Dhruvaswamini

Queen Dhurvswamini married to King Ramagupta of the Gupta dynasty is bizarrely sent away as a peace offering to the Kind of the Shakas along with some other noble women to end a siege. Dhruvaswamini asserts herself and moves away from the trope of an abject wife to protest against the patriarchal injustices by challenging the authority of the Gupta king over her body and soul. As a rightful queen, she publicly questions the age-old patriarchal tenet of a women’s position in the society as dependent on a man—“My king, am I still your queen? Can the one who was sent like a prostitute for Shakaraja’s bed be still your queen?”

Using a famous historical tale as the foundation of this play, Jaishankar Prasad’s play expands our cultural consciousness. He highlights the reality of life in India under colonialism, particularly the issue of awakening and libteration of Indian women. In Dhruvaswamini, Prasad, an ardent lover of India’s ancient culture, presents himself as a proud reformist and idealist, who interprets his contemporary socio-cultural problems from a philosophical and creative perspective.