Yashodhara by Ganesa Natyalaya presented the princess as the woman who stood for her rights. The director, Saroja Vaidyanathan, spoke to Utpal K Banerjee

Down the corridors of mythology and recorded history, India saw many heroines, as consorts, who gave everything to their legendary heroic husbands and asked nothing in return, effacing themselves from oral and written annals for ever. When Sita accompanied Rama to the latter’s exile for 14 long years in the woods, she held steadfast to her morals and memories — even in Ravana’s hostile custody — and to her lord, so much so that some folk Ramayanas were renamed as Sitayanas.

 But, as regards lakshmana’s spouse Urmila, left behind all this time, not even a word is mentioned in later episodes about her. Rabindranath Tagore, in his essay, The Ignored One, in the epic, lamented once, “The sage Valmiki did not shed a single tear-drop of consolation on the cruelty the fate had wrought on Urmila…” In proto-history, the prince Siddhartha, brought up among royal grandeur in the Shakya kingdom ruled by his father Shuddhodana, caught sight of the seamier side of life and decided overnight to go away for meditation, leading to Enlightenment.

But what happened to the happily-married bride Yashodhara and their new-born son Rahul, from whom Siddhartha did not even take leaveIJ The departure took place in the dead of night and the bewildered wife was left to sorrow ever after. In a memorable Manipuri dance-drama on the Buddha, recorded for the Doordarshan archives, Guru Singhajit Singh etched a most poignant image of the desolation of princess Yashodhara and her ultimate reconciliation with the visiting Buddha to whom she surrenders herself, with her son, for joining the monastic order.

Another recent dance-theatre, Yashodhara, was produced in Bharatanatyam style, by Chennai’s playwright-director Gowry Ramanarayan. Her Yashodhara was, in turn, Virahinii (the separated one uncomprehending why her husband suddenly deserted her); Janani (the matriarch as the single mother for Rahul); Duhkhini (the despairing one, realising the Buddha may never return) and Manini (the self-reliant one, who leaves Rahul to the father seeking alms and lets her sorrows melt). In Yashodhara, recently presented by Ganesa Natyalaya from Delhi, the story unfolds itself more from Yashodhara’s point of view.

Says the director, guru Saroja Vaidyanathan, “I’ve shown Yashodhara, the wife of Gautam Buddha, as the woman who stood for her rights and later, allowed her son to accept the Sangha of Buddhism.” Showcased also in Bharatanatyam form and based on Tamil lyrics of Prof V Subramanyam from Canada, the dance-drama has a large cast, melodramatic music and opulent stage-setting. It begins at a point when king Shuddhodana (played by the director) seeks to bring Buddha back to his capital and fails, in spite of sending three messengers.

In a flashback, happier times are seen between Siddhartha and Yashodhara, and subsequent incidents that led to the prince renouncing the kingdom in the midnight. The Buddha’s meditation and Enlightenment are totally skipped over and next the city-folks are caught dancing in joy at the message of the savant’s return to his ancestral home. Given the news, Yashodhara’s first reaction is anger, stating that she wants the Buddha to come and meet her at the exact place where he left her. When, however, she hears the serene chants of the monks, she gets emotional and wonders if the Buddha would at all come to see her.

The Buddha’s eventual meeting (but not clear, why and how alone) with Yashodhara leaves the latter awestruck. She finally appreciates the fact that her husband has become the Enlightened one. Rahul is coaxed by Shuddhodana to welcome his father and join the Sangha. Comments the director, “While Rahul shows the maturity to realise his father’s purpose in life, Yashodhara declares that she would renounce her material life and wait for the Buddha till the end of her life. This shows the clarity of her own vision.” The high point of the presentation is the youthful Dakshina Vaidyanathan’s essaying the role of Yashodhara. Her sattvik (facial expression) abhinaya is most subtle and her angik (physical gestures and body-movements) abhinaya is also of the highest order. Says the budding engineer, “I was formally initiated into Bharatanatyam when I was seven, but I was dancing ever since I was born!” All of 24 now, this talented danseuse is destined to go far. photos Pankaj Kumar