P. R. SARKAR
All movement in this world is characterised and fostered by a desire to attain and disseminate joy. When a writer dedicates his life to literature, he has to attune his creative genius to this stream of joy in its purest form. He has a mission not only to cleanse the dirt and ugliness of personal life in the sacred waters of oceanic Conscious- ness but also to transmute this message to the innermost shrine of human heart in its sweetest form Herein lies the fulfilment of his life of service and dedication. Howsoever perfect may be the expression of an individual vision of the good and the sweet, we cannot call it a work of art, unless it moves and elevates society.
The real meaning of literature (Samskrta: Sahitya; Sahita along with) lies hidden in the very word itself. That is literature whose sole function is to keep pace with the movement of life. It is neither the dream of colour ful cluster of airy flowers nor mere display of imagination absolutely unconnected with social life. Literature is the real portrait of life, the expression of the emotions, ingrained in the human soul, and the effulgence of the eternal Breath of Life, pent up in the human heart. If it has to live and justify its name in reality, it has to reflect the tempo and rhythm of a dynamic society.
Literature (Samskrta: Sahitya; Sa-with, hita-welfare) is invested with another meaning also that whose existence is linked with the good. To that which is devoid of the concept of the good, we cannot apply a term like literature. The creation, made by some, according to the theory of ‘Art for Art’s Sake,’ can be called anything else but not literature.
The concept of the good, as manifested in the world, is a relative term. Its content and form has also been changing according to changes in time, space and other entities. But that aspect of this concept, which enables man to glimpse the Supreme Truth, has been the as same at all times, in all countries and for all jus men. It is quite another thing that this concept the of the good has expressed itself in varying of forms in different men, according the level of their emotional development. It is this all embracing stream of the emotional unfold ment, linking the man of this earth with the highest concept of Supreme Bliss, which can be called literature Every drop of water in this stream of the concept of the good reflects the rhythm and echoes the music of the high- est literarure. That is why we refer to litera- ture as the source of inspiration for attaining natural welfare and temporal and spiritual felicity, through service of the highest kind. The theory of Art for Art’s Sake’ cannot be acceptable to us. Instead we have to proclaim: ‘Art for Service and Blessedness.
However crude or subtle may be the level of consciousness or the refraction of light all around in this universe, we can hear the echo of the music of spheres, symbolised in the quest for ‘Ananda’. All movement in this world is characterised and föstered by a desire to attain and disseminate joy. When a writer dedicates his life to literature, he has to attune his creative genius to this stream of joy in its purest form. He has a mission not only to cleanse the dirt and ugliness of personal life in the sacred waters of oceanic Consciousness but also to transmute this message to the innermost shrine of human heart in its sweet est form. Herein lies the fulfilment of his life of service and dedication. Howsoever perfect may be the expression of an individual vision of the good and the sweet, we cannot call it a work of art, unless it moves and elevates society.
Those who are unable to accept literature as a mission of service or dedication are not justified in cursing the social self, while they themselves seek to conceal the muddy stream of their consciousness behind the clouds of high sounding slogans. Let them not say that their only business is to paint the life of society irrespective of its impact on the social mind or the nature of social impact on their writings. Thinking people would like to call such litterateurs as literary traders rather than devotees of literature. The work of such – writers is naturally devoid of any element of good. Like traders such writers look upon society only as the prospective buyer of their books, whereas the real aim of creation of art is to disseminate joy. Writers, who have a duty to participate in this mission of dissemination of ‘Ananda’, should share the sorrow as well as happiness experienced by the people in their day-to-day life. They should have the
They should have the capacity and the natural inclination to soak their writings in the tears as well as the smiles of the common people. Writers, too, belong to this earth as other people and they are only part of society. Genuine writers naturally seek emancipation from the prison of darkness. They want to illumine their soul with new rays of light from moment to moment, and that is why an impulse to go forward in what- ever they experience or create. If they have to give anything to society, the creator in them has to be restive.
In its long journey mankind is sometimes stricken with fear and wants to standstill with its feelings benumbed and its vision dazed. Such moments provide the severest test for the sense of responsibly of talented litterateurs while writing songs full of inspiration for the peoples to go for wards it is also essential to look back to see whether the people for whom those songs are meant understand them well. You have to see. whether those songs really move the people and whether they contribute to the good of the people, writers who are fully conscious of this responsibility are worshipped in the world of literature.
Real devotees of literature are not merely the representatives of the present. They are singers of the past and messengers of the future also. They are capable of spotlighting the harmony between the past and the present and indicating, on that basis, the correct course of the future: The past, the present and the future are integrally linked with each other in their writings. It is not enough to conjure up a beautiful dream of the future We should always remember the fact that the future is inherent in the prese t, as the present waste immanent in the past. That is why an artist, while painting a correct picture of the present in his creations, should also take care to point out the possibilities of the future in the light of the all-pervading concept of the good.
The future, as painted by the writer in his creations, in a way, represents the healthy climax of the present itself. In other words, while a portrait of the present is being made, the direction of its natural fulfilment is also indicated at the same time. There is thus a causal relationship between the past and the present at different stages of the unfoldment of life. It is a corollary or natural fülfilment that manifests itself in relation to a particular time, land or individual entity. We have not to forget this relationship even for a moment, because it is this which imparts meaning and grace to the creations of a writer. If this mutual communicability and dynamism were not present in a work of art, no reader could absorb anything from a writer’s work as his own. In these circumstances, no writer can be called creator of literature, unless his works are attuned to social consciousness. At best his writing can be called a literary contrivance but not literature.
It has been emphasised earlier that the concept of the good is intimately linked with the very ides of literature Sometimes, we find that a literature, imbued with the spirit of goodness, goes much ahead of the times, although it is not completely cut off from its age. We may call such literature detached or more or less of permanent value, but we cannot attach to it the epithets of Yuga-Sahitya Such a literature may live longer but is of no use in fulfilling the needs of the age. The greatest quality of Yuga-Sahitya’ is that it expresses emphatically the dynamic spirit of the age. It takes the people with it and marches ahead with them. It helps in the widest possible diffusion of the smallest as well as the biggest needs of humanity afflicted with the problems of the day. “Yuga-Sahitya,’ which is also meant to suggest the possible solution of the problems of an age, with all its intimate and evocative inner appeal in tune with the spirit of the good, may leave the people behind and go ahead at a faster pace. But if it does so, it loses its essential quality of moving with the people. A writer of ‘Yuga. Sahitya’ may find his dream shattered by no getting the honour which is bestowed on creators of detached or permanent literature But if one has to create good literature to serve his age, he has to live with the time and keep some restraint on his movement The true writer is a pathfinder and a guide, and therefore he can remain a few steps ahead of the times but he need not leave the people too much behind him.
Movement is the essence of life. Movement is also inevitable, if we want to live. Cessation of movement means death. Only the living have the privilege to make, mar or mold the world. No writer should like to throw man in the dungeon of death, because that would mean the very negation of the idea of goodness. Therefore, while marching ahead with the people around him, a true writer should continue to sing the song of dynamic progress, while seeking to saturate the human soul with the sweetness of bliss of the eternal life.
Much of what we seek in the world to day in the name of literature is a mere contrivance and not genuine literature. Every word of the creator of literature must reflect his sense of universal responsibility. That is why mere language and emotion are not enough for a literatuer; he should rather have an insight and vision to probe the innermost depths of reality and a capacity to feel at one with all those around him. In other words, he should be a seer of reality. No genuine literature can be created through superficial knowledge, in spite of all the power that language can command. That in why in the Vedic language a literatuer wan described as a Kavi, a seer of reality, who alone can create great literature.
As already pointed out, a writer has to glimpse the future also and only a seer of reality can do this. It is wrong to think that mere portrayal of the present, the past and the future is the duty of a writer. As a matter of fact, only he can correlate these dimensions of time who has the vision to understand the supreme force that guides the movement of time. One who has not imbibed the flow of the unending stream of time cannot deter- mine the relationship between the past and the present and between the present and the future. And without intimate appreciation of this relationship it will be impossible to present a clear picture of the past, the present or the future. That is why, I think, we can- not call every writer a creator of literature. We may call these writers versifiers or imitators but not creators. As a matter of fact, it is these writers who raise the slogan of ‘Art for Art’s Sake.’ Serious reflection will con- vince anybody of the fact that by taking to art merely for art’s sake one is likely to cause irreparable damage to the future of humanity.
First published in
EDUCATION & CULTURE 1978
