Narannapa's demonic ways and Praneshacharya's penance. Eros and Thanatos in &quote;Samskara&quote; by U.R. Ananthamurthy

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2016 in the subject Literature - Asia, , language: English, abstract: Desire , Pleasure , Passion Wish or Sex : by whatever name Eros is addressed, it has always been reckoned as a stumbling block in the perennial human quest to attain Moksha . Sigmund Freud, the Copernicus of Psychology put forth the concept of Eros and Thanatos and posited that one s life is structured by a rhythmic conflict between Eros or life instinct and Thanatos or death instinct. Eros leads to procreation and persistently constructs a detour for an individual to reach his/ her ultimate goal i.e. death while Thanatos chases self-destruction. The confrontation between these two instincts comes into being simultaneously with the birth of an individual. However, since time immemorial a futile attempt has been made to avert this conflict through the proliferation of multifarious endeavors such as by renouncing pleasure, through eschewing of desire and by practicing rigorous self-discipline. This article seeks to explore how Eros in the form of Narannapa s demonic ways and Thanatos through Praneshacharya s penance has been symbolized in U.R. Ananthamurthy s Samskara. The article will further analyze that in the tug between Praneshacharya and Narannapa s modus vivendi neither asceticism nor eroticism emerges as an exclusive winner.