This drama is based on an incident in Mahābhārata. According to Mahābhārata, in the game of dice, Yudhiṣṭira gambled away all his possessions including Draupadī. And, Draupadī was dragged to the court of Duryōdhana by Duśyāsana and humiliated. The plot of Veṇīsaṃhāra is based on this situation where Bhīma seeing the disheveled hair of Draupadī takes a vow to tie up the tresses of Draupadī with the blood from the thighs of Duryōdhana.
Saṃhāra is tying/binding and Veṇīsaṃhāra is binding of hair.
This drama has six Acts. The author introduces the story very wisely in the first act known as “Prastāvana”.
In the beginning, the stage manager starts the play with the following line, “Let the gurus be happy”, and then the main act begins.
In the first Act of the play, Bhīma was very much enraged and he was against his brother’s idea of peace talks with Duryōdhana. Actually, Bhīma took an oath of striking the thighs of Duryōdhana, splitting the chest of Duśyāsana, and drinking their hot blood. He knew that he would be unable to fulfill his oath if the peace talk settles the conflict. Bhīma says,
“Shall I not out of anger destroy the hundred Kauravas in battle? Shall I not drink the blood of Duśyāsana from his chest? Shall I not strike the thighs of Duryōdhana with my mace?” And finally calls Yudhiṣṭira, “Your king” – Bhavatām, and says, “Why has your king gone for peace talk? Yudhiṣṭira sends Lord Kṛṣṇa as a messenger to Duryōdhana in order to stop the war and establish peace. Bhīma is not at all interested in settling the conflict through peace talks. Instead, he wanted to fulfill his oath. Sahadeva also supports Bhīma’s views.
Along with Sahadeva Draupadī also concurs with Bhīma’s words and expects the annihilation of Kauravas clan. Meanwhile Kan̄cuki, the maid, enters and announces the failure of Kṛṣṇa’s peace mission.
Kṛṣṇa actually wanted to avoid the war between the cousins and wanted to save the lives of innocent people from the war as they had nothing to do with the rivalry between Pāṇḍavās and Kauravas. Thus he took the initiative of a peace talk between them. However adamant and obstinate Duryōdhana was unyielding and wanted to face Pāṇḍavās in war. He even tried to arrest Kṛṣṇa but Kṛṣṇa discloses his Viśvarūpa (universal form) and reveals his mighty self.
When the news of the failure of Kṛṣṇa’s mission reaches Bhīma’s ears, he says the following verse that reveals the knowledge of Yoga and Vedānta of Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa.
Patañjali prescribed two kinds of Samādhi’s in his Patañjali sutra – Savikalpa Samādhi and Nirvikalpa Samādhi. And Nirvikalpa Samādhi is considered the highest form of yoga as one clearly sees the form of God. And so Bhīma says, “How would Duryōdhana know this ancient God that only sages who tread the path of Nirvikalpa Samādhi would know?”
In the heart of every Jīva there is “Tamō granthi” – a knot of darkness, and that knot must be untied to have a special vision of God. And the presence of Satva Guṇa facilitates untying of the knot. Bhīma’s message is arrogance in Duryōdhana will hinder in his understanding of Kṛṣṇa. When war becomes inevitable, Yudhiṣṭira orders the preparation of armies, and the war begins.
In the second Act, Duryōdhana’s weakness and his indulgence in sensual pleasures are shown. This is not found in the original Mahābhārata.
Drōṇa takes up the lead in the war as the commander-in-chief after the death of Bhīṣma. Despite the circumstances, Duryōdhana desires to have the company of his wife Bhānumati. Bhānumati is shown to be a very good woman and every day in the morning, she goes to the residence of her in-laws and prostrates before them and observes a “Vrata” (a restriction) for the success of her husband. However, destiny had different plans and Duryōdhana had to face defeat.
She sees a dream in which a “Nakula” (Sanskrit word for Mongoose and it appears that this word is intentionally used by Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa as one of the Pāṇḍavās was also called Nakula) kills 100 snakes. The snake was the insignia of Duryōdhana on his flag (Nāgadhvaja, Sarpadhvaja). After killing the snakes, the mongoose jumps on Bhānumati and tries to molest her by tearing her upper clothes. This bad dream seen by Bhānumati is not mentioned in the original Mahābhārata. And hence on seeing this bad dream she performs the Vrata for the well-being of her husband and his brothers. Unfortunately, she was unable to complete the Vrata as Duryōdhana drags her into sexual pleasures.
In order to defeat Drōṇa in the war Yudhiṣṭira utters a sentence, “Aśvathāmā hatha ha Kun̄jaraḥ”. (An elephant named Aśvathāmā is dead is the meaning of this sentence). Drōṇa hears just “Aśvathāmā hataḥ ” as loud drums were beaten after that he couldn’t hear the sentence fully and hence assumes that his son is dead. He throws all his weapons and Dhriṣṭadyumna, Draupadī’s brother, seized this opportunity to kill Drōṇa.
Karṇa and Duryōdhana appear at this juncture. And Aśvathāmā who is furious about his father’s death also appears with Kṛpe. Kṛpe suggests making Aśvathāmā the commander-in-chief of the army. But Duryōdhana declares Karṇa as the commander in chief of the army and it raises a heated argument between Karṇa and Aśvathāmā. One denounces the other. Karṇa says, “Like a coward, your father gave up his arms and sat there without any movement thus he was easily killed!” These words enraged Aśvathāmā and he said to Karṇa, “You don’t even have the qualities of even becoming a servant to my father, who are you to talk like this? You are an Sūta putra, you are the son of a charioteer”. It fuels the anger of Karṇa and he says as follows
Karṇa says, “I may be an Sūta or an Sūta putra. Birth in a family depends on fate. However, manliness (Pauruṣam) depends on me”
Aśvathāmā who was unable to tolerate these words tries to hit Karṇa and Karṇa also fights back. Meanwhile, Duryōdhana and Kṛpe stop them and advise them that they need to fight with Pāṇḍavās and not within themselves.
Aśvathāmā says “whosoever exerted a weapon from Pāndava forces in the family of the King of Pāñcāla whether young or old or lying in mother’s womb, whoever has done a heinous act of slaughtering of my father will be destroyed by me”
There are three more Acts (Aṅka). In one Aṅka, after killing Duśyāsana, Bhīma and Arjuna come to prostrate before Gāndhāri and Dhṛtarāṣṭra. The emotions of Bhīma and Arjuna after the killing of their 99 sons have been captured very well in this Aṅha.
Another Act describes the death of Karṇa. Karṇa was a very great hero and he was dearest to Duryōdhana. The friendship between Duryōdhana and Karṇa was legendary and exemplary. When Duryōdhana hears the news of Karṇa’s death he is disturbed and thinks that everything is lost and says “Mamāpi maraṇaṁ pratikṣasva“ which means that his own death can also be expected.
In the next Act, Duryōdhana is out tired and in order to escape from Bhīma hides in a lake. He knew the special technique of Jalasthamabhana vidyā. Therefore, he could stay underwater for a long time. Pāṇḍavās were worried as they were unable to trace the hideout of Duryōdhana because they knew that Bhīma would kill himself if his oath was unfulfilled. However, finally, from spies, Bhīma understood that Duryōdhana was hiding in a lake and then he went there because of his taunting words, Duryōdhana comes out and a fight takes place between Duryōdhana and Bhīma. In the original Mahābhārata, all the five Pāṇḍava brothers go to Duryōdhana and ask him to choose anyone among them to fight and he chooses Bhīma.
In this drama, Yudhiṣṭira was not there during the fight. He and Draupadī were elsewhere and here Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa introduces a character called Cārvāka, an Rākṣaṣa dressed like a Brāhmaṇa comes to Yudhiṣṭira and spreads misinformation that Duryōdhana had killed Bhīma. He further says that now Arjuna has taken the lead in the war, he has also started losing in battle and he may also be killed by the Kauravas.
When Cārvāka gives this fake news both Yudhiṣṭira and Draupadī believe it and both of them decide to jump into the fire and kill themselves. Being a King, he does not take steps to confirm the news instead he believes a stranger. Both of them go near the fire to jump, and by that time Bhīma comes running after his victory over Duryōdhana and his body was soaked in blood.
Bhīma tells the real fact and clears the misunderstanding. Pāṇḍavās become victorious in the war and all arrangements start for Yudhiṣṭira’s coronation and the drama ends on this happy note.
This drama became very popular all over the country and was not just confined to the area it was written. Vāmana and Ānandhavardhana who hailed from Kashmir have quoted plenty from this drama. Pampa, the Kannada poet has adhered to a word word-to-word translation. The fame had spread to Karnataka or even further south probably because of the innovations of the poet.
Critics consider the “Cārāsiṭarisāṭivn” in this drama as the major contribution. The extreme popularity that this drama has enjoyed is because of the manner in which the poet has conveyed to the audience his conception of various characters like Bhīma, Karṇa, Duryōdhana, Draupadī etc.
Despite its popularity, this drama is not considered very well by critics. The main criticism is about not having clarity about the protagonist. Yudhiṣṭira can be considered the hero as he is crowned at the end and gets back all the kingdoms they have lost previously in the dice game. But, the scope of his role is very limited in the drama and in the first 5 Acts Yudhiṣṭira has not yet appeared on the stage. And he does not show valor in the play and tries to commit suicide when he hears fake news spread by Cārvāka. Hence a person who does not show heroic emotions cannot be considered a hero. Therefore, one can say Bhīma is the real hero of this drama. Taking this cue Nanna, the Kannada poet called his derived work from Vēṇi Saṃhāra is Bhīma Vijaya and makes Bhīma the hero in his play. The disadvantage with this aspect is that as per the general rule the one who gets the final Phala, is generally called the hero/ Nāyaka and in this drama, Bhīma finally does not get it. It is Yudhiṣṭira who gets crowned and hence this confusion has been widely commented on by critics.
The drama has been criticized for involving Śṛṅgārarasa during the love of Duryōdhana for his wife in the second Act. Critics consider it as incongruous as the story mainly focuses on Vīrarasa. It is considered to be improper and the critics say that the poet erred.
Besides this most of the important points were only reported in the play and not shown in the action. The speculation here is probably that the poet was trained in the rules of Nāṭyaśāstra and that training prevented him from showing war and death on stage as Nāṭyaśāstra strictly prohibits war and death on the stage. On account of this everything is reported by a third party to others. All the important things – for example, the war between Arjuna and Karṇa where Karṇa is killed are reported by Sundaraka to Duryōdhana. Many events are understood only with the words of a third party and are not seen on the stage.
According to critics, the drama cannot be very convincing and will not catch the minds of spectators when such important actions are not shown on the stage.
Critics also notice the absence of “Hāsyarasa” in the play.