Character of
Charudatta
Sudraka was well versed in the art of
characterization. In his prakarana play Mrichchhakatika he has presented all
sorts of characters high and low and it was indeed a daring task for Sudraka to present
onstage, in a rigid patriarchal ancient Indian society the consummation of a
love affair between a respected Brahmin merchant Charudatta with the courtesan
Vasantasena. According to the ‘Natyashastra’, the hero of the Prakarana must be
brave, a Brahmana or a minister of a king or a merchant. A hero must always
engage himself in performing Dharma, attaining Kama and wealth. He must face
some problems when he is performing these things which he must overcome
virtuously.
Although Charudatta is not a typical ‘dhirodhatta;
type of hero, he possess rare characteristics which makes him the most
appealing one to Vasantasena, the most beautiful and rich courtesan of
Ujjayini, in spite of his impoverished condition.The protagonist of the play Charudatta does not
belong to the noble class or royal lineage.He is a Brahmana youth of
Ujjayini’ but he led his life like a Vaisya.His ancestors had amassed a large
fortune in trade, which subsequently disappeared and left him penniless. He was
the follower of Dharma. In the first act he enters being engaged in worshipping
god. He has belief in Dharma, Karma and the result of Karma. He had deep
belief in the omens also like that of fate. His belief was that the omens show
the good or bad happenings in future.Charudatta was handsome to look at and his
physique such that the people just by looking at him remembers the good deeds
done by him. The author has attempted to characterize a real man with his
defects as well as virtues. He has spent a greater portion of his wealth on
charities and his name is having the significant meaning "he who gives
nobly".Bountifulness was a habit, which has become a second nature with
him, so that when he has nothing valuable things to give he gives the cloak
which is wearing, his high sense of honour make him to replace the stolen
ornaments by a costly - necklace; and do such deeds of nobleness as could win him
the love of a courtesan who is young, beautiful and rich.
The play opens with Charudatta in an extremely
impoverished situation.Poverty is not simply a social state in which Charudatta finds himself,
rather it becomes the very force that derives Charudatta's thought and ideas
because in the entire play he is seen coming back to the fact that he is poor;
for everything that happens to him, he blames his poor condition. Charudatta rues the effect of poverty because of
which everyone, including those that had received his benevolence and patronage
in the past, avoid him like plague. After experiencing utmost poverty,
Charudatta describes it as the sixth sin, after the ‘panchamahapatakas’.
However poverty did
not do anything to reduce the wisdom and kindness.He is kind even towards the
animals and birds and plants.He is fond of music and extremely sympathetic
towards others.He felt sorry for the thief Sharvilaka who went out bare handed
even after breaking the house and is so forgiving that he easily forgives Sakara
the arch villain and the prime mentor of his destruction. Mandanika compares
him to the moon. Chandanaka describes him as ‘Gunarvinda’. The judges treat him
with great respect and even the Chandalas call him as ‘Gunaratnanidhi’.
Although he is poor he does not forfeit the honour of the people of his
society.
Some critics find Charudatta as a passive character.His passiveness in love is also illusive. Though he
himself does not go to see his beloved as Vasantasena does, yet he is always
ready to undergo any risk for the sake of his love. At first sight, it seems
that he fails to control the situation, he becomes a fatalist and helplessly
accepts the authority of ruthless fate upon him. But when we go deeper in his
character, he proves himself at the centre of all the events in the play. Most
of the important events develop round his character. He indirectly plays a very
important role in the political revolution. Charudatta’s
death sentence works as a spark to fuel and results in the dethronement of the
unjust king Palaka.
Towards the end when Charudatta comes to know that
he has lost Vasantasena for ever he is not in a condition to shed tears for
her. It is the climax of Charudatta’s pitiable and pathetic condition.
Ironically the introvert man shamed at confessing his love for a courtesan in
public can only utter: “Why should I exist without Vasantasena?”
Thus the character of Charudatta is a rare creation
by Sudraka marked by humility, generosity, selfless love, sympathy and
forgiveness, a most befitting for his prakarana play.
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