The Theme Of Quest In 'The Serpent And The Rope

Abstract

Raja Rao has brought India right from the Vedic period to the present-day with her internal
essence in this novel. It delineates a realistic picture of Indian society, her ancient culture, traditions and
civilization. The impressions of all these aspects bring about different types of quests in the novelist.
Indian thoughts and tradition have the upper hand along with the quest of the writer. ‘The Serpent and
the Rope’ presents India’s vast heritage of philosophic thought and wisdom. Ramaswamy, the hero of
the novel is a Brahmin. He descends from Yajnyavalkya, Sankaracharya- Madhava, Valmiki and Vyas
etc. These ancient sages of India drifted from forest to forest, from mountains to mountains with a mind
to see the Almighty face to face. Rao keeps the tradition alive and makes it more and more useful in
applied life of the Modern Age also. Rao’s own life is a perpetual Quest for self-realization and selfknowledge or ‘Atmabodha’.
‘The Serpent and the Rope’ is universally admitted as a metaphysical novel. The pivotal theme
of the novel is Sankara’s ‘Advait’ or ‘non-dualism’ or ‘oneness of all’. The whole novel is steeped in
the ‘Advaita philosophy. Hence, in this novel, India does not appear to be a geographical entity but as
an idea. Rao is of the opinion that his whole being is India.
Key words: Culture, Traditions and Civilization & The Serpent and the Rope.