MEG-14 Block 2 Summary | Samskara: U. R. Anantha Murthy
- Last Updated On October 15, 2025
Table of Contents
Here you will get the detailed summary of IGNOU MEG 14 Block 2 – Samskara: U. R. Anantha Murthy.
We have provided the summary of all units starting from unit 1 to unit 4.
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Introduction
Block 2 of MEG-14 focuses on Samskara: A Rite for a Dead Man by U. R. Anantha Murthy. This block examines the life, context, structure, themes, characters, and lasting relevance of the novel. Through its units, you are guided to understand the author’s background, how the narrative unfolds, the literary techniques Murthy uses, and how the novel speaks to issues of tradition, morality, identity, and social change.
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Unit 1 – The Writer and his Literary Context
This unit introduces U. R. Anantha Murthy — his life, literary background, and the socio-cultural milieu in which he wrote Samskara. Murthy, a leading Kannada writer, emerged in the post-Independence period when Indian regional literatures were exploring modernity, social change, and critique of tradition. The unit situates Samskara within the Kannada literary tradition and the broader Indian context of questioning traditional norms and grappling with modern identity.
By understanding Murthy’s influences, his ideological concerns, and his literary contemporaries, the reader gains insight into why Samskara is not merely a local novel but one engaging universal questions of faith, morality, and societal decay.
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Unit 2 – Samskara: The Narrative
This unit provides a detailed account of the plot and structure of Samskara. The story is set in Durvasapura, a Brahmin settlement (agrahara) where rigid customs and dogmas prevail. The death of a rebellious Brahmin, Naranappa — who had flouted caste rules, consumed meat, and lived with a lower-caste woman Chandri — sparks a crisis: no one in the Brahmin community is willing to perform his funeral rites.
The burden falls on Praneshacharya, the community’s moral and spiritual authority, who must decide whether to cremate Naranappa despite the risks of ritual contamination. As he delays, his inner turmoil deepens. The novel traces his journey, both external and internal, culminating in moral questioning, confrontation with desire (in his sexual involvement with Chandri), and finally a confrontation with his own identity and the community’s hypocrisy.
The narrative is not linear in a simplistic way — it weaves memory, flashback, and moral dilemma, creating tension between what is required by ritual and what is demanded by conscience. (Based on detailed outline from IGNOU’s Unit 2)
Unit 3 – Samskara: Form and Themes
This unit examines how Murthy tells his story (form) and what it communicates (themes).
Form
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The novel is compact, allegorical, and symbolic. It uses third-person narration but delves deeply into Praneshacharya’s consciousness, moral reflections, and doubts.
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Imagery, symbolism, and ritual motifs (fire, death, purification) are recurring formal devices.
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The structure juxtaposes tradition and transgression, chronological events and introspective digressions, ritual demands and human emotion.
Themes
Some of the central themes include:
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Tradition vs Change / Orthodoxy vs Reform — The novel critiques how rigid adherence to Brahminical norms can lead to moral stagnation and injustice.
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Desire and Suppression — Praneshacharya’s suppressed sexual desire and his eventual encounter with Chandri highlight the tension between bodily needs and spiritual ideals.
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Hypocrisy and Moral Ambiguity — Many Brahmins preach purity but act selfishly; the novel exposes the gap between ideals and lived behavior.
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Identity and Transformation — The crisis forces Praneshacharya to re-evaluate who he is: a ritual authority, a man bound by caste duties, or someone seeking moral agency.
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Death, Purification, and Samskara — The term samskara itself serves double roles: death rites (funeral) and transformation / purification. The novel plays on these layered meanings.
GradeSaver’s notes emphasize how class, faith, greed, and community interweave as themes.
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Unit 4 – Samskara: Characters, Title, Literary Criticism and Contemporary Relevance
This unit focuses on the characters, the significance of the title, critical interpretations, and how Samskara remains relevant today.
Characters
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Praneshacharya: The intellectual, ascetic, and moral center. His ethical crisis forms the core. He is torn between ritual duty and human compassion.
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Naranappa: The heretic Brahmin, rebel, transgressor. His life and death provide the moral challenge.
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Chandri: Low-caste woman, mistress of Naranappa, who becomes a catalyst in Praneshacharya’s transformation.
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Garuda, Lakshmana, and other Brahmins: Represent different facets of traditional Brahmin community — rigid, hypocritical, self-serving.
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Putta (or the young man encountered on journey): Acts as a foil and a mediator in Praneshacharya’s moral awakening.
Title
The title Samskara signifies multiple things — ritual, purification, transformation, death rites. It encapsulates the dual religious and existential dimensions of the novel. The subtitle A Rite for a Dead Man underscores the funeral dilemma while pointing toward internal rite of passage.
Literary Criticism
Scholars have read Samskara as a critique of Brahminical hegemony, an allegory of modernity vs tradition, a psychological novel of crisis, and an existential exploration of moral freedom. Literary criticism often focuses on the tension between individual conscience and communal norms, as well as the novel’s symbolic structure and ambivalent ending. (From IGNOU’s unit and literary studies)
Contemporary Relevance
Even today, Samskara speaks powerfully to issues of caste, religious orthodoxy, gender norms, hypocrisy in social institutions, and the possibility of personal transformation. In an era where tradition often clashes with modern values, the novel’s exploration of moral choice, identity, and ritual continues to resonate in Indian society and beyond.