Sarasvatichandra Part IV: The Dreamland of Sarasvatichandra and the Culmination
Contents: Preface. 1. Subhadra. 2. Sarasvatichandra’s Initiation. 3. The Garden of Beauty and Kusum’s Coming of Age. 4. Do We Need Native States? An Acrimonious Debate between State Officials and Visitors from Bombay. 5. A New Night. 6. Sarasvatichandra’s Anguish. 7. Twin Sisters: The Spinster and the Widow. 8. Flora and Kusum. 9. Saubhagya Devi’s Auspicious Death. 10. Kusum’s Cloister. 11. Malla Mahabhavan or the Political Observatory of Ratnanagari and the Discourse on Mahabharata. 12. Chandrakant’s Confusions. 13. Starry-eyed. 14. Pilgrimage to Surgram. 15. Kusum’s Penance. 16. The Moon and the Moonstone. 17. Prison. 18. Passions Unseen and Palpable Vows. 19. Sweet Concerns for Sweeter Madhuri.
20. Companion. 21. Diagnosis and Remedy. 22. Subtle Desires of a Subtle Body. 23. Sarasvatichandra and Chandravali. 24. Vishnudas’ Authority or Ways of Attaining Fulfillment of Sarasvatichandra’s Subtle Body. 25. Sanatan Dharma or the Five Elementary Sacrifices of Ascetics. 26. Moonrise on Chiranjiv Shrunga. 27. On the Other Side of the Bridge. 28. Songs of Desire. 29. Hearts Revealed. 30. A Journey through the World of Immortals and their Blessings or A Dream of Pure Love. 31. Reflections of Indian Society in Pitamahpur and the Benediction of the Gems.32. Host or Guest? Or the Authority of Selfless Intellect in Considerations of Virtue and Vice. 33. The Social Aspects of Subtle Love. 34. Arjun’s Chariot and the Forest Fires. 35. The Immortals of Kurukshetra and the Future of India.
36. The Final Blow on the Sandalwood Tree. 37. Friend or Lover?. 38. A Woman’s Heart and her Power. 39. The Dream World of Duties towards the Country. 40. The Power of Justice and the Delicacy of Social Affection. 41. Dust-covered Gems. 42. A Searing Heart. 43. Summons from Court. 44. Uncertainties. 45. Some Decisions and a Resolve. 46. Blowing of the Conch in the Temple of the Unmanifest and the Fulfillment of Life.
47. Mohini Maiya’s Right. 48. A Curtain Breached. 49. Daughter. 50. Ganga-Yamuna. 51. Return to Source. 52. Aarti.
A novel of epic proportions written in four parts from 1887 to 1901, Sarasvatichandra is both the enactment and the embodiment of the life philosophy of one man, and his sole mission.
A witness to the intense upheaval that British India was undergoing at the turn of the nineteenth century, Govardhanram’s objective in writing this novel was to educate his readers on key issues of his times and help them find ‘their way out of the darkness into some kind of light’. Part IV, The Dreamland, brings to a culmination the philosophical and narrative concerns explored in Parts I, II, III. At the heart of it lies the question of dharma and right conduct in the realms of state, society, family and love; and widow remarriage, a concern central to late nineteenth-century reform. It offers a utopia—both personal and societal—in the form of Kalyangram, where the ideal and desirable dominate over the real and possible. Sarasvatichandra and Kumud, separated in Part I, meet at last on Sundargiri and travel together in a dream.
The novel holds up a fascinating mirror to Gujarati society, the role of women in polity and life in the native states against the backdrop of India, pre-Independence, in transition—culturally, politically and ideologically. Before Gandhi, arguably no other work has so profoundly influenced the ethos and imagination of Gujarat as Sarasvatichandra. Tridip Suhrud, who has also translated Parts I, II and III, is an acknowledged scholar of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Gujarat. (jacket)
