Utanka

Utanka (cast)

UTANKA, A SAGE

KRISHNA

CHANDALA [UNDERTAKER]

Utanka (act I, Scene I)

(Utanka's ashram. Utanka is meditating.) (Enter Krishna.)

UTANKA: Krishna, Krishna, you have come. I am so happy, so delighted, so grateful. Give me some news.

KRISHNA: News? Have you not heard about the Kurukshetra battle?

UTANKA: No, I have been praying and meditating here all the time. I have heard no news. I do not know anything about the Kurukshetra battle. What happened? Tell me, Krishna, tell me.

KRISHNA: Oh, it's a long story.

UTANKA: But tell me what has happened.

KRISHNA: Utanka, all one hundred brothers of Duryodhana were killed on the battlefield.

UTANKA: Duryodhana's brothers killed? What had they done?

KRISHNA: You know that they were very unspiritual, very undivine. You know how they tortured the Pandava family and me all the time. You know that.

UTANKA: I know, I know, but that doesn't mean that they had to be killed. Who has killed them?

KRISHNA: The Pandavas, with the help of their friends.

UTANKA: I can't understand this. Tell me, were you there?

KRISHNA: Yes, I was there. I was Arjuna's charioteer. I did not fight.

UTANKA: You did not fight, but your very presence was a great help to them. You gave them inspiration and strength. Krishna, I shall curse you. You are responsible for ruining such a big family. I am sure that many, many, many people were killed.

KRISHNA: True, many people were killed and Yudhishthira is now the King of Hastinapura. He is a very pious King. You know he and sincerity go together, he and purity go together, he and all virtues go together.

UTANKA: I don't deny it. He will make a good King. But so many people were killed, so many people from the Kaurava family were destroyed. You have just seen it. What kind of news are you giving me, Krishna?

KRISHNA: I tried my best. I went there personally to avert the war, but the Kaurava princes wouldn't listen to me. They mocked me. They insulted me.

UTANKA: Now, I see. That is the reason you entered into this battle, because they insulted and mocked you. Why didn't you tell me that that was the reason?

KRISHNA: No, that is not true. It was not because they insulted and mocked me, but because I saw that the time had come for them to be destroyed. In every way I tried to prevent the battle, avert the war. I asked that they give the Pandavas only five villages, but they wouldn't do it. So it was the Will of God that they be destroyed.

UTANKA: Will of God! Will of God! It was the will of Krishna the rogue! (All of a sudden.) Wait, Krishna, wait!

KRISHNA: What is wrong?

UTANKA: I hear a message from within. Allow me to concentrate on it. (He concentrates.) Ah, Krishna. I shall not curse you, but you have to fulfil my desire.

KRISHNA: Let me know what your desire is.

UTANKA: My inner voice says that you showed your Universal Form to Arjuna before the Kurukshetra battle. Is it true? Is it true? I have been longing to see the Universal Form in you for such a long time, Krishna. Krishna, I shall not curse you. Please, please show me your Universal Form.

KRISHNA: Oh, Utanka, all right. I don't want to be cursed by you. I shall show you my Universal Form.

(Krishna shows his Universal Form. Utanka touches Krishna's feet.)

UTANKA: O Krishna, I have seen in you an infinite sky; hundreds of suns, stars, planets; all the creatures and human beings. They are all taking birth, living and dying within you, under your supreme guidance. Inside you all the universal forces are functioning. O Krishna, forgive me! Forgive me, O Lord of my existence, O Lord of the world.

KRISHNA: I have forgiven you, Utanka. I didn't want to be cursed by you. That is why I have fulfilled your desire. Now, do you have any more desires to be fulfilled?

UTANKA: O Krishna, after seeing your Universal Form, can there be any other desire?

KRISHNA: Think it over. I have much to do at home. Is there anything else you want before I leave?

UTANKA: O Krishna, since you are all-powerful, all-loving, please give me one boon.

KRISHNA: What kind of boon do you want, Utanka?

UTANKA: This place is a dry desert. There is no water here at all. I wish to have water. Please supply me with water, O Krishna.

KRISHNA: That is very easy. Whenever you want to have water, just think of me and water will be supplied.

(Utanka, with deepest gratitude, touches Krishna's feet.)

(Exit Krishna)

Utanka (act I, Scene Ii)

(Utanka is very thirsty, and there is no pure water in the house. He invokes Krishna.)

UTANKA: O Krishna, fulfil your promise. I need water, pure water. Let me see if you come, or how the water will come.

(Immediately, a Chandala (undertaker) comes forward with a glass of water and offers it to Utanka.)

UTANKA: You untouchable! How dare you come to me with water! True, I am thirsty, but I will never take water from an untouchable. Get away from here! I don't need you. I will die of thirst before I drink anything that you have touched.

(Exit Chandala)

UTANKA: O Krishna! You rogue! True, I wanted water. I am practically dying of thirst, but did you have to send an undertaker, an untouchable, with my water? This is how you insult me. I don't need that kind of water. Either bring me the water yourself, or I don't need any water from you. I shall manage my life as I did before you gave me that boon, you rogue. (Enter Krishna.) Krishna, you didn't keep your promise. You didn't give me water, at least not pure water that I could drink.

KRISHNA: Water! I sent Indra himself to you, not with water, but with divine nectar.

UTANKA: Indra?

KRISHNA: Yes, in the garb of a Chandala. He wanted to test you, to see whether you have conquered the feeling of superiority and inferiority, purity and impurity, whether you have gone beyond that after having seen my Universal Form.

UTANKA: You know, Krishna, that I am a Brahmin. I thought that he was a Chandala. He came in that garb. How can I drink water from a Chandala? Why did he deceive me?

KRISHNA: He did not deceive you, Utanka. He came to see whether you had really gone beyond caste. Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya, Shudra and Chandala all go together. They are all in the Heart of God, in the Heart of the Supreme.

UTANKA: O Krishna, forgive me. Now it is too late. What am I going to do? What can I do?

KRISHNA: Utanka, I have forgiven you. From now on whenever you are in need of water, you will be supplied with water in another way. You invoke me and with my occult power, I shall form clouds in the sky and cause rain. Then you will have no dearth of water. This plot of land will always have enough water. And the clouds that form in the sky will be called Utanka megh from now on. In the future, those who stay in this land, when they see these rain clouds, will call them Utanka.

UTANKA: Krishna, you are all forgiveness. You are a constant miracle. You are constant joy. You are constant fulfilment. This ungrateful heart of mine is at your compassionate feet.