Question- Discuss the central themes of Girish Karnad's play, 'The Fire and the Rains'.

Answer - 

Karnad has been inspired by the myth of Yavakri as told in C. Rajgopalachari's version of the Mahabharata. It is narrated by the ascetic Lomasha in the Vana Parva (Forest Canto) to the Pandavas as they wander across the land during their exile.

The Myth of Yavakri : The myth concerns Yavakri, son of the sage Bharadwaja, who insisted on obtaining spiritual knowledge direct from the gods instead of getting it by diligent study at the feet of human gurus. His father Bhardwaja advised him against it but Yavakri went to the jungle and 'tapasya' (penance) for ten years so that he could obtain the knowledge of the vedas from the gods direct. The rigours of his ascetic practice were such that lord Indra, the King of Gods, appeared to him, but only to persude him that there were no short cuts to knowledge, which has to be obtained by studying at the feet of a guru. But Yavakri was so adamant that Indra ultimately relented and granted him his wish.

Bharadwaja, being a wise man, was anxios lest the triumph turned his son's head. He cautioned Yavakri against delusions of omnipotence. But his fears unfortunately proved unfounded. For one of the first things Yavakri did was to corner Raibhya's daughter-in-law in a lonely spot and molest her.

Yavakri's misdemeanour incensed Raibhya. He involved the 'Kritya' Spirti. He tore a hair from his head and made an oblation of it to the fire. From it sprang a woman who looked exactly like his daughter-in law. From another hair he similarly brought forth a rakshasa (demon). Then he sent the two to kill Yavakri.

The spirit in the form of the daughter-in-law approached Yavakri seductively and stole the urn which contained the water that made him invulnerable to danger. The rakshasa then chased him with a trident Yavakri ran toward a lake in search of water, but the lake dried up. Every spot with a bit of water in it dried up at his approach. Finally Yavakri tried to enter his father's hermitage. But a blind man of the sudra caste who was guarding the gate, barred Yavakri's entry. At that moment the rakshasa killed Yavakri.

When Bharadwaja learnt from the sudra how his son had died, he was naturally distressed. Although he knew his son was to blame for all that had happened, he cursed Raibhya that he would die at the hand of his elder son. And then shocked at his own folly in cursing a friend, he entered the fire and immolated himself.

Karnad's Interpretation: The myth of Yavakri forms a major portion of Karnad's play but he was tweaked it at places to suit his dramatic requirements. Yavakri's father Bharadwaja, shown as Raibhya's brother in the play, is already dead. He died of a 'broken heart', we are told, when Yavakri went to jungle to undergoe his ten year old "ordeal" to obtain the knowledge of the vedas direct from the gods because he was certain that Yavakri would fail in his quest. So there is no reference to cursing Raibhya after Yavakri's death that Raibhya would die at the hands of his elder son. The sudra guarding the hermitage is a blind old man, Andhaka, who lauds Yavakri's achievement to Nittilai and describes his ordeal graphically :

"He was seeking God so he could ask for universal knowledge! And gods don't yield to men so easily. He had to mortify himself, practise austerities, fast, meditate, pray..... The years of rigorous penance. And still Lord Indra would not oblige. Finally, Yavakri stood in the middle of fire and started offering his limbs to the fire first his fingers, then his eyes, then his entrails, his tongue and at last, his heart that's when the god appeared to him, restored him limbs, and granted him the boon."

What was the purpose of all this, asks the simple Nittilai and Andhaka replies:

"Every Brahmin on the face of this earth wants to gain spiritual powers. But few succeed. In my lifetime, I have known only two who did. Your uncle and your father, Arvasu. Both got their knowledge from human gurus. By diligent study he (Yavakri) has gone beyond even them. He received his knowledge from the gods, direct !"

Yavakri's Revenge : As feared by his father, this turns Yavakri's head. He has nursed a grudge against his uncle Raibhya and his elder son Paravasu for having upstaged his meek and self-effacing father, Bhardwaja, in the eyes of the world. All the honour and the glory that should have been right fully his father's has been unsurped by his uncle and his sons-so on his return, Yavakri plans to avenge himself on them by enticing Raibhya's daughter-in-law Vishakha and reducing her. Yavakri and Vishakha have been former lovers and since Vishakha has been sexually starved for the last seven years since her husband Paravasu has been away from the hermitage persiding over the royal sacrifice as the chief priest, she willingly yields to him. As a part of his design, Yavakri asks Raibhya's Younger son, the gullible Arvasu, to meet him under a tree on the hign cliff at the moment he is making love to Yavakri, besides making Raibhya return to his hermitage a day earlier than scheduled. He does all this to provoke Raibhya and succeeds.

C. Rajagopalachari makes no mention of Yavakri's love for Vishakha or his hatred for Raibhya and his family, nor does he hind at Yavakri's plans to carry out his revenge in the abridgement of the Mahabharata. He simply refers to Yavakri's "Violation" of Raibhya's daughter-in-law's person as nestial act of lust and Raibhya's invoking of the 'Kritya' spirit when he sees his daughter-in-law "weeping broken hearted and inconsolable". He creates only the Brahma Rakshasa to destroy Yavak, and not another woman in the shape of his daughter-in-law to lure Yavakri and steal his urn of consecrated water. There is also mention of Raibhya adding a rider to his curse on Yavakri that he will be safe only inside his father's hermitage and if that happens, within the next twenty-four hours, Raibhya will accept defeat and immolate himself.

In the play, Vishakha not only sends her brother-in-law Arvau to warn Yavakri of her father-in-law's curse, she also rushes to the hill in order to save his life from the impending danger. Yavakri aware of the going son, is smugly meditating there. He accepts Raibhya's challenge and is certain that he will be able to destroy the Brahma Rakshasa by sprinkling consecrated water from his Kamandalu on the demon, there by making Raibhya enter fire and immolate himself. He is "flattered" that Raibhya has accepted his challenge and invoked the kritya spell which involves the use of one's full powers. This is the moment he has been waiting for all his life and he has got it planned to the last detail.

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