REMAKING OF   SAINT JAGNADE: A CRITICAL REVIEW OF  SANJAY YERNE’S NOVELLA ‘SANTAJI- A WARRIOR’

Dr Ravindra D. Hajare, 

(M.A.English, B.Ed.  M.Phil. PhD. SET)

Asst. Professor, Dept of English,

 S. B. Arts and Commerce College, Aheri  Dist.Gadchiroli

Email-ravindrahajare150666@gmail.com

9403867682  

‘Santaji Ek Yoddha’ is an biographical novel written on life and works of Sant Shri  Santaji Jahnade Maharaj by Sanjay Yerne. It is the first ever novella written on the life of Santaji Jagnade, depicting his making as a saint under the influence of  Sant Tukaram and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, published by Bharari Prakashan, Nagpur, 2018.

The land of Maharahstra has conceived several saints ranging from Saint Dnyaneshwar to Gadgebaba from medieval period to the 20th century. Being inspired by the devotional and spiritual work of  Jagnade Maharaj, the author ventured to write this first ever novella in order to propagate his work worldwide through literature.

 Among those Maratha saints the names of Saint Dnaneshwar, Namdeo Eknath and Tukaram are most prominent. They started Bhakti sect and preached the common folk in their language the path to God( Vitthala). All of these saints, throughout their lives condemned rituals, ceremonies and sacrifices in religious worship. The followers of Saint Dnyaneshwar are known as Varkaris. They believe in attaining the presence of God through religious songs or bhajans, spalms, and prayers. They worship Lord Vithoba whom they believe to be the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Following the teaching of Saint Dnayaneshwar, the other saints believed in the equality of all men, contrary   to the beliefs of Brahmins and priests who believed in discriminatory Verna system propounded by Manu in Manusmriti. They all preached people to follow ‘Bhakti Marga’ or the path of deep devotion to God. Through their songs or abhangas’ they spread the message of equality within and outside Maharahstra. They advocated social equality and preached the abolition of distinctions based on class, caste and creed. They carried the work started by Sant Dnaneshwar and preached that one could devote oneself to God by leading a normal family life and discharging all functions of the householders. They did not believe in rituals, ceremonies and other orthodox ways of worship. They preferred simple Marathi rather than Sanskrit in their religious discourses and composed songs in the language of common folk. They wrote numerous religious songs  called abhnagas, Owees, Bharuds which are still very popular in Maharashtra. 

Among them all Sant Tukaram, a contemporary of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, though he never met Shivaji Maharaj, the Maratha ruler, greatly influenced him. Like his predecessors he also believed in Bhakti Marga or path of devotion to God. He made his devotional songs his weapon to awaken people of Maharahstra against the so called Varna system imposed on them by misguiding them about religion  and its lasting effects on the overall state of people fighting against the few who conceded them to be the sole privileged to seek education, worship God and preached people. For others,being the ‘shudras’ they were ‘forbidden fruits’. It was imperative to lead people to right path through religious and awakening discourses. Thousands of people flocked to listen to his discourses. He preached them the virtues of piety, forgiveness and peace of mind. He also gave them the message of equality and brotherhood. He is said to have fourteen people to assist him in his discourses, who were called ‘Talkaris’. 

Among  all the talkaris the most important  one was Santaji, born for this association and work, became his aide at the young age of sixteen and dedicated himself completely to the cause till his death at the age of seventy six. The orthodox people, who did not like the work of Tukaram were against him and also admonished Santaji not to be Tukaram’s aide. But, Santaji, like a true warrior, who knew what was right, never diverted from the path and carried on the work of his Guru forward till his last breath. He fought against all odds, spent his entire life in pursuing the path of Bhakti, nay he led people to the path without being deterred or daunted. He was born for it and he lived for it. 

However, Santaji has been an unsung hero, whose work was overshadowed by the glory of Sant Tukaram.   Santaji not only recreated the Tukarmagatha, preserved them and protected them from the Mughals and Adilshahas.  He not only saved the abhangas, but also preached the very message of Tukaram and composed his own paying attention to his household and occupation. He sustained a lot of agonies and pains of loss but always remained steadfast like a tree and true warrior fighting for the cause of his Guru, Father, friend and philosopher- Sant Tukaram. His incessant but ease labour to compose new songs and prayers and his astute and unending   love for Tukaram and his Bhakti path brought him to sainthood. Santu became Santshri Jadnade Maharaj. These saints have risen from all across the several caste. Santaji Jagnade , born in a Teli caste rose to sainthood in his life with his social work of awakening, writings and preaching. 

Sanjay Yerne, picking up the material from this biographical, historical, social and cultural background, opted for the narratives and weaving several anecdotes from the life of Santaji and the age he lived in, authored  this novella. His genuine and sincere attempts in ‘remaking of Saint Jagnade’ through this novella seem to be successful after minute and detailed reading of it from critical point of view. The author has so far done this through his narrative techniques and art of storytelling. This review article aims atexploring the techniques and evaluate how far the novelist has succeeded in justifying his   purpose of glorifying the ‘warrior’. The reviewer intends to limit this review article to the features of novel in general.

The novel has a fine blending of fiction and non-fiction. The novelist has used his imaginative power and mingling of non-fiction with fiction to make it more entertaining, informative and interesting. It reminds one of the works of Viswas Patil and his historical novels. 

The details of conflicts, locale, characters, plot, setting all are neatly woven together to make it a whole. It is full length biographical novel in the form of long tale told in lucid and simple language. His language is  clear, simple and sometimes poignant when he deals with critical issues like aggressions of Adilshah, Mughals and their description of exploitation, violence and setting fire to crops and destroying villages to make Shivaji surrender himself, knowing that the he would never  bear the exploitation of his subjects and destruction of their property. These minute descriptions along with other narrations leave long lasting impressions on the readers.

The narrative technique provides deeper meaning to the novel and help readers to use imagination to visualize situations. He has employed very common techniques relevant to style or the language chosen to tell the story. It includes metaphors, similes, personification, imagery, hyperbole and alliteration. His narrative style does not only try to impact information but to construct and communicate a story, complete with characters, conflicts and setting, plot and sub-plots. Though the main focus of novels is on Santaji, his loss, gains, fights and    occasional satisfaction, the author’s intent is to prove his point of view, it is not without subplots. Several subplots surrounding the life of Santaji have been clubbed with the main one. The plot of life of his father and mother, his father in law and mother in law, his association with Tukaram and many other Talkaris serve as subplots. They are so beautifully woven that they seem to be one.

So far as the art of characterization is concerned, Yerne is character monger. With the details accumulated from several sources Yerne has beautifully coloured the character of Santaji, Vithoba, Yamuna, Baloji, and his daughter, Tukaram, and least but not last is of Shivaji Maharaj. His minute details of the character evidently prove his art of characterization

The novel has double conflicts – internal and external. Internal   conflict is the result of the external conflicts. The conflicts are aroused by the external forces first in the life of Tukaram and next Santaji and all other people living in the territory of the Maratha Empire. More important is the internal conflict as it serves to study Santaji’s troubled mind internally and his thinking, ideas, motives which stimulate external actions. What he does literally is the result of his internal thought aroused by the external factors.  The author has been able to successfully present both without troubling the another. The conflicts are not left without solutions. Santaji does suffer, but remains victorious.; conflicts seem to be over giving birth to another. Nevertheless, like in a complete story, the author does not leave them unresolved. Whenever there is a conflict, there is also a solution whether it is historical, social, individual and collective. Santaji takes place of Tukaram and fills his absence, calamities of  Afzalkhan and Shahistekhan and other aggressions are resolved. When Santaji is breathing last, he is not afraid because he knows his daughter would carry on the legacy of Tukaram’s work and preserve the volumes of abhangas. He does not bother about his occupations and property as his son is able enough to look after them. He can die peacefully and with full satisfaction as he sees with grace of Lord Vithoba, Tukaram comes to see him. Thus, it proves that God loves them who loves his fellow men. 

 The novel is but a remaking of saint Santaji.  As Tukaram renounced his property and accepted  the work of preaching in order to bring ideological revolution, Sanataji has strived for the welfare and betterment of people  throughout his life. He was moved by the sufferings and agonies of people and his heart always went to those who were in severe trouble. He became a true follower and propagator of bhakti sect. His preachings with illustrations from Tukaram’s abhangas were so perfect that   they make him a true saint. Winning the sainthood due to his work and deeds was no less to winning a battle.

Santaji does not fight on actual war field, because his fight is different. His fight was on the social, cultural, religious and ideological fields. His opponent were those who exploited people and subjugated the majority, observed discriminations based on caste, creed, and vernas, and did not allow others to be wise and educated. For this he made his abhangas and prayers his weapons as they carried spiritual messages,  practical examples taken from actual life explained in simple and lucid language. He runs through suns and shadows, encounters many ups and downs, sustains the agonies of losses one after the another, but still stands up steadfastly undeterred and undaunted. He always dreams of better days and strives for them. He is just dreamer but is a chaser of dream. His belief is not blind. He knows summer will follow winter; sorrow will be placed with happiness; the bad will be destroyed and the good will be victorious. Though he calls upon Pandurang, the savior, he does not rely only on His unexpected grace to befall on them and shower them with his blessing of happiness. He knows there is no end to sufferings as we accustomed to live in hell. What he wishes for is peace of mind! A warrior, though victorious, cannot be happy without peace of mind. He wishes the peace of mind for all!  Thus, Santaji is true warrior. His actions and deeds lead him to remaking of a saint.

 In short, The author, Sanjay Yerne, truly stands to his claim and is able to prove that Santaji was a real warrior who fought battle of life, fought on ideological, and social level and paved way for the next generation to reap rich benefits.  

The essentials elements keep the story running smoothly and allow the action to develop in a logical way that the reader can follow.  The novel is fine example of narrative. It has a sequence of events, the plot. 

It also has a point of view. The story is told from the third person point of view. The author himself is narrator and he seems to be always present observing his characters playing their roles and he is monitoring them. He remains a detached observer.  He is not biased nor attached to anyone. He keeps a bird eye on their doings and paints them deftly. He like a true narrator entertains, informs and persuades, but most importantly he can forge deep meaningful and lasting connections. 

He has used   pictorial quality to paint his descriptions as if they look real one.   His word pictures are so vivid that immediately captivates our attention and creates an atmosphere suitable for the plot and setting.  His observations and deep knowledge of the characters and setting make the narrative powerful. Yerne makes the narratives to be internalized by the readers. His style keeps then engaged with the texts and makes them feel one with it. This is the style which is found only in the great literary works. 

He regales them about the life and experiences. The novel is not just a summation of smaller events but a meaningful assessment of life. Yerne’s novel falls in the category that could be well explained in words of Carlos Fuentes: “ The novel is the privileged vehicle of two ways of being: narrative and freedom: to be free  in a speech open to all and to be free in a speech that never concludes.”

References:

Goodreads. com/ quotes/tag/narratives

Yerne , Sanjay, Santaji Ek Yoddha, Bharari Prakashan, Nagpur, 2018.

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