Rightfully hailed as one of the greatest literary works in the history of Marathi
publishing, ‘YAYATI’, is an intriguing philosophical portrayal of human life as it flows
from attachment to detachment. Yayati, a hedonistic man who has been refused to be
breast-fed by his mother in the fear that it’ll spoil her physical beauty, and experiencing
the crippling power of death when his father Nahusha dies untimely. Yayati goes on a
self-destructive spree for eighteen long years wherein he unabashedly indulges in every
immoral activity possible. His craving for a different woman destroys his relationship
with Devayani and even Sharmishtha. Unable to bear the pathetic degradation of his
daughter’s marriage, Sage Shukracharya curses Yayati to a thousand years of old age!
Jolted with the thought of losing his virility, Yayati pleads with his young son Puru to
exchange their youth with him. Khandekar’s novel makes strong commentary on topics
like the sanctity of marriage, fidelity, loyalty, adultery, hedonism, lack of responsibility,
and such other myriad emotional feelings.