Malini

-Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)

               

(This poetic play Malini is a story of love and hatred. Love in its absolute and pure form is all radiance, all pervading, and all compassionate. But often in the world, petty selfishness assumes the name of love and rules the world with hatred.)

Malini has given up all her ornaments. She is talking to her mother, the Queen, on the balcony of the palace. Her mother asks her why she is not wearing her ornaments and dress. She answers that she is poor though she is a princess. The Queen is a simple woman who believes that for a woman her husband and children are objects of worship.

The king comes in. He suggests Malini that she shouldn’t go further along her perilous path. He says she shouldn’t bring her new practice, the Buddhism, into the land of the old, the Hinduism, like a sudden flood. She must keep her faith within herself.

The Brahmins of the kingdom are agitated. They are asking for Malini’s banishment. The king and the Queen are not ready for that, but Malini is ready to be banished. She thinks that the common people need her lessons. She suggests her father, the king, that he should banish her.

Among the Brahmins who are demanding for Malini’s banishment, Kemankar has the strongest determination. He is extremely angry with Malini. He thinks that Malini and her creed should be terminated. He is ready to use force or spill the blood for that. He thinks Malini’s new creed is a grave threat for the established religion. The First Brahmin and the Second Brahmin also agree with him, but Supriya, Kemankar’s bosom friend since childhood, thinks differently. He is against using the force against Malini and her new creed. He thinks Malini’s ideas are the essence of all religions.

The Brahmins get the information that even king’s army is ready to revolt. They do not like this. They pray to Goddess for help. Meanwhile, Malini presents herself among them. They all bow and give in to her.

Kemankar, blind with his patriotism and his faith in the Hinduism, decides to go abroad to bring foreign soldiers to capture the kingdom and banish Malini. Supriya requests him to take him, too. But Kemankar leaves him alone with the hope that Supriya will remain faithful to him forever.

After that, Supriya comes close to Malini. He betrays his friend Kemankar. He is ready to support Malini. In fact, Supriya has revealed Kemankar's secret plan to the king. Now the king is so happy with him that he is ready even to give him his daughter. On Supriya’s request, the king is also ready to forgive Kemankar but Kemankar wants death from the king. He rejects Supriya’s request to accept the harmony with a different faith. He calls Supriya near to him and kills him with a single strike of iron chains. After Supriya’s death, the king is ready to kill Kemankar with his sword, but the play ends with Malini’s request to her father not to kill Kemankar.  

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