Philosophy of Spiritual Evolution in Karnad's Play Hayavadana

Abstract

Girish Karnad, the “Renaissance Man” and an important proponent of the “Theatre of Roots” movement, rebelled against British influenced Indian drama. He had employed native traditional myth and legends into the themes of his plays and used folk theatre techniques for representational intent. His play Hayavadana delves into the Indian folk theatre elements to address the contemporary issues of the nature of identity and human being's quest for completeness through the perspective of philosophical riddle of mind and body dualism. The play explores the issue of mind-body dualism or conflict of incompleteness at three levels viz. divine, human and animal levels. With the example of transposed heads of the two main characters and the question of their real identity; the transformation of Hayavadana into a complete horse with ability to neigh; and the child's ride and control on the horse offer the multi-layered consciousness levels of the human understanding and psyche along with the possibility of intended spiritual evolution.