The Untragic Indian Stories

Abstract

By a comparative study of the genre of tragedy originating in the Greco-Roman period and the Indian classical theatre, this paper claims that there are subtle differences between European and Indian worldviews, one of which would necessitate the birth of tragedy and the other which would obviate its genesis. The paper claims that the characteristic Indian hero, depicted in the classical Indian epics, mythological narratives, and theatrical genres up to the medieval period, is one who treads the path of righteousness and is free from hamartia—which is regarded as a distinctive feature of the European tragic hero. In the Indian and European mythological narratives and theatrical genres, the virtue of a hero would be tested through a series of trials, often involving superhuman suffering. The misery that would befall the heroes would often stem from their actions, either wilful or inadvertent. The tragic worldview aims to showcase the struggle of a valiant hero who is admired for the chutzpah of pointing the heroic finger at a foe far mightier than a human subject. The tragic hero, therefore, has to succumb to a catastrophe, evoking a sense of tragic waste. On the other hand, the Indian worldview is rooted in the firm conviction of the righteousness of the universe, epitomised in the dictum “Satyameva Jayate”, meaning “Truth always triumphs”. Ergo, the Indian narratives showcasing the suffering of its principal characters would nonetheless end with the resolution of all entanglements, or at least with a sense of hope. The Indian narratives and theatrical genres exhibit an exemplary infallible hero who would come out unscathed from the terrible crucible of fate by dint of their virtuous actions, thereby fostering faith in an essentially moral universe