Man-Woman Relationship and the significance of Kama in S.L. Bhyrappa’s Novel, Parva
Dr. Prasanna Deshpande, Assistant Professor, Department of English, Fergusson College, Pune
Man-woman relationship is as old as human existence in the world and the shades of man-woman relationship are as various as those of the world. Indian philosophy recognises Kama or love, romance and desire as a force in human life. It is one of the four essential objectives of human life. In a narrow sense, Kama denotes erotic or sexual love, a desire for carnal gratification and in its broader sense and in usage, the word Kama means a wish, passion, cravings for the pleasure of the senses, of the body, mind and the soul. In fact, all pleasure, even the aesthetic pleasure from arts, nature, can be broadly classified as a pleasure of Kama. The sensory gratification, emotional desirability and aesthetic pleasure are the goals of life along with righteousness or dharma, the economic, professional and political or the Artha and the spiritual, philosophical liberation, self-actualisation or the Moksha.
S.L. Bhyrappa has extensively drawn upon the complexity in the aspect of man-woman relationship in his novels. S.L. Bhyrappa has extensively drawn upon the complexity in the aspect of man-woman relationship in his novels. The novel selected for the present study, namely, Parva, contains this element to a great extent. The present discussion aims to analyse the aspect of the dialectical struggle in the culture of Kama as reflected in this novel. The commonality of this aspect being found in all the novels is surrounded with a remarkable diversity of manifestations of man-woman relationship. The core values exerted in the pursuit of Kama- love, passion and pleasure are common but the individual expression of this pursuit, the practical implications of Kama in different times, in different situations make the depiction of this aspect complex and multi-dimensional. This complexity arises from the pluralistic, diverse and divergent manner of experiencing the objective of love, passion and pleasure in different novels. The researcher proposes to use the word ‘Kama’ as a term summing up its meaning in its narrow and broader sense as stated above.
Kama as Marriage, Procreation and Progeny
The critical discussion of the dialectics of cultural struggle as reflected in the novel Parva, would fall short if the issue of man-woman relationship is not analysed for its dialectics and for the cultural struggle in Indian society, as reflected in the selected novels, in different times resulting from the dialectical nature of this aspect of human life. Although the novel Parva is a realistic rendering of the great epic Mahabharata focussing mainly on the epic war which is essentially an affair among the men of the times, the driving forces of the war, the main reasons of the war are not devoid of the role and significance of the women, of the complexity arising out of the man-woman relationship presented in the narrative of the novel Parva. Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas, Gandhari, the mother of the Kauravas and Draupadi, the lone wife of the Pandavas are anything but passive in the overall unfolding of the epic narrative. Through the issues of lineage, succession, legitimacy, progeny, love, rivalry and dominion, these women exert a deep influence on situations, actions and their consequences as shown in the novel Parva.
The novel Parva shows that matrimony, procreation and consistency of the clan were the most prominent means with which Kama was experienced by the men and women in the society of the Mahabharata times. The youthful and passionate longing for love and sensory pleasure would be invariably rounded up as the longing for marriage. Thus we see Hiranyavathi, the young granddaughter of Salya, the Madra king longing for marriage and she is much agitated, because, the elderly men in the family are not seen very keen or at least their efforts are not leading to any success in arranging her marriage. She actually craves for a union with a man through marriage because the only way she could ensure her pleasure in life is by getting married. Her grandfather Salya is equally agitated over the delay caused in arranging her marriage. He even considers it as a great sin on the part of the men in the family because according to him procreation through a nuptial bond is the highest duty of men and women and hence he thinks that loss of youthful power of breeding will cause disgrace to the family. Similarly, a child born out of wedlock is considered as an equally grievous sin by Rukmartha, Salya’s son and the girl’s father. When his wife asks him to consider the option of granting permission to the girl to have a child of her own out of wedlock by citing her own child before her marriage with Rukmartha and his prior acceptance of the tradition, Rukmartha criticises the custom now because now he finds it unlawful, immoral and backward. He tells his wife that for the people in the Eastern countries like Kuru, Panchala, Kashi and others and in the Southern countries of Virata, Matsya, Chedhi and others, the practice of child out of wedlock is a taboo and the entire Aryan culture has forbidden it. He even thinks that the practice of polyandry is a sin according to the norms of Aryan culture and Aryan Dharma while he is conscious that in the past and in the present times the practices still exist in some communities. However, the influence and spread of the Aryan values across the civilizational expanse created this situation of conflict between the values of the older generation and those of the younger people. Thus, we see that the growing importance of family bonding, the huge political, imperial significance of lineage, progeny and consistency of the clan, paved a way for understanding, experiencing man-woman relationships mainly as morally righteous and lawful means of procreation. Any violation of this norm of matrimonial phenomenon as a means of procreation and the practice of polyandry is looked upon as a sin, an iniquitous act inviting misfortune and disgrace.
The old values in this regard seem to have reached at a point of ideological, philosophical collision with the changing values of the younger generation. What is important of this transforming value system is that the phenomenon is centrifugal, that is, it is not controlled by any central value system. It originates within communities and different regions, among different societies and progresses as a self-reflecting process of cultural modifications. The dialectical struggle of cultural values saves a society from adopting monolithic, static and singular cultural practices and values. The espousal of the Niyoga practice, that is, a conscientious procreation out of marriage prompted by the infertility of husband in the interest of perpetuation of family line adopted by Kunti and her husband Pandu, invites approval and rejection alike on the part of contesting groups, communities, kingdoms and families leading to a war of righteousness. While the Pandavas and their allies claim legitimacy of the birth of Pandavas through Niyoga, the Kauravas led by Duryodhana and their allies, strongly condemn it as the non-Aryan practice. This issue is already discussed at length in the second chapter of the study, hence, the researcher proposes to restrict a detailed account of this aspect of righteousness of the Niyoga in the present chapter to a mere mention.
Another such issue related to Kunti which draws our attention while discussing various aspects of man-woman relationship, is the birth of a child by Kunti before her marriage. We are aware that the son born to Kunti before marriage, whom she abandons, and the one who eventually emerges as Karna, is a mighty figure in the Kaurava fold. The conflict in values and struggle of cultural ideas related to man-woman relationship become prominent when we come across with this narrative. A child born out of wedlock was socially permissible in Kshatriya community and among the Aryans, when, in the past times, Kunti had just come of age. But, with the civilizational and cultural progression of the Aryans, they started perceiving it as a moral taboo. Hence, Kunti had to abandon the child who was born through her union with Durvasa, a sage. This instance shows us to what great extent cultural practices were diverse in the same period in different communities or how variously man-woman relationship was perceived by the societies that belonged to different periods. The same community which did not recognise child born out of wedlock as illegitimate, changed its cultural understanding to the extent that the son of Kunti who emerges as a warrior and later as a commander of the Kaurava army, has to bear that mark of illegitimacy and humiliation as a lowborn till the end of his life. This polarity of views reflects upon the ever evolving nature of social, cultural practices in the Indian society of bygone times.
Parents and Children Bond
The significance of Kama is not restricted only to man-woman relationship alone. Family and children who are often thought about as the inseparable aspects of the matrimonial compliance, too, comprise of the culture of Kama in its various implications. In fact, this parent-child bond is one of the foremost reasons of most of the disputes, complications and even of the war as shown by Bhyrappa in the novel Parva. Kunti’s strong pronouncement of the claim of legitimacy of the birth of her children is the most prominent inducement for her sons to demand a share in the kingdom and to claim themselves as the successor to the throne of Hastinavati. Similarly, it is their love for their sons which compels Dhritrashtra and Gandhari, the king and queen of the Hastinavati kingdom, to engage themselves sympathetically with Duryodhana and his fold. Kunti’s relation with her own sons also deserves attention here. Her insistence on Draupadi’s marriage with the five Pandavas is driven by her intense desire to keep them united. She considers Dharmaraja as an infallible and the most righteous among all her sons. Hence, she suggests the other four to revere him as an embodiment of righteousness. Her commitment to the Aryan clan, to the throne of Hastinavati and to the lineage of Pandu and her determination to grant rightful legitimacy to the Pandavas makes her an upright and a strict mother. It is solely on her commands that Bhima has to leave his Raksasa wife Hidimbe along with his son Ghatotakacha back to the Raksasa land and return to the Aryan land. She does not even allow Bhima to take them with him to the Aryan land. Although, this upsets Bhima and he feels resentment against Kunti, his dislike of her decision and commands which separates him from his son can barely be expressed as a general disagreement. Challenging the authority of the awe-inspiring mother is out of question for her sons. Kunti’s love for her children, her son’s extreme reverence and respect of their mother is reflected in the conviction, determination and faith of the Pandavas in their righteousness and observance of dharma. Hence, the war of righteousness is actually a war arising out of the justness of Kunti and her son’s claims. Gandhari and Dhritrashtra on the other hand, as the blind father and the blindfolded mother of Duryodhana, the perpetrator of justice against the Pandavas, against Kunti, are totally ignorant of the unrighteous implications of Duryodhana. Their love for their sons irrespective of their knowledge of the sons’ offensive behaviour against the avuncular siblings is as unabated as ever especially during the war. The blind king’s desperation to get to hear the news of the Pandava’s fall and his sons’ victory reveals the fact that he too values blood-relation over righteousness. Hence, a blind acceptance of the uncompromising attitude of Duryodhana remains the only option available to the old couple. Thus, we find that the parent-child bond plays a vital role in the overall conflict, cultural struggle and the dialectical situation in the domestic implications of Kama as shown in the novel Parva.
The novel Saartha- The Caravan brings yet another instance of a complex and dialectic situation of parent-child bonding in a unique way. After their abduction by Muslim invaders Chandrika and Nagabhatta suffer immense physical and emotional torture from the invaders. Chandrika is impregnated by the forceful physical relations one of the invaders keeps with her. By sheer luck, when both Chandrika and Nagabhatta manage to escape the captivity and run away to a safe destination, Nagabhatta expresses his wish to marry Chandrika again. Chandrika feels sad when she tells Nagabhatta that it would be impossible for them to marry because she is carrying a child in her womb that belongs to the man who raped her. She wishes to abort the child because she thinks that if the child is born, he will permanently remind her of the ordeal she went through. They decide to consult Chandrika’s spiritual guru. The guru advises them not to think of parentage of the child in natural and physical terms. He advises them to regard parenting as nurturing. He says that the upbringing of the child as their own will consecrate their bond with the child more than with the one who has fathered the child biologically. Nagabhatta too expresses his will to regard the child as his own for he connects himself with the child emotionally and spiritually. The incident suggests a dialectical situation between nature and nurture, between blood relation and spiritual bonding. It also reveals that the culture of parentage is not static or standardised. Bonding with the soul transcends the physical and materialistic limitations of relationship.
Honour, Jealousy, Desire and Love
Barring the weirdness and intricacies of Draupadi’s nuptial relation with her five husbands, the Pandavas, from the present discussion on various instances of dialectical struggle of the culture of Kama, the researcher proposes to focus more on the trio Draupadi, Arjuna and Bhima. Bhyrappa has given a special treatment to the love between Bhima and Draupadi and Draupadi and Arjuna. The narrative of this love-relationship reveals Bhyrappa’s excellence as a storyteller and as a subtle contriver of complex characterisation in his novels. The narrative is important in connection with the present chapter unravelling the subtleties of man-woman relationship. This complexity arises out of Draupadi’s immense admiration of Bhima as her sole protector, as someone who can practically die or kill anyone in order to protect the self-respect of his wife against the offenders. She adores him as a woman who was dishonoured in the worst possible manner by the guilty party as the fallout of Pandavas’ total defeat in the game of dice when Bhima vows in front of all to avenge her molestation by breaking the chest of Dussasana, the offender. She reveres him immensely as a woman whose virtue was challenged in the presence of the elders of the family, right in the court against no fault of her, when Bhima takes an oath that he will bring the wrongdoers to justice and restore the honour of Draupadi. In an intimate moment with Draupadi, Bhima shares his resolution with her clearly and strongly. He says,
“I have but just one goal, one passion in life- to wipe out from the face of this earth Duryodhana, Dussasana, Karna and Sakuni, and the entire Kaurava breed, and the blind fellow who had fathered them. They have humiliated me alive, provoked me in the dice-assembly, insulted my wife as if she were a servant-yes, I live only to avenge all this.” (p. 128)
This devotion of Bhima to Draupadi recognised in his passion for penalising those who troubled her and his protecting care of her drives Draupadi to think of Bhima as her ‘only refuge and hope’.
“Yes, Bhima alone was worthy of my trust. Capable of deep love. My belief that none else is like him has not changed to this day.” (p.201)
It is nothing but her love for Bhima, her admiration of his manliness and bravery that makes her feel jealous of Hidimbe, the Raksasa wife of Bhima. That is why she feels nervous when she finds that Bhima is going to meet Hidimbe at the Raksasa land on the instructions of Krishna to Bhima to get the support of Ghatotkacha, Bhima’s Raksasa son, in the war against the Kauravas. But, she also has extreme faith in his loyalty to her; she also knows that Bhima is far too dependable a person to dump her. He is faithful to her to the core. Yet, she remembers how she used to feel upset whenever Bhima would mention the name of Salakatankati, his Raksasa wife. She would feel the urge to tell Bhima not to mention her, to understand what she, Draupadi would feel at the constant mention of Bhima’s other wife, but, Bhima is too innocent and tactless to understand a woman’s sensitivity over such matters. This would at times upset Draupadi so much that she would feel like asking him,
“… can’t you understand a woman’s mind? Are you so dumb as not to see that it hurts a woman badly when her husband talks about another woman?” (p.184)
However, Draupadi has absolute trust in Bhima’s love for her. She knows that Bhima is totally attached to her. She also remembers how deeply he was disturbed during his separation from Draupadi due to the observance of the rule regarding Draupadi’s stay with the other Pandavas. He cannot bear the loneliness. When Draupadi curbs his mentioning his Raksasa wife’s name, often in his talks, Bhima stops mentioning her name entirely. Draupadi understands it well that Bhima cannot live without Draupadi. Thus, we find that the bond between Draupadi and Bhima is a bond of love, trust and devotion. Although Bhima is a man of strong nerves and he is a rough and tough warrior, he has a heart, far too soft and loyal to ever deceive her or to ever turn to another woman. His relationship, marriage with Salakatankati, the Raksasa kingdom princess, is an unusual relationship between an Aryan warrior and a Raksasa woman. Draupadi knows this well that Salakatankti would never be Draupadi’s rival in winning Bhima’s love and attention. Bhima, too, in turn, is entirely enamoured by Draupadi’s intellect and her beauty. He finds no other woman in the world to whom he feels motivated to devote entirely to. Their love is founded on faith, support and mutual respect.
It is interesting to note here that while Draupadi admires Bhima immensely as the sole protector of her dignity, as her devoted lover and as a man with substance, she feels attracted physically more to Arjuna. She finds Arjuna as an excellent warrior, a male with a fascinating physique possessing all the charms to attract and make a woman go mad with passion for him. She also feels deeply attached to Arjuna for it was Arjuna who met the fish contraption challenge set by her father in the contest marriage and won Draupadi as his wife. Yet, when Kunti insists on Draupadi to keep the brothers united by agreeing to be the sole wife of the five brothers, Draupadi is left with no choice but to comply with the condition. Kunti, her father Drupad and Dharmaraja state some or other logical reasoning to Draupadi about the arrangement. Her father finds it politically necessary to win the support of the Kuru lineage with this marriage; Dharmaraja justifies it by referring to the presence of such tribes in her father’s kingdom which practises polyandry. Thus, when the five brothers start a quarrel over having Draupadi as wife, she turns to Kunti for advice. Swayed by the passion for realising supremacy of the Aryan dharma by granting the deserving status of legitimacy of royal descend to the Pandavas, Kunti asks Draupadi to yield to the need of the time, that is, of keeping the brothers united with her equal love for all. However, Draupdi feels a natural inclination to only regard Arjuna as her husband because of her fascination of his bravery, intellect and charming personality. Arjuna too holds resentment over the arrangement of Draupadi’s marriage to all Pandavas but his dharma of respecting the will of his mother stops him from challenging the arrangement. However, Arjuna carries with him the sense of being the supreme winner of Draupadi’s love and possessor of her beauty. Out of this sense and feeling of supremacy due to his winning of Draupadi in the contest, the passion leaden Arjuna violates the norm among brothers of a scheduled involvement into carnal love with Draupadi. Unwilling to forego the norm among brothers when Draupadi refuses to offer herself to fulfil the inopportune demand of Arjuna for physical love, and to withholds him from violating the arrangement of alternate connubial intimacy with the five brothers, Arjuna feels deeply offended by her repulse. He feels that he should be treated over and above by Draupadi because it was him who won her by winning the contest. As a result, Arjuna violates the arrangement by forcing Draupadi to pacify his urge for sexual love. Unable to curb his intensified desire, Arjuna approaches her again but Drupadi strongly declines his advancement. Infuriated by Draupadi’s refusal, intensified in his desire for sexual love, Arjuna marries Ulupi, a girl from the Naga tribe. Further, he marries Chitrangada, the daughter of the king of Manalur and finally he marries Subhadra, the sister of Krishna and Balarama. Thus, Arjuna marries exclusively by violating the fraternal norm of commonly consumable marriage because of his discomfort caused by Draupadi’s resoluteness and her preference to the observance of the bond of equanimity in the matters of her relationship with all the Pandavas. It is important to note in this connection that each of the five Pandavas marries exclusively for himself, begets children from their other wives. Critical writings on the epic Mahabharata tell us that in addition to Arjuna and Bhima, Dharmaraj, Nakula and Sahadeva too had their own wives. Dharmaraja married Devika, Nakula married Karenumati, the princess of Chedi and Sahadeva married his maternal cousin Vijaya, the daughter of the King of Madra. Contrary to the popular tradition in those times these brothers had to keep their wives at their maternal homes because Draupadi had put a condition that she would not share the household with any other woman. It is Arjuna alone, Draupadi’s favourite who manages to get Subhadra with him. Bhyrappa’s rendering of the nuptial arrangement among the Pandavas tells us that the brothers agree that Draupadi would stay with one brother for a year moving to the next one and in the four years between, each brother spent time with another wife. This arrangement is a clever move to prevent any jealousy among the children and also to weaken the intensity of paternal identity among the children. Interestingly enough, we see that the world of Mahabharata as presented by Bhyrappa comfortably refers to the practice of polyandry, polygamy, child out of wedlock. This observation also indicates that although the popular literature, popular media and artistic recreations, adaptations of Mahabharata only refer to Draupadi’s marriage with five men, a closer analysis of the Mahabharata shows us that each of the five Pandavas had married separately and had children from their exclusive marriage. Thus, Bhyrappa’s well-researched and realistic renderings of the aspect of Kama in Parva initiates a dialectical deliberation of the cultural struggle prevalent in Indian society of the bygone times over the understanding, experience and practice of man-woman relationship. It also shows that the understanding, experience and practice of man-woman relationship had extreme complexity in the ancient times. This complexity arose from the constantly changing values about Kama in the then contemporary society.
Facts and Fiction
The notions and customs of Dharma or righteousness, of Artha or Professions and of moksha or self- actualization deeply influenced the nature of man-woman relationship, the practice and understanding of Kama in the Mahabharata times. Thus, we find that lineage, succession, progeny exert tremendous influence on the culture of man-woman relationship, on the display of love, passion and pleasure of Kama in the novel Parva. The birth of the Pandavas through the Niyoga, the birth of Karna as a child born out of wedlock from the union between Kunti and the sage Durvasa, the birth of Bhishma, the patriarch in the Kuru family, Kunti’s diktat to Bhima of leaving his Raksasa wife and son in the Raksasa land, all these instances depict the values upheld by the bygone society in Mahabharata times. Lineage, consistency of the clan, perpetuation of the family and paternal name are the major preoccupations which function as the driving force of the man-woman relationship. Same observation can be made about the popular myths of Krishna and his many wives. Through the account of Yuyudhana Satyaki, of his discussion with Balarama, of Krishna’s cousin on Krishna’s polygamy and his love relationships with many women, his regular marriage with eight women and above all, Krishna’s marriage with the thousands of women released from the captivity of Narakasura, who had abducted and molested these women, all these instances reveal the fact that the Aryan culture was preoccupied with the value of progeny. Balarama’s comment on Krishna’s relationship with women can be read as the criticism of Krishna’s polygamy, yet, as a revealing compliment to Krishna for his irresistible charisma.
“He had a form no woman could resist. A wizard in words, Razor-sharp intelligence. Always the winner in battles. Wherever he went they offered him brides, and he married them all. (p. 413)
Satyaki, however, perceives Krishna’s polygamy and his aura as the ‘ladies’ man’ in a larger context. Yuyudhana Satyaki knows that each of Krishna’s marriages- with Satyajit’s daughter Satyabhama, Jambavanta’s daughter, Jambavati, and the others, Bhadra, Mitravinda, Neela, Kalindi and Laksmana and finally, popularly known as his favourite Rukmini, is the specimen of nuptial engraftment for the perpetuation and expansion of Aryan civilisation. Similarly, his marriage with thousands of women slaves held as captives in the harem of the demonic Narakasura is a symbolic marriage which enabled these women to use Krishna’s name as their husband to obtain dignity and as their social redress, social protection from the public perception of their past defilement by the evil Narakasura. Krishna accepted them along with their children and gave them his name, his paternalistic identity and settled them as his progeny. Krishna’s unwavering support to these women, their children and his foresight exerted in his relationship with many women, in his perceptual polygamy, reveals the fact that Kama became instrumental in his commitment to Dharma and in the perpetuation of Aryan culture. However, Balarama, Krishna’s elder cousin, often sneers at Krishna’s out of the way means, his liaison with neighbouring kingdoms through his marriages. Even the entire Yadava community also doubts the civility of such enamoured exploits of Krishna. Balarama goes to the extent of accusing his brother for Krishna’s ‘covetousness’, yet, seen in the larger cultural, political and social context of the Mahabharata times and following Yuyudhana’s interpretations of Krishna’s acts, we can detect agreeable reasoning of Krishna’s polygamy and his relationship with women. The dialectical nature of views expressed by Balarama and Yuyudhana both only point at the attitudinally diverse and divergent manner in which the novelist depicts Indian society in bygone times.
Conflict of Parentage
Yet another instance in the novel Parva highlighting the prominence of progeny in the matters of man-woman relationship is that of Bhishma’s birth. Shantanu, the king of Hastinapur or Hastinavati fell in love with a girl called Ganga who belonged to the hill tribe in the region. After Shantanu proposes her for marriage, she accepts the proposal but states one condition. She warns Shantanu that the child born out of their marriage would be brought up by her parents and that he will belong to the tribe which she comes from and not to the clan of his father. She clarifies that if the king fails to keep his promise and does not send their child to her maternal home, she will leave her husband and her house immediately. Smitten by love, passion and desire, the king instantly agrees with her condition and they form a relation. However, he revokes the agreement between him and Ganga. The subsequent circumstances show us that Ganga walks out of the marriage leaving the child with her husband, the king. The king brings up the young Devavrata, also known as Bhishma in his later age. Devavrata notices the pitiable condition of his father, deserted by his wife. In his old age, he falls in love with the daughter of a fisherman. Shantanu’s son Devavrata himself takes initiative to arrange the marriage of his father with this woman. She marries Shantanu, the old king but takes a promise from the king that the Kuru throne will be inherited by her child born from this marriage and not by Devavrata. Not only this, she also compels Devavrata to promise her that he will remain a celibate all his life, that he will not marry and will not give birth to a child. Committed to the noble idea of doing anything to make his father happy, Devavrata takes the oath of practising lifelong celibacy and renouncing his claim on the throne of Kuru dynasty. In this way, we see that the culture of Kama is shown as inseparable from the culture of dharma, politics and progeny. The sole driving force of man-woman relationship in the instance of the king’s relationship with his two wives, one the tribal woman and another, the daughter of a fisherman is surrounded with the concerns over progeny, lineage, posterity and inheritance. The respective communities practise a culture of matrimony utterly different from that of the Aryan culture. Hence, the different cultures practised diversely create a dialectical situation of cultural struggle between the Aryan culture and the tribal culture. What is really significant of this incident is that the king refrains from adopting coercive means to fulfil his will and the tribal woman’s maternal family as well as the fisherman’s daughter exert assertiveness in the pronouncement of autonomy of their culture as well as their cultural interests. It is also important to know that the lady’s assertion of her rights with respect to her culture touches upon the complexly dialectical issue of who is a greater claimant of progeny between the father and the mother. It is astonishing to see that Bhyrappa’s rendering of this debate underlines the inherently dialectical nature of this problem. The question addressed is whether the father who inseminates the mother’s womb with child has a greater claim of posterity on the child or it is the mother who carries the baby and gives birth has greater parental authority on the child. It is interesting to see that in the age as olden as that of the Mahabharata times; Bhyrappa’s well researched narrative of man-woman relationship as reflected in Parva showcases the intellectual reasonability of the Indian society in these times. It is the dialectical nature of this cultural struggle which prevents any commandment of imperial, religious or juridical rule controlling the cultural scene of the land.
Thus, we can say that lineage, posterity and consistency of the clan are the major concerns of the society as portrayed by Bhyrappa in the novel Parva. These concerns play a vital role in man-woman relationship in Parva. The cultural struggle in this regard is carried forward through the dialectical approach to varied values and practices. It also facilitates a clear understanding of the most significant values that influenced how the bygone society of the ancient times talked over and practised comfortably the various aspects of Kama in terms of man-woman relationship. The various communities like Aryan, Raksasa, Devas, Gandharva and the Nagas are presented as sources of a diverse culture of Kama in different regions. Many cultural practices of man-woman relationship in one community, kingdom, society and clan collided against the practices of another. For example, the Devas community spoken of as the ancestors of the Aryans in Parva, are presented as practising a totally divergent culture of Kama from that of the Aryans. Their notions of matrimony, bonding between man and woman, family and posterity are radically different from those of the Aryans. Similarly, the Raksasa tribe, the Nagas have entirely different values of man-woman relationship. This is seen when Bhima meets his Raksasa wife after a long time. We see that Salakatankati had given birth to few more children without getting married to those Raksasa men who fathered them. The more advanced Aryan society disrespects such practices. Hence, polygamy, polyandry, child out of wedlock and even Niyoga are the practices which the Aryans disapprove of as uncivilised and obsolete. This difference in outlook and values create a situation of dialectical struggle of the culture of Kama among various communities and societies.
While Parva presents the complexity in the ancient Indian society arising out of the multi-dimensional practice of the culture of love, passion in man-woman relationship and pleasure, the novel Tantu- The Loom of Life rather presents the complexity in Kama at a personal level. The shift in the nature of ideas, thoughts and practices in this regard from Parva to Tantu is so massive that we feel as if we are discussing the culture of Kama in two different worlds. Also, the understanding, experiencing the Kama in modern times as presented through the extra-marital relationship between Honnati and Kanti in Tantu reveal the inner world, the thought processes and deeper contemplations. This shift in the discussion on various aspects of man-woman relationships as practised in the bygone times to the private and more individualistic implications of Kama as presented in the novel Tantu, definitely presents the distinctive depiction of this aspect in the social, material world of both the novels. A detailed discussion and analysis of the various thoughts, situations and ideas related to man-woman relationship presented in a dialectical manner in the novel Tantu will help us to analyse the current aspect of Kama and the cultural struggle in the inner world of thoughts and in the outer world of the characters.
Conclusion:
Thus, the discussion of various aspects of Kama, that is, love, passion, desire and pleasure in man-woman relationship in particular and parent-children relationship in general reveals the fact that the cultural struggle caused due to a dialectical nature of values and practices of kama has made the scene of man-woman relationship a field for continual philosophical and behavioural variations. The pursuit of sensory gratifications, the emotional desires and the aesthetic pleasure as presented in all the six novels is replete with immense diversity of values, ethics and ideals of man-woman relationship. This diversity of values, morals, ethics and ideals result into a permanent fluidity in the understanding and practice of kama. It creates a situation of cultural struggle containing a dialectical approach instead of an authoritative control of the practice of kama. This diversity of values, morals, ethics and ideals result into a permanent fluidity in the understanding and practice of kama. It creates a situation of cultural struggle containing a dialectical approach instead of an authoritative control of the practice of kama. It provokes an endless struggle of culture. As reflected in the selected novels of Bhyrappa, this struggle maintains the ever evolving nature of Indian culture in all walks of life.
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