Jayshankar Prasad’s Ånsu,1 Modernity, and the “Pangs of Separation”: Journal of Vaishnava Studies

Abstract

There may be misunderstanding, if not disagreement, over the meanings and differences of the terms “modernity” and “popular culture.” “Popular culture,” in particular, has been the focus of such analyses as those presented in relation to “deconstructionism” and “postmodernism.” As applied to Hinduism in the contemporary period, good examples of “deconstructionist” interpretations may be found in some of the essays in Media and the Transformation of Religion (Delhi, 1997). [For my review of this work, see The Adyar Library Bulletin, Vol. 64, 2000, pp. 264 ff.] For the purposes of the use of the term “modernity” here it is understood as the profound, historical change, beginning in the nineteenth century and lasting until the present time, that transformed not only military and political realities but also the sciences, arts, (and in some instances) languages and literature. In the case of India, it involved the
introduction of a new spoken and written form as the accepted “standard Hindi” in public use. This essay attempts a brief historical reconstruction of this development as background to a presentation of one of the themes in Jayshankar Prasad’s Åõsü, regarded by many as the supreme masterpiece of lyric poetry in “standard Hindi.” The reader will also be informed about the continuity in this example of modern Hindi literature with the literary and spiritual heritage of pre-modern India.