1917.] The Dramas of Bham : A literary study. 277 



It is true, Rama is the god-man, the ideal man; but tin 

 human element in him is not absent. He loves and suffers as 

 man does ; he lets himself be deceived by Havana : he has to fiiul 

 help for his struggle with the king of the Rakshasas; he i 

 subject to suspicion and jealousy, and a slave of public opinion 

 to such an extent that he compels Sita to undergo the fire-ordeal 

 These human traits have been used by the dramatist to briny 

 his hero nearer to our understanding. 



An entirely different problem is presented by the central 

 figure of " Balacaritram " or " The Exploits of young Krishna." 

 The hero is Krishna, the full incarnation of god Vishnu. He i> 

 Narayana himself, who has descended to earth according to the 

 words in the Bhagavadg ita : ''Whenever there is decay of 

 righteousness and there is exaltation of unrighteousness then I 

 incarnate myself ; for the protection of the good, for the 

 destruction of evil-doers, to establish righteousness, I am born in 

 all ages." He takes human form, lives with men, shares their 

 amusements, takes pity on their plight ; but notwithstanding all 

 this he remains god, and is always conscious of the fact that he 

 is god. His divine nature never merges into humanity. He 

 cannot be deceived by the tricks of the countless demons who 

 come to destrov him*; he is always sure of his victory, for he 

 knows that he is the eternal force of Good which the powers of 

 Evil cannot resist. When he appears on earth he tills the world 

 with miracles. He sends forth divine light to show his father 

 Vasude va the wa y which leads to salvation. Through his divine 

 power the chains with which Nandagopa has been fettered for 

 many years drop to the ground ; he creates a fountain of pun 

 water "so that Nandagopa may purify himself; he revives 

 Nandagopa's dead child ; all this in the first night of his exist- 

 ence and without uttering a word. When he is only a week old 

 he slavs demons. His divine weapons and attributes, his 

 wonderful bird Garuda, all representing his divine power 



descend to earth and live with him. . 



If Krishna is the personification of Good, the incarnation 

 of Evil is Kamsa, the sla ver of children. Just as Vishnu is born 

 in all ages to establish righteousness, so each age brings lortn an 

 antagonist, the expression of all that is wicked. Hence the 

 mvths of the struggle between Naraahnha and Hiranyakasipu, 

 Rama and RavaiS, Krishna and Kamsa. Thus the drama 

 " Balacaritram " widens out into a grand mystery of the eterna 

 struggle between Good and Evil. Kamsa, the evil one, gloomed 

 to perish in the same night when Krishna is born. He eels 

 that a force has arisen against which he is powerless. He has 

 terrible visions. Candala women, the lowest of the outcasts 

 demand that he should marry their daughters. The curse 

 under which he lives, namely that Devaki s ■« *™M *g 

 him, appears to him in terrible form to announce that the > en I 

 is near The curse gathers the spirits of darkness and drive- 



