Hail Vardhaman – Act IV
By Unexhibited
Summary
Act IV begins at dawn in the recreation hall outside the palace, a beautifully decorated pavilion adjacent to a lake with sculptured peacocks and mural paintings. Prince Vardhaman stands serene while his new wife Yashoda performs a ceremonial worship, moving a lamp around him, bowing and saluting him. They discuss their married life and the nature of happiness. Yashoda hopes their conjugal bliss will endure like the Milky Way, while Vardhaman warns that worldly happiness and laughter are fleeting bubbles. Yashoda recalls that there was a city‑wide celebration when the king consented for their marriage and that she had almost despaired of ever marrying him. Vardhaman admits that he feels guilty for possibly wronging her by marrying; she reassures him that she is the most fortunate woman in the realm and has long prayed to Lord Parshvanath for a husband like him. Vardhaman then confesses that he has always sought liberation and that he married only out of filial duty when his mother fainted. He informs Yashoda that he threw into the lake the priceless pearl necklace her father gave him at their wedding because its glitter oppressed him; he argues that things must return to their source and that wealth and beauty bind the soul. Yashoda, though initially shocked, begins to understand his reasoning and discusses devotion as a form of voluntary service. He explains that controlling the senses is difficult for a householder and that he intends to cut his karmic bondage immediately rather than postpone renunciation. Their dialogue is rich with metaphors of lotuses, beetles and constellations. Yashoda offers to follow him into asceticism; he doubts her capacity but appreciates her support. Their conversation is interrupted by a maid who reports that the Police Chief has arrested a woman found with a pearl necklace from the tank. The woman, Vishakha, is a widow with three starving sons. She confesses that she went to the tank intending to drown herself because she could not feed her children; when she found the necklace she planned to return it to the palace but was apprehended. Vardhaman and Yashoda show compassion: he orders the Police Chief to investigate her story, provide state support for her children and punish neighbours who mistreated her; she directs that the necklace’s jewels be distributed among poor families, with a portion going to Vishakha. The Police Chief obeys and the grateful woman blesses the royal couple. Vardhaman commends Yashoda’s charity and declares that this renunciation of wealth and act of justice is the prologue to his salvation. The curtain falls with Vardhaman’s quiet determination to embrace a life of austerity and universal love.
Conclusion
The final act intertwines marital intimacy with the seeds of renunciation. In tender dialogue, Yashoda and Vardhaman explore the transience of worldly happiness and the weight of duty. Vardhaman reveals that his heart belongs to the path of liberation and that his marriage was an act of obedience rather than desire. His rejection of a priceless necklace and his insistence that wealth be redistributed among the poor illustrate his detachment and compassion. Yashoda’s willingness to accept his decision and her charitable impulse demonstrate her own moral growth. The plight of the widow Vishakha provides a practical test of their principles, and their humane response underscores the play’s insistence that true spiritual progress must be accompanied by social justice. By the act’s end, Vardhaman’s renunciation feels inevitable: he sees charity and detachment as stepping‑stones on his path to enlightenment.