SAMSKARA by U. R. Anantha Murthy

Characters

Praneshacharya       –  learned scholar and priest of Durvasapura

Naranappa                  –  a Brahmin who leads a non-Brahminical life

Garudacharya           – a relative of Naranappa

Shyama                       – Son of Garuda

Shripati                        – Son-in-law of Lakshmanacharya

Chapter – III

Praneshacharya Recollects Naranappa’s Past

Praneshacharya goes through the palm leaf texts to find a solution to Naranappa’s funeral rites while the Madva Brahmins are in Parijatapura to inform about Naranappa’s death.

The thought of Naranappa makes Praneshacharya realize how he has been a problem all through his life. Praneshacharya recollects a bitter conversation when he went to Naranappa’s house to meet him.  Naranappa disrespected and treated him with contempt.  He also remembers how Naranappa made Garuda’s son Shyama and Lakshmana’s son-in-law Shripati to go astray from Brahminical tradition.  Shyama ran away from home and joined the army, while Shripati almost took the lifestyle of Naranappa.  He even remembers the day when he brought Muslims with him to the Ganapathi temple stream and caught the sacred fish.  During their heated conversation Naranappa has said, “I’ll destroy Brahminism, I certainly will.  My only sorrow is that there’s no brahminism really left to destroy in this place – except you.”

Vocabulary

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1. riffling /rɪfəliŋ/ – verb

Meaning: searching quickly

Example – Then he sat down among his palm-leaf texts, riffling them for the right and lawful answer.

2.  incited – verb

Meaning: encouraged (others to do some mistake).

Example – Naranappa had incited Shyama to run away from home and join the army.

3.  lolling – verb

Meaning: sitting relaxed

Example – He was lolling on a soft mattress, and showed some courtesy by getting up.

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4.  sneered – verb

Meaning: spoke without respect

Example – He didn’t take counsel well, and talked his head off; sneered at the Acharya and Brahmin ways.

5.  hedonist /hi:dnist/  – noun

Meaning: the thinking that pleasure is very important

Example – I belong to the “Hedonist School” which says – borrow, if you must, but drink your ghee.

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6.  decadent – adjective

Meaning: immoral

Example – In this decadent age, common men follow the right paths out of fear.

7.   dishevelled – adjective

Meaning: untidy

Example – Naranappa was probably drunk;  his eyes were bloodshot, his hair was dishevelled.

8. welled up – phrasal verb

Meaning: surfaced, emerged

Example –  A desire welled up in the Acharya, a lust to swoop on Naranappa like a sacred eagle.

9. swooped  – verb

Meaning: moved quickly and suddenly downwards through the air

10. Talons – noun

Meaning: sharp nails (of birds that prey on other birds and animals)

Example – He looked as if the sacred bird of prey had swooped and held him in its talons.

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11. wilted – adjective

Meaning: almost dying

Example – He will tie another wilted sister-in-law round my neck, just to get at my property.

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12.  rigmarole /rɪgmərəʊl/– noun

Meaning: a long and unnecessary complicated process that is silly

Example – As Praneshacharya stood silently listening to Naranappa’s words, he bagan to worry:  is this a drunkard’s rigmarole?

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13. quaffed/kwɔ:f/ – verb

Meaning: drank heartily

Example – Then he winked at the Acharya, quaffed the liquor in his cup and let out a loud long belch.

14. luscious – adjective

Meaning: sex arousing

Example – He gave up telling the luscious Puranic stories in the evenings and started on moral tales of penance.