What Is Mantrāṅkam?

Abstract

This essay attempts to provide a general thematic and analytical framework that can make sense of the immense, diverse materials that have been brought together in this 41-day performance. The argument focuses on the paradoxical nature of the central clown-like figure, Vasantaka, and the peculiar truth-value that he articulates: that of a prachanna-bārhaspatyam or ‘hidden cynicism’, a pragmatic attitude based on utilitarian deception that may, however, be deceptive itself. The editor concluded by saying that a dissonant and incongruous cognitive pragmatics outlined in the chapter can function as a mechanism of wholeness, or as a powerful solvent that in itself continually forges close links and connections, is possibly the most surprising discovery one makes in the course of watching and thinking this play.