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"The heroic sentiment which is the essence of every song and couplet of a
Rajasthani is peculiar emotion of its own of which, however, the
whole country may be proud" said Ravindra Nath Tagore.
Rajasthani literature is nothing but a message of brave flooded life
and a brave stormy death. It was in these songs that forming streams of infallible energy and
indomitable iron courage had flown and made the Rajput warrior
forget all his personal comforts and attachments in fight for what was true, good and beautiful.
The
development of Rajasthani literature from the bardic language, Dingal, and 'virkavya' (heroic poetry) took shape in the context of the medieval social and political formations in
Rajasthan. For centuries, Caran bards, court poets, and chroniclers contributed to the tradition of Dingal 'virkavya'. Today, medieval virkavya as well as extant oral traditions continue to inspire Rajasthani prose and poetry. The development of written and oral Rajasthani narratives can be illustrated by a study of the medieval and modern tradition of the adventures of Pabuji Dhandhal Rathaur, a fourteenth-century Rajput hero. Epic poems and panegyric couplets dedicated to Pabuji were part of the Dingal manuscript tradition from the beginning of the sixteenth century onwards. Caran bards memorialized his self-sacrifice on the battlefield in verses like Pabuji ra duha, Pabuji rau chand, and Pabuji ko yash
varnan. The oral qualities of the bardic tradition were retained long after the verses became part of the manuscript tradition of the area.
In modern times, poets revitalized Dingal virkavya to air their anti-British sentiments. Hence Mahakavi Moraji Ashiya exalts Pabuji's self-sacrifice in Pabu Prakash (1932), a Dingal poem exuding patriotic pathos. After Independence, the Rajput ideals of virkavya proved well suited to expressing a nationalist love for the young nation. The self-sacrifice of Rajput warriors on the battlefield (tyagi), for instance, easily
translated into a desire to dedicate one's life to the motherland. Poets glorified medieval Rajput heroes and contemporary freedom fighters employing Dingal versifications and bardic idiom.
George Abraham Grierson (1908) was the first scholar who gave the nomenclature
˜Rajasthani" to the language, which was earlier known through its various dialects. Today, however, Sahitya Akademi, National
Academy of Letters and University Grants Commission recognize it as a
distinct language. The Board of Secondary Education, Rajasthan included Rajasthani in the
course of studies and it has been an optional subject since 1973. Since 1947,
several movements have been going on in Rajasthan for its recognition, but
unfortunately it is still considered a "dialect" of Hindi.
Rajput tyagi is likewise an ingredient of modern, regional definitions of Rajasthani identity. Oral narratives are also a source of inspiration for Rajasthani prose writers like Vijay Dan Detha (1927). Detha is ranked among Rajasthani pragatishil (pragativad) or progressive prose writers who express a modern political, often reformist awareness through their writings. Using contemporary literary genres (short stories and novels), Deval, editor of the Rajasthani section of Medieval Indian Literature, a volume to be published by the Sahitya Akademy this year [1999], is of the opinion that Rajasthani literature will retain its oral qualities as long as Rajasthani is not recognized as a national language. Deval holds that Rajasthani Nunin Kavita (along the lines of Hindi Nai Kahani) has had relatively little following in Rajasthan for similar reasons. 'The small, literate class which speaks Rajasthani is only taught Hindi in school, while a major portion of Rajasthan's population remains illiterate to this date', argues Deval. 'And literary Rajasthani magazines and publishers are few. New ideas as expressed in Hindi prose and poetry have had only a moderate influence on the literary tradition of Rajasthan. It remains overwhelmingly oral in character'. The interrelated
development of written and oral narratives is worth considering when drawing a new literary map of the Subcontinent. This is an assertion that will hardly surprise anthropologists and other students of oral traditions. But, keeping in mind text-based and equally text-biased studies of the written traditions of South Asia, it is important to emphasize how the content and the form of the texts we study are influenced by the interplay between
written and oral traditions.
The famous Rajasthan literature includes:
Prathviraj Raso - Chandbardai
Hamir Raso
- Sarangdev
Bisaldev Raso
- Narpati Malha
Prathviraj Vijay - Jayanak
Bata Ri Fulwari - Bijaydan Detha
Narsi ro Mayro - Ratun Khati
Bansa Bhaskar - Suryamal Mishra
Hamir Mahakavya - Nayan Chand Suri
Patal Pithal
- Kanhiyalal Sethi
Padmavat
- Malik Mohmad Jaysi |
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