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Unit 20: ‘Chitra’ by Rabindranath Tagore: Characterisation

20.4 Symbolism in Chitra Notes

In Chitra, symbolism plays an important role. It is based on the well-known Mahabharata story of
Chitrangada and Arjuna. Chitra essentially contains the history of a development—the development
of flower into fruit, of earth into heaven, of matter into spirit.
There are two unions in Chitra. The first union takes place in the second scene. And the next union
takes place in the ninth scene of the play. This play was not meant for dealing with a particular
passion but for translating the whole subject from one world to another—to elevate love from the
sphere of physical beauty to the eternal heaven of moral beauty.
The central symbol in Chitra is the offer of beauty to Chitra by the gods, Madana and Vasanta, for the
span of a year. The symbol is not deliberately exhibited, it grows naturally and spontaneously out of
the story. Chitra has been brought up as a son by her father. She falls in love with Arjuna, who
however does not reciprocate her love. He on the contrary says:
I have taken the vow of celibacy. I am not fit to be thy husband.
Nonetheless, Chitra feels desperate on being scorned like this and seeks the help of the gods, Madana
and Vasanta, to whom she says:
Had I but the time needed, I could win his heart by slow degrees, and ask no help of the gods.
She also states:
But it is the labour of a life time to make one’s true self known and honoured.
But, she is prompted by her desire to be immediately satisfied. She, therefore, requests to the gods:
For a single day make me superbly beautiful, even as beautiful as was the sudden blooming of love
in my heart. Give me but one brief day of perfect beauty, and I will answer for the days that follow.
Her prayer is granted with a significant qualification:
Not for the short span of a day, but for one whole year the charm of spring blossoms shall nestle
round thy limbs.
On this being accepted, the action moves on in a poetic-realistic mood, and presents a spectacle of
Arjuna’s obsession; their living together in perfect bliss; Arjuna’s boredom and his longing for the
other, real Chitra; the falling off of Chitra’s mask of beauty at the end of the year; Arjuna’s happy and
proud acceptance of the real Chitra and the final spiritual fulfilment. There is no conflict between the
surface-realistic level and the deeper symbolic meaning. The symbolic meaning is related to the
essential duality of life, which in the story expresses itself as the duality of love. There is no contradiction
between Infinite and Finite, Truth and Illusion, Spirit and Body, Love and Desire, joy and Pain, Peace
and Restlessness, True self and False self, but what is most remarkable in the play is that the latter i.e.,
Finite, Illusion, Body, Desire, Pain, Restlessness, False self are transmitted into the former i.e., Infinite,
Truth, Spirit, Love, Joy, Peace, and True self. This transformation occurs primarily because of Time,
which plays, a crucial part in the entire play.
The time factor plays a significant part in the form of the gods’ offer of beauty to Chitra for a year.
This central symbol fully and organically set in the play is assisted by the symbolic gods, Madana,
the body-less god of abiding love and Vasanta, the time-bound god of spring. The symbol is assisted
by images of flower and fruit and by the image of flame, which symbolizes the upward, restless, and
burning process of love.
In short, Chitra stands for human desire; Arjuna stands as the seeker of love; the gods Madana and
Vasanta stand for love and youth and beauty respectively.
The symbols in Chitra are an organic part of the theme. Chitra combines the flowers of spring with the
fruits of autumn. It also combines heaven and earth. Truly, in Chitra there is one Paradise Lost and
another Paradise Regained.
20.5 Variations in Tagore’s Chitra

Like Shakespeare, Kalidas, and Shelley, Tagore deviated from the original story to suit his requirements.
The following are the variations that are observed in the text of Tagore from the Mahabharata:

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