Hello and welcome to the Discourse. Raja Rao was an Indian-American writer who served as a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas, Austin from 1966 to 1983. He taught courses like Marxism to Gandhism, Mahayana Buddhism, Indian philosophy: The Upanishads, and Indian philosophy: The Metaphysical Basics of the Male and Female Principle. Raja Rao continued to explore similar realms in his novels which unfold his deeper concerns for man's spiritual existence on earth and sets his characters on a metaphysical quest for the Absolute. One such novel was The Chessmaster and His Moves which was published in the year 1988. It is a metaphysical novel. The Chessmaster mentioned in the title symbolizes the creator Brahma while the world is a board of Chess (a game that originated in India). His Moves symbolize the divine play that directs our lives. We as human beings are the pieces of the Chessboard that involve pawns, bishops, knights, kings, queens, and others. The narrator of the novel is a highly meditative person who in one instance says: “The stars, played games with us and behind the stars – He, the Chessmaster, rubbing his head in glee, he played for you, making you think he played for you, making you think he played for himself who is he anyway?”Again the narrator; gives the concept of the Chessmaster: “The Chessmaster’s moves, are so to say, subtle, magnanimous, sure. His hand is on your shoulder, not to tell you where to move, but to show the nature of the essential movement, and the movement itself is the play”
Characters of The Chessmaster and His Moves:
Sivaraman Shashtri is the protagonist of the novel. He is an Indian student of mathematics who falls in love with a Rajput princess Jayalakshmi during his teenage. However, he went off to France to study mathematics. Siva is a brilliant but spiritually shallow mathematician who tries to make a balance between European culture and Indian culture and to do so, he explores the relationship between Indian maths and Western maths along with exploring the similarities between Indian spirituality and Western religions. Jayalakshmi is an intelligent young woman who is a good match for Sivaraman but the two fail to marry. Surendra Singh is another childhood friend of Sivaraman and Jayalakshmi who too belongs to a royal family. The two royal families arrange their marriage but Jayalakshmi is not at all interested in Surendra Singh and they are not a happy couple. Uma Ramachandran is the married elder sister of Sivaraman who is unable to conceive a child and is very disturbed about it. Sivaraman is too much in love with Jayalakshmi but develops a relationship with
Suzanne Chantereux, a French actress apparently cured herself of tuberculosis with the help of yoga and meditation. She had a mentally retarded child who died at a young age. She is very much interested in the Indian philosophies of Advaita and Buddhism. This interest brings her closure to Sivaraman and they develop a romantic relationship. However, Suzzane wishes to use Indian philosophies to find peace and comfort in the materialistic world while Sivaraman pursues Moksha, freedom from the materialistic world. Jeanne Pierre is a friend of Sivaraman in France who is also researching mathematics. Mireille is the wife of Jeanne Pierre who develops an extramarital affair with Sivaraman. Despite his varied romantic flings with other women, Sivaraman continues to crave Jayalakshmi. Michel is a Jew, a Rabbi living in France who befriends Shivaraman.
Summary of The Chessmaster and His Moves:
Sivaraman is studying in France for his doctorate in mathematics. He is deeply influenced by Indian philosophies and so is mesmerized by Western ideas. Most often, he tries to balance the two different cultures by exploring the similarities and relations between Western mathematics and Indian mathematics. He would further try to explore relationships between Western philosophies and Indian philosophies. Despite his intellectual inclinations, he is spiritually hollow and yearns for his childhood love Jayalakshmi who is already married to one of his friends Surendra Singh. Meanwhile, he meets Suzanne Chantereux, a vivacious French actress interested in Indian culture and philosophies. Sivarama learns that Suzzane suffered from tuberculosis but she recuperated with the help of Yoga and meditation. Suzzane seeks solace and happiness through Indian ways of meditation as she is trying to cope with her loss of a young child who recently dies. However, her search for happiness is materialistic, and she fails to understand the concepts of non-dualism. Sivaraman develops a physical relationship with her and soon they create a strong romantic bond. However, Sivaraman is still dependent on Jayalakshmi for emotional fulfillment who is a close friend. Suzzane eventually starts pushing Sivaraman for marriage and a stable relationship while Sivaraman cannot think of marriage with anyone else but Jayalakshmi who is already married. Thus, Sivaraman starts maintaining distance from Suzanne.
Meanwhile, Sivaraman’s sister Uma visits him in France. She is facing troubles in conceiving a child and thus she seeks medical help in France. Sivaraman tries to find a balance between Indian medical practices and Western medical ideas. During the same time, Siavaraman develops a physical relationship with Mireille who is married to his friend Jeanne Pierre. During all these three relationships with Jayalakshi, Suzzane, and Mirielle, Sivaraman’s quest is for self-realization leading to a merging with Brahma the creator. However, Sivaraman continues to fail in finding peace within himself. Jayalakshmi to visits France for her medical treatment and when Sivaraman meets her, he fails to find any peace with her too. During his conversation with Jayalakshmi, he comes to know that her husband Surendra Singh is only interested in money and she has little interest in him but, for cultural and religious reasons, has to stay married to him. Furthermore, he realizes that Jayalakshmi is much more spiritually awakened and calm within herself. He realizes that the way to find solace is to search the shoonya within himself. He realizes that Shoonya is the Nirguna Bahman, neither good, nor evil, neither masculine nor feminine, devoid of any attributes and any conflicts. He realizes that his aim should be to be devoid of any dualities which denote lower order of reality. He remembers one of the sayings of his spiritual Guru “And I now know, in discrimination is wisdom, and knowledge, light that can see this light. There all doubts and all the jungle of the mind end. Pure as the Himalayan snow and unshakable, it tells us how, the Ganga is nothing but the snow melted by the sun and the wisdom not the stream, river, or sea (which it will reach), but just water; waves are nothing but water. So is the sea.” Ultimately, Sivaraman continues his path of self-realization as he strives for avoiding dualities and contradictions. During this phase, he meets Michel a Rabbi living in France. The two develop a deep friendship and often engage in debates while analyzing the nature of reality. Sivaraman realizes that all his earlier efforts in searching for balance in different cultures through Mathematics, religion, or philosophies were misplaced because this balance rests in the areas beyond the personal, the sensual, the mathematical, and towards the true universality of the Absolute. Sivaraman used to struggle to perceive the necessary abolition of contradiction, the movement beyond the tension of flesh and spirit, illusion and reality, immediate and eternal but now, he clearly sees the nonduality. The dialogue with Michael, the Rabbi, revolves around certain major themes invoked by Raja Rao's terms dual, non-dual, dissolution, zero, truth, and God and introduces the most important theme in The Chessmaster. Michelle and Sivaram try to explore the reasons for The Holocaust (the killing of millions of Jews by the Nazis in the 1930s and 1940s) and an attempt to expiate it during their discourse.
So this is it for today. We will continue to discuss the history of Indian English literature. Please stay connected with the Discourse. Thanks and Regards.
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