately the king called up a meeting of the council and the failure of the sword was attributed to some magic power exercised by Prahlad. It was decided that the boy be thrown down a rock face or burial alive in sand. But these and several other devices failed to compass the prince’s death. Once again, Prahlad was called to the court. The proud father flung a challenge to the gods hearing which Prahlad revealed a newly learnt truth:

  I fear not fire, I fear not sword,

  All dangers, father, I can dare;

  Alone, I can confront a horde,

  For oh! My God is everywhere! 44

  The king disdainfully enquired whether God was in the crystal pillar against which he leaned. Prahlad replied in affirmative. Further enraged, Heerun Kasyapu knocked down, a piller. Lord Vishnu then emerged as a half lion, half man from the piller. With a horrible roar he struck the tyrant on the helm and ripped him down, and hailed Prahlad as king of all realms and then vanished in a thunderclap. Here we find another instance of that reference to popular and prior legends, which is frequent in Bhagvata Purana. The man-lion Avatara is presented here in good detail.

  The trumpets rang loudly and the people wildly acclaimed their sovereignty and their echo, ‘Kings Rule for us and in our name’ sound from hill to hill. Toru Dutt concludes this ballad with these words:

  Tyrants of every age and clime

  Remember this, – that awful shape

  Shall startle you when comes the time,

  And send its voice from cape to cape.

  As human people suffer pain,

  But oh, the lion strength is theirs,

  Woe to the king when galls the chain!

  Woe, woe, their fury when he dares! 45

  The apostrophe shows Toru’s inclination towards didacticism. The ballad contains, too, a good picture of the Eastern tyrant, fearless in his profanity, as his son was in his piety. Eastern, too, is the climax wherein the tyrant is miraculously struck dead by the direct intervention of the gods, and his son declared king in his stead.

  Part-2

  Sita :

  The last legend of this volume is Sita. The story is taken from the forty-eight section of Uttarkandam of Ramayana. It is very compact and short in length. It describes a scene that was very common in Toru’s childhood when she and her brother and sister used to gather near their mother in the twilight and listen to the old, sad story of Sita’s sufferings at the hands of Rama. It is quite clear that Rama’s attitude towards Sita was not fair. After her exile, Sita used to live in a dense forest, which is hardly ever visited by the sunlight and in the centre of that forest, there is a clear spot completely covered up with gigantic flowers on creepers that embrace tall trees. White swans were seen gliding on a quiet clear lake while the peacock rises, ‘whirring from the brake,’ and there was a herd of wild deer across the open space of the forest. The golden colour of the forest corn gleams in the distance, where the blue smoke rises lightly form the altars near the dwelling of Valmiki the ‘poet -anchorite’. This is the background of the poem.

  Toru Dutt has made a fine use of the classical tradition, myths and legends of olden days in her Ancient Ballads. Toru is out and out an Indian in this book. There are some beautiful scenes and sights of the native land in it. The ballads are soaked in Hindu ideals and sentiments and give a vibrant picture of Indian life and customs. The sententious remarks interspersed in the ballads suggest Toru’s familiarity with the best expositions of the Hindu view of life.

  As far as Hindu view of life is concerned, is primarily based on the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Gita and the Purana. The two great epics – The Ramayana and the Mahabharata – are an essential part of Hinduism. Indian philosophers have always advocated a negative outlook to human life and God. It is this, which distinguishes Hindu thoughts from Western thoughts. In this context, one is tempted to quote Albert Schwitzer, “The Indian Aryans show an inclination to world and life negation, the Iranian–Persian and the European Aryans leans to world and life affirmation. The difference of attitude had its origin in events and these are reflected in thought”46 By the European Aryans what Mr. Schweitzer means is the people living in Europe or Christians.

  The prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include Dharma (ethics), Samsara (the continuing cycle of birth, life, death and rebirth), Karma (action and subsequent reaction), Moksha (liberation from sansara) and the various Yogas (paths or practice). In simple words pessimism, suffering, disinterestedness, and other worldliness, the practice of yoga, renunciation, and spiritual discipline are the key factors of Hinduism. One can find out all these themes in the ballads and legends of Toru Dutt.

  Perhaps the most clear and coherent expression of Vedantism, that there is only one God and that this world is as flimsy and transitional as a shadow–is to be found in Savitri. The protagonist of the legend Savitri defines this world as under:

  I know that in this transient world

  All is delusion, – nothing true;47

  I know its shows are mists unfurled

  To please and vanish. To renew

  Its bubble joys, be magic bound

  In Maya’s network frail and fair,

  Is not my aim! The gladsome sound

  Of husband, brother, friend, is air

  To such as know that all must die,

  And that at last the time must come,

  When eye shall speak no more to eye

  And love cry, - Lo, this is my sum.48

  These lines have maturity and a depth of thought rarely to be found in Toru’s poetry. The same poem presents another maxim :

  I know in such a world as this

  No one can gain his heart’s desire,

  Or pass the years in perfect bliss!

  Like gold we must be tried by fire. 49

  Another ballad Buttoo is also full of Vedantic ideas. Buttoo reveals his firm desires to achieve a unique skill in archery in this manner:

  And I shall do my best to gain

  The science that man will not teach,

  For life is as a shadow vain,

  Until the utmost goal we reach

  To which the soul points. I shall try

  To realize my waking dream,

  And what if I should chance to die?

  None miss one bubble from a stream.50 (p-115)

  Lines 3, 7
and 8 in the above passage are especially remarkable for Vedantic thought. In the legend of Prahlad, once again we get a glimpse of Vedantic philosophy, when Prahlad asserts that there is one God and that :

  I fear not fire, I fear not sword,

  All dangers, father, I can dare;

  Alone, I can confront a horde,

  For oh! My God is everywhere! 51

  Another Hindu philosophy is to be had in the following lines of Savitri :

  The sun runs on its wonted course,

  The earth its plenteous treasure yields,

  All for their sake, and by the force

  Their prayer united ever wields.52

  In the same way – the reference of the ‘doleful lake’ in ballad Savitri is also noteworthy. The Hindus believe that the soul of a dead person has to pass through joyous or sorrowful places according to his deed or Karma. Again we find a reference from ‘Upanishad’ in the following lines of Savitri:

  And then the inner man was tied

  The soul no bigger than the thumb.53

  The Upanishad describe that individual soul or inner man (Jivatma) is as a mere thumb lodged in the heart of man.54

  In the legend of Prahlad the poet highlights the victory of good over evil. Prahlad explained the Hindu concept of true wisdom and knowledge in reply to his tutor Sonda Marco:

  That is true knowledge which can make

  Us mortals saintlike, holy, pure,

  The strange thirst of the spirit slake

  And strengthen suffering to endure.55

  In the same ballad at one place Prahlad questions:

  Is death annihilation?

  And he himself gives the answer:

  No.

  New world will open my view

  When prosecuted hence I go

  The right is right, – the true is true.56

  Very famous saying of Gita is placed here. Death does not annihilate human beings since their souls are immortal, unchanging, omnipresent, static and imperishable.57 In this ballad, there are references to the Brahmins (P-143), the holy Vedas (P-143-144) and the pundits (P-144). The speeches of the youthful Prahlad are full of energy and faith. His father inquired about God, his dwelling, his shape and his strength. Though Prahlad was somehow confused, still he replies firmly: