Jayshankar Prasad’s Ånsu, Modernity, and the “Pangs of Separation

Abstract

The article "Åõsü, Modernity, and the 'Pangs of Separation'" by Charles S. J. White examines Jayshankar Prasad’s celebrated Hindi poem Åõsü within the cultural and philosophical currents of early twentieth-century India. The article situates Åõsü at the intersection of traditional Vaishnava poetic themes and emerging modern sensibilities, portraying Prasad’s lyricism as a vehicle for exploring the alienation and longing symptomatic of modernity. White contextualizes the evolution of standard Hindi (Khaṛī Bolī) and highlights Prasad’s foundational role in the Chāyāvād literary movement, which reimagined bhakti motifs through the prism of personal emotional depth and aesthetic innovation.