Yayati Mind Map UGC NET English Literature

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Yayati: Character Mind Map & Summary

The key characters of Girish Karnad's Yayati (1961), grouped into branches, with the key episodes, a quick summary and the exam facts that come up again and again in UGC NET.

✍️ Girish Karnad📅 1961📍 Yayati's palace, Hastinapura📖 Mythological Play (Kannada)

The Character Mind Map

Tap any name to open the details.

The QueensThe SonOthers

The King

Yayati

A pleasure-loving king who is cursed to sudden old age by the sage Shukracharya for marrying the asura princess Sharmishtha. Unwilling to give up youth, he takes his son Puru's youth in exchange.

Ending: gives back Puru's youth and accepts old age

👑 The Queens

Yayati's wives

DevayaniThe queen

Role: Daughter of Shukracharya; proud and jealous. She leaves for her father when Yayati marries Sharmishtha.

SharmishthaAsura princess

Role: Once Devayani's friend, now her maid as punishment for an old insult; Yayati falls for her.

🏠 The Son

The sacrifice

PuruYayati's son

Role: A gentle young prince who takes on his father's old age.

ChitralekhaPuru's wife

Role: Karnad's invention. Refuses a husband who is old and asks Yayati to take her as wife.

Outcome: Poisons herself

🤝 Others

The court

SwarnalataA maid

Role: Tells Chitralekha of her own sorrow about a husband's suspicion.

The SutradharaThe narrator

Role: Introduces and comments on the play.

ShukracharyaThe sage

Role: Devayani's father; lays the curse.

Memory Hook

One simple pattern to remember the whole work.

DesireYayati wants youth · Curse of old age➜ Selfishness

ExchangePuru gives his youth · Chitralekha's despair➜ Death

WisdomYayati sees the cost · Returns youth➜ Responsibility

Key Episodes

The turning points examiners love to ask about.

1The quarrelDevayani and Sharmishtha's old enmity

2The marriageYayati takes Sharmishtha as wife

3The curseShukracharya curses Yayati with old age

4The exchangePuru takes his father's old age

5Chitralekhashe refuses to accept an old husband and drinks poison

6ReturnYayati gives the youth back

Quick Summary

The story, stage by stage.

Act 1The Return

Puru comes home with his bride, Chitralekha.
Devayani and Sharmishtha's quarrel.

Act 2The Curse

Devayani leaves; Shukracharya curses Yayati.
Puru offers to take the curse.

Act 3Chitralekha

She rejects her aged husband.
She asks Yayati to take her as his wife.

Act 4Responsibility

Chitralekha's suicide.
Yayati accepts old age and gives the throne to Puru.

Must-Know Exam Facts

Quick points for UGC NET, SET and PGT.

First Play

Karnad's first play (1961), written in Kannada while he was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford.

Source

The Mahabharata (Adi Parva).

Influence

Existentialism; the theme of responsibility.

Theme

Desire, responsibility, the conflict of generations.

Structure

Four acts.

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