Paper 9, Module 23, EText
Paper 9, Module 23, EText
Paper 9, Module 23, EText
Subject: English
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What is the Module About:
This module introduces you to the renowned playwright Dharamvir Bharati and more
specifically to his play Andha Yug. In the first section you will be introduced to the life,
career and other writings of Bharati which earned him recognition. Later on in this module
you will learn about the play, AndhaYug, its themes and critical analysis along with some
Dharamvir Bharati was born on 25th December, 1926 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. He
lost his father at a young age that left a vacuum in his life and also financial difficulties for
the family. In these difficult times he managed to continue his education and received Master
of Arts in Hindi from Allahabad University in 1946. After completing his master’s degree he
worked more than five years as a magazine sub-editor of Abhyudaya and Sangam. After this
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he started working for his PhD and received the doctorate degree in 1954. Soon he joined as a
lecturer in Allahabad University. He left the post in 1960 to join as a Chief Editor of the
Hindi weekly magazine Dharma Yug which was run by the Times India Group in Bombay.
Under his editorship the magazine earned wide circulation and he remained associated with it
till 1987.
During his free times he continued writing and gradually was acknowledged as a
writer. Later, he turned out as a prolific writer. He wrote plays, poems, novels, essays and so
on. For his literary contributions Bharati was honoured with the Padma Shree in 1972, the
fourth highest civilian award given by the Government of India. Further, he was also awarded
the Maharana Mewar Foundation Award in 1988. In 1989, once again the Indian Government
honoured him with the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the highest national recognition
given in the area of performing arts. Later he was awarded the Maharashtra Gaurav, Kaudiya
Nyas and Vyasa Samman too. Dharamvir Bharati died in 1997 due to heart disease.
Do You Know:
His most popular novels are Gunahon Ka Devta and Suraj Ka Satvan Ghodha (The
Seventh Steed of the Sun). Both the novels were made into film by acclaimed filmmakers.
twentieth-century Hindi literature. It was translated into Bengali by the noted poet Malay Roy
Choudhury, for which he was awarded the Sahitya Academy Award for Translation.
The following are some of his prominent works cutting across various genres.
Novels: Gunaho ka Devta (1949), Suraj ka Satwan Ghoda (1952), Giyara Sapno ka Desh,
Prarambh va Samapan.
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Poetry: “Kanupriya”, “Thanda Loha”, “Saat Geet Varsh” and “Sapana Abhi Bhi”.
Essays: Thele par Himalayas, Pashyanty Stories: Unkahi, The River was Thirsty, Neil Lake,
Short Stories: “Swarg Aur Prathvhi”, “Band Gali Ka Aakhkri Makhaan”, “Chand Aur
Tuthe Hue Log”, “Samast Kahaniya Ek Saath” and “Saas Ki Kalam Se”.
concerned with the immediate social and political issues of the time. He used elements of
folk, chorus and poetic style of writing in his play. He was one of the pioneers of the
movement.
Andha Yug is a verse play written in Hindi which was published in 1953. It was first
staged in 1964 by the noted theatre personality Ebrahim Alkazi. The play is based on the
mythologies of the Mahabharata. The play is one of the significant literary creations that
were written soon after the Partition of India and Pakistan. The play stands against war,
hatred and laments the loss of humanity and life. Bharati writes “Andha Yug would never
have been written if it had been in my power not to write. I was in dilemma when the idea of
writing the play rose within me. It made me little afraid. I knew that if I set out to write it, I
would never be able to turn back!” (Bharati in the Prefatory Notes of the play).
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The play has five acts and an interlude. Interval can be planned after the interlude.
The writer gives instruction of the setting in the play itself as “A Note to the Directors” which
indicates that the stage design should be simple and kept minimal. He also elaborates on
change of a scene. The playwright says “There is a permanent curtain at the back and two
more in addition. Scene change will be indicated through the dropping and lifting of the
curtain in the middle of the stage. The proscenium curtain should be dropped at the end of the
act. The curtain at the back and middle are not to be painted. The stage must be bare as
The choric song style is borrowed from Indian folk theatre tradition. Here chorus is
used to explain the significance of the actions or to provide information that is not shown on
the stage. At times it also explains the symbolic importance of the events. The writer
continues “There should be two choric voices and one should be of female and other should
The play Andha Yug (1953) is set in evening of the last eighteenth day of the Great
war of Mahabharata. The play was written after the turbulent times of partition of India and
Pakistan that took place in 1947. It is a metaphorical play that mourns for the loss of ethical
and human values. In other words, it is an interpretation of modern turbulent times that is
depicted using the characters of the epic Mahabharata symbolically and metaphorically.
The play begins with the Mahabharata war which took place between Kauravas and
Pandavas for the throne of Hastinapur. The kingdom is burning and the battlefield is now
covered with dead bodies and vultures. It is about the post war disconcerted survivors of the
Kaurava clan. However, when Pandavas won the war Kauravas, who lost once again decides
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to avenge against the Pandavas. Ashwatthama releases the Brahmastra, the ultimate weapon
that can destroy the world. The play centres on Krishna who could not ensure peace.
However, Krishna’s presence throughout the play is significant that tells us that ethical and
moral values are always at hand in all the situations and times to human beings. It is we,
Characters:
Gandhari: Wife of the blind king, Dhritarashtra; mother of Duryodhana and his ninety-nine
Dhritrashtra: He is the blind king of the Kauravas and husband of Gandhari. He is the father
Kritavarma: Born into the same Yadava clan as Krishna but fights against him, on the side
of the Kauravas.
Old Mendicant: Character who appears as an astrologer, as Vyasa, and as the hunter Jara.
Vyasa: Sage and author of the Mahabharata; father of Pandu, Dhritarashtra, and Vidura;
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Kripacharya: Ashwatthama's uncle; a master teacher of the warrior arts to the Pandavas and
Yuyutsu: Illegitimate son of Dhritarashtra by a slave girl; the only Kaurava to take the
Balarama: Older brother of Krishna; a master teacher of the warrior arts to the Pandavas and
Krishna: An incarnation (avatara) of the Godhead Vishnu; assists the Pandavas as counselor
There are other minor character too like Dumb Soldier, Guard 1 and Guard 2.
The play deals with various issues and themes that are relevant and contemporary to
all times for example Ashwatthama represents the blind affection, Dhritrashtra presents
misplaced loyalty, Yuyutsu presents impotent visions, Sanjay symbol of anguish, Gandhari
represents anger and Vidur becomes the representative of morality. Vyasa’s Mahabharata is a
narrative that reinforces the point of Dharma, moral and ethical righteousness and conflict
In this great narrative of conflicts and dharma Krishna is the focal point around whom
everything spins and grows. Krishna is the centre of the play however; he is never seen on the
stage. His presence is felt through the symbols like feathers of peacock, flute etc. He is the
axis at the same time he remains beyond these conflicts or issues like good vs. bad. His
presence represents an end in itself. “This faith in Krishna sustains the moral well-being of all
principal characters. Aggrieved Gandhari curses Krishna to death and yet feels acutely sorry
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and even Ashwatthama admits the presence of divine peace on the face of Krishna at the time
AndhaYug the title and the narrative present an age of blindness or Kali Yuga. An age
that is devoid of dharma, reason and peace. Similar were the situations and incidents after the
partition of India. The play was a representation of the modern times the degeneration of
human values. Since the partition of the Indian subcontinent resulted in uprooting and
displacing humans from their place of origin, butchery and savage atrocities on fellow human
beings, disrespect to the modesty of women and so on and so forth. One finds the similar
conditions prevalent in the play and the usage of words also direct towards it. For example
the words like half-truths, inertia, blindness, barbaric, deformed and suicidal and so on. The
freedom for which people sacrificed their lives suddenly turned out to be disillusioned for the
Further, the playwright uses the two guards as a metaphor to represents the
Guard 1: Honour!
Guard 2: Disbelief!
Guard 1: Sorrow at the death of one’s sons!
Guard 2: The future that is waiting to be born!
Guard 1: All these grace the lives of Kings!
Guard 2: And the one they worship as their Lord
takes the responsibility for all of them!
Guard 1: But what about the lives
the two of us have spent
in these desolate corridors?
Guard 2: Who shall take responsibility for us?
Guard 1: We did not violate honour
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because we did not have any.
Guard 2: We were never tormented by disbelief because we never had any faith
Guard 1: We never experienced any sorrow
Guard 1: nor felt any pain.
Guard 2: We spent our desolate lives in these desolate corridors
Guard 1: because we were only slaves
Guard 2: We merely followed the orders of a blind king.
Guard 1: We had no opinions of our own. We made no choices (42-43).
The two guards move on the stage and emphasize the hapless and concerns of common man
especially of the turbulent and times of extreme atrocities. However, common man was never
the concern or central to the ancient narratives but modern retellings situates and imagines
their conditions. The works like AndhaYug and other varied and modern interpretations of
ancient texts have highlighted the agony of common masses that was silenced from a very
long time. These retellings are significant for the changing times and also make the masses
The play brings to our attention the battle between the good vs bad or dharma and
adharma, duties and responsibilities of God and humans. The play by bringing in Krishna as
the focal point of discussion and his absence and metaphorical presence draws our attention
towards these complex issues and often vaguely understood concepts. Bharati invokes in the
readers the emotions and sympathies for Gandhari who has lost her sons in the war. On the
other hand we are forced to think that what role did Krishna play in the war? Why did not he
stop the war and bloodshed? “Like hundreds of Kauravas, we invariably refuse to hear the
voice of God and blame him when our ambitions are not fulfilled; refuse like the Kauravas in
the play, to gaze inwards and find within the sources of grievous wrong” (4). Further, it is
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seems simple and undemanding to ask what God has and ought to do for human beings rather
than questioning or introspecting ourselves how responsible we are for our actions and “what
The figure of Krishna is very complex to understand. He is human with whom one
can relate with and at the other end he is the God. His earthly presence makes humans to ask
for his support to the actions of our contemporary times or desires. If he fails to respond to it
we turn away from him feeling as if he is the sole responsible authority for our wrong deeds.
Dhritarashtra: Vidura
For the first time
In my life
I am afraid.
Vidura: Afraid?
The fear you experience today
had gripped others years ago
Dhritarashtra: Why didn’t you warn me then?
Vidura: Bhishma did.
So did Dronacharya.
Indeed, in this very court
Krishna advised you:
‘Do not violate the code of honour.
If you violate the code of honour
It will coil around the Kaurava clan
Like a wounded python
And crush it like a dry twig’…
Vidura:Yet from the very first day
It was obvious that the Kaurava might
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-the final arbiter of truth-
Was weak and vulnerable
Over the past seventeen days
You have received news
Of the death
-one by one-
Of the entire Kaurava clan. (32-34)
Vidura is correct in emphasizing that one cannot take virtue for granted used it as per one
desires as a commodity or service whenever it is required and forgotten in other times (06).
Alok Bhalla writes “A moral life demands perpetual attention. And those, like Dhritarashtra,
who fail to understand this, cannot hope to escape the consequences. In the balance of things,
then, it is right that, at the end of all the carnage which he had failed to prevent, Dhritarashtra
is consumed by a relentless forest fire, a manifestation of the desolation and the affliction of
In this module we have discussed about Dharamvir Bharati, the playwright. We came
to know about his personal life. We also learnt about Bharati’s literary works and his style of
writing. Further, we have discussed the play Andha Yug. We came to know about the
background and setting of the play. We have discussed the plot and summary of the play.
Then we have also discussed the characters in it. After then we have focused on various
themes and other relevant issues discussed in the play. Hope these are useful to you. For more
on this module, please find the e-text, learn more and self-assessment tabs. Thank you.
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References
“About the Playwright and Translator” Manoa, vol. 22, no. 1, 2010, pp. 142–143.
www.jstor.org/stable/20720745.
Bharati, Dharamvir. Andha Yug. trns Alok Bhalla. New Delhi: Oxford University
Press, 1953.
Bhalla, Alok. “Defending the Sacred in Age of Atrocities: On Translating Dharamvir
Bharati's ‘Andha Yug.’” Indian Literature, vol. 49, no. 1 (225), 2005, pp. 88–104.
www.jstor.org/stable/23346579.
Joshi, Prabodh “Aftermath of Mahabharat: Dharamveer Bharati’s Andha-Yug and
Kashinath Singh’s Upsanhar”. International Journal of English Language, Literature and
Humanities, Volume IV, Issue III, March 2016. www.ijellh.com
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