According
to Premchand, religion plays an important part in the development of a
civilization. Besides metaphysics and philosophy, religions have shaped the
life style, individual and collective behavior of people. In the beginning of
the history of mankind, man was posed to the terrifying powers of Nature. With this
he began the worship of the force of Nature. Gradually he developed different
religious systems which became a part of his life. Today we find that all the
events in life from birth till death are connected wit rituals.
During
the Middle Ages, in the Indian Society it was an age of orthodox beliefs ,
inertial and ignorance. In the fifteenth century many saints started the Bhakti
movement to remove such evils. In the first part of the twenties century the religious
values went down on account of the Freedom Movement.
v
The age of
Premchand
The
age of Premchand was an age of transition, unrest and political turmoil. At
this time, he attacked the orthodox ways of life and religion. He made priests
and Brahmins his targets’. For this reason, he was called anti-Brahmins. He
asserted that they were the main obstacle in the heartily growth of society. He
also believed that the religious authority became a tool in the hands of the
rich against the poor. That is why the them of the exploitation of the poor by
the rich is a dominate theme in his novels. He points out that the religions considerations ruin he
lives of individuals. He makes caricatures of the selfish and greed Brahmin
priest in Indian villages.
Mattadeen; Representative of
‘Premchand.
In
“Godan” Mattadeen is such a character. He takes care of the religious needs of
the villagers. He also lends money to them. Poor peasants like Hori are his
easy victims. His son, Mattadeen is a spoilt young man. He has illicit
relations with an outcasts young woman, Seliya. When her relatives come to know
about this affair, they become hot angry and decide to teach him a lesson. They
get hold of him and beat him. They also break his ‘sacred thread’ and put a
piece of bone into his mouth. The villagers come to rescue him. Till now,
despite his immoral relation with Seliya, he was considered as a pure Brahmin.
But now tie touch of bone has polluted him. His father organizes a ‘yagna’ to
purify his son’s personality. He spends thousands of rupees after it. Here
Premchand attacks such type of ritual and ceremonies. He also presents the
Brahmins as victims of many vices.
Premchand’s anti – Brahmin attitude:-
Thus
Premchand’s anti – Brahmin attitude is not baseless. It has a definite purpose
to remove evils from the Brahmins, he wants to establish superiority of
goodness over evil, in the last part of the novel, Mattadeen improves himself
and rises high in the eyes of the readers. It is true that every saint has a
past and every sinner has a future. He finds the meaning of life and reality.
Conclusion:-
This
is an integral part of Premchand’s realism which is essentially progressive.
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