Bankim Chandra Chatterjee : Author of Vande Mataram – R. K. Prabhu

Bankim Chandra Chatterjee : Author of Vande Mataram

R. K. PRABHU

Bankim Chandra Chatterji, the author of the immortal song Vande Mataram, which bids fair to become the National Anthem of India, was born at Kanthalpara, near Calcutta, on 27th June 1838. The middle of the nineteenth century witnessed an unparalleled ferment in the social, religious and intellectual life of Bengal and some of the brightest luminaries in the firmament of that province, such as Hemchandra Banerjee and Michael Madhusudan Dutta, the poets, Keshab Chandra Sen and Maharshi Devendranath Tagore, the religious reformers, Pandit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, the social reformer and educationist, Kristo Das Pal, the politician, and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the Sage of Dakshineshwar, were all Bankim Chandra’s contemporaries.

During the comparatively brief span of his life—he died on 8th April 1894 at the age of fifty-six—Bankim Chandra rose to become the greatest literary figure in Bengal, his works, mostly novels, exercising a profound influence not only on the literature of his own province but also on that of some of the other provinces of India.

Bankim’s first literary work, Rajmohan’s Wife, a novel, was written in English, but he appears to have realized soon after that the proper medium of expression for his creative ideas was his own mother-tongue, Bengali. His first attempt in Bengali fiction, Durgesnandini (The Chieftain’s Daughter), which was published in 1865, marked a turning point in Bengali literature. It struck the patriotic imagination of the younger generation of Bengal as no other contemporary work had done and marked him out as a rising star of the first magnitude. This novel was followed by Kapalakundala, which turned out to be an even more brilliant production of his creative genius and firmly established his pre-eminence as a writer.

Realizing the power of his pen, Bankim Chandra shortly afterwards started a monthly magazine in Bengali, Bangadarshan (The Mirror of Bengal), and contributed voluminously to its pages, the versatility of his genius shining therein in all its brilliance. Some of the budding geniuses of the day also found full scope for the expression of their ideas in its pages and the magazine remained till the close of its career the most popular periodical of the time.

More novels followed one after another from Bankim’s pen, dazzling the mind of Bengal as no other literary works of the day did. Among these were Chandrasekhar, Ananda Math, Devi Chaudhurani, Sitaram, Vishabriksha, Rajasinha, Kamalakanter Daphtar and Kamalakanter Jabanbondi. He was a master of satire and wrote also a number of essays, skits and other minor works on the social hypocricies of his day. Among such works were the Life of Muchiram Gur, in which he exposed the folly and corruption prevalent among the lower ranks of officials, and Lokarahasya, a biting satire on the sycophantic society of his day. He was an ardent champion of women’s rights and discussed their problems in a work entitled Samya, wherein he also dealt with the theories advanced by Mill in his Subjection of Women as well as the views on the subject expressed by writers like Rousseau, Carlyle and Lecky.

Well versed as he was in the ancient religious literature of the country, both Sanskrit and Bengali, he wrote two valuable works on religious subjects. One was Krishnacharitra (The Character of Krishna) and the other, Dharmatattva (Discourses on Religion).

A supreme lover of Bengali and a master of Bengali prose, it was no wonder that Bankim should have tried to make that language the medium of instruction in the province of his birth. This he did as a syndic of the Calcutta University, though he had to encounter very strong opposition.

The Vande Mataram song appears to have been composed by him some time (1875 ?) before the publication of the novel Ananda Math in the early eighties and to have been incorporated into the latter work only when it was nearing .completion. Though the entrancing beauty and exalted patriotic spirit of the song were recognized when the novel made its appearance, it did not attract any particular attention of the public till 1905, the year of the Partition of Bengal. The province-wide, agitation started against the wanton vivisection of Bengal in that year developed rapidly into a movement to rid the country of all alien domination. This led to widespread repression by the British bureaucracy and consequent intensification of the popular struggle. The white heat of indignation at the wrongs that were being heaped on Bengal recalled to the memory of some ardent spirit (or spirits) in the province, in a flash as it were, the Sanyasi Rebellion recorded most eloquently in the pages of Bankim’s Ananda Math. In particular the thrilling song Vande Mataram, appeared to these spirits as the one song that could be made the rallying cry of the entire province. The appropriateness of the symbolism of identification of the Divine Mother with the Motherland began to be recognized everywhere and Vande Mataram came to be recited at every patriotic function as the song par excellence of one and undivided Bengal. Patriotic circles in other provinces too soon took up the song and, substituting the word trimshatkoti (thirty crores) for saptakoti (seven crores) in it, sang it as if it were the national anthem of the country. It thus became, ultimately, the symbol of the unity and solidarity of the Indian people and of their determination to free their Motherland of all the shackles of foreign domination.

The first time that the Vande Mataram song was sung at any large political gathering was at the Bengal Provincial Conference held in 1906 under the presidentship of of Mr. Abdur Rasul. It is recorded that the whole assemblage was thrilled at the recitation of the song. In December of the same year the song was sung on the opening day of the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress held under the presidentship of Dadabhai Naoroji. Since then the opening lines of the song have been sung at every session of the Congress. Though, it was not the only song sung at these sessions, Vande Mataram has throughout occupied the foremost place in the minds and hearts of all Congressmen because of the close association of the song with the national struggle all along its career.

In the early thirties when the separatist movement among a section of Muslims began to make headway in the country, objection was taken to the song on the score of its being originally an invocation to a Hindu goddess. This agitation led ultimately to the adoption of the following lengthy resolution by the Working Committee of the Indian National Congress in October 1937 with a view to define in exact terms the position of the song in the national movement :

‘A controversy having recently arisen about the “Vande Mataram” song, the Working Committee desire to explain the significance of this song. This song appears in Bankim Chandra Chatterji’s novel “Anandamatha” but, it has been pointed out in his biography, that the song was written independently of, and long before, the novel and was subsequently incorporated in it. The song should thus be ‘considered apart from the book. It was set to music by Rabindra Nath Tagore in 1896. The song and the words “Vande Mataram” were considered seditious by the British Government and were sought to be suppressed by violence and intimidation. At a famous session of the Bengal Provincial Conference held in Barisal in April 1906, under the presidentship of Mr. A. Rasul, a brutal lathi charge was made by the police on the delegates and volunteers and the “Vande Mataram” badges worn by them were violently torn off. Some delegates were beaten so severely as they cried “Vande Mataram” that they fell down senseless. Since then, during the past thirty years, innumerable instances of sacrifice and suffering all over the country have been associated with “Vande Mataram” and men and women have not hesitated to face death even, with that cry on their lips. The song and the words thus became symbols of national resistance to British imperialism in Bengal especially, and generally in other parts of India. The words “Vande Mataram” became a slogan of power which inspired our people, and a greeting which ever reminded us of our struggle for national freedom.

Gradually the use of the first two stanzas of the song spread to other provinces and a certain national significance began to attach to them. The rest of the song was very seldom used and is even now known to few persons. These two stanzas described in tender language the beauty of the motherland and the abundance of her gifts. There was absolutely nothing in them to which objection could be taken from the religious or any other point of view. The song was never sung as a challenge to any .group or community in India and was never considered as such or as offending the sentiments of any community. Indeed the reference in it to thirty crores of Indians makes it clear that it was meant to apply to all the people of India. At no time, however, was this song, or any other song, formally adopted by the Congress as the national anthem of India. But popular usage gave it a special and national importance.

The Working Committee feel that past associations, with their long record of suffering for the cause, as well as popular usage, have made the first two stanzas of this song a living and inseparable part of our National movement and as such they must command our affection and respect. There is nothing in these stanzas to which any one can take exception. The other stanzas of the song are little known and hardly ever sung. They contain certain allusions and a religious ideology which may not be in keeping with the ideology of other religious groups in India.

The Committee recognise the validity of the objection raised by Muslim friends to certain parts of the song. While the Committee have taken note of such objection in so far as it has intrdnsic value the Committee wish to the music of it. Therefore it was decided that orchestral renderings of Tagore’s song should be examined and of ‘Vande Mataram’ too. Unfortunately the tunes of some songs, though their words might be very good, were not ‘capable of orchestral rendering. We wanted a National Anthem with both life and dignity in it. If either was lacking, it was not a good national anthem. If it was all dignity and no life, it was flat, and if it was all life and no dignity, it was theatrical. We had to strike a balance between the two. A Committee of Goverment or a Committee of the House would probably make a recommendation that the House itself would finally adopt as it adopted the National Flag.”

Pandit Nehru, when he made these remarks appears to have lost sight of the fact that no less a person than Rabindra Nath Tagore himself had as far back as 1896 prepared a notation of Vande Mataram. This notation —which has been in vogue ever since the days of the Bengal Partition—was made public by Viswa-Bharati towards the close of 1947, when Mahatma Gandhi, in one of his post-prayer speeches in Calcutta, stressed the necessity for setting up a standard tune for Vande Mataram and other national songs and appealed to Viswa-Bharati to undertake the task.

There is no denying the fact that Vande Mataram with the long history and traditions associated with it has come to occupy a unique place in our national life. When the Constituent Assembly meets to adopt our National Anthem, it is to be hoped that the claims of this immortal song would be discussed in all their aspects before arriving at a final decision.