Triangular Love in Girish Karnad‘’s Hayavadana, Nagamandala and The Fire and the Rain

Girish Karnad, as a playwright, picks up his plots from Indian myths and legends where Kama (sexual urge) plays an important role. So love and sex are awarded special significance in Karnad’s plays. Under the influence of Kama his male and female characters don’t hesitate to cross social and religious barriers. For their physical gratification the wives in his plots look outside their marriage if their husbands cannot satisfy them.. Incidentally, in Hayavadana, Nagamandala  and The Fire and the Rain, there is a triangular love - one woman is at the center of two men and she tends to side with the one who can better satisfy her physically. In Hayavadana Padmini develops liking for the friend of her husband who is physically weak. In Nagamandala, Rani likes to be in the company of Naga who appears as her husband at night. She suspends her disbelief about the identity of Naga and enjoys nights with him. Similarly, in The Fire and the Rain Vishakha loses control over herself seeing her old lover Yavakri in the absence of her husband. &nbsp