Dawn at Puri by Jayanta Mahapatra questions and answers marks-5
Q. 1. Ans. Comment on the phrase “A skull on the holy sands”?
The referred phrase in taken from Dawn at Puri by Jayanta Mahapatra.
This is a startling imagery created with the juxtaposition of the abstract with the concrete, where the abstract ‘holy and the concrete ‘skull’ are grouped together. It is believed that the deity of Puri was carved out of a tree trunk that was washed ashore and this fact is alluded to in his poem ‘Losses’. Hoping for some kind of redemption for this wayward world, speaker in the poem muses: “Perhaps the piece of driftwood/ washed up on the beach/heals the sand and the water”. Puri is regarded as a sacred site and it is the wish of every pious Hindu to be cremated there to enable them to attain salvation. wild thes
. Q. 2. Comment on the phrase “It’s empty country towards hunger”?
Ans.The referred phrase in taken from Dawn at Puri by Jayanta Mahapatra.
This is a startling imagery created with the juxtaposition of the abstract with the concrete, where the abstract ‘holy and the concrete ‘skull’ are grouped together. It is believed that the deity of Puri was carved out of a tree trunk that was washed ashore and this fact is alluded to in his poem ‘Losses’. Hoping for some kind of redemption for this wayward world, the speaker in the poem muses: “Perhaps the piece of driftwood/ washed up on the beach/ heals the sand and the water”. Puri is regarded as a sacred site and it is the wish of every pious Hindu to be cremated there to enable them to attain salvation.
It is a reference to the poverty to the people of Orissa including the sight of the skull lying on the sea-beach symbolizes the utter destitution of the people.
Q. 3. Comment on the phrase “Dawn’s shining strands of faith”?
Ans. The referred phrase in taken from Dawn at Puri by Jayanta Mahapatra
A person having a firm belief in religion never losses hope, so in spite of their circumstances, the only thing that sustains the widows is their religious faith and the hope born of it. The reference to dawn is to be noted. It refers to a new beginning in nature and thereby, to a new start in mankind and civilization. The tone of quiet acceptance, with a latent awareness of suffering, perhaps indicates a very sensibility. Indian
Q. 4. Comment on the phrase “A sullen solitary pyre”?
Ans. The referred phrase in taken from Dawn at Puri by Jayanta Mahapatra.
It is a reference to a pile of wood used for burning a dead body as part of a funeral rite. The sight of this reminds the poet of his mother’s last wish to be cremated here as it is the gateway to Heaven or the ‘Swargadwara’ which is the name of that part of the long seabeach where the funeral pyres go on burning. Since the temple of Lord Jaganath at Puri ‘points to unending rhythm’, dying in this place will take one to silence the ultimate desire of a human being which will enable him to attain Nirvana.
Q. 5. Comment on the phrase “Twisting uncertainly like light on the shifting sands”?
Ans. The referred phrase in taken from Dawn at Puri by Jayanta Mahapatra.
This is an apt image of the smoke rising from the funeral pyre where the wind from the sea causes the smoke to twist uncertainly. This is an example of Mahapatra’s ‘transcendal mode’ and an example of his attempt to trap elusive meanings. The poetic exploration of this place turns out to be a search for the self. The view thrills the poet and he becomes an integral part of it, observing a morning scene on the sandy sea-beach in the town of Puri, By means of a series of vivid pictures, the atmosphere of dawn has been created. Mahapatra also underlines the importance of the temple town of Puri and what it means to the Hindus in India.
Q. Write a critical note on the theme of the poem.
The theme of the poem is much manifested in the very title of Dawn at Puri.This is enough suggestive of the main matter of the poem. Of course, the poet is here not much concerned with Puri as a whole. His subject is the sea-beach of Puri at a Gown – not a specific dawn – but dawn as usual or natural. The poem is concerned the poet’s experience of the sea-beach of Puri – not the whole sea-beach – but the stretch of the beach, known as Swargadwar, where the dead are cremated. Good, pious Hindus, particularly widows, consider this a holy place for cremation to have the easy passage of his or her soul to heaven.
The poet does not seem to share such a view. He rather perceives in this stretch of the beach the signs of the pathos of the transcience of life and the inevitability of death. The skulls on the holy sands, the cawing of crows, worn out shells on the sandy beach and the blazing funeral pyre are all suggestive of the hard truth of death that the poem delicately brings out and emphasise.
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