Kamayani

Kamayani
	Front Cover
Author	Jaishankar Prasad
Original title	कामायनी
Language	Hindi
Genre	Epic poetry
Publication date	1936
Publication place	India
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Preceded by	Lehar
Original text	कामायनी at Hindi Wikisource

Kamayani (Hindi : कामायनी) (1936) is a Hindi epic poem (Mahakavya) by Jaishankar Prasad (1889–1937). It is considered one of the greatest literary works written in modern times in Hindi literature. It also signifies the epitome of Chhayavadi school of Hindi poetry which gained popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Theme

Kamayani depicts the interplay of human emotions, thoughts, and actions by taking mythological metaphors. Kamayani has personalities like Manu, Ida and Śraddhā who are found in the Vedas. The great deluge described in the poem has its origin in Satapatha Brahmana. Explaining his metaphorical presentation of Vedic characters, the poet said:

Ida was the sister of the gods, giving consciousness to the entire mankind. For this reason, there is an Ida Karma in the Yagnas. This erudition of Ida created a rift between Shraddha and Manu. Then with the progressive intelligence searching for unbridled pleasures, the impasse was inevitable. This story is so very ancient that metaphor has wonderfully mingled with history. Therefore Manu, Shraddha, and Ida while maintaining their historical importance may also express the symbolic import. Manu represents the mind with its faculties of the head and heart and these are again symbolized as Faith (Shraddha) and Intelligence (Ida) respectively. On this data is based the story of Kamayani.

Structure

The plot is based on the Vedic story where Manu, the man surviving after the deluge (Pralaya), is emotionless (Bhavanasunya). Manu starts getting involved in various emotions, thoughts, and actions. These are sequentially portrayed with Shraddha, Ida, Kilaat, and other characters playing their part, contributing in them. The chapters are named after these emotions, thoughts, or actions. Some people consider that the sequence of chapters denotes the change of personality in a man's life with age. Following is the sequence:

Canto	Title	Context	Verses
1	Chinta	Anexity	80
2	Asha	Hope	80
3	Shraddha	Faith, Reverential belief	63
4	Kama	Eros	67
5	Vasana	Passion for materialism	53
6	Lajja	Shyness	47
7	Karma	Action	128
8	Irshya	Jealousy	71
9	Ida	Intellect	31
10	Swapna	Dream	55
11	Sangharsh	Conflict	122
12	Nirved	Renunciation	103
13	Darshan	Philosophy, Vision of Shiva	44
14	Rahasya	Mystique	77
15	Anand	Bliss, Self-realization	80
		Total	1101

Adaptations

Tumul kolahal kalah me, an excerpt from the 12th canto 'Nirved' (निर्वेद) was set to tune by the music composer Jaidev and sung by Asha Bhosle. It was released by The Gramophone Company of India in 1971 under the title 'An Unforgettable Treat Asha Bhosle'.

In 1999, the Films Division produced a short biographical film on Jaishankar Prasad. The film depicted his literary works as a novelist, story writer, poet, and essay writer. A Kathak musical of some verses from Kamayani was the highlight of the film. It was choreographed by the famous exponent of Kathak Uma Dogra, who also portrayed the role of Shraddha in it. ^[1]

Doordarshan, the national broadcaster of India produced a six-part musical on Kamayani.

Shakuntala Shukla and Vyomkesh Shukla adapted Kamayani into a musical play. It was produced under the banner of Roopvani, Varanasi.^[2]

Translations

Kamayani has been translated into various languages. There exists a number of English translations of the book. Other languages into which it has been translated include Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, and Tamil. ^[3] Some specific cantos of Kamayani have been translated into English and Russian as well.^[4]

Language	Translator	Title	Publication Year	Publisher	Notes
Bengali	Nachiketa Bhardwaj	Kamayani	1996	Rabindra Bharti Society
English	BL Sahney	Kamayani	1956 (Serialised), 1971 (Book)	Yugbodh Prakashan	Free verses
	Jagat Bhardwaj	Cupid-Maid	1974	Jagat Jagrit Kendra	Rhymed verses
	Jai Kishan Das Sadani	Kamayani	1975	Rupa and Co.	Free verses
	Manohar Bandhopadyay	Kamayani	1978	Ankur Publishing House	Rhymed verses
	Harichand Bansal	Kamayani	1987	Saraswati House Educational Publishers	Rhymed verses
	Parmananda Sharma	Kamayani		National Publishing House	Free verses
Nepali	Dhundiraj Bhandari	Kamayani		Sahitya Akademi
Sanskrit	Bhagwan Dutta Shastri 'Rakesh'	Kamayani	1950s	Jan Vani Printers and Publishers	Preface by Rahul Sankrityayan

References

External links

Hindi Wikisource has original text related to this article: कामायनी
Kamayani at Google Books (English translation)
Kamayani at Kavita Kosh (in Hindi)