The paper deals with the different ways in which 20th century Hindi writers introduced the theme of religion into their work. A selection of authors has been made in order to highlight some important issues connected with religion. As may be expected, basically two points of view are to be found, depending on the ideological stand of the writer – either politically committed or committed to man. Thus, whilst religion is deemed by one author to be a factor which divides communities, it is considered by another to be an important tool for exploring the human soul.
In modern Hindi literature, the imagery of animals is usually employed in order to present an insight into the complexity of the human mind and human relations. A positive attitude towards useful animals is reflected; the motifs of animals are employed to depict cruel social inequalities. In particular, in the New Short Story, the imagery of an animal is mostly employed as a symbol; often as a symbol of something unpleasant or of a painful memory. In many texts, it is used to make people give serious thought to the possibility that things might appear differently from what they really are.
This article concentrates on the question of the evolution of the figure of Rām as it is seen in Hindi literature. Rām is viewed in Hindi literature not only as a literary figure but also as a cultural hero, the one who shows others how the proper life should look like. The analysis is based on three works that have been chosen as the most interesting and typical of their own times. The first is the magnum opus of Tulsīdās, the timeless Rāmcaritmānas (1574); the second is Maithilīśaraṇ Gupta’s poem Sāket (1932) as an example of Hindi literature of the times of the national movement, and the third is a novel by Bhagvān Siṁh Apne-apne Rām (1992) that has been the most discussed in contemporary Hindi literary circles, Rāmkathās. It is believed that such an analysis based on literary sources may contribute to our understanding of the significance of Rām in North Indian culture as well as its social and political life.