U.R. Ananthamurthy’s Kannada novel “Samaskara” is set in the 1930s in a small village of orthodox Brahmins in South India. The story deals with the dilemma facing the village Brahmins led by the head priest Praneshacharya as to who should perform the last rites of Naranappa, a lapsed Brahmin. The novel is sub-titled “A Rite for a Dead Man”, but it is an allegorical tale which works at many levels. It addresses several pertinent and timeless issues like casteism, untouchability, the sexual subjugation of women, the struggle between tradition and modernity and the journey of self-realisation of the main protagonist, Praneshacharya.

The agrahara of Madhvas sect is an isolated hamlet, insulated from the outside world. The resident Brahmins consider themselves learned and superior to other Brahmins like the Smartas because they follow the rituals and traditions laid out in the scriptures meticulously. They follow a set routine round the year and have no skills beyond their traditional one of performing religious rites. This leaves them poor and ill fed. They cling to outdated superstitions and beliefs which are then warped to suit their cravings and desires.

The spiritual guru of the agrahara, Praneshacharaya, the “Crest -Jewel of Vedic Learning” is initially presented as an epitome of pure Brahminism. He is austere, learned and follows the scriptures with pedantic zeal. However, the death of Naranappa, a fellow resident of the village, brings to the surface the hidden ills and hypocricies of orthodox Brahminism.

Naranappa, though a Brahmin by birth, flouted all religious taboos and lived life on his own terms. He drank liquor, ate meat, befriended Muslims and kept a low cast woman, Chandri, as his concubine. He had scant respect for the corrupt ways of the orthodox Brahmins, “All your Brahmin respectability, I’ll roll it up and throw it all ways for a little bit of pleasure with one female.” (Page 20) His hedonistic life style outraged the puritanical Brahmins. Their small minds could not see that he was actually a progressive reformer, good at business, patron of drama and music and well aware of the political developments outside the agrahara.

When Naranappa dies, a crisis emerges in the village. When alive, Naranappa’s non-conformist behaviour drew censure and horror, and when he died, the Brahmins, fearful of being polluted, were uncertain as to who was to conduct his last rites. Naranappa “may have rejected Brahminhood, but Brahminhood never left him. No one ever excommunicated him officially.” (Page 10). This dilemma leads to the unveiling of several hypocricies and ill practices of the agrahara Brahmins.

The orthodox Brahmins of the agrahara live in their own decadent little world, insulated from the outside. Their lives are steeped in traditions and strict following of the rules and rituals as laid down in the scriptures. Superficially wise and learned, they suffer from all the weaknesses and frailties of ordinary humans. They strongly believe in the superstition of pure-impure and fear that no one could eat until Naranappa’s dead body was cremated. However lofty their ideals, they suffer from the vices of gluttony, avarice and lust. Laxmana is so greedy that he ”waits like a vulture to get invited to meals.Now his eyes are on the gold." (page 30). Shripati and Manjunath take drinks even as “our best friend is lying there dead, rotting!” (Page 64). Dasacharaya may be afraid of social criticism but does not hesitate to eat at Manjayya’s place. Fearful of polluting their purity, all the Brahmins refuse to carry out the funeral rites for Naranappa even though they knew him all his life and he was, even in death, a Brahmin. “Alive, Naranappa was an enemy; dead, a preventer of meals; as a corpse: a problem, a nuisance.” (Page 5)

However, when low caste Chandri unselfishly offers her gold ornaments to pay for the funeral, all the Brahmins do a turnabout. Greed for getting their hands on two thousand rupees worth of gold overtake their religious scruples. This shows how greedy and shallow these men actually are. The wives of the orthodox Brahmins are no better. They are close minded, jealous and greedy women who are constantly egging their husbands on.

Praneshacharaya is ascetic, learned and a firm believer in the wisdom of the scriptures. He takes refuge behind them instead of doing the humane and decent thing by Naranappa. He, and the others waste time dithering and hair-splitting over religious technicalities even as their colleague’s rotting carcass lies unattended. It is left to Chandri, the low caste prostitute,and a Muslim to perform Naranappa’s cremation. This shows the weak moral fibre of the so called upper caste orthodox Brahmins.

They also suffer from a deeply engrained belief in caste discrimination. Even Praneshacharaya is not above this. He runs his hands over a cow’s back affectionately but is afraid to be polluted if he speaks to Chandri as he will need to bathe again before eating. The low caste people of the village live in abject poverty on the fringes of the agrahara. Belli and Chinni pick up cow dung for a living. Chinni begs for food from a distance from Brahmin women. This sense of caste segregation and untouchability is so deeply engrained in the Brahmins so as to de-humanise them and make them disregard the miseries of fellow humans as their due in life.

The orthodox Brahmins also suffers from the vice of lust. They may believe in untouchability but are not averse to clandestine relations with low caste women. Shripati longs for the sensuous Belli, “her body…the colour of the earth, fertile, ready for seed, warmed by an early sun”. (page 33). They surreptitiously ogle Chandri even as she mourns her dead lover. They take great pride in being the descendants of sages like Vishwamitra and Kashyap who had illicit relations with ordinary women. They revere the mythological tales which describe in explicit details the legend of Matsyagandha and Shakuntalam. They may pretend to be righteous and austere but are not above visiting the brothels of Basrur. When Praneshacharaya “gave up telling the luscious puranic stories in the evenings and started on moral tales of penance….” (Page 24) the young Brahmins stopped attending his sermons.

The author uses the half witted senile Lakshmidevamma to bring out how the rights of poor widows are exploited. Cheated by Garuda who has stolen “a poor old shaven widow’s money” (Page 38) she curses, “where has your Brahminism gone, you rascals!” (Page 38). This scolding is a scathing indictment of the greedy manipulative nature of the so called sanskari Brahmins. Religion has not uplifted them spiritually but made them inhuman.

Praneshacharaya, too, is not above human weaknesses. He marries an invalid Bhagirathi, not out of love or compassion, but as a means of self-deprivation which will lead him on the fast track to salvation. His celibacy and devoted care of his wife is actually a moral hypocrisy and a farce.He unquestionably follows flawed Brahmanical taboos,"How can I touch a woman polluted by her menstrual blood?"(Page 73)

The agrahara Brahmins are complacent in the belief of their own superiority and unaware of social and political developments in the country. They consider the army a polluting influence. They are fearful of the omens of the dead rats and vultures hovering over their agrahara but seek no scientific explanation or medical resource to fight the plague.

The contrast between the withered women of the agrahara and the exuberant sensuality of the low caste women is indicative of the decaying ethos of the Brahmins versus the celebration of life outside the agrahara.

At a deeper level, this novel can be viewed as an allegory about the journey of self- realisation by Praneshacharaya. However, the author uses wit, satire and biting sarcasm to lay bare the moral hypocrisy practiced by the orthodox Brahmins under the guise of their status exalted by birth and learning. It is a sharp indictment of the social evils prevalent at the time. With realistic detail, this thought-provoking novel raises issues that are relevant even today.