Page 278 - DENG201_ENGLISH_II

English - II

Notes There is an evolution in the character of Chitra which can be traced from dream to reality and the
transition from the fire of flowery spring to the mellow fruitfulness of autumn. We find in her, as in
Kalidasa’s Abhigyanshakuntalam, the flowers of spring and the fruits of autumn. She advances from
the paradise of sensual rapture to the ecstasy of illumination and the sustaining delight of wisdom.
She has certainly lost one paradise, but she has gained another, which is the real paradise where
woman holds undisputed sovereignty as a devoted wife and mother.
Chitra is the princess of Manipur. She is brought up as a warrior. When she glances at Arjuna in his
ascetic robes for the first time, she becomes conscious of the fact or reality of her being a woman. She
considers that she is beautiful enough to win his heart. She woos Arjuna but in vain, for he rejects her
on the ground of his vow of celibacy. She does not abandon her love for she is not the kind of woman
who nourishes her despair in lonely silence feeding it with nightly tears and covering it with the
daily patient smile. In fact, Tagore has pointed out that the flower of her desire refuses to droop
before it has been ripened into a fruit. She finds:
It is the labour of a life-time to make one’s true self fully known and honoured.
She consequently chooses the easy path of illusion, i.e., the acquired dazzle of beauty bestowed on
her by the gods, Madana (god of Love) and Vasanta (god of Spring). In this role she fascinates and
wins the heart of Arjuna who kneels down at Chitra’s feet and begs for her love. He says:
You alone are perfect; you are the wealth of the world, the end of all poverty, the goal of all efforts,
the one woman!
From this point in the drama, we tread on the path of transition as Chitra through experience makes
an effort to obtain self-knowledge. Gradually she realizes:
Surely, this cannot be love, this is not man’s highest homage to woman! Alas that this frail disguise,
the body, should make one blind to the light of the deathless spirit!
Again she says:
Woo not falsehood, offer not your great heart to an illusion. Go.
Thus, with the progress of time Chitra’s practical experiences instruct her into self-knowledge.
Chitra is fully conscious that her procured beauty would shortly vanish, as the petals fall from an
overblown flower, the only moment of her sweet union would slip from her, leaving her ashamed of
her exposed poverty, which she will spend weeping day and night. It is impossible for her to keep
her disguise and she prefers to accept the hard truth sooner than the false happiness.
There is another aspect of Chitra’s personality as a terror of evil doers and as father and mother to her
people. It lies in the fact of her being a brave girl. She is a man in valour, but all woman in tenderness.
Arjuna thinks of her as the goddess of Victory:
Like a watchful lioness she protects the litter at her dugs with a fierce love. Woman’s arms though
adorned with nought, but unfettered strength, are beautiful! My heart is restless, fair one, like a
serpent, reviving from his long winter’s sleep. Come, let us both race on swift horses side by side, like
twin orbs of light sweeping through space.
Chitra seems to him like a goddess hidden within a golden image, notwithstanding what she is
beneath the disguise. The flowers of Spring have already matured into the mellow fruits of autumn
and the bell for them to part has rung. The day when they would part arrives. The illusion is shattered
and Chitra, the playmate of Arjuna’s night, appears as the helpmate of the day showing her true self.
Chitra says:
The gift that I proudly bring you is the heart of a woman. Here have all pains and joys gathered, the
hopes and fears and shames of a daughter of the dust; Here love springs up struggling towards
immortal life. Herein lies an imperfection which yet is noble and grand. If the flower-service is finished,
my master, accept this as your servant for the days to come!
Thus before parting from Chitra, Arjuna accepts her in bliss when she casts on him a tranquilizing
spell. Chitra becomes all the more beautiful because she has known love, and because she is now a
prospective mother.

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