At the beginning of this
novel:
A human voice breaks the
midnight silence of a dark, dense forest:
"Will not my desire
be fulfilled?"
"What price are you
prepared to pay for it?" The
counter-question was the answer.
"My life, and all
that is mine."
"Your life is not
of much moment; anyone can sacrifice it."
"What else can I
offer? Name the price."
"Devotion!"
Holding life cheap,
banishing the fear of death, devotion illumines
the frontiers of the human mind in a sudden
upsurge. The center of such devotion is Mother,
the symbol of the Motherland! That was the
premises on which the song Vandemataram gets
incorporated in the novel.
A description of this
Motherland occurs in Chapter 10:
Bhavananda is in a
different mood. He is no more a sanaysin, bold
and inflexible. He is no more the ruthless
general of the army. He isn't the arrogant man
who a moment ago had humbled Mahendra. Amid
the beauty of the land and water bathed in
moonlight, his mind dances like an ocean in tide
at the sight of the moon. Bhavananda turns gay
and eager for friendly conversation. He is eager
to talk. He makes many attempts to talk, but
Mahendra does not respond.
And then Bhavananda begins
to sing for himself:
Vande Mataram Sujalam
Suphalam Malayaja Sheetalam
Mataram!
He sings with all his heart
and soul, with great devotion, and his masculine
voice, so pleasing to the ear, echoes and
re-echoes, and filling the whole horizon with its
resonance, creates an indescribable atmosphere...
Mahendra hears the song and
is amazed. He cannot understand it. He asks who
is the Mother, fed by rivers, fruit-bearing treas
and fanned by the cool breeze of the mountains.
Bhavananda does not seem to
pay attention to the question. He is immersed in
the song. Without pausing to answer him, he
continues:
Shubhrajyotsna
pulakitayamineem Phullakusumita
drumadala shobhineem .....
..... Mahendra at first
thinks that it may be an invocation to Durga. And
then he feels it could not be. It is a
description of the country, not of the Goddess
Durga. At that point Bhavananda wants to speak.
The meaning of the song, and the way of his life,
were not different. He explains it: "We do
not accept any other Mother. Jananee
Janambhoomishcha swargadapi gariyasi. The
motherland is our Mother; apart from her we have
no mother, father, brothers, wife or children,
home of personal life; sujala, suphala, malayaja
sheetalam, that is all we have."
And then Mahendra
understands the import of the song. He asks
Bhavananda to continue the song. And as he sings
tears roll down his cheeks...
And a new inspiration
overcomes him. And now he is new person!
This is how other
characters of the story get inspired and united.
The sublime characters which take part in the
great story of Anandmath and grow up in elevating
atmosphere display not only patriotism of a high
order, but also the terrific strength of the
sinews. They are living sparks which in the face
of humiliation, burst into flames. They carry
their love of the motherland into action. Koti
koti kantha kalakala ninada karale! Koti koti
bhujairdhruta kharakaravale! These lines are then
witnessed in earth-shaking events.
Individuals are mere tools.
The saga of the struggle
and sacrifices of the heroes and martyres of
freedom is nothing but a manifestation of the
unconquerable will of the great Mother who
inspired the saint and prophet Bankim to write
Anandamath and give unto us Vande Mataram, the
hymn of Liberty!
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