The play Parijata Harana was written by the Saint-scholar Srimanta Sankardeva towards the end of his life. The play retells two stories from the Bhagavata and the Vishnu Purana. Notable Assamese scholar Moheshor Neog remarks "Sankardeva's masterpiece with its well- developed dialogue, bold and almost realize characterization finely developed pot and humour".
The play Parijata Harana consists of two main plots. The first plot is about the killing of the evil demon Naraka at the request of the Gods, and the second plot is about the uprooting of the parijata tree from Amravati.
Indra visits Krishna's palace asking for his help to execute Naraka to relieve the Gods from the troubles caused by him. In reply, Krishna agrees to help them. In the meantime, Satyabhama demands a Parijata flower from Krishna, to which Krishna agrees with a smile. Krishna and Satyabhama flies to Kamrup to slaughter the demons and recollect the stolen items.
When Krishna visits Amaravati to return all the jewels that he found from Narakas harem, he steals the parijata tree from Indra's garden. Being enraged with Krishna's deeds, Shachi and Lord Indra follow Krishna and begin to attack him with weapons. However, Indra soon realizes his weakness and tries to flee, when Krishna stops the fight with a smile. After this, Indra gifts the parijata to Krishna on his own will, which Krishna plants outside Satyabhama's door.
The plot of the play is a fantastic combination of dialogue, imagination, creativity, morals, etc. Sankardeva succeeds in creating a brilliant recreation of the story that is already found in the Puranas and Bhagawata.
Another remarkable feature of this play is the characterization. There are a number of characters in the play, who contribute their own fair share in the story. The most important ones are shown Krishna, Narada, Satyabhama, Indra, and Sachi. The entire play revolves around the lead role of Shri Krishna. The divine character's greatness can be observed throughout the entire play. If he follows all the orders of his wives like a caring husband, he also slaughters demons just like the play of his fingers. His character reflects the qualities of both humans and god. Krishna, who is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu has the entire universe under his lotus feet. We all are aware of the trouble- loving Narada's mischiefs. He incites Satyabhama against Rukmini about the parijata flower, which later results in a fight between Krishna and Indra.
Sankardeva has perfectly described the character of Narada through the Amazing characterizations. The character of Satyabhama is painted as an egoistic and arrogant lady, whose chief aim throughout the entire story lies on the parijata flower. At times, her character lacks the grace of a queen, which can be easily seen in Rukmini. The character of Indra isn't glorified much, and he is shown as a week God, who has to take refuse under Shri Krishna. Similarly, Sachi is another egoistic character found in the play, who instigates her husband to pick a fight with Krishna over a mere Parijata tree. The character of Rukmini doesn't get much recognition in the play. However, she is picturized as a mature wife, who possesses the qualities of a chief queen, unlike Satyabhama. Some minor characters are also played for example- Naraka, Basumati, etc.
The play also weaves the different aspects of Rasas. The bond shared by Krishna and Satyabhama is the erotic or shrigara; whereas the fight showcases heroism and power-play. Even though there are a few other types of Rosas or sentiments associated with the play, the chief sentiment is of devotion or Bhakti, as Sankardeva tries to establish the faith of the mass in the supreme Guru of the universe.
The aspect of humour cannot be overlooked in the play. The mischiefs of the trouble loving Narada are successful in fabricating laughter among the readers. Another scene that generates humour is one where Sachi and Satyabhama engage in a catfight over the Parijata tree. Hence we can say that the playwright is successful in creating traces of humour amidst the scenes.
The play Parijata Harana is more attractive to the Assamese people since it has connections with the history of Assam, The demon Narakasura was the ruler of Kamrup, in ancient Assam. His son Bhagadatta was killed by Arjun. In such ways, the connection of Assamese history mixes with the playwright's tale of faith and power.
The play was initially written in Brajabali, a language developed by the playwright himself along with a few others. In the translated version, the dialogues have modified to compromise with space.
In the conclusion, we can say that Sankardeva's extraordinary talent of storytelling meets the ancient tales of Bhagawata and Vishnu Purana. The well-structured play with bold characters and well-knit dialogues has considered the best one from his entire collection.
Hundor
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