Book Review 1: Virāgaya (The way of the Lotus)

“The real Novelist, the perfectly simple human being, could go on, indefinitely imaging”

-Virginia Woolf, ‘The Waves’-

Virāgaya (Devoid of Passions) is a novel written by Martin Wickramasinghe (the founder of contemporary Sinhala literature) in 1956. It belongs to psychological novel category. It specially exhibits the influences of existentialism. This is the first Sinhala novel to be translated into French. Virāgaya can be considered as the mature work of the author. It can be assumed that the author wanted to show that Buddhism is different from the conventional truth. The main character of the novel; Aravinda, his usage of Buddhism is a state of being. The natural detachment of Aravinda makes him the spectator of his own life. the novel is communicated through autobiographical mode. The character of Aravinda is similar with the character of anti-hero in Albert Camus’. 

Virāgaya has written to extract a deep meaning of the meaning of life. It can be an explanation of human mental phenomena because one’s actions are derived through those mental phenomena. Usually novels generate its meaning through its characters. There are three characters in Virāgaya that influenced the character of Aravinda (the protagonist of the master-piece) that can be defined as Menakā, Sarojinī and Batī.  Menakā was his sister who is a mercenary character, Sarojinī who is the person that loved Aravinda and Batī was his adopted daughter.

Aravinda’s father was an Ayurvedic physician and wanted to make Aravinda a doctor who is trained through western medicine. It has mentioned that, “while father had been anxious to make a doctor of me I hadn’t felt the least flicker of interest in studying for the entrance examination to the university” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 91). For Sartre, it is up to us to choose our own essence. For instance, teachers, Government and other institutions cannot determine who we are. 

For Sartre, if we follow a path which has decided by someone else, then we have a ‘bad faith’. It would be false if I suggest that Aravinda have done everything according to his preference because he was afraid of the things what others say as “people would despise us, they would snigger at us” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 85). In that sense he had a bad faith as he did not take immediate actions to fulfill his desires. 

Moreover, the way Aravinda made his choices mainly relate with his way of expressing love as it was different from other people because he was an introverted person.  Though he loved Sarojinī very much, he was not aware of the way of showing his love. When Sarojinī wrote a letter by asking to elope as her parents wanted her to marry a professional. He wrote a reply letter by rejecting her suggestion because he was fearful to face social disgrace of eloping with a girl who had not completed the age limit that will be considered for a marriage and not confident about his future. 

The way that people feel when they are not able to accomplish what they have desired has explained in Virāgaya through the character of Aravinda.  He has stated that, “elation, regret, fear, shame, churned in my mind” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 82) after receiving Sarojinī’s letter. It proves that he was mentally unstable. When Sarojinī married Siridāsa and talked with Aravinda as nothing ever happened between them, Aravinda says that “I was thoroughly confused” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 89). As Aravinda replied without giving any future hope to Sarojinī made her mind to marry Siridāsa. However, Menakā said that “Sarojinī had been deeply wounded and humiliated” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 89) by his letter. Aravinda shows how people feel when they lose hope. He stated that “I was full of remorse” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 90). 

There was something different about the way that Aravinda, Sarojinī, Menakā and Dharmasiri looking at the same thing. It was based on the notion of responsibility that they have. Although Menakā supported Sarojinī’s decision, she has stated that she would not act against his husband’s opinion. However, Menakā’s husband Dharmasiri also advised not to act according to Sarojinī’s decision, as it would cause a danger of a prosecution of abduction of a minor. For that, Aravinda rejected Sarojinī’s suggestion. Siridāsa; his cousin, was confident about his future and was willing to marry Sarojinī. 

Virāgaya has tried to indicate the sympathetic and the pleasurable nature of the individual’s mental derangement. Thus, the author retained the spirit of the novel by delineating the characters. Situational acts, vestures, dialogues, internal mental phenomena, the way that the characters reveal their feelings and the environment that process around the characters are being used when delineating characters of a novel. The character of Aravinda (main character) has been influenced through the other characters such as Menakā, Sarojinī and Batī. He can be classified as an existential anti-hero. Sanath Gunathilake performed the character of Aravinda in the film. Prof.Desmond Mallikārachchi has defined Aravinda’s character as an inactive character who does not act in a suitable manner that would be useful to fulfill his desires. 

The notion of choice can be described through the characters of Aravinda, Sarojinī and Bathī. Although Sarojinī was a minor, Aravinda had the chance to elope with her as Menakā suggested. His regressive and inactive feelings did not give him that confidence though he suffered from both despair and anguish.  Sarojinī married Siridāsa after eight months from the day that she wrote a letter to Aravinda. Therefore, Aravinda had enough time to take a decision, either to elope with her or act according to a plan to do higher studies, get into a medical profession, and get permission from her parents. However, he was not able to take that risk. 

The notion of hope goes with the construction. If not it goes with a deconstruction. Aravinda had a hope, which he has expressed as “I had often thought that bathe would be by me to look after me and to share my joys and griefs as long as I lived” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 118). But, when his hope had broken he saw everything other way around. He has stated “my sentimental notions about Bathee vanished. Jealousy and anger took their place” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 118). 

The character of Jinadāsa has acted by Clitus Mendis who had a well-built body and a noticeable appearance. Aravinda awkwardly describe his appearance because he was the cause for the breaking point of his desires. He states that as “Bathee’s young man had the physique of a Veddah and the face of a hermit. I could see the thickness of his biceps through the thin shirt he was wearing” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 123).

Sriyāni Amarasena acted as Sarojinī and Sabītā Perera acted as Batī. Daglus Ranasinghe as Siridāsa, Sunetrā Sarachchandra as Menakā, Clitus Mendis as Jinadāsa, Jeo Abewickrama as father and Somalatā Subasinghe acted as mother. Each and every character has done their best talents when giving life to the characters of Virāgaya. The English translation of Virāgaya is ‘the way of Lotus’. The lotus flower is used as a simile to the character of Aravinda. The effort that the lotus flower takes to grow out from the mud has a similarity with the character of Aravinda. 

According to Sartre, there is no supernatural creature that is able to govern human beings. Therefore, they are the causes for the consequences that happen to their lives. Incapability of taking decisions, his regressive feelings, inactive behavior, and irresponsible character were the causes for the failure of Aravinda’s life. The life that Aravinda had lived was a result of his choices.  Although Aravinda loved Sarojinī, he had not thought about marrying her. Even in the book he has explained that as ‘it wasn’t her fault that she had become Siridāsa’s wife-the fault was mine” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 170). He did not have a desire to live an ordinary life: passing all the examinations, get a socially respectful profession, marry someone, make children, and do his responsibilities to them. He has mentioned that, “I had been blind to the future that they had been able to see” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 167). It is true that he had the characteristics of an inactive person who is eliminating worldly pleasures. 

The process of understanding the meaning of life had taken Aravinda to a particular state. He claims, “if I had only had even a quarter of my present knowledge of life when I was still at school, my life would surely have taken a different course” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 172). 

The author has emphasized humanism as he has indicated his views on human life. He states that “to judge human life, we cannot find the immutable yard stick immune to the changes of time, place and circumstance, in the values laid down by tradition and convention (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 173). In addition, he states that, “I can see now that one has to be very experienced indeed before one can presume to judge human conduct” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 172). 

When Aravinda got sick, he recalled his past. He claimed that “thinking of our past my mind struggled desperately, like a sick man trying to climb to a summit that was hidden in the clouds” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 166). This shows how people see the choices that they have made in the past when they are come to an end of their lives. Thus, he states, “a patient who has been kept on rice gruel for days begins to long for a meal of rice. He begins to imagine extraordinary flavors in the most familiar food” (Wickramasinghe, 1985, p. 167). This shows how he regrets about the choices that he has made in the past. 

The important fact is that Aravinda makes peace with himself. He is detached from the worldly relationships. Virāgaya illustrates the author’s deep attachment towards Buddhism. It can be assumed that the author wanted to show that Buddhism is different from the conventional truth.

Works Cited

Abeysekara, T. (1991). Viragaya Thira Rachanaya. 

Prof.Mallikarachchi, D. (n.d.). Once upon a time: an existentialist Film .

Prof.Mallikarachchi, D. (n.d.). Pudgala Sandrustikavadi Chitrapatiyak: ikiru.

Wickramasinghe, M. (1985). The Way of the Lotus: Viragaya. (A. Halpe, Trans.) Dehiwala: Tisara Prakashakayo Ltd.