Karmabhoomi

Karmabhoomi (The Land Where One Works) is a Hindi novel by Munshi Premchand.
 Karmabhoomi

First English-language edition (2006)

Author Munshi Premchand

Original title Karmabhoomi

Translator Lalit Srivastava

Country India

Language Hindi

Genre Novel

Publisher Oxford University Press (US)

Media type Print (hardback & paperback)

ISBN 0-19-567641-6 (Eng. trans. paperback)

OCLC 63667151 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/63667

151)

Dewey Decimal 891.433

LC Class MLCS 2006/01276 (P)

Original text Karmabhoomi at Hindi Wikisource

The novel is set in t he Ut t ar Pradesh of t he 1930s.[1] By t he beginning of t he 20t h cent ury, Islam
and Hinduism had coexist ed in India for over a t housand years. Barring t he occasional out burst s
of violence, t he t wo religious communit ies had lived t oget her peacefully and shared st rong
social bonds except marriage. English educat ion, however, drove a wedge bet ween t he
communit ies.

India of t he early 1930s consist ed of a great mass of poor and illit erat e people who were
exploit ed by t he rich and powerful, irrespect ive of cast e or religion. The aut hor has sympat hy for
t hese poor and t oiling masses, which is clearly reflect ed in his writ ings. It is against t his backdrop
t hat Premchand wrot e Karmabhoomi.

Being great ly influenced by Mahat ma Gandhi's sat yagraha movement , Premchand weaves t his
novel around t he social goals championed by it . Human life is port rayed as a field of act ion in
which t he charact er and dest inies of individuals are formed and revealed t hrough t heir act ions.
Some of t hese act ions, which might seem melodramat ic in ordinary realist ic fict ion, gain
resonance in Karmabhoomi, placed as t hey are in t his symbolic and philosophical framework.
Each charact er (or group) is depict ed as coming t o a point of moral awakening where he, she, or
t hey must act on t heir convict ions. The climax t akes place in an assembly of t he poor and
dispossessed, where t hey voice t heir demand for land. The youngest of t he speakers is put t o
deat h by a policeman's bullet , and t his incident event ually leads t o vict ory of t he cause of land
for t he poor.

Synopsis

Amarkant is an int elligent and idealist ic, t hough weak, young man who has grown up hat ing his
fat her's business and adherence t o t he formalit ies of Hindu religion. He is married t o Sukhada
who is beaut iful and int elligent but dominat es him t hrough her logical and down-t o-eart h
approach t o life.

Denied love at home and st ifled by his wife, Amarkant is at t ract ed t o t heir wat chman's
granddaught er, t he modest and court eous Sakina. When his fat her refuses t o accept Sakina,
Amarkant leaves home t o wander from village t o village. Finally set t ling in a village of
unt ouchables, he t eaches children and help villagers in t heir fight for relief against land t ax.

Init ially unable t o comprehend her husband's sympat hy for t he poor, Sukhada is ult imat ely drawn
int o t he movement when she sees t he police firing on a nonviolent demonst rat ion for
accept ance of t he unt ouchables inside t emples. She inst ant aneously gains recognit ion and
accept ance as a leader of cit y's poor and downt rodden.
Impelled by t he desire t o gain similar recognit ion, Amarkant deviat es from t he pat h of
nonviolence in favour of direct confront at ion t hat leads t o many casualt ies among t he farmers.
He finally realises t hat t he Gandhian pat h was t he bet t er one and ret urns t o it s fold.

References

1. "Munshi Premchand Birth Anniversary - From 'Sevasadan' to 'Godaan', 5 must-read books by the
legendary author" (https://www.freepressjournal.in/lifestyle/munshi-premchand-birth-anniversary-from-s
evasadan-to-godaan-5-must-read-books-by-the-legendary-author) . The Free Press Journal. 31 July
2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.

External links

Karmabhoomi (ht t ps://sit es.google.com/sit e/kavit ahindikavit a/karmbhoomi-premchand-upany

as-novel) at Google Sit es

Karmabhoomi (ht t ps://www.hindust anbooks.com/books/karmbhumi/karmbhumi.pdf) at

Hindust an Books

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Last edited 5 months ago by Sahaib