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Chitrangada Natak
- Chitrangada Natak is a story from the Mahabharata Nataktized by Rabindranath Tagore. It is a mythological Natak composed in the year 1892.
- Some characters have been changed in this Natak so that a new look can be brought in it. It is actually a poem in Natak form.
- This play was shown in Kolkata by the dancer society of Rabindra Sadan. It depicts the glory of the modern day woman with Chitrangada, the Rajduhita of Manipur and Arjuna’s love-lila.
- This play has been translated into English by the name of Chitra. The main actors of this Natak are Chitrangada, Arjun, Vasant Dev and Madan Dev.
- This Natak reveals its place in social history along with poetry. This play is divided into eleven scenes.
Natak
- According to the Mahabharata, Chitrangada is one of the wives of Arjuna. Once Arjun broke his promise to save the cows of a Brahmin and entered Yudhishthira’s house when Yudhishthira and Panchali were having a physical relationship.
- That’s why Arjun had to suffer twelve years of exile. During Arjuna’s exile when he goes to Manipur, he meets Chitrangada.
- He wants to marry her by requesting her love. The king of Manipur, on the request of his subjects, took a pledge that according to matrilineal tradition, the son or daughter of Chitrangada would become the successor of Manipur and he would not be taken away from the kingdom.
- Arjun married Chitrangada respecting this Pratigaya. After marriage, Chitrangada became pregnant from the meeting of Arjun and Chitrangada. Soon a son named Vabhruvahana was born who assumed the throne of Manipur.
Summary
- Chitrangada was the only daughter of the king of Manipur. Being the only daughter, she disguises as a man for her kingdom.
- The state and the subjects have the hope of their protection on them. Arjuna goes to exile to follow twelve years of celibacy. After a long journey, he reaches Manipur which is famous for its natural beauty.
- One day when she saw Arjuna on his hunt, she fell in love with Arjuna. Arjun was also impressed by his fighting spirit and courage but was under the illusion that he was a boy.
- Chitrangada felt that he would never love her in this form (Kurupa). Thinking this, she asks for a boon from Kamaveda (the God of love) to make her the most beautiful girl in the world for some time so that Arjuna will fall in love with her at first sight.
- She appears in front of him in this form (surupa) and Arjuna attracts her towards him. She has everything but she wants Arjuna to love her as she is.
- After some time, robbers come to attack the kingdom, then Arjuna learns that the protector of this kingdom is a woman who is a very widowed warrior.
- When she appears in front of Arjuna in her real form and told Arjuna the whole truth. She tells Arjuna that she is Chitrangada, not a goddess or a queen but an ordinary woman.
- If he makes her the companion of his difficult times, the companion of happiness and sorrow, then only you will get my introduction. This voice was not mythological to Arjuna, but the voice of a modern woman.
- Then Arjuna loves her virtues more than her beauty and marries her. Arjun gets self-knowledge from the words of Chitrangada. After some time he gets the benefit of Babruvahana’s son
