Summary
The story is set in a small town of Karnataka where the majority of people are the
Brahmins. They possess a traditional mindset and follow the rules defined by the
religion. Two main characters of the story are Praneshacharya and Naranappa. Praneshacharya is the scholar of the Agrahara town, who has completed the
Vedic education at Kashi and is considered as the leader of the Brahmin
community of his village and the surrounding one. The other main character is
Naranappa who despite being a Brahmin by birth rejects the rules set by
Brahminism by eating meat and keeping relationship with a lower caste prostitute
Chandri. Once he caught and ate the fish from the holy river which made the
Brahmins to rise against him. Then the Brahmins approached Praneshacharya for
help and he went to convince Naranappa to stop all the immortal acts, but he
would not budge. Later Naranappa visited Shimoga and returned to Agrahara
with high fever and died. The Brahmins are let in a piquant situation, because
according to Brahmin Principles, a person who dies should be cremated by a
Brahmin as early as possible. None of the Brahmins is ready to perform the
rituals as he did not live the life of an orthodox Brahmin. They thought by
performing his samskara they will be polluted. However, the Brahmin principles also stipulate that a non-Brahmin cannot
perform the rites for a Brahmin. Praneshacharya being the scholar and the leader
of the Brahmins is responsible for finding a way out for this problem. He reads
the holy books but they do not provide any solution. So he goes to the Maruti
Temple to find the answer but he cannot find the answer. While going back he
encounters Chandri and indulges a sexual affair, in the middle of the night he gets
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up and finds herself in Chandri’s lap. Chandri runs away home and finds that
Naranappa’s body had started to rot. She secretly cremates his body with the help
of a Muslim fainer and goes to her village Kundapura. Praneshacharya is left in a
piquant situation on whether he has to reveal the immortal acts to the villagers or
keep quiet. Feeling guilty he leaves the village but the guilt never leaves him. Finally deciding to own up the act he returns to his village but it is not clear
whether he owns it or not.
Character Analysis:
1) Naranappa :
Naranappa is an anti-Brahminical Brahmin, he is a hedonist. He believes in the
principle: eat, drink and be merry and spends his life defying the Brahmin beliefs and
lifestyle. He lives with his concubine Chandri a low caste woman from Kundapura
and he wants to finish the Brahminism in the town of Durvasapura. He doesn’t have a
son. When he dies the question of his death rites (samskara) arises and no Brahmin
comes ahead to perform the rites. Therefore, his body was left alone in the house
without doing the rites for several days.
2) Praneshacharya:
Praneshacharya is the scholar of Agrahara. He learned Sanskrit from Kashi and knew
all the Vedas and scriptures thoroughly. He was an impeccable and spotless Brahmin
man and he was completely a contrast to Naranappa. He went several times to
Naranappa to guide and bring him to the right path but every time Naranappa insulted
him and said that he would soon finish the Brahminism in Agrahara. At this time
Chandri was the one who tried to save Praneshacharya and begged of him to go away. The entire Brahmin community condemns Naranappa for his relationship with
Chandri. Yet, it is the same Chandri with whom Praneshacharya indulges sexually
during his weaker movements, when he was eroded and vanished physically, emotionally and spiritually. He deserves not hate but pity. It is to be noted that all the
Brahmins who hated Naranappa for having relationship with Chandri were secretly
going to the prostitutes in Basrur.
3) Chandri:
Chandri is a low caste woman from Kundapura who lives with Naranappa. She was not
given the status of wife by Naranappa but he loved him very much. She was a very
good woman who served and took care of Naranappa. She would get up late in the
night and cook food for him without uttering a word. She was so kind that she also
used to clean the mess which Naranappa and his friends did after drinking liquor. She
was very loyal to Naranappa but she had a sexual intercourse with Praneshacharya
because her mother had told her it was a blessing to be the mother of a great man’s
child.
4) Putta:
Putta belonged to Malera community. This community was considered as low in
other Peoples’ esteem because they were the offsprings of Brahmins and their lower
caste mistresses. He was very friendly and introduced himself to Praneshacharya in t
he forest and started following Praneshacharya who was trying to get rid of him. He
even offered coconut and jaggary to Acharya and also narrated his quarrel with his
wife. He had a very simple lifestyle, certainly he did not have the knowledge, class
or aristocracy of the Brahmins. He was very friendly and he extended his
companionship to Acharya and insisted on remaining with him throughout the
journey.
