“Hayavadana": A Study in Virtue and Moralit...

“Hayavadana": A Study in Virtue and Morality

Author Name : Chandan Barman

ABSTRACT

Girish Karnad’s Hayavadana is a two act play.  Its plot has been borrowed from Kathasaritsagar, a Sanskrit collection of tales. It narrates how the “one mind, one heart” friendship of two persons, one intellectual and the other a man of physical prowess, disintegrates. The present paper will aim to explore the conditions of complication of the relationship of the trio- Devadatta, Kapila and Devadatta’s wife Padmini and how they get entangled in the fabric of inadverdent situations which lead to their destruction. My purpose is to uphold here the Indian values of chastity, morality and self control, the beauty of virtuous life and the ugliness of  a sensual  and immoral life.  Leading a virtuous and moral life can bring all disorder and anarchy in order.  Vice may generate temporary pleasure but inherent in it is the seed of greater future destruction. Stationed in virtue, one need to practice the quality of renunciation wishing the well-being of others.