Detailed Summary of Samskara – Chapter V
SAMSKARA by U. R. Anantha Murthy

SAMSKARA by U. R. Anantha Murthy
Characters
Shripati | Son-in-law of Lakshmanacharya |
Naranappa | A Brahmin who leads a non-Braminical life |
Belli | Shripati’s concubine |
Chapter V
Shripati shocked to see Naranappa’s dead body
Shripati does not know about Naranappa’s death as he is out of Durvasapura to Shirnali. He shows interest in associating himself with an itinerant drama troupe from Kelur. During Naranappa’s death, he is with this drama troupe.
After spending time with the drama troupe, on the night of Naranappa’s death he walks through a dense forest to Durvasapura. While nearing Durvasapura, he sees a hut burning and in the light of the fire, he sees Belli walking to a bush, half naked after having bath in warm water. He tries to make love with her but she prevents him saying people die due to some supernatural power. She says Pilla and his woman died and they burned their bodies in their hut. Belli attributes their death to some unknown demoniac power. Although he is tempted to make love to her, he has never seen her talking like this before and preventing him to make love to her. Shripati came to her to make love to her but being disappointed, he goes to Naranappa’s house, thinking of spending the night at his residence. But to his surprise there is no voice to welcome him. Since the door is open, he enters the house and sees dead rats lying on the floor. Then when he sees Naranappa lying on the floor, he thinks he is asleep but when he removes the blanket, he finds his body as cold as a dead rat.
Vocabulary
Page 36
1. balladeer – noun
Meaning: singer (of folk songs)
2. enunciation /ɪnʌnsieɪʃən/ – noun
Meaning: pronunciation
Example – The balladeer had admired his pure enunciation, his clear voice.
3. ad-lib – adjective
Meaning: spontaneous
4. profundities – noun
Meaning: depth of knowledge
Example – Shripati had heard enough Sanskrit and logic and ancient epics from the Acharya to give him enough culture for the ad-lib dialogues and profundities of these players of epic plays.
Page 37
5. writhing – verb
Meaning: – moving with a twisting motion
Example – When she’s with him she twists like a snake coupling with another, writhing in the sands.
6. footfall – noun
Meaning: sound of footsteps
Example – Shripati’s footfall stopped dead.
Page 38
7. wench – noun
Meaning: lovely young woman
Example – What a wench she must have been.
Page 39
8. connoisseur – noun
Meaning: person who can discern the difference with expert knowledge.
Example – Actually, the best connoisseur of them all is Praneshacharya, really one in a million.
9. expounds /ɪkspaʊnd/ – verb
Meaning: explains in detail
Example – Every evening, as he reads the Puranas and expounds the stanzas, the beauty of his style is enough to make any balladeer turn green with envy.
10. becoming – adjective
Meaning: suitable, proper
Example – Really, only he can don a gold-embroidered shawl, and it looks becoming.
11. trail – noun
Meaning: path or track made across a wild region
Example – Tonight Shripati took an inside trail and walked straight to the outcaste hutments on the hillside.
12. fronds – noun
Meaning: large, finely divided leaf
13. cinders – noun
Meaning: ashes
Example – The hut, built out of bamboo frames, thatched with mats, covered with coconut fronds, burned to cinders in the dry summer heat.
Page 40
14. crouched – verb
Meaning: lowered her entire body close to the ground with limbs bent
Example – Shripati waited behind a tree till she disappeared, looked this way and that to make sure no one else was about, then went to the bush where Belli crouched.
Page 41
15. swished – verb
Meaning: struck
Example – When he turned the corner, his bare foot swished on something soft and cold.
Leave a Reply