On Sacrifice and Indulgence: A critique of Samskara

Let me start by introducing Samskara. Its a classic piece of literature written by Sahitya Academy Award winner U.R.Anathmurthy. Originally in Kannadda, you can read it in English....publisher is Oxford University Press.

Samskara as is meant in the book goes beyond the normal meaning associated with the word, i.e. The Last Rites of a Dead Man. This word ends up covering almost all aspects( or so you think, once you read the book) of your code of conduct in everyday life.

For me the book is a beautiful piece of existentialist philosophy. If Mr. Murthy was born in France or some other Western country, he would have ended up bagging a Nobel prize for this work. The book tries to answer one basic question, What is desirable? Sacrifice or Indulgence. In a gripping story, Murthy would leave you in a situation where you would question every foundation of your moral premises. His argument is forceful in its completeness.

One of the two main protagonists, Naranappa, dies on the first page of the book. Naranappa led a life of indulgence and did everything which a Brahmin is not supposed to do. Right on the other side of the pole is Praneshacharya, who is an epitome of sacrifice. The level of sacrifice with him is such that he hasn't had sex with with his wife and they are married for 20 years. The community faces the dilemma of who should do the last rites of Naranappa. On the face of it, no one is ready to do it because of activities of Naranappa when he was alive. The buck stops at Praneshacharya who promises to go through the scriptures and find a solution. In the quest to find an answer, Praneshacharya ends up having sex with the maid of Naranappa. Here starts the fight between sacrifice and indulgence, existence and essence.

The book stresses the fact that for good to exist, bad has to exist. Both are protagonists in a huge drama which gets played around and hence they are just playing their roles. And when you have a role to play, deciding the worth of the role is a no question.

Read the book. I am a huge fan of Samskara.

p.s. I used a similar argument when I was in IIT. I used to tell my batch mates and professors that for all the 9 pointers and 10 pointers to exist at the top, 5 pointers like me have to exist. In some ways, I make their existence possible.