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The Impact of Hindu Philosophical Thoughts on Ts Eliot's Writings

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The Impact of Hindu Philosophical Thoughts on Ts Eliot's Writings The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018 THE IMPACT OF HINDU PHILOSOPHICAL THOUGHTS ON T. S. ELIOT'S WRITINGS Damaru Chandra Bhatta Tri-Chandra Multiple Campus Email: [email protected] Abstract: The main objective of this article is to explore the impact of the Hindu philosophical thoughts on T. S. Eliot's writings. This researcher has compared Eliot's thoughts to the ones of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Patanjali Yoga Sutras of the Hindu philosophy. Eliot treid to find a permanent solution to the universal problems of bondage, suffering and desperateness. He found the spiritual remedy of such problems in perennial Hindu philosophical thoughts such as in selfless action, detachment, impersonality/ disinterestedness, self- sacrifice and surrender, generosity, compassion, self-control, the paths of action, devotion and knowledge, non-dual (advait) thinking, the concepts of karma and rebirth, circular time, consciousness and power, issues of life’s ephemerality, double Selves (the individual self and the Infinite or Eternal Self), bondage/suffering and liberation and the like. These reverberations of Hindu philosophical thoughts justify their impact on Eliot's writings. In other words, his writings were immensely influenced by Hindu philosophical notions and practices and Eliot employs them as antidote to the worldly disease of the spiritually hollow people living in the modern wasteland. He wanted to inspire humanity to follow such spiritual concepts in order to establish permanent peace and happiness in the mundane world. Keywords: upanishad, karma, bhakti, knowledge, ignorance, bondage, suffering, transience, immortality, duality, non-duality Introduction T. S. Eliot (1888-1965) is one of the twentieth century's major poets of the West. His essays, plays, literary and social criticisms, and poems reflect the spiritual vision of the Hindu philosophy. His poetry and drama show his personal quest for understanding the meaning of human existence and the spiritual essence of life to address the human sorrows born out of sheer materialistic thinking. In 1911 Eliot joined Harvard University for three years of intensive postgraduate study. He studied Sanskrit, Pali, Hindu philosophy (especially logic, ethics and metaphysics, and Patanjali's Yoga Sutras ), and the religious system of China (Taoism) and Japan (Zen). As a result, his three-year study in Eastern philosophy, metaphysics and philosophy left a lifelong impression. This shaped his own spiritual development, poetic vision and method. This left him with "enlightened mystification," helping him to escape Western intellectual prejudices and the spiritual growth of his own time with which he was not satisfied (Oldmeadow, 2004, p. 30). 94 The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018 As said earlier, there is an influence of the Hindu philosophical thoughts on Eliot's writings. There are some autobiographical, social and global reasons that explain Eliot’s use of Hindu philosophical thoughts in his writings. Ian Mackean (2005) notes that "In 1915 Eliot married the ballet-dancer Vivienne Haigh-Wood, but the marriage was not a success" (p. 38). This event left a painful influence on him and subsequently compelled him to choose the theme of spirituality in his writings to repress the pain and to sublimate his desires. Therefore, we find romantic dryness in his poetry and drama. Faith in human values, tradition, culture, patriotism, God, ethics, religion and spirituality were in decline because of the devastating results of World Wars, the rise of scientific materialism and modernity. Spirituality was losing its grip over modern secular people in its constant conflict with science. According to Mackean (2005), Eliot "maintained that contemporary western culture was a mass of confusion: the decay of religion being the principal problem" (p. 39). In such a turbulent situation, Eliot and the world needed some affirmative belief, which could restore the lost spiritual vitality. He wanted to search for peace, happiness and truth as psychological and philosophical means in the form of a work of art to end the chaos of his individual life and the Western world as well. Therefore, he turned to Eastern philosophical thoughts, especially Hindu ones. As a result, we find direct and indirect references to the perennial Hindu philosophical thoughts like those of the Bhagavad-Gita, the Upanishads and the Patanjali Yoga Sutras. Eliot relied on cosmopolitan mythology in his writings saw them as a solution to the ills of the intellectually and emotionally confused people living in the modern secular world. In this way, Hindu philosophical thoughts, which will be discussed below, are found to have been used by Eliot as medicine to ameliorate the social anarchy of his time. As a whole, his writings focus on the predicament of man searching for moksha (liberation) in the light of Hindu philosophical and religious thoughts. Objectives The primary objective of this study is to explore the impact of Hindu philosophical thoughts on Eliot's writings such as essays, plays and poems and to reflect on the reasons of his interest in the Hindu philosophical thoughts such as those of the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Patanjali Yoga Sutras in his writings. Materials and methods Twelve principal Upanishads such as Ishavasya, Kena, Katha, Prashna, Mundaka, Mandukya, Aitareya, Taittiriya, Shvetashvatara, Chhandogya, Brihadaranyaka and Maitri were studied to interpret Eliot's writings from the viewpoint of those Upanishads. The Impact of Hindu Philosophical thoughts on T.S. Eliot's Writings 95 Also, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Patanjli Yoga Sutras were studied to establish the connection between Hindu philosophical ideas and Eliot’s writings. These study materials helped to understand Eliot's writings more clearly by extending the frontier of the knowledge concerning the Hindu and Christian philosophical thought systems. Some significant critics' opinions such as those of P. S. Sri, Oldmeadow, A. D. Moody and Mackean were studied whenever necessary in the process of writing this paper. Discussion/analysis Impact of Hindu philosophical thoughts Eliot turns to primitive wisdom in his poems such as The Waste Land , and "The Dry Salvages "as a way of re-approaching and rediscovering the basis of a Christian vision for a secularized Western society" (Moody, 2008, p. 19). This suggests that such a basis to be reapproached and rediscovered should be Hindu philosophy such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita . People have forgotten and rediscovered the primitive wisdom of Hindu philosophy time and again. Now, they have forgotten it in the modern time as well. They have to labor to regain it for the benefit of humankind. Therefore, Eliot (1980) says, "There is only the fight to recover what has been lost / And found and lost again and again" (East Cocker, p. 128). Eliot holds the belief that there are three ways to achieve Brahman or the Supreme Being— action (karma), devotion (bhakti) and jnana (knowledge). One can choose any way. However, one needs all three— action (karma), devotion (bhakti), and knowledge (jnana) one by one. One should first purify his misdeeds by selfless action, then purify his heart by bhakti and then remove his ignorance by knowledge— to realize the Ultimate Truth. In fact, one should act without attachment in the initial stage. Action without attachment develops into devotion, which in turn develops into knowledge. From this viewpoint, action and devotion are means to achieve knowledge. Therefore, it is necessary to act without attachment and without expecting any fruit of action in the initial stage. Though Eliot talks about action and devotion, he gives more importance to knowledge. Eliot's philosophical poems such as "The Dry Salvages" is action-oriented, "The Rock," devotion-oriented and "Little Gidding," knowledge-oriented. "The Dry Salvages" tells us, "do not think of the fruit of action. / Fare forward" (p. 134). In fact, this is the message of the Bhagavad Gita (2.47). "The Rock," Eliot's short poetic play, is a symbol of God. In its concluding lines, he praises the glory of God: "we thank Thee that darkness reminds us of light. / O Light Invisible, we give Thee thanks for Thy great glory!" (p. 114). Here, the reference to darkness and light reminds us of the mantra of the Chhandogya Upanishad (3.17.8), which declares that Light is the dispeller 96 The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018 of ignorance. God is Light, which is Invisible but "everything becomes enlightened in His light ( Katha Upanishad 2.2.15). Similarly, the Goddess of Darkness destroys the ignorance-darkness of the jivas (individual creatures) by Her light full of knowledge— jyotishaa baadhate tamah as written in "Vedoktam Ratrisooktam" (2) of the Rigved (10.10.127.2) (Datta, p. 41). The concluding line of most poems generally holds great importance. The concluding line of Eliot's last poem "Little Gidding" says: "the fire and the rose are one" (p. 145). This concluding line reminds us of the non-dual ( advait ) wisdom of the Chhandogya Upanishad that everything is Brahman (3.14.1). This evokes the sense of equality, cosmopolitism, impartial justice, peace and happiness. Here, Eliot appears to have attached more importance to knowledge than action and devotion. Before the spiritual eyes of knowledge, everyone has the same consciousness of Brahman. In his “Tradition and the Individual Talent,” an essay from The Sacred Wood , Eliot declares, “Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality” (pp. 52-53). This explains his doctrine of impersonality and objective correlative. He suggests that poets should be like a catalysts, an element which changes others but itself remains unchanged. This view of poetry is influenced by the Upanishadic philosophy that actors/doers or their actions should be selfless, disinterested, impersonal or depersonalized.
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