कामायनी

by जयशंकर प्रसाद, Jaishankar Prasad

Kamayani (Hindi:कामायनी) (1936) is a Hindi epic poem (Mahakavya) by Jaishankar Prasad (1889- 1937). It is considered one of the greatest literary works written in modern times in Hindi literature. It also signifies the epitome of Chhayavadi school of Hindi poetry which gained popularity in late nineteenth and early twentieth century.

Kamayani depicts the interplay of human emotions, thoughts, and actions by taking mythological metaphors. Kamayani has personalities like Manu, Ida and Shraddha who are found in the Vedas. The great deluge described in the poem has its origin in Satapatha Brahmana. Explaining his metaphorical presentation of Vedic characters, the poet said:
"Ida was the sister of the gods, giving consciousness to entire mankind. For this reason there is an Ida Karma in the Yagnas. This erudition of Ida created a rift between Shraddha and Manu. Then with the progressive intelligence searching for unbridled pleasures, the impasse was inevitable. This story is so very ancient that metaphor has wonderfully mingled with history. Therefore, Manu, Shraddha and Ida while maintaining their historical importance may also express the symbolic import. Manu represents the mind with its faculties of the head and heart and these are again symbolized as Faith (Shraddha) and Intelligence (Ida) respectively. On this data is based the story of Kamayani."
The plot is based on the Vedic story where Manu, the man surviving after the deluge (Pralaya), is emotionless (Bhavanasunya). Manu starts getting involved in various emotions, thoughts and actions. These are sequentially portrayed with Shraddha, Ida, Kilaat and other characters playing there part, contributing in them. The chapters are named after these emotions, thoughts or actions. Some people consider that the sequence of chapters denotes the change of personality in a mans life with age.
Following is the sequence:

Chinta (Anxiety)
Asha (Hope)
Shraddha (Reverential belief, Faith, Virtue of being a woman)
Kama (Sexual love)
Vasna (Passion for material pleasure)
Lajja (Shyness)
Karma (Action)
Irshyaa (Jealousy)
Ida (Logic, Intellect)
Swapna (Dream)
Sangharsh (Internal conflict)
Nirved (Disregard of worldly things, Renunciation)
Darshan (Philosophy, Vision)
Rahasya (Hidden knowledge, Mystery)
Anand (Bliss, Self-realization, Shiva)

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Indian Literature, Literature, Fiction

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1936

About the author

Jaishankar Prasad, a most celebrated personality related to the modern Hindi literature and Hindi theatre, was born at 30th January in the year 1889 and died at 14th January in the year 1937. He was a great Indian poet, novelist and dramatist, born in the simple madheshiya Teli Vaisya family of the Varanasi, UP, India. His father (named Babu Devki Prasad, also called as the Sunghani Sahu) has his own business related to the tobacco dealing.

Jaishankar Prasad had to face some financial problems in his family as he has lost his father in his young age. Because of such financial problems, he could not study further than 8th class. However, he was so keen to know many languages, past histories and Hindi literature, that’s why he continued his study at home. As he continued his study, he was influenced much from the Vedas which imitated him in the deep philosophical rival.

He has started writing poetry from his very early age. He was also fond of playing chess and doing gardening work at his home. He was interested in the Vedas to a great extent which influenced him extremely for writing his own poetry, plays, stories and novels. He has written his first book of poem collections known as the Chitraadhar in the Braj vernacular of Hindi which was widely used in Uttar Pradesh state at that time. His poems were liked too much by the people as they were heart touching, soft, simple language and emotional.

He had paid much attention towards the language of poems as well as the philosophic content. That’s why he is known as a world-class Hindi litterateur, philosopher and great writer. He wrote his poetry in a range of varieties from the romantic to the patriotic. His most prominent patriotic poem of his career is known as the ‘Himadri Tung Shring Se’ which he had written before the independence of country from the British.

He spent his middle career of his life by writing the novels, plays and poetries. He got himself exceedingly influenced by the Sanskrit and other languages related to the Sanskrit. He had written his some of the dramas in the Persian and Bengali languages.

Career

He has written his first poetry (known as the Chitradhar collection) into Braj language but soon after he has changed writing language to the Khadi and Sanskrit. He has started writing dramas into the Sanskrit language but later he has started writing dramas into the Bengali as well as Persian languages. Some of the famous dramas written by him are Chandragupta, Skandagupta and Dhruvaswamini.

He is the famous personality in the field of Hindi literature and Hindi theatre. He was the one who make the world romantic with his great and heart touching writings. He had mixed up the art and philosophy in his writings. He has chosen the title of his writings of different names which ranges from the romantic to the nationalistic. Through his great writings, he had described the essence of the classical Hindi poetry. ‘Himadri Tung Shring Se’ is the nationalistic poem written by him, became famous in the market which lead him to won so many awards in the period of Indian independence movement. Kamayani is another written poem by him which was also the best creation of him.

He has shown the life history of many great personalities and stories of the ancient India through his Dramas and other writings. His written dramas were proved to be the most pioneering ones in the Hindi. Around 1960s, his plays were selected by the ancient Indian Drama’s Professor, Shanta Gandhi for the modern Indian theatre. He has written the Skandagupta, his most important writing in the year 1928.

He also has written the many interesting short stories, titles of which are ranges from the historical to the mythological related to both contemporary and social. One of his short stories named, Mamta described the motherly love and the story of the Mughal Badshah. Another short story is the Chhota jadugar tells the life history of the child who has learned to earn the money

Reviews

[Amrendra · Rating 4 out of 5]

'कामायनी' जयशंकर प्रसाद जी का सर्वश्रेष्ठ काव्य है। 1935 का यह काव्य भाव, प्रज्ञा, प्रेम और सौंदर्य की प्रेरणा से रचित है। 'कामायनी' में मानव की चित्तवृत्तियों का क्रमिक विकास है। इसे विभिन्न पाठ द्वारा व्यक्त किया गया है जैसे - चिंता, आशा, श्रद्धा, काम, वासना, लज्जा, कर्म, ईर्ष्या, इड़ा, स्वप्न, संघर्ष, निर्वेद, दर्शन, रहस्य तथा आनंद।

अपने अंतर्विरोधों से संतप्त, स्वयं दुखी होकर भी परपीड़न के लिए व्याकुल, भाव का तिरस्कार कर बुद्धि के रास्ते पर झंझा की तरह निकल पड़ने वाले आज के मानव को प्रसाद जी समरसता के साथ आनंद की ओर अग्रसर करते हैं। वहां भाव और बुद्धि, अधिकार और अधिकारी, स्त्री और पुरुष तथा जीवन के हर क्षेत्र में समरसता का द्वार खुलता है।

काव्य की भाषा क्लिष्ट है। पाठकों की हिंदी बहुत अच्छी होनी अपेक्षित है। 'कामायनी' में प्रसाद जी ने मानव के आंतरिक और बाह्य द्वंदों के भीतर से उसका विकास दिखाया है। मानव के द्वंदों का निराकरण समरसता करती है। मानव के जीवन का उद्देश्य संघर्ष नहीं आनंद है। इसी आशय को समेटे मनु, श्रद्धा और इड़ा (बुद्धि) पर केंद्रित यह काव्य छायावाद की ही नहीं, सम्पूर्ण हिंदी काव्य की अनुपम उपलब्धि है।

[Tarun Rattan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kamayani is arguably the best poem written in Hindi language in contemporary times. The vision behind the poetic plot and the flights of imagination by the author shines in brilliance in every page of this book. The poem retells the tale of Manu, the primordial man who survived Pralay (great flood) and then worked to regenerate humanity from that catastrophe. The poem covers the emotions, thoughts and actions that turmoiled Manu after the deluge.
Each chapter in the book covers these different emotions like Chinta (Anxiety), Asha (Hope), Kama (Sexual Love), Vasana (Passion), Lajja (Shyness), Karna (Action), Irshya (Jealousy), Sanghrash (Internal Conflict), Nirved ( Renunciation), Darshan (Philosophy), Rahasya ( Mystery) and Anand (Bliss).
The poem also covers the contributions made by Shraddha (Faith) and Ida (Intelligence) on this recovery journey. The author has liberally taken from Vedic literature where this tale was first told but the brilliance of Kamayani lies in the way the author has reimagined the plot and lyrical poetic verses in which the tale is retold. Metaphorically Manu represents the mind of humanity engrossed in different emotions as it works on the unsurmountable task of rebuilding from scratch after the great flood and the faculties of head and heart are represented by Shraddha and Ida respectively.

[Himanshu Rai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an epic poem where story begins among watery chaos quite similar genesis flood. Sanskritize Hindi slows down the reading speed but the content takes the reader deep into thinking zone. Poem covers diverse human emotions devoted with distinct 15 chapters. Poem is worth reading for Hindi literature lovers where poet has declared importance of love in the life of humans. It isn't just story of Manu, Idaa and Shradha but covers whole humanity in its wide scope.

[Mohit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Considered to be the pinnacle of छायावादी school of hindi poetry, Kamayani is arguably one of the greatest work of all times and is oft quoted for it’s brilliance.

The plot-line is based around the vedic story of Pralay or the great deluge and starts at post-deluge scene wherein Manu is sitting, contemplating his various emotions. The first few lines go as;

हिमगिरि के उत्तुंग शिखर पर,
बैठ शिला की शीतल छाँह
एक पुरुष, भीगे नयनों से
देख रहा था प्रलय प्रवाह |

My most favourite lines, right from my childhood however are;

औरों को हंसते देखो मनु,
हंसो और सुख पाओ,
अपने सुख को विस्तृत कर लो,
सबको सुखी बनाओ।

It is not very easy to read due to extremely good vocabulary used but do try, if you can. It is an experience in itself to read Kamayani.

[Sunita Tanwar · Rating 4 out of 5]

मानवीय भावनाओं के द्वारा जीवन सत्य का वर्णन करने वाली रचना।

[Gurpreet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

सृष्टि का पुनः आरम्भ, एक अच्छी काव्य रचना।

[Goldi Tewari · Rating 4 out of 5]

'कामायनी' की प्रस्तावना मनु, श्रद्धा व इडा के उद्धरण से बहुत ही सटीक और सुन्दर लगती है। प्रलय व उसके बाद सृष्टि के नवनिर्माण के अद्भुत चित्रण है। पढ़ते समय ऐसा प्रतीत होता है मानो सब समक्ष ही घटित हो रहा हो। हालाँकि काव्य की भाषा जटिल नहीं है, पर मेरी हिंदी भाषा में निजी शब्दावली, ज्ञान व अभ्यास कुछ कुछ कम होने के कारण मुझे शब्दकोष का सहारा लेना पड़ा। मुझे विश्वास है कि इस पुस्तक को कुछ ३-४ बार पढ़ने के बाद ही मुझे इसकाअसल सार समझ आ पाएगा।
पुस्तक की इन पंक्तियों ने मुझे विशेष रूप से प्रभावित किया:
1.
"चिंता करता हूँ मैं जितनी उस अतीत की, उस सुख की,
उतनी ही अनंत में बनती जाती रेखायें दुख की।"
2.
"उठे स्वस्थ मनु ज्यों उठता है, क्षितिज बीच अरुणोदय कांत।
लगे देखने लुब्ध नयन से प्रकृति-विभूति मनोहर शांत।"
3.
"कब तक और अकेले? कह दो हे मेरे जीवन बोलो?
किसे सुनाऊँ कथा-कहो मत,अपनी निधि न व्यर्थ खोलो।"
4.
"पहेली-सा जीवन है व्यस्त,उसे सुलझाने का अभिमान
बताता है विस्मृति का मार्ग,चल रहा हूँ बनकर अनज़ान।"
5.
"वे कितने ऐसे होते हैं,जो केवल साधन बनते हैं,
आरंभ और परिणामों को,संबध सूत्र से बुनते हैं।"
6.
"अपने में सब कुछ भर, कैसे व्यक्ति विकास करेगा,
यह एकांत स्वार्थ भीषण है, अपना नाश करेगा।
औरों को हँसता देखो,मनु-हँसो और सुख पाओ,
अपने सुख को विस्तृत कर लो,सब को सुखी बनाओ।"

[Akshay Gupta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evolution of all emotions and state of minds, evolution of human beings and balance of emotions by their intellect.
Taking inspiration from the Vedic characters, Manu and Shraddha the first man and woman who survived the feelings of anxiety, shyness, sadness, vasna and many more.

[Abhishek Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most important work in hindi

Loved it every person must read this book at least once and what can i say, again i just love it

[Alok Srivastava · Rating 4 out of 5]

It,s a very beautiful poetry book.

[Anubhav · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all time favourite classics on Hindi poetry. Every line is beautifully written with feelings of love, lust and pouring the emotions directly from the heart.

[Rahul Khanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

My hindi vocabulary exhausted while reading this.

[Rishabh Thakur]

I'd probably read the next time. Audiobooks don't quite fit poetry. I guess.

[Gaurav · Rating 2 out of 5]

The rhetorics are a little bit too much and after a certain time, I wanted to offer either myself or the book at the altar to the gods because then it takes off to another dimension and no translator or dictionary can help. It is like i'm solving a cryptic message from another dimension and i wasn't able to decode more than 30%. Please help me if you can do better fellow humans.

[Varsha]

it/s my favorite novle

[Niraj Pal · Rating 5 out of 5]

What to say, Its just an epic of Indian poetry.

[Mangeet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

kamayani is a book in which the proper role of love in our life is shown

[Dr Amit Srivastava · Rating 5 out of 5]

जयशंकर प्रसाद की अतुलनीय रचना। कविता का सौन्दर्य और ओज इस पुस्तक में देखने को मिलता है।

[Sonali Panigrahi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice one

[Gurpreet Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

एक अच्छी काव्य रचना।