IgnacioElem3 at 21:17, 5 March 2025

2025-03-05T21:17:21Z

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{{short description|1897 Gujarati novel by Manilal Dwivedi}}
{{Infobox book
| name = Gulabsinh
| image = Gulabsinh cover.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = cover page of first edition; 1897
| author = [[Manilal Dwivedi]]
| title_orig = ગુલાબસિંહ
| orig_lang_code = gu
| title_working =
| translator =
| cover_artist =
| country = [[India]]
| language = [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]
| release_number =
| subject =
| genre = [[Supernatural fiction]]
| set_in =
| publisher =
| publisher2 =
| pub_date = 1897
| english_pub_date =
| published =
| pages =
| awards =
| isbn =
| isbn_note =
| oclc =
| dewey = 891.473
| congress =
| notes =
| native_wikisource = ગુલાબસિંહ
}}

'''''Gulabsinh''''' ({{IPA|gu|ɡʊlabsɪnh|pron|}}) is an 1897 [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] [[supernatural fiction|supernatural novel]] by [[Manilal Dwivedi]] (1858–1898), adapted from English writer [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]]'s novel ''[[Zanoni]]''. It was serialised in ''[[Priyamvada (magazine)|Priyamvada]]'' (later ''[[Sudarshan (magazine)|Sudarshan]]'') from the magazine's first issue in August 1885 to June 1895. Adapted into two plays (''Pratap Lakshmi'' in 1914 and ''Siddha Satyendra'' in 1917), the novel – despite its flaws – is considered to have a significant place in [[Gujarati literature]].

==Background==
{{multiple image
| align = right
| direction =
| total_width = 300
| caption_align = center

| image1 = Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton by Henry William Pickersgill.jpg
| caption1 = [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]]
| alt1 = Painting of a smiling Edward Bulwer-Lytton

| image2 = Manilal Dwivedi.jpg
| caption2 = [[Manilal Dwivedi]]
| alt2 = Photograph of Manilal Dwivedi

| footer_align =
| footer =
}}

When Dwivedi was developing his new monthly magazine, ''Priyamvada'', he decided to include a novel which would provide a glimpse of spiritual life and pleasure to the reader. He selected [[Edward Bulwer-Lytton]]'s English mystical novel, ''[[Zanoni]]'' for adaptation,<ref name="Thaker1983">{{cite book|last=Thaker|first=Dhirubhai|author-link=Dhirubhai Thaker|title=Manilal Dwivedi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6Wg4AAAAMAAJ|series=Makers of Indian Literature|year=1983|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|pages=68–70|oclc=10532609}}</ref> since its mysticism impressed him.<ref name="Jhaveri1978">{{cite book|last=Jhaveri|first=Mansukhlal Maganlal|author-link=Mansukhlal Jhaveri|title=History of Gujarati Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DA0RAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|location=New Delhi|page=103|oclc=462837743}}</ref> Although Dwivedi was aware of better novels, he considered ''Zanoni'' best suited to his purpose.<ref name="Thaker1983"/>

He adapted ''Zanoni'' into Gujarati, and began publishing it in ''Priyamvada''{{'s}} first issue (August 1885) as ''Gulabsinh''. The series concluded in the June 1895 issue, and was published in book form in 1897.<ref name="Thaker1983"/>

=={{anchor|Theme}}Themes==
''Gulabsinh'' is based on the ideologies of Mejnoor and Zanoni, the original novel's two main characters: ascetics who have acquired [[superhuman power]] by drinking an [[herb]]al [[Elixir of life|elixir]] and are in constant communication with [[Heaven|heavenly]] beings; Dwivedi calls the characters Matsyendra and Gulabsinh, respectively. Matsyendra is an illuminated ascetic (''[[Jnana yoga|jnani]]'') who is immersed in passive contemplation; Gulabsinh moves in society, and his purity of heart uplifts all who encounter him.<ref name="Thaker1983"/>

==Characters==
The novel's principal characters are:
* Gulabsinh – the protagonist, who has supernatural power
* Matsyendra – an illuminated ascetic
* Rama – a dancer
* Lalaji – a painter, who loves Rama

==Plot==
[[File:Gulabsinh title page.jpg|thumb|Title page of first edition|180px]]
Gulabsinh attends a festival in [[Delhi]], where he saves the dancer Rama from the clutches of a wicked nobleman with his secret supernatural power. He advises Rama to marry Lalaji, a painter who loves Rama but is reluctant to marry a dancer. Rama loves Gulabsinh, who inspires awe in her. Lalaji is attracted to Gulabsinh for his supernatural powers. Gulabsinh directs him to Matsyendra, and marries Rama at the cost of his immortality to save her. Matsyendra laughs at Gulabsinh and advises him to return to the seclusion of spiritual practice; Gulabsinh does not return, however, and allows his supernatural powers to disappear.<ref name="Thaker1983"/>

The Great Spirit{{clarify|date=October 2024}} explains to Gulabsinh the unequal status of the love between him and Rama, whom Gulabsinh unsuccessfully tries to uplift with his spiritual power. When he decides to unite his and Rama's souls in a third (their child), the heavenly being admonishes him: "Did you become superhuman only to become human?" Gulabsinh replies, "Ah! Humanity is so sweet!"<ref name="Thaker1983"/>

==Reception==
''Gulabsinh'' was adapted into two plays: ''Pratap Lakshmi'' by [[Mulshankar Mulani]] in 1914 (with [[Jaishankar Bhojak]] as Rama),<ref name="Panchotia1987">{{cite book|last=Panchotia|first=Bhailal Bulakhidas|title=Jayashankar Sundari and Abhinayakala|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.220031|year=1987|publisher=Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan|location=Bombay|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.220031/page/n80 52]|oclc=19214110}}</ref> and [[Chhotalal Rukhdev Sharma]]'s ''Siddha Satyendra'' (1917).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|title=ગુજરાતી રંગભૂમિ: રિદ્ધિ અને રોનક (''Gujarati Rangbhoomi: Riddhi Ane Ronak'')|publisher=Gujarat Vishwakosh Trust|year=2004|editor-last=Choksi|editor-first=Mahesh|location=Ahmedabad|page=124|trans-title=Information on Gujarat Professional Theatre|editor-last2=Somani|editor-first2=Dhirendra|language=gu|oclc=55679037}}</ref> [[Navalram Trivedi]] criticized ''Gulabsinh''{{'s}} lack of readability due to its odd, metaphysical nature and its "literal translation" of Bulwer-Lytton's ''Zanoni'', calling it a "superfluous adaptation" of the original novel.<ref name="Trivedi1934">{{cite book |last=Trivedi |first=Navalram Jagannath |author-link=Navalram Trivedi |title=Ketlak Vivechano |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.537586/page/n15 |year=1934 |page=10 |oclc=1061861862}}</ref> According to [[Anandshankar Dhruv]], ''Gulabsinh'' is not a translation but a Gujarati adaptation of ''Zanoni''; Dwivedi asked in the novel's preface that it be read as an [[Imitation (art)|imitation]] (''{{langx|gu|anukaran}}''), rather than a translation.<ref name="Thaker1983"/> [[Dhirubhai Thaker]], Gujarati critic and biographer of Dwivedi, wrote that "''Gulabsinh'' occupies an important place in Gujarati literature as a unique adaptation of an English novel, as a novel of [[occult]] interest and a rare love-story of a human and a superhuman character."<ref name="Thaker1983"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{wikisourcelang-inline|gu|ગુલાબસિંહ}}
* {{Internet Archive|in.ernet.dli.2015.259806}}
{{Manilal Nabhubhai Dwivedi}}

[[Category:Works by Manilal Dwivedi]]
[[Category:1897 novels]]
[[Category:Gujarati-language novels]]
[[Category:19th-century Indian novels]]
[[Category:Novels set in the 19th century]]
[[Category:Indian novels adapted into plays]]
[[Category:Adaptations of works by Edward Bulwer-Lytton]]
[[Category:Supernatural novels]]
[[Category:Novels first published in serial form]]
[[Category:Third-person narrative novels]]
[[Category:Works originally published in Indian magazines]]

Gulabsinh - Revision history

IgnacioElem3 at 21:17, 5 March 2025