FOREWORD
THE DAY-DAWN OF DIVINE GRACE
DRAMA has been acclaimed as the highest form of literary art. The Sanskrit language has been declared to be the language of the Gods. It is beyond all question the most ancient of classical languages. An allegory is a symbolic representation in which the characters of the story or play are not real persons, but abstract human qualities which are so to say personified and made to talk, act and behave as if they were real human beings. The Vedānta Philosophy is admittedly on all hands the most profound, containing at once the highest and the deepest human thought. Here then is a great Drama composed in the Sanskrit language, allegorical from beginning to end and containing the quintessence of Vedantic Philosophy and religion.
It is a wonderful work. One may agree or not agree with the philosophic conclusions of the play in story and speech, but few, to whatever persuasion they may belong, can withhold from it their admiration. The author of this great philosophic Drama was, as is well-known, the great Poet-Philosopher, Sri Venkatanatha, popularly known as Sri Vedānta Deśika. If the object of Vedānta is to determine and define the goal of human life and effort, and direct man along [[viii]] the right path to that goal, and to guide and help him on the journey, informing him at the same time about every thing he must know in relation to himself, his journey and his goal, then it must be accepted that that great Vaiṣṇavite Acarya, who, even in his life-time, attained the distinction of being called Vedāntadeśika, was among the most competent to compose such a Vedantic work. The expression Desika in Sanskrit, it may be remembered, is more appropriate to indicate the actual guide rather than a mere teacher of theory.
Tradition has it that this play was written by the poet in a single night. I confess I find it difficult to accept it literally or wholesale. Speaking for myself, I should have preferred to be assured that the great artist took a long time over the production of his greatest work of Art. Tradition is further to the effect that the Drama came to be written in a night on a personal challenge to the great author of Prabodhacandrodaya. That the writing of this play under the particular name must have been conceived in a spirit of challenge to that other drama exemplifying the Advaitic Philosophy, may readily be conceded. The contrast between Prabodha and Sankalpa, and the moon and the sun, are themselves sufficient, nay almost conclusive proof.+++(5)+++ But having regard to the much earlier date attributed to the author of the earlier work, the story of a personal interview between them is open to serious doubt. In many of these cases, as is well-known, imagination plays no small part in the fabrication of a story which [[ix]] might have been natural or probable under different circumstances.
It is fortunate that as regards the place where the Drama was written by the author, no doubt can possibly arise because of the internal evidence, that it was Srirangam. It seems also likely that the time of composition must have been before the Mahomedan invasion of that island and the consequent fleeing of Sri Venkatanatha from that place, northwest in the direction of Mysore.
Considering even from the mere point of view of a composition in Sanskrit, the play is entitled to take a high rank in Sanskrit literature. That it has not been popular in the sense of its not having enthused the common man is quite true. No such play can ever be, on account of its special appeal only to philosophic minds. It was destined from its very conception not to be capable of making a general appeal to all students even of Vedānta. It only proves conclusively that even in play, Vedānta cannot be popular.
As regards the work as a whole, it adheres in the strictest measure and manner to the rules of dramaturgy in Sanskrit. In this connection, it may be remarked that these rules which must have been undoubtedly arrived at by the propounders not deductively but by the adoption of the inductive method on a critical study and comparison of numerous Sanskrit dramas of different authors, have not always had a salutory effect on the freedom of literary compositions. But Sri [[X]] Vedāntadeśika was, in this, as in many other things, a great conformist.
The Drama consists of ten acts, apart from Prastavana or Prologue and Viskambhas or interludes. Any further consideration, therefore, of the dramatic construction of the play need not detain us.
The most noteworthy fact in the Prastavana is what at first sight strikes one as an extravagant claim made by the author in the cause of not only the written. drama but the acted play. He declares in a well-known passage that there is no science or art worth its name if it is not capable of being portrayed in a drama. The claim there has reference to śānti or emotive peacefulness as a possible or appropriate motif in a drama. It is well-known that writers on literary art and therefore on art in general have classified and enumerated eight different motifs such as love, heroism, fear etc. The author claims in truth and fact to have adopted a ninth motif in works of art called śāntirasa. It is a courageous bid following Ānandavardhana. The author has made good and proved to posterity the possibility of such a supreme Vedantic conception being fashioned and presented in the form of a drama.
The story of the play is not easy to be related. The difficulty is not merely in the theme being philosophic, but in the subtle devices and speeches employed by the poet to develop the theme of his particular philosophy. It is the story of a conflict. The conflict is an eternal one. It has gone on from the beginning of creation. It is reproduced in every human life in a [[xi]] more or less degree. It may be described and defined as a conflict between the higher self of Man and his lower self, between the spiritual on one hand and the earthly and materialistic on the other. The conclusion of the play points and proves the eventual victory of the higher self.
The dramatist has portrayed this conflict as between two kings. On the one side there is arrayed the great King Viveka or Wisdom, with all his followers. On the other side there is arrayed another king called Mahāmoha or the Great Delusion, and his followers. The names of the characters are all very happily and appropriately chosen.
We are told that the spouse of Wisdom is Sumati or Goodness. The implication is that Wisdom in life gets wedded to Goodness, apparently not by chance but by choice. It seems to me that there is still further implication. indeed in the suggestion that according to the principles of spiritual economy it is wise to be good even in the sense that it is paying and profitable for a person to be good.
The contrast to this is to be found in the chief of the opposite forces being dubbed Mahamoha or the Great Delusion. Be it noted that it is not mere ignorance and stupidity or even wickedness but delusion. The implication here is that those, who are not wise are so not because of any wantonness or wickedness, but only on account of delusion.
Delusion is a mistaken belief. We are told that the spouse of this Delusion is Durmati or Evilness. The implication here is that those who are disposed to evilmindedness are so because of their folly and [[xii]] foolishness. They do not know that wickedness is not a paying proposition.
We are told that Sumati or Goodness the spouse of Viveka has two maiden friends or companions. They are called Sraddha and Vicāraṇā. The suggestion underlying this appears to be that they are generally the two features attendant on Goodness to enable it to function efficiently. Sraddha is Assiduity, without which mere good intentions are of no practical value, and Vicaraṇā is Discrimination without which goodness will only be goody-goody. It will thus be seen that even by the process of naming the characters whom the dramatist has created for the play he is propounding not a few psychological lessons.
Vyavasāya we are told, is the General commanding the forces of the King Viveka. Vyavasāya is Human Effort. The place thus accorded to human effort must specially be appreciated in the scheme of a philosophic drama which sets out to postulate the supreme necessity of Divine Grace or Saṁkalpa in everything. The doctrine thus comes to be propounded by this great philosopher that if no success or achievement is possible without ultimate Divine Grace, yet human effort is also indispensable.
As the story of the play is centred round the salvation of the human soul, a correct and proper religious doctrine based on fundamental philosophy is indicated to be necessary. It is called Siddhanta or Doctrine. He is the Guru. As the doctrine promulgated in the play is Sri-Vaiṣṇavite Visiṣṭadvaitism, the place of the [[Xiii]] Guru or the Dictator of Faith is appropriately accorded to Siddhanta as a character whose identity with Sri Rāmānuja is unmistakable. There is reason to believe that it was a great regret of Sri Desika in his life-time that he had not the good fortune of having been a direct disciple of Sri Rāmānuja. This regret of his has apparently been sought by the author to be overcome and set right by figuring and featuring himself in this Drama as the disciple who is called Vāda.+++(4)+++ The suggestion underlying is that while it is necessary for every human being to search for and secure for himself a Guru who will teach and guide him in life according to the principles of a correct and unassailable doctrine, there is at the same time need for such a doctrine being safe-guarded and made effective by Vāda or discussion and Tarka or logic.
Next in order comes Saṁskāra, which may be rendered as ‘Refined Culture’ indicating at once the ripening of knowledge into culture and the development of the love of fine art Dṛṣṭa-pratyaya is the name given to a character featured as a messenger.+++(5)+++ It means literally the truthfulness of what is seen, thereby indicating that the acceptance of the reality in practical life of the world as reported to us by the congeries of our senses, as distinguished from the contrasted doctrine that all is Māyā or unreal.
Then comes Saṁkalpa which though it literally means resolution is in the Drama represented as Divine Will or Grace. This is the essential principle and doctrine inculcated in the Drama. The Dramatist-Philosopher has laboured step by step [[xiv]] to declare and establish his special doctrine of salvation by Divine Grace. Human effort there may be and must be; but without Divine Grace nothing can be finally achieved. It will be seen that this is the central principle of Prapatti or self-surrender. This is the final Sattvika-tyāga,+++(5)+++ that is to say, a continuous realisation in every act of ours that as God abides in everything, even so His Grace is the vitalising force which alone makes for fruition. It is for this reason apparently that even Viṣṇubhakti or Devotion to the Lord which is featured as absolutely essential is at the same time shown as incapable of itself, without Divine Grace, of achieving the goal for man.
Volumes may be written on the philosophic implications conveyed by not only the names of such characters but also their actions and reactions in the play. From the very first line of the very first stanza in the play right up to the end this essential doctrine that though human effort and the acquisition of qualifications step by step are indispensably necessary for success and salvation still they are incapable of being the effective cause to bring about such success and salvation. The two, Human Effort and Divine Grace, are independent. They are not related as cause and effect; and yet, somehow in an inscrutable way, the Divine Grace will alight only on him who has by his meritorious life and sustained effort qualified himself and deserved it. It seems to me that this is like a golden thread that is seen running through the play.
The last [[XV]] word in the play, Vāsudeva seems deliberately designed by the dramatist to indicate that his theory of salvation by Divine Grace is the logical counterpart of the immanence of the Divine in everything that exists as signified by the expression Vasudeva.
We have so far cursorily run through the forces and factors arrayed on the side of King Wisdom. But the Hero, of the play is only Puruṣa or Man. There is no doubt that he is the centre around which the play revolves and moves. Man is the soul embodied in flesh and blood. It is in earthly life and through earthly life that man has to attain salvation. As man is constituted in essential part by the soul which is Divine, even so there is the earthly, albeit indispensable, part of his in the form of the materialistic body. The movement of the story originates in the attempt of these two issues in human life coming into conflict with each other striving to acquire and establish domination over man.
The higher self which is spiritual and Divine strives with the help of Viveka and the forces allied with him to take the path which leads to salvation and eternal bliss in union with God. On the other side the lower self of man as his earthly and materialistic part strives to drag him down and keep him in the mire of materialistic and trivial pleasures.
In this connection, if we should momentarily review the forces ranged on the opposite side, we may be able to discover what, according to the Dramatist- Philosopher, are those forces in life which serve and strive to drag him down. They are Kama or Desire [[xvi]] and his spouse Rati or Attachment. There is Vasanta or Spring with its appeal to sensory pleasures. Rāga is Passion, Dveṣa is Hatred, Krodha is Anger, Lobha is Greed, Dambha is Vanity, Darpa is Pride. There are also other characters introduced such as Tṛṣṇā or Hankering, who is said to be the spouse of Greed. Kuhana or Fraud who is represented as the spouse of Dambha and Asuya or Envy and Jealousy, as the spouse of Darpa or Pride.+++(5)+++ The artistic manner in which the Dramatist has introduced into the play all these human faults and frailties is remarkable.
It is these arrayed forces under the rule of the Great Illusion that at every step beset man during his life’s journey and provide so many obstacles and pit-falls on the road. The suggestion is in the highest degree both poetical and psychological, that if a man does not ruin himself and his soul by love, he may be doing so by his anger or by greed and so on; and in the last degree vanity and pride are at least bound to drag him down from the pedestal of the ideally perfect man.+++(4)+++
The falls and failings, moral and psychological, to which man is subject in the course of life’s journey, are all designed to serve as a warning to erring humanity. The conflict between the two sets of forces, the higher and the lower, constitute the movement in the play. Life is a conflict. Life is a great war. It is only if and when you come out victorious in this eternal conflict in this battle of life, you can claim to have achieved victory. The hero is he who comes out so victorious by allying himself with [[xvii]] wisdom and against the fatal evils that follow in the wake of the conception of man and human life as materialistic.
The great author who set to himself a most difficult task of composing an allegorical drama has succeeded wonderfully in a manner and measure the highest possible in the circumstances. The characters in the play though conceived as abstract qualities have so far been rendered real by the great art of the author as even to make us forget frequently their real nature and even to take or mistake them for real human beings. They are true characters according to the ideal conception of drama as a work of art.
In Sanskrit language and literature this drama is bound to be accorded a high place. If Sri Desika instead of producing more than a hundred works had been the author of only the first two stanzas of this drama, he would have earned his right to a high place amongst Sanskrit poets.+++(4)+++ This Day-Dawn of Divine Grace can almost be said to have failed of its purpose all these centuries but by no fault of the great author or his great work. I have, however, had the good fortune of seeing it acted both in original Sanskrit and in Tainil versions in various places in the Province by several groups of talented and enthusiastic actors.+++(5)+++ I am glad to be able to testify to the play produced and performed on the stage having proved admirable.
It seems to me that this great work when carefully studied and understood can be realised to be what it is, a Vade Mecum for all who take a serious view of [[xviii]] life and are intent on making the most of it, fruitful for the here and hereafter as well.
Apart from the conflict in the human soul and in human life portrayed in it, there is another conflict appearing in more or less degree in every religious system and higher philosophy which has also been sought to be set at rest by the play. It is the great and wonderful reconciliation that has been logically and philosopically effected in the theory of human destiny and salvation and in the important parts relatively played therein by human effort and endeavour on one side in correlation to Divine Grace on the other side.
This edition has been brought out by the devoted labour and the scholarly editorship of my esteemed friend Pandit V. Krishnamacharya. The two commentaries, the two of the best now extant viz., Prabhāvilāsa by Ahobalaśūri and Prabhavali by Nṛṣimharaja are both of great merit. It is conceived that the two supplementing each other will afford the reader the requisite help and understanding to enable him to a proper appreciation of the literary work.
The thanks of the cultured and discerning public are also due to the authorities of the Adyar Library for having brought out this edition in 2 volumes with the scholarship and thoroughness so characteristic of Adyar.
I desire in conclusion to state that I wish I had made the foreword sufficiently long so as to enable me to place before the public not only the literary beauties [[xix]] of the work but also its philosophical bearings on even every day life. But exigencies of time and space have made it impossible. But when all is said and done the function of a foreword is merely to stimulate the reader to apply himself to the proper study of the work. I hope and trust that what I have said will induce the readers to enrich their minds and delight their hearts by a critical study and appreciation of this unique work. And may they be prompted and enabled thereby to throw open the doors and windows of their mind to the Day-Dawn of Divine Grace !
VANI VILAS
Park Town, Madras
22-9-1948
V. V. SRINIVASAN