Viktor Vladimirovich Khlebnikov (1885-1922) was a major poet-philosopher of Russian Futurist movement. A minor planet has been named after him too. Influenced by Helena Blavatsky, the founder of theosophical movement, Khlebnikov considered her ‘the only one who traveled to India in search of what it means to be a Russian’ (4). In his lyrical prose work titled ‘Yasir’ which means ‘captive’, he explores Indian themes elaborately. It is about Istoma, the alter-ego of Khlebnikov, who wanders in search of a principle that shall provide ‘liberty to all oppressed people’ and finds it in the all-embracing universal soul – Brahman and non-dualism (Advaita).



The work introduces ‘a foreign visitor, Krishnamurti, an Indian.’ This visitor brings with him inspiring stories of how Hindus who ‘sacrificed only flowers to heaven’ were resisting the ‘treacherous Aurangazeb’; how ‘Sivaji, the hope and sustenance of the Brahmans, had risen in revolt’ and ‘founded a government of mahants’.