1

Chapter I

Introduction

Girish Raghunath Karnad was born at Mathen, near Mumbai on 1938.He was

a man of many talents and a renowned playwright, actor, movie director and a film

producer. He is the recipient of Jnapith award (1938), Padma Shri (1974) and Padma

Bhushan (1992). He has been a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford from 1960 to 1963. He was

appointed as the director of Film and Television Institute, Pune in 1974. Almost after

a decade and half, in 1987 he was awarded Fulbright Scholar- in- Residence at the

Department of South Asian Language and Civilizations, from University of Chicago.

In the realm of contemporary drama his place is noteworthy. He has directed and

acted in many films in Kannada, Marathi and Hindi. He has founded a new approach

in Indian drama by drawing historical and mythological sources to tackle

contemporary themes. He is one of the most prolific writers of Indian drama writing

at the beginning in Kannada and translating himself his plays into English. He served

as the President of Karnataka Nataka academy during 1967- 1978, as the Indian Co-

chairman of the Joint Media Committee of the Indo- US Sub- Commission on

Education and Culture during 1984- 1993, and as the chairman of the Sangeet Nadaka

Academy (the national Academy of music, dance and drama) during 1988- 1993.

For four decades Karnad has been composing play using history and

mythology to represent contemporary issues. He translated his works into English and

received acclaim. Karnad’s literature was highly influenced by renaissance of the

Western literature. Karnad made efforts to fight against the legacy of colonialism by

upholding Indian values and cultural ethos. Without killing the authenticity of the

original mythical and historical tales he succeeds in making his play with
 2

contemporary significance. Karnad has done a great service to introduce the folk

tradition into his drama, thus has expanded the very horizon of the Indian stage. It is

impressing to see the loftiness of his artistic perception and creative integrity. Though

Karnad’s mother tongue was Konkani, he choose Kannada as his medium to convey

his ideas, because he was more fascinated by Kanada literature. He was influenced by

the theatre of his village and ardently admired Ykshagana (a traditional Indian theatre

form). The technical aspects of this variety drama has obviously has a role in

Karnad’s literary career, though he imbibed the best of the western theatre too. His

experience as an actor, in large number of movies has molded his theatre taste. He

along with other great playwrights like, Vijay Tendulkar and Rakesh Mohan, tried to

uphold the rich culture of India by using myths, legends, histories and traditional

stories.

Karnad’s education in liberal arts and science kindled his interest in cinema,

art and culture. He was an ardent follower of contemporary trends. It enabled him to

blend these traits of myths and legends into his literary and cinematic works. As a

dramatist, he was a stern existentialist who emphasized individual existence, freedom

and choice. In his plays Karnad exhibited individual feelings of alienation, spiritual

crisis and complexities. Karnd used myths in richest and most complex ways. He

explored the resources of myth, folklore, legend and history to construct his dramas.

Karnad is very keen and sensitive in his observation on life, society and universe. He

has always a definite message to convey through his plays. Girish Karnad has raised a

lot of burning questions related to the crisis of human values in the society.

As a rationalist, each and every work of Karnad is molded by his deep rooted

personal experience and study. He was against the religious fundamentalism and
 3

bigotry, also a staunch secularist. As a humanist, sincerely he tries to give voice to the

silenced majority through his plays.

Girish Karnad’s plays are very significant from feminist point of view. Karnad

critically evaluates all his women characters and much scope is given for their

expressiveness. They go beyond the social norms to fulfill their desires. They are

embodiment of strength and straightforwardness. Also they will protest against the

social structure which suppresses their position. He create his female protagonists in a

radical manner. Karnad selected his women characters by going back to Indian

culture, mythologies and folklores. Though he presented them in a culture which was

prevailed then these characters were combined with the contemporary world, where

women is struggling to establish their identity and space of honor. His woman

characters are the products of postmodern world, who desires to achieve their dignity

and freedom of life. Karnad has a considerable amount of female characters who are

passionate, philosophical, intelligent and courageous to demolish the culture and

tradition which suppresses a women’s life.

Girish Karnad’s first play Yayati was written in 1961 and won Mysore state

award in 1962. The play is based on an episode in Mahabharata. Whereas his second

play Tughlaq (1964) is a historical play which says the life of Muhammad- bin-

Tughlaq of fourteenth century India. His play Hayavadana (1972) depicts the

complexities of man’s identity and won many awards.

His play Tale- Danda is a political allegory and it in cooperates a socio-

spiritual movement in Karnataka’s history. Major theme of the play is the

deconstruction of caste and religion. It presents the drastic consequences and the

meaninglessness of caste system in India. The play presents the struggle between two
 4

social groups. The exploitative group continues their wicked, cunning, hypocritical

practices whereas the exploited group, realize the falsity, doesn’t allow themselves to

be cheated any more.

Karnad was encouraged to write the play when ‘Mandir’ and ‘Mandal’

movements (two movements associated with communal issues) were felt very

strongly in India. At that time the question of caste system began to show how

relevant are the questions put forward by the great saint poet Basavanna in twelfth

century. Basavanna was the financial minister of king Bajjala of Kalyan, who was not

interested in politics but a good religious leader. He was conscious of the burning

social problems of his age. He strongly opposed bigotry, caste system and idolatry.

Basavanna took revolutionary steps and proved the falsity of the traditional customs.

He called the poets, mystics, social revolutionaries and philosophers for a movement;

the Sharana movement, which was a movement in twelfth century against the

prevailing Varna system in the society. So the Sharanas discarded the use of Sanskrit

and use their mother tongue for religious preaching. They condemned idolatry temple

worship, believed in the equality of sexes and dedicated themselves with devotion and

hard work. They opposed caste system not just in theory but in practice.

Basavanna’s character has been drawn from the historical saintly reformer

Bassaveshwara (1131- 1168A. D). He lived only for thirty five years but his social

work gave status and dignity to the downtrodden and women who were suppressed

and degenerated by the age old Varna structure. Basavanna in the play realizes the

need for equality. He exposes the futility and falsity of caste system. So he organized

a new sect of Sharanas where every member acquire equal status in spite of his own

caste, class, rank and sex Karnad has seriously taken up the issue of untouchability,

emancipation of women, inter caste marriages etc. from the life of Basavanna.
 5

Against the reforms of Basavanna the wrath of the orthodox Hindus burned

and turned violent when he decided to conduct an inter caste marriage. It resulted in

the death of the fathers of bride and groom, king Bajjila and many other Sharanas.

There are many silenced and marginalized subaltern characters in the play

Tale-Danda. The treatment of the women and the lower caste people are in human as

well as the punishment given to them are barbaric. Two of the characters, namely

Mdhuvarasa’s and Haralayya’s eyes are plucked out and they are tied to elephant’s

legs and dragged through the streets at the end of the play. Lower caste and minorities

are treated as the ‘other’. Even the high caste women were also denied their natural

rights she is given equally worse and ignoble treatment with the low caste. The play

Tale- Danda is a reflections of the pangs of the Subaltern group including Dalit,

outcaste, ethnic minorities, women etc.

 6

Chapter II

Subaltern Studies

In postcolonial theory Subaltern studies occupies an important place; it derives

its force from Marxism and post structuralism. Subaltern studies primarily concerned

with socio- cultural and historical aspects of the society incorporating the entire

people that is subordinate in terms of class, caste, age, gender, office or in any other

way, it is the subject position that defines subalternity. Even when it operates in terms

of class, age, gender, it is both psychological and physical. The lack and deprivation,

loneliness and alienation, subjugation and subordination, the resignation and silence,

the resilience and neglect mark the lives of subalterns. Even when they resist and rice

up, they feel bounded and defeated by their subject positions. They have no

representatives or spokesperson in the society they live in and so helplessly suffer and

get marginal place or no place at all in the history and culture of which they are

essential part as human beings.

The term Subaltern is from the Latin roots in which sub means “below” and

altern means “all others”. This term describes someone of low rank or class. It has

come to be used to denote the under classes of the societies and often replaces other

designations for those lower classes. The term has been employed in the context of

investigations into political, religious and social interactions between dominant and

subordinate groups. A Subaltern is someone with a low ranking in a social, political or

other hierarchy. It can also mean someone who has been marginalized or oppressed.

Different kinds of synonyms are used for the word ‘subaltern’, like: common people
 7

lower- class, under privileged, exploited, inferiors, minors, weak etc. But the term is

also used to describe some on who has no political or economic power.

Subaltern studies gained wider currency and newer significance in early 1980s

when it is adopted by Subaltern Study Group (SSG), a group of south Asian

intellectuals interested in postcolonial and post imperial societies. Today a subaltern is

any person or group of inferior rank or station whether because of gender, ethnicity,

religion, race or class. The approach of subaltern studies is essentially an anti-

essential one where history is told from below focusing more on subaltern voices that

challenge the majoritarian discourse and the silencing effect of domination. Subaltern

studies is the counter hegemonic practice, social movement, resistance and struggle

against the neo colonial forces that seek to privilege their dominant discourse as the

normative one. In sum the subaltern struggle and the politics of place is evolving story

of their ongoing quest for human equality, voice, agency and representation. In A

Glossary of Literary Terms M. H. Abrams mentions:

The Subaltern has become a standard way to designate the colonial

subject that has been constructed by European discourse and

internalized by colonial peoples who employ this discourse;

“Subaltern” is a British word for some one of inferior rank, and

combines the Latin terms for “under” (sub) and “other” (alter). A

recurrent topic of debate is now, and to what extend a subaltern

subject, writing in European language, can manage to serve as an agent

of resistance against, rather than compliance with, the very discourse

that have created its subordinate identity. (Abrams 237)

 8

The major figures of subaltern studies include; Rnanjit Guha, Shahid Amin,

David Arnold, Partha Chatterjee, David Hardiman, Gyan Pandey etc. Gramsci’s

Selections from Prison Notebooks, Gayatri Spivak’s Can the Subaltern Speak? and

Edward Said’s Orientalism are considered as major works of subaltern studies.

Antonio Gramsci, an Italian thinker, is credited with introducing the term

‘Subaltern’ to the literary and critical theory. Gramsci uses the term in his note book

when he was imprisoned by Italy’s Fascist regime. Gramsci uses the term ‘Subaltern’

(classi subaltern), ’Subordinate’ (classi subordinate) and ‘instrumental’ (classi

strumentali) inter changeably in his works. Subaltern refer to those groups in the

society who are of inferior rank and subjected to the hegemony of the ruling class.

One of the founders of Italian Communist Party, Gramsci employs the term to refer to

the peasantry, the working class and other social groups. Gramsci in his Selections

from Prison Notebooks informs that “the history of the subaltern group is necessarily

fragment and episodic”, he continues that, “There undoubtedly does exist a tendency

to unification in the historical activity of these groups’ but this tendency is continually

interrupted by the activity of the ruling groups” (Gramsci 206- 207). Hence it is

necessary to study the origins of desperate subaltern groups in preexisting social

groups.

Gramsci in his article Notes on Italian History which appeared later on as a

part of his most widely known work Prison Notebooks defines Subaltern as a group of

people who “are not unified and cannot unite until they are able to become a State.

Their history therefor is intertwined with that of civil society, and thereby with the

history of States and group of States” (Gramsci 202). Between 1929 and 1930,

Gramsci wrote several notes referring to Subaltern groups. One of them was On the

Margins of History (The History of Subaltern Groups). In this book Gramsci

 9

identifies slaves, peasants, religious groups, women, different races and the proletariat

as subaltern groups.

Although Gramsci in the Prison Notebooks, uses the term ‘Subaltern as a

synonym for ‘proletarian’, he expands its scope by using it as a reference for any

social groups, outside the established structures of political representation. With

particular reference to the marginalized rural peasantry of southern Italy, he says that

these subaltern groups have no social and political consciousness and predisposed to

the dominant ideology. According to Gramsci, in every class divided society, the

hegemonic and subaltern classes are always in a state of conflict. Thus in a wider

perspective, he uses the term subaltern to refer the marginalized and oppressed group

anywhere in the world.

Gramsci’s notion of subaltern social groups does not immediately appear in

the Prison Notebooks as a clearly defined concept; Gramsci developed the concept

over a period of time. In his first note book, Gramsci uses the term subaltern in a

literal sense, referring to noncommissioned military troops who are subordinate to the

authority. In later notes he uses the term figuratively, in nonmilitary instance, in

regard to the position of subordination or lower status. It is in this figurative or

metaphorical sense that Gramsci uses the term subaltern when referring to subordinate

social group or classes. In Notebook 3 and 14, Gramsci uses the term subaltern with

regard to social class. In this Prison Notebooks he writes “Subaltern classes are

subjected to the initiatives of the dominant class, even when they rebel; they are in the

state of anxious defense” (Gramsci 207). It is in this sense that the subaltern groups

are subordinate to a ruling group’s policies and initiatives.

 10

It is noteworthy to note Gramsci’s detailed explanation regarding the

methodological criteria for the history of subaltern classes. In Prison Notebooks he

observes;

1. The objective formation of the subaltern class through the

developments and changes took place in the economic sphere; the

extent of their diffusion; and their descent from other classes that

preceded them; 2. Their passive or active adherence to the dominant

political formations; that is, their efforts to influence the programs of

these formations with demands of their own; 3. The birth of new

parties of the ruling class to maintain control of the subaltern classes;

4. The formation of the subaltern classes themselves, formation of a

limited and partial character; 5. The political formations that assert the

autonomy of the subaltern classes, but within the old frame work; 6.

The political formation that assert complete autonomy. (Gramsci 52)

In Modern Price and Prison Notebooks, Gramsci offers another definition of

subaltern classes as those excluded from any meaningful role in in regime of power

that subjugates them. Through consent these subalterns, participate in the hegemony

created and controlled by the dominant group. These subalterns have no independent

space from which to articulate their voice because hegemony conditions those to

believe in the dominant values. In Prison Notebooks Gramsci affirms “to search out

signs of subaltern imitative and class consciousness and effective political action”

(Gramsci 28).
 11

In the opinion of Green Marcus, Gramsci’s interest in subaltern was three fold.

In the essay “Gramsci cannot speak; presentations and interpretations of Gramsci’s

concept of subaltern” he elaborates thus:

From his notes it is clear that he was interested in producing a

methodology of subaltern historiography, a history of subaltern classes,

and political strategy of political formation based upon the historical

development and existence of the subaltern. This threefold approach

creates nexus where a variety of Gramsci’s concept converge. History,

politics, literary criticism and cultural practices are all under

consideration in his analysis of subaltern history. In his notes, Gramsci

is interested in how the subaltern came into being, what socio political

relation caused their formation, what political power they hold, how

they are represented in history and literature, and how they can

transform their consciousness and, in turn, their lived conditions. In

this sense, the concept of the subaltern interrelates with Gramsci’s

other concepts, thoughts and strategies of radical socio political

transformation. His analysis of the subaltern is interwoven with his

political, social, intellectual, literary, cultural, philosophical, religious

and economic analyses. (Marcus 3)

An Indian writer who theoretically addressed the branch of Post colonialism

was Ranajit Guha; a distinguished historian who inspired Indian Subaltern Studies. In

the seventh volume of Subaltern Studies Guha defines the subaltern studies as, “a

name for the general attribute of subordination in South Asian whether this is

expressed in terms of class, caste, age, gender and office or in any other way” (Guha

3).
 12

In Subaltern Studies Vol. VII, Guha observes that the subaltern is a clearly

defined entity, which constitutes “the demographic difference between the total Indian

population and all those whom” (Guha 5). He suggested that while subaltern studies

would not ignore the dominant because, the subaltern are always subject to their

activity, subalterns are those inferior people who have been left out of the

historiography of the colonial India, and differentiating them from the elite of the

India. Again in Subaltern Studies Vol. VII Guha defines subalterns as the “mass of the

laboring population and the intermediate strata in town and country, that is the

people” (Guhha 40). In the preface to the first volume of the subaltern studies, Guha

explained the term Subaltern would be used by the authors in the series as a general

attribute of subordination in South Asian society. He also stated that the subaltern

condition could be based on caste, age, gender, office or any other way, including but

not limited to class. Gramsci’s Notes on Italian History, which according to Guha,

had directly influenced the founding of his project. But Guha and his collaborators

were not interested in simply applying Gramsci’s own definition of the term subaltern

or his interpretations of Subaltern history within their own scholarly work. So they

sought to construct a critical theory of the subalternity that was initially inspired by

Gramscian Marxism and then reconfigured to interpret and analyze South Asian

history and society beyond parameters which could have been anticipated by Gramsci

himself.

Like Guha, another prominent writer who addressed the Subaltern Studies is

Dipesh Chakrabarty. He unfolds the reality in the formation of minority and majority

or superior and inferior in a particular society. In his essay “Minority Histories,

Subaltern Pasts”, he remarks that:

 13

Minority and majority are, after all, no natural entities; they are

constructions. Minor pasts are those experiences of the past which

have to be always assigned as ‘inferior’ or ‘marginal’ position. They

are marginalized not because they represents movements or points at

which the very archive that the historian of a (marginalized) group

mines in order to bring the history of that group into a relationship with

a large narrative. (Chakrabarty 18)

According to him the marginal position is not imposed but because history is

related with larger narratives or in other words their history which is mingled with

that of the nation was not adequate to represent them. Another Indian who

popularized the word Subaltern was Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak. She proposed a

theory of subalternity in her essay “Can Subaltern Speak?” which was a commentary

on the work of the Subaltern Study Group, questioning and exposing their patronized

attitude. Spivak adapts Derridean deconstructive techniques to point out the different

forms of subject formations, Spivak suggested that it is impossible to recover the

voice of the subaltern, hinting at the un imaginable extend of the colonial expression

and its historical interception with patriarchy, she expanded the meaning of the

subaltern to women who are doubly oppressed by colonialism and particularly in the

Third World Countries. It can be presumed that she has given prominence to the

plight of women.

Spivak borrowed the term subaltern from Gramsci to refer to the

unrepresented group of people in the society. In the essay, she vindicated the

limitations of the subalterns, asking Can Subaltern Speak?. Here the term subaltern is

to denote the colonized/ the oppressed subject; working class, blacks and the women

whose voice has been silenced or mere generally those of inferior rank. “The
 14

subaltern as a female is even more deeply in shadow” (Spivak 287). Here we can see

a female oriented subaltern theory. Spivak prefers the term subaltern as it

encompasses the exact picture of the lower class people. She concludes the essay

“Can Subaltern Speak?” by reiterating her standard point that “the subaltern cannot

speak” (104). Leela Gandhi, a noted academician in postcolonial theory and the co-

founder of the academic journal Postcolonial Studies explores the mechanism of

Subaltern Study Group (SSG) in her essay “Postcolonial Theory: A Critical

Introduction” she says thus:

A collective of intellectuals now known as the Subaltern Study Group promote

a systematic and informed discussion of subaltern themes in the field of South

Asian studies. Further they described their project as an attempt to study the

general attribute of subordination in South Asian society whether this is

expressed in terms of class, caste, age, gender and office or in any other way.

Fully alert to the complex ramifications arising from the composition of

subordination, the Subaltern Study Group sketched out its wide-ranging

concern both with the visible history, politics, economics and sociology of

subalternity and with the occluded attitudes, ideologies and belief systems- in

short, the culture informing that condition. (Gandhi 2)

Edward Said also deals with the same idea of silencing women. In his preface

for Orientalism he says that; “My argument is that history is made by man and

women, just as it can also be unmade and rewritten, always with various silence and

elisions, always with shapes imposed and disfigured tolerated” (Said xiv). Caste is

always a play of power or it is the politics of keeping a particular community

marginal. In India caste has a great role in making subalterns, ethnic minorities, Dalit,

tribal, untouchables and so on. The list of subalterns in India is lengthier than any
 15

other countries both in past and present. David Ludden in his essay Reading Subaltern

Studies describes:

High caste elites had always needed coercive power to keep low castes,

peasants, workers and tribal group in place. Elites needed states to

suppress revolution. National politics had always included both

popular insurgency and elite conservatism, struggling against one

another, producing conflict ridden political movements and state

regimes. (Ludden 9)

In Indian context, the term subaltern acquires more significance as the people

have struggled hard for Indian independence and in the context of colonial

production, the subaltern has no history and they cannot speak. The Dalit, women,

peasants are still unprivileged and marginalized. Caste as another issue, the division

of the society created the marginalized more marginal. So Subaltern Studies in Indian

historical and cultural context is more vast and deep.

 16

Chapter III

Caste and Gender Subalternity

Girish Karnad’s Tale-Danda is an outcry against the Varnashrama drama

prevailed in the society. Studying the play from a subaltern perspective there are

many examples throughout the play in which a large group of people are treated as the

other on the basis of caste and gender. They make many efforts to free themselves

from these issues. The subalterns were made to believe that they belong to an inferior

race and such type of internalized ideas subjugated the will and aspirations of the

subalterns. In the society the power structure has created the binary opposition of

self/other, white/black, good /evil, superior /inferior and so on. Thus a part of the

world is able to enjoy supremacy because it convinced the rest of the world that they

are the supreme by birth especially in the case of caste, gender and race. In Indian

society the caste system has a prime role in subjugating people. The play Tale-Danda

is brilliantly analyzing the ills caused by the caste system in our society. It

deconstructs caste and religion. The violent reaction of the conservatives suggests that

even now subalterns are no match to defeat the exploitation and discrimination of

orthodox society. Karnad in his preface to the play says that:

I wrote Tale-Danda when Mandir and Mandal movements (two

movements associated with communal issues) were began to show

again hoe relevant the question posed by these thinkers (sharanas)

were for our age. The horror of the subsequent events and the religious

fanaticism that have gripped our national life today have proved how

dangerous it is to ignore the solutions they offered. (Ι)

 17

The major theme of karnad’s Tale-Danda is undoing caste and religion to

arrive at its real and proper meaning and to restructure the same for the benefit of the

society and country. In each and every scene of the play, Karnad gives a new and

fresh outlook to the set of believes and deep rooted religious faiths.

The play exposes many paradoxes in a caste centered society. Traditional caste

system claims that a king is supposed to be a Rajput or a Kshatriya (two high caste in

Hindu religion). But ironically the king of Kalyan is a barber by caste. He says to the

queen that:

BIJJALA: What is my caste? Tell me.

RAMBHAVATI: We are Kshatriyas.

BIJJALA: Your family the Hosalas you may be Kshatriyas. But I am

Kalachurya, a barber by caste. His majesty king Bajjala is a barber by

caste. (14)

Karnad achieves two aims here. He shows that the king of Kalyan is not a

Kshatriya but a barber. Further he shows him as a man of insights and noble thoughts,

in order to prove that deep insight, noble character and ideal administration are not the

inborn characteristics of one community only. The artificial divisions created by

Varnashrama (labor based division of society) made the life of Shudras (lower caste

or untouchable) hellish one. The low caste people are in no way inferior to other high

caste people. But they are kept out of social contract. They are trying to come out of

caste venom and religious fundamentalism. Ideological as well as physical resistance

against caste oppression are found in the play Tale-Danda. Their ideological struggle

was in the form of devotion to the faith called Sharana.

 18

Like every other subaltern groups the low caste are in self imposed prison due

to the endless suppression they are subjected to in their everyday lives. The caste

system even plundered their self respect. In the play we can see Mallibomma, a tanner

by caste, hesitates to enter jagadeva’s (Brahmin by caste) house though they both are

sharans. He says to Jagadeva that, “I shouldn’t have even stepped into this Brahmin

street. And you want me to come into your house? No, thank you” (2).

The subordination over centuries, which is ingrained in them, creates a sense

of inferiority. The low caste people have become docile and lenient because of the age

old humiliation. The suppression and injustice of which they have been the victims

have weakened them. Basavanna tries to free men from casteism, slavery and

orthodox traditional customs of the society. When temples, gods and sacred texts were

prohibited to Shudras, Basavanna opens temples of Lord Shiva which offers entry to

all irrespective of caste and creed. Damodar Bhatta, the queen’s priest is a

preventative of age old orthodox believes. Karnad presents him as the symbol of

orthodoxy with innate tendency to silence the voice and the uprising from the

downtrodden. He advocates the ideology of inequality and the same is exposed when

he says: “to each person it says you don’t have to be no one but yourself. One’s caste

is like one’s home meant for one’s self and one’s family. It is shaped to one’s needs,

one’s comforts, and one’s traditions. (56)

It is clear that Varna system does not allow anyone to change their grade. It is

impossible to come out and develop oneself from the caste system. No one is allowed

to progress in any manner. Bijjala aptly comments on the concept of caste thus:

“One’s caste is like the skin on one’s body. You can peel it off top to toe, but when

the new skin forms, there you are again: a barber-a shepherd-a scavenger! ” (15).
 19

We will get an apt conclusion about csteism from his words that it is unable to

escape. In Indian context caste system has a big role in making the oppressed class of

subaltern. The Dalit, the tribal, the Varnas etc. are tasting the bitterness of caste

system throughout their life. Subaltern studies is focused on these sections of society.

They are created with the burden of subordination and always on the right side of the

binary oppositions. He/she is the one who denied the voice or dignity.

The gravity of the situation is intensified when the subaltern is woman. The

female subaltern is the most miserable of all oppressives. It is more miserable for the

subaltern to be a women. Her life, dreams, hopes and basic right to a dignified

survival are denied by multiple forces of oppression. She is the victim of racism,

classism and most importantly of subjugating ideology of patriarchy. Due to ignoble

treatment women became a slave in the patriarchal society. She is equally

marginalized both in palace and hut. Women are positioned as objects while are the

subject. There are many ideologies in which a subaltern woman is subjected to and

makes her life miserable. Her life is defined by the systems of race, class, and gender.

That is why Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak, in her essay “Can Subaltern Speak?” states

that “in the context of colonial production, the subaltern has no history and cannot

speak, the subaltern as a female is even more deeply in shadow”(Spivak 287).

Spivak repeatedly uses the word “the shadow” as the location of the female

subaltern in “Can subaltern Speak?”. “The female subaltern is doubly in shadow”

(288). Gangambika Basavanna’s wife rightly describes the pitiable condition of a

woman in the play thus: “women and cattle, they are same to you, aren’t they?”(42).

Tale-Danda as a religious play gives more concentration for caste issues. At

the same time women’s position is expressed through the character of Rambavathi.
 20

She is also suppressed as Jagadeva’s mother and wife of middle class. In the first act

of the play the king humiliates the queen by saying that: “doesn’t anything interest

you women except marriage and husbands and children?”(16). These words of the

King clearly depicts the position of a woman in a patriarchal society irrespective of

her status. The queen Rambavathi is mute throughout the play. The position of the

women never seems to improve even in the mid of the great Sharana movement

taking place. King Bijjala knows the pain of caste discrimination so he wants to see

the demolition of the caste and its ideology of marginalizing the people who are

considered as the outcastes. Rambavathi faces the same humiliation from her husband

who is strongly affirmed by the patriarchal ideology of oppressing women. It is a

great paradox that even the great movement to gain equality never touches a woman’s

life. She is out from the so called revolutions and emancipatory movements. Men who

speaks eloquently about the equality of castes, never take the equality of sexes into

account.

Considering the identity crisis of the subalterns, they are positioned without

identity and their status is at the margin. They are still marked by an absence of access

to the center of the society. They are treated verse than animals in the play Tale-

Danda, though a group of people attempts to create a dignified place in the society by

accepting the Sharana identity it never helps them to attain their goal, which is to get

the consideration of a human being. The upper caste people continues to enjoy the

subjugation of the Avarnas. It is evident in the play when Mallibomma enters

Jagadeva’s house, Bhagirathi, the Brahmin women in the house hold promptly tells

him that, “This is a Brahmin household. “Do you mind standing a little aside so the

women of the house can move about freely?” (3). Such question obviously is to

reinforce caste relations and more importantly it suggests that the adoption of the
 21

identity of a Sharana is not enough to break caste barriers. Even when Amba,

Jagadeva’s mother asks in to come in, she says that, “My son won’t come into the

house unless you do. So, come in please. I’ll have the house purified later” (4). Once

again we can see caste relation is re enforced without any regarding of Malliboma’s

Sharana identity he still remains as an out caste by the Brahminical ideology.

The identity crisis faced by the subaltern group in the society is very deep. The

wounds given by this unbearable humiliations will lasts forever throughout a man’s

life. Despite being king, Bijjala remains battered by his caste identity, a source of life

long humiliation. He frankly admits how he became a Kshtriya and then king. He says

thus: In all my sixty two years, the only people who have looked me in the eyes

without a reference to lowly birth lurking deep in their eyes are the Sharanas:

Basavanna and his men. They treat me as (Almost with a sense of wonder) as a

human being” (21).

The inferior identity caused by the evil of caste system has almost defeated the

king. He painfully reveals his life which is also a victim of the evil ideology of caste

and acknowledges that in his whole life only Sharanas have looked him without a

reference to his loyally birth. He too, is very happy to get the consideration of a

human being.

Outcastes are identified as slaves who are expected to do the work which the

master orders. The society does not expect them to rise their voice and to question

them. In the first act of the play Tale-Danda the young prince of the state of Kalyan,

Sovideva condemns the act of Basavanna who leads the Sharana movement. He says

that “it is he who encourages those sons of slaves. It is because of him that the vermin

can be so brazen, so impudent” (8). It is evident from these words that the identity of
 22

the subaltern group in a society is less than animals. Sovideva addresses them as the

“sons of slaves” (8) which encapsulates the long history of slavery and oppression

faced by the Avarnas. The subaltern who are without identity or the only identity

given to them is that of the slaves as a collective. It is more apt to say that the caste

identity (Avarnas) given to them is the real problem they faces, precisely the barrier

for their dignified life.

Karnad wrote his play Tale-Danda, from the background of the history of

twelfth century Karnataka, especially the anti- caste movement of Basavanna. The

Sharana movement is very noble because it joined the hands of human beings

irrespective of caste and class. Even the orthodox thoughts of the upper caste people

began to fade. In the play one of the Brahmin man in the Sharana movement

Kakkaya, takes the striking decision to conduct the marriage of her daughter with a

cobbler’s son. And he justifies the decision thus: “We are all Sharanas. We have

surrendered ourselves to Lord Shiva. There is no caste among Sharanas, neither

Brahmin nor cobbler. This alliance is a case for celebrations” (38).

The king of Kalyan, Bijjala actually a barber by caste remains aware of the

significance of Basavanna’s movement. As a person who faced many humiliations

because of his loyally birth he wants the movement to be a success. He knows the

contempt in the eyes of the people, because the king is a barber by caste. So Bijjala

supports the Sharanas to break the shackles of the caste system and to live a dignified

life as human. He clearly confesses thus: “I am a Klachurya. Katta churra. A barber

you ask the most innocent child in my empire, what is Bijjala, son of Kalachurya

Permadi, by caste? And instant replay will be barber! ” (14).

 23

The Sharana movement in the play focuses on the intellectual and moral

aspects of social life. Basavanna defines the organization of the Sharanas as a

spiritual brotherhood. He further adds that this unity is precisely the real political

action of the subaltern classes, to deconstruct caste and religion and shows a new

community of the Sharanas which believing in equality is rising. The importance of

the movement and its great goal of human equality is expressed by Basavanna in the

play. His words contains all the purity of the Sharana movement. He says that

“someday this entire edifice of caste and creed, this poison house of Varnashrama,

will come tumbling down. Every person will see himself only as human being. As a

bhakta. As a Sharana. That is inevitable” (39).

The harmony given by the movement of Sharanas enables the common people

to sit and dine together. The true vision of the movement is described by Bijjala. His

words can be interpreted as the dream of a man who is a victim of Varnashrama. He

praises the movement thus: “Basavanna wants to eradicate the caste structure, wipe it

off from the face of the earth. Annihilate the Varna system. What vision! All hard

worki8ng people from the common stock. They sit together, eat together, and argue

about God together, undifferentiated caste, birth or station” (21).

Gramsci in his work Selections from Prison Notebooks insists that it is

necessary to study, “the political formations that asserts the autonomy of the subaltern

classes” (Gramsci 52).While analyzing the subaltern issues, the Sharana movement

that takes place in the city of Kalyan is an effort to gain autonomy of the subaltern

classes. They dare to conduct the marriage of a Brahmin girl with a cobbler’s son.

This is a manifestation of the theory of equality they preached. The protagonist of the

play Basavanna says thus:

 24

Until now it was only a matter of theoretical speculation. But this is

real. The orthodox will see this mingling of the castes as a blow at the

very roots of the Varnashrama drahma. Bigotry has not faced such a

challenge in two thousand years. I need hardly describe what venom

will gush out, what hatred will erupt ones the news spreads. (38)

Their movement is a revenge upon the Varnashrama which enslaved them

throughout their life. In the words of Gramsci the “political formations” (here the

Sharana movement) is able to give them autonomy. For the battered sections of the

society this movement is the only ray of hope in their ruined life. There only hope to

get a dignified life is this movement. King Bijjala compares the movement thus: “A

man wandering in the desert, his throat parched, will graze on a patch of green, the

size of one’s palm for its moisture. It’s the same when one wanders in a godless

world. The smallest- the most imperceptible- sign will do” (65).

It is their success that in a caste based society they unlocked many minds from

its bondages. Their efforts are to break the shackles that separate human beings from

each other building enmity between them. It is beyond every measurements that

decides the subject position of a human being. One of the Sharana in the play shows

the depth of their success and the transcendental nature of everything less than that.

He says thus:

Dynasties come and go. The Chalukya is gone. The Kalachurya rules

today. This one will also gone tomorrow. But we Sharanas have built a

community which stands beyond political twists. We have built our

own, grounded in our own metaphysics. Shaped by our patients. And it

is enough that we attend to its welfare… this is the movement that

 25

makes the four quarters realize that the Sharanas do not need to sit and

sway in the shadow of the thrones. (66)

To study the subaltern group of people, in Selections from Prison Notebooks

Gramsci’s another point of suggestion is that, “The birth of new parties of the ruling

class to maintain control of the subaltern class” (Gramsci 52). In the play the king

supports the movement of Sharanas. But the group of orthodox people who are

against it are coming together to defeat it. The solution they find is to replace the king

with his son Sovideva who is very flexible to her the words of these masters of

casteism and not an intelligent person to take the apt decision according to the

situation. They exploits the very nature of yuvaraj and exercise their plan to destroy

the great movement. The queen’s priest Damodar Bhatta rushes into the room of

Rambavathi, drags Sovideva then props him upon a chair and pores a pitcher of water

on his head. Here Damodar Bhatta himself takes the decision to make Sovideva a king

without the permission of Bijjala in order to uproot the movement. In the next act of

the play Sovideva comes with the crown on his head. Damodar Bhatta justifies his act

of crowning the king reflects the gravity of caste division in the society. He says the

queen thus:”Indrani the Rig Veda tells us that the four Varnas flowed out of the

primodial Man: the Brahmin from the head. The shudra from the feet. So what we

have here in this wedding is the desecration of the body of Purush” (55).

It is clear that this belief of the hierarchy in caste is the basis of the

suppression of a large group more than two thousand years. Or it is better to say that

this caste division became a weapon to oppress the subaltern in the society. Even the

language is a tool in their hands. The language used by the Savarnas is unable to

understand by the Avarnas. It is a taboo for them to study the language of god. The

language spoken by the lowercase is not used in the preaching of Vedas, thus the
 26

knowledge is deprived for the subalterns by the power structure. Again Damodar

Bhatta the man of orthodox believes says about the crimes that the Sharranas have

committed. He says thus:

Sanskrit is the language engraved on diamond, unchanging, austere.

Eternal truths can be captured in its immutability. Kannada our mother

tongue changes from mouth to mouth, from caste to caste, from today

to tomorrow. It is geared to the needs of squabbling couples,

wheedling beggars, prostitutes spreading their saris out. It only speak

in constant moods. Its sensuality is addictive and the Sharanas use it to

pimp for their vulgarities. (57)

Language and culture are related to each other. It is more than simply means

of communication. Regarding a particular language as inferior, it will degrade the

culture and the section of the society uses it. In Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the

Earth, he tells us about the destructive nature of caste which will starve people unto

death and hinder development. He says thus:

This new is an insult and an outrage, especially since the immense

majority, nine tenths of the population, continue to starve to death.

This branch of the nation that annexes the entire wealth of the country

for its own gain. Once this caste has been eliminated swallowed up by

its own contradictions, it will be clear to everyone that no progress has

been made. (Fanon 113)

In the play Tale-Danda we can see the similar situation of poverty and famine.

They are not even ready to share their resources of water with the subalterns only due

to the caste division. There is an exchange regarding the famine in Andhra in the play:
 27

HARALAYYA: They say a brand of shepherds is camping on the

riverside.

BASAVANNA: There’s famine raging in Andhra. There poor souls

have tracked for weeks in search of food and shelter. But our people

won’t let them stray this side of river because of their low caste, I tell

you for sheer inhumanity our people have no equal. (35)

The brutality never ends there. Haralyya remembers the situation when there

women and sons sacrificed their life under the exploitation of the upper caste. Their

life have no security and right to live or it is imposed upon them the idea that they are

of no importance; only to do the work to enrich the upper caste. It is evident from his

words that there are many crimes which are going on in the name of Varnashrama. He

says thus: “You know the most terrible crimes have been justified in the name of

Sanatana religion. The word sacrifice strikes terror in me. Too long have my people

sacrificed their woman to the greed of the upper caste, out our sons to their cosmic

theories of rebirth. No more sacrifices please” (39).

The subaltern tries to retaliate against the supremacy of the Savarnas for the

sufferings that they had undergone. Even though they tried to communicate their

resentment, the governing race have no patience to listen to them. As well as the cruel

suppression of the raising voices is abundant in the history. Fanon in his work The

Wretched of the Earth, says that, “the governing race is the first and foremost” (Fanon

31). The play Tale-Danda also presents such a condition. For their inter caste

marriage the orthodox governing race gave them the most barbarous punishment. One

of the Sharana reports their cruelty thus:

 28

A while ago the king’s soldiers arrested Haralayya and took him to the

city square. They also brought Madhuvarasa and then the city watched

they plucked out their eyes with iron rods bound them hand and foot

and had them dragged through the streets tied to elephant’s legs. Torn

limbs along the lanes, torn entrails, flesh, bones. They died screaming.

(81)

As mentioned above, Karnad feels that Tale-Danda is relevant today because

religious fundamentalism is strong enough to take the lives of thousand people. The

Mandir and Mandal movements in the name of Babari Masjid killed many people all

over India. The protagonist of the play, Basavanna is being as the spokesperson of the

writer. He affirms us that: “Violence is wrong, whatever the provocation. To resort to

it because someone else started it first is even worse. And to do so in the name of a

structure of brick and mortar is a monument of stupidity” (29). He continues:

The rich will make

temples for Shiva.

What shall I,

a poor man

do?

My legs are pillars,

the body the shrine

the head a cupola

of gold. (29)

Through Basavanna, Karnad tries to prove the futility in killing each other in

the name of God. This verse of Basavanna, gives the idea that man itself is the place
 29

for the God to live. Elevating man to such a position Karnad succeeds in proving the

meaninglessness in the division based on caste, gender, race etc. The Savarnas

initially made the Shudras slaves in the name of Varna theory out of their collective

selfishness. The Savarnas wickedly suppressed the low caste people and converted

them into serfs. The artificial divisions created by Varnashrama made the life of

Shudras hellish one. The low caste people are in no way inferior to the high caste

people. Every human being is bestowed with their own right to live. No particular

man or community has no right to oppress any human being. The play Tale-Danda

reminds us about the consequences of the caste system. The Varnashrama has great

role in making subalterns, denied of human rights. Both the author and the saint

Basavanna have imagined a society which gives prime importance to humanity and

not to the customs and beliefs which make a human being an animal.
 30

Chapter IV

Conclusion

In Karnataka as elsewhere in India, there was man who dare to open his mouth

against the unending slavery based on caste, his name was Basaveshwara. The play

portrays the life and anti-caste movements lead by Basaveshwara. The play is being as

a warning and a solution for a country like India with diverse language, culture and

religions.

Analyzing the play from a Subaltern point of view, it is evident that caste

system has an important role in marginalizing people. The guardians of the Varna

system wants to subjugate a huge number of people to assure their superiority in the

society. So they are internalizing an idea of inferiority to the minds of the lower caste

people. The persons who are claiming as the protectors of the natural hierarchy of the

living world which is created by God himself are training the downtrodden to see

themselves as vulgar creatures who pollutes the purity of God and his men. So there

we can see the politics of positioning others in the lower strata of the society to make

one self as dominant. Especially in the India, caste system is a major issue which

results in the denial of human rights to a group of people who are labeled as

untouchables. Even in the contemporary Indian society we can see the mingling of

myth with reality. This is very dangerous to all irrespective of their position and

wealth.

These group of oppressors not only uses caste as their weapon to oppress.

There are many other factors like language, vocation, gender, concepts of

untouchability, pollution etc. These concepts never allows a man to free himself from

the bondages which enchains him. These beliefs of inferiority mixed with the image
 31

of God and tradition is like amputating ones hands so that he can’t do anything. This

helplessness is always under exploitation by the Varnashrama. All the matters that are

related to the lower caste are placed in the right side of the binary oppositions.

Focusing on the caste subalternity in the play Tale- Danda, while some are

enjoying their life with all its pleasures other side there is famine and poverty. They

are denied of their natural rights by multiple reasons. The play presents an instance of

utter famine in Andhra, the upper caste are denying drinking water to the

untouchables only for one reason of caste. Here caste is being as the Villon in the life

of the untouchables. Here caste is a reason for them to deny human rights to a major

section in the society. Even the punishment given to they are often barbarous. The

outcaste are not allowed to attain literacy and to study the sacred Vedas because

Vedas are the basis of the caste discrimination in the society. This is a part of ensuring

the obedience of the outcastes by remaining them ignorant. This darkness of the

ignorance is the basis of their subalternity. The upper caste men are afraid of equality.

They want somebody to suppress, if the concept of equality dominates the society

then there will not be any superiors. In order to protect the prestige the Sharanas

advocates caste based hierarchy.

The next weapon of the upper caste to dominate the outcaste is language. Here

in the play Tale- Danda the language which is considered as divine is Sanskrit and it

is not accessible to the lower caste. The religious preaching and prayers that are

delivered in this language is unable to understand by them and the mother tongue used

by this uneducated men is considered as impure and of low status. Here the language

and power meets, language is more than simply a means of communication. It does

not just passively reflect reality but it goes towards creating a person’s understanding

of the world. Considering the vocation of the subalterns, their work is considered as of
 32

low stratus and often described as impure and polluting. They are addressed in the

name of their job, like tanners, skinners, cobblers etc. It is a strategy of imposition of

their low status. Thus a man who hears this from his birth will identify himself as a

creature who can never claim freedom.

This is same in the case of practice of untouchability. The play starts with such

an instance in a Brahmin house hold where there is a prohibition for the lower caste.

There are many references to the ritual of purification in the play. Amba a Brahmin

woman permits Jagadeva the son of a tanner to her house hold by saying that she “I’ll

have the house purified later” (8). Which serves as reminder to the low caste of their

impurity. Any human being who is always forced to see himself as impure will

naturally lack self-respect. These acts in the name of religion is trivializing the

existence of the lower caste.

Concerning the identity crisis faced by the subalterns it is not that they have no

identity but it is their identity with low status creates the subordination. They are

addressed in the name of their caste. The job they are doing define their position in

the society. In the play Tale- Danda there are many instance of introducing oneself in

the name of caste. They are not identified as humans but as slaves.in the play the low

caste are addressed as “the sons of slaves” (8). Throughout history there is an attempt

to attain freedom from the part of the subalterns. The Sharana movement is perfect

example for that.

They are discarding their caste titles because the only identity they have, of the

slaves is degrading them. Caste as a major issue, they ban their caste and begins life

where there is no place for their caste identity. So they chooses Sharana as their

identity. Though it is capable for healing some wounds created by casteism it failed to
 33

defeat the Varnashrama both psychologically and socially. Even after attaining the

Sharna identity, most of them hesitates even to appear before the high caste people.

Though they dined and prayed together, there are some form of discriminations in the

society of Sharanas. Kalayya blames Jagadeva by saying that, “You Brahmins, you

are all same. You’re only interested in having the laugh on others” (71). Even the

leader of the movement, Basvanna is respected not because he is the leader of the

Sharana movement but because he is a Brahmin by birth. It is clear that the stains of

caste system is not effectively cleared by the Sharana movement. Thus the subalterns

have no change in their subject position in the society. The movement presents the

great idea of equality. This equality demolishes caste and its guardians. So the

orthodox people tries to destroy this movement so they can enjoy the superior position

in society.

Moving on to gender subalternity, the position and identity of women in that

society is of no importance. Karnad has great concern for the caste or gendered

subalterns. Through this plays he has brought women from the margin to center. The

gender-bias in society and the oppression of women by the patriarchal order is an

important part of this plays. In this plays Karnad pictures the condition of a typical

Indian female ruled by patriarchal order bounded by tradition. Most of the women

characters in the play Tale-Danda are stereotypical and fragile. But there are

exceptions as in the case of Basavnna’s wife, who rises voice against the patriarchal

oppression not only for herself but also for the entire women in the society. Though

silenced, their spirit remains unbounded. Karnad sincerely tries to give voice to this

silenced group through this plays. There are many instance in the play where

Sharanas, who are being as the advocates of equality is subordinating women.

Though they are well aware of the need of caste equality and freedom from caste
 34

slavery, but they are not willing to accept the idea of gender equality. Even this great

movement is not powerful enough to break the shackles of patriarchy.

This play also underlines the fact that, gender equality still remains a myth. To

an extend Karnad succeeded in providing equality both in the case of caste and

gender, but it is not complete. It may be the presentation of the reality that our

movements and ideals must be more power full to break this invisible chains which

makes the human existence miserable.

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