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. The concept of the catalyst is similar to the concept of Brahman, who creates and causes changes in the world but who Himself remains unchanged (Shvetashvatara 3.2 ; Maitri 2.7; Brihadaranyaka 4.5.15) 1. Eliot's views were shaped by the Hindu philosophical tradition. Mackean maintains that "culture is rooted in religion. He [Eliot] did not believe in a so-called

1 "He [Rudra/Brahman], the protector, after creating all worlds, withdraws them at the end of time." ( Shvetashvatara 3.2; Radhakrishnan, 2012, p. 725)

"Verily, this self [Brahman], the seers declare, wanders here on earth in everybody (from body to body) unaffected, as it seems, by the light or the dark fruits of action. On account of this unmanifestness, subtlety, imperceptibility, ungraspability, freedom from self-sense, (the self) is unabiding and a doer only in seeming, truly is not a doer, he is abiding. Verily, he is pure, steadfast, unswerving, stainless, unagitated, free from desire, remains fixed like a spectator and abiding in his own self. As an enjoyer of righteous work he covers himself with a veil made of qualities, but he remains fixed, yea, he remains fixed." ( Maitri 2.7; Radhakrishnan, 2012, p. 804)

"The Self (Brahman) is indestructible for He cannot be destroyed. He is unattached for He does not attach himself. He is unfettered, He does not suffer, He is not injured." (Brihadaranyaka 4.5.15; Radhakrishnan, 2012, p. 286) The Impact of Hindu Philosophical thoughts on T.S. Eliot's Writings 97 progressive mobility of culture, but in regeneration of tradition; tradition not in the sense of following age-old rigid laws, but preserving only those elements which are timeless, and can contribute to the future" (p. 39). For Eliot, such a tradition containing timeless elements could be the Hindu philosophical thought systems. Eliot had a great respect for Hindu theology, although he was a modern Christian poet. Mackean informs that "when Eliot died in 1965 he was cremated and, in accordance with his wishes, his ashes were taken to St. Michael's Church in East Coker, his ancestral village" (p. 40). Cremation is one of the main cultural traditions of Hindus whereas burial is the culture of Christians, Buddhists and Muslims. Eliot's desire to be cremated after death justifies his great passion for Hindu philosophy and religion. One of the poems of Four Quartets is "East Coker" in which he writes, "In my beginning is my end" and "In my end is my beginning," which expresses his Upanishdic belief in the cycle of life after death and the doctrine of karma and its results. The treatment of time is a recurring concept in Eliot's poetry. He treats time both as a temporary element and as an everlasting element, Time. In “Elder Statesman,” he suggests: "It is worthwhile dying, to find out what life is." In “Burnt Norton,” he (1980) echoes Maharshi Patanjali's (4.12-14; 2015, pp. 155-56) Yoga Sutras 2.

Time present and time past Are both perhaps present in time future, And time future contained in time past. If all time is eternally present All time is unredeemable. (p. 117)

To Eliot, Consciousness (Intelligence; Brahman) is Shakti (Force, Power or Energy). When the inactive Brahman becomes active, He becomes Shakti. Shakti is the power of Brahman. Shakti is generally hidden or unseen but She acts through bodies and this universe. The great non-dual sages such as Raman Maharshi, Abhinavagupata, Shankarcharya, Ramkrishnan and many great Christian non-

2 "There is the form and expression we call "past," and the form and expression we call "future": both exist within the object, at all times. Form and expression vary according to time—past, present or future." ( Patanjali Yoga Sutras 4.12; Prabhavananda, 2015, p. 155-56)

"They are either manifest or subtle, according to the nature of the gunas." ( Patanjali Yoga Sutras 4.13; Prabhavananda, 2015, p. 156)

"Since the gunas work together within every change of form and expression, there is a unity in all things." ( Patanjali Yoga Sutras 4.14; Prabhavananda, 2015, p. 156) 98 The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018 dualists were secret worshippers of consciousness of the divine as mother, as goddess or as feminine. Very often, they loved the Goddess (of consciousness) in secret, especially Shankaracharya. Shakti is worshipped as Goddess with bhakti (humility or devotion) in Hindu religion. Goddess worship is the path to bliss. According to the Chhandogya Upanishad (1.1.10), what one does with "knowledge, faith and meditation . . . becomes more powerful" (Radhakrishnan, 2012, p. 339). Faith increases work- efficiency. In “East Cooker,” Eliot (1980) opines, "The only wisdom we can hope to acquire / Is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless" (p. 126). Humility is bhakti. Being humble by losing one's pride of knowledge, surrendering completely and sacrificing oneself are means to attain Brahman. Where there is pride, there is no bhakti, without which it is impossible to have the grace and knowledge of the Almighty. Those who are proud of their knowledge cannot know Him in reality. We do not know Reality due to our ignorance. Eliot (1980) reveals something similar in "East Cocker": "And what you do not know is the only thing you know / And what you own is what you do not own / And where you are is where you are not" (p. 127). Defining the term "ignorance," Maharshi Patanjali says, "To regard the non-eternal as eternal, the impure as pure, the painful as pleasant and the non-Atman as the Atman—this is ignorance" (Prabhavananda, 2015, p. 74). Those who say that they know Brahman do not know Him really but those who say that they do not know Him know Him really. Those who have the boast of their knowledge cannot know Him really. In fact, those who know Him cannot express Him in words. Understanding Brahman is only a matter of self-realization. This is expressed by the Kena Upanishad (2.3): To whomsoever it [the Supreme Brahman] is not known, to him it is known: to whomsoever it is known, he does not know. It is not understood by those who understand it; it is understood by those who do not understand it. (Radhakrishnan, 2012, p. 585) The concept of time, with the tone of the Advait (non-dual) Vedant, is found in Eliot's poetry. For example, in “Little Gidding,” Eliot (1980) says: "What we call the beginning is often the end / And to make an end is to make a beginning. / The end is where we start from" (p. 144). Actually, both processes—beginning and ending-are not two processes but a single process from the viewpoint of non-dual philosophy. The origin of these two opposite processes is the same Brahman. The message of doing karma (action) selflessly as told by Krishna to Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita (2.47), appears in "East Cocker": "For us there is only the trying. The rest is not our business" (p. 128); the lines echo the verse from Gita (2.27):: "Death is certain for everyone who is born, as rebirth is sure of everyone who is dead" (Baidya, 2014, The Impact of Hindu Philosophical thoughts on T.S. Eliot's Writings 99 p. 65). In the poem, Eliot also expresses his conviction: "In my beginning is my end .../ In my end is my beginning." And, in "The Dry Salvages," he continues the principle of selfless karma:

You shall not think the past is finished or the future is before us. ……………………………………… And do not think of the fruit of action. Fare forward. (p. 134)

Eliot studied Patanjali's Yoga Sutras at Harvard, as said earlier. Therefore, there are many direct and indirect references to the Yoga Sutras in his writings. For example, in "Little Gidding," he asserts, "The only hope, or else despair lies in the choice of pyre or pyre— to be redeemed from fire by fire" (p. 144). This line is an allusion to Maharshi Patanjali's revelation in his Yoga Sutras (3.56, 4.6): "Perfection is attained when the mind becomes as pure as the Atman itself"; "Of the various types of mind, only that which is purified by 'samadhi' is freed from all latent impressions of karma and from all cravings" (Prabhavananda, 2015, pp. 146, 151). Again, in Eliot's (1980) The Cocktail Party , an echo of Maharshi Patanjali is noticed in the following lines:

EDWARD: I see that my life was determined long ago And that the struggle to escape from it Is only make-believe, pretence That what is, is not, or could be changed. (Act I, Scene 2, p. 326)

These lines sound similar to the Patanjali Yoga Sutras (4.9): "Because of our memory of past tendencies, the chain of cause and effect is not broken by change of species, space or time" (Prabhavananda, 2015, p. 154). The chain of cause and effect refers to the Law of Karma, according to which we move in the cycle of life and death, good or bad. Our present life is a result of our past lives' karma ( prarabdha ). Therefore, it is not so easy to escape from it. Eliot was not happy with his life because of his unhappy relationship with his first wife Vivienne Haigh-Wood, as said earlier. In “Gerontion,” he loses his passions or attachment to life because of his bitter experiences of being surrounded by corruption, debasedness and impurity:

I have lost my passion: why should I need to keep it Since what is kept must be adulterated? I have lost my sight, smile, hearing, taste and touch: How should I use them for your closer contact? (p. 23) 100 The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018

"The Hollow Men” echoes Eliot's bitter experiences of life where people are morally and spiritually dead in the aftermath of World War I:

This is the dead land This is Cactus land. Here the stone images Are raised, here they receive The supplication of a dead man's hand Under the twinkle of a fading star. (p. 57)

Eliot is now detached and indifferent towards life because of its absurdities. So he seeks liberation from universal bondage as in “A Song for Simon":

I am tired with my own life and the lives of those after me, I am dying in my own death and the death of those after me. Let thy servant depart, Having seen thy salvation. (p. 70)

Here, detachment means having no passion or attachment to worldly objects. Similarly, indifference means having neither love nor hate for anyone. In the Upanishads, there is a discussion of life and the world in terms of impermanence ( anitya ), and suffering ( duhkha ). Desire ( trishna ) is the sole cause of human sorrow. The individual self (jivatman) is caught in the network of desires. The Maitri Upanishad (1.3-4) and the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (3.4-5, 3.7, 3.28, 4.4), too, confirm human sorrows, frailty and the impermanence of life and the world. Eliot (1980) presents the picture of impermanence, change, transitoriness, and suffering caused by the devastating World War II, "which is, for example, indicated in the opening lines of "East Coker" in Four Quartets :

In my beginning is my end. In succession Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended, Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place Is an open field, or a factory, or a bypass. (p. 123)

The European concept of time is linear and, as such, it has a beginning and an end. Therefore, time is not infinite. However, in the Hindu concept of time is circular or cyclical. It is contemplated as both temporary time (Symbol of Death and Decay), and Eternal Time ( mahakal ), a symbol of liberation of the individual soul. In the poems “Burnt Norton,” “East Cooker,” “Dry Salvages" and “Little Giddings,” there are descriptions of the relation between temporary and Eternal Time. The Impact of Hindu Philosophical thoughts on T.S. Eliot's Writings 101

In line with Hindu concepts, Eliot introduces, in "Burnt Notion," the concept of “the still point,” which is known as Atman, Brahman, kootastha (the Unchangeable, the Changeless, the Supreme Soul) or parama brahman (the Supreme Brahman) in the Upanishads. In the Vedas, "the still point" is known as stambha (the Cosmic Pillar). It is called dhruva (Fixed Point) or parama brahman in the Atharva Veda , the Purans and the Mahabharata . The eternal dance of Time in whose dance the soul disappears every moment, indicated in Eliot's poetic lines such as those in "The Dry Salvages: "Time is no healer: the patient is no longer here” (p. 134) or “The time of death is every moment” (p. 134). This also suggests that death is inevitable, and anyone could breathe his last at any moment. Therefore, we should live a life of God-consciousness all the time because the next birth is decided by the what we do at the eleventh hour of life. In this regard, Eliot (1980) reiterates Lord Krishna's admonition to Arjuna at the battlefield: "on whatever sphere of being / The mind of a man may be intent ...../ Which shall fructify in the lives of others" (p. 134). In the Bhagavad Gita , Lord Krishna says that man, after death, attains the life which he thinks of while dying (8.6). This view is concerned with the doctrine of karma and vipaka (action and its result). Accordingly, man is reborn according to his karma performed before dying. This principle is called the law of karma and rebirth. So far as the concept of time is concerned, it can be said undoubtedly that Eliot is influenced by Maharshi Patanjali, as said earlier. Eliot believes that Time is ever flowing. It cannot be divided. It has no parts. Our life flows through the continual march of time. Like Maharshi Patanjali, Eliot believes that the only way to free oneself from the clutches of time is to attain liberation. For this, one should take recourse to meditation, penance and yoga. "Emphasizing on the undisturbed calmness of mind to attain liberation," in the Patanjali Yoga Sutras , Maharshi Patanjali (1.33) writes, “Undisturbed calmness of mind is attained by cultivating friendliness toward the happy, compassion for the unhappy, delight in the virtuous, and indifference toward the wicked" (Prabhavananda, 2015, p. 40). In the Mundaka (3.1.1-2) and the Shvetashvatara ( 4.6-7) Upanishads, the concept of the twin Selves— one active and worldly, the other contemplative and spiritual— of a human being is introduced by means of symbolism as the two birds on the self-same tree of life. There are two birds. One lower bird acts, while the other higher bird looks on; one eats the fruits, sweet and sour, on the lower branch, while the other watches and waits at the top-most branch of the same tree. However, the lower bird cannot see the higher bird because there is a veil of Maya between the two birds. Finally, the lower bird (Jivatma) successfully tears the veil of Maya (ignorance) and identifies 102 The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018 himself with the higher bird, which stands for the Eternal Self (Brahman) established in sat-chit-aananda (Existence-Knowledge-Bliss). This notion of the dual Selves recurs in Eliot's poetry and drama. The search of the finite and transient human self for the Infinite and the Eternal Self in "a wilderness of mirrors" haunts much of Eliot's (1980) major poems such as "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock," The Waste Land, "Ash Wednesday," and the Four Quartets . The Four Quartets led to him being awarded the Nobel Prize as it is considered his masterpiece. The things and phenomena of the world are Maya or unreal in terms of the philosophy of non-duality (Advaita Vedanta). The Waste Land depicts the mundane world as observed by Tiresias, a conscious witness of debased modernity. "What Tiresias sees , in fact, is the substance of the poem" (Eliot, footnote to The Waste Land , p. 52). He sees things passing on as in the curtain of a cinema screen or the reflections passing through a mirror. He witnesses or observes things like the higher bird, which is a symbol of the unattached self. He is in a state of choiceless awareness. Eliot (1980) is aware of the materialistically rich but spiritually hollow men living in the wasteland of the modern world. They have physical pleasure but not mental happiness because they are prey to selfish desires and deluded by appearances. Eliot's “The Hollow Men" describes such "empty men" (p. 58). Co-incidentally, Eliot himself was not happy because he had no offspring from either of his two wives. "Ash Wednesday" is an autobiographical poem, which shows Eliot's struggle to detach himself from the temptations of the phenomenal world for the enlightenment of the noumenon (the essence). In Four Quartets, Eliot presents time as both changing and changeless. The concept of "time" can have several philosophical meanings. He tries to attain changeless time, termed as Time, Eternity or Immortality, in his quest for eternity and immortality. Similarly, the profound themes of illusion (Maya), detachment and renunciation are found in Four Quartets . The wisdom imparted by Krishna in "The Dry Salvages" to the myopic Arjuna dispels his illusion: "So the darkness shall be the light and the stillness the dancing" (Eliot, 1980, Four Quartets , p. 127). Eliot's (1980) major poems besides Four Quartets focus on the finite human consciousness and its gropings in "a wilderness of mirrors" ("Gerontion," p. 23). The concepts of "the heart of the light" ("The Burial of the Dead," p. 38), the "multifoliate rose" ("The Hollow Men," p. 58) or "the centre of the silent Word" ("Ash Wednesday," p. 65) are exactly defined as "the still point of the turning world" in “Burnt Norton” (p. 119). "The still point" is Brahman, who is the pure actuality, the meaning (logos, Word) in whom all possible good has existence. "The still point" is The Impact of Hindu Philosophical thoughts on T.S. Eliot's Writings 103 called " dhruva" in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (4.4.20): "This indemonstrable and constant being can be realized as one only. The self is taintless, beyond space, unborn, great and constant" (Radhakrishnan, 2012, p. 278). "The still point" is the source of eternal peace and happiness. In the concluding lines of The Waste Land, Eliot (1980) wants us to achieve the same "still point" to end our three planes of sufferings— physical ( adhibhautika ), natural ( adhidaivika ) and spiritual ( adhyatmika )– by chanting the concluding mantras "Shantih shantih shantih" [peace, peace, peace] (p. 50) of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad . The poem The Waste Land is like an Upanishad of the Hindu philosophy because every Upanishad ends with "Shantih shantih shantih." The people of The Waste Land ( 1922) are desperate because of the devastating results of World War I. They are in a dire need of peace and happiness. To attain to infinite and everlasting peace followed by happiness, Eliot (1980) tells people, in the final stanza of The Waste Land, to be generous, to be compassionate and to be self- controlled: "Datta. Dayadhvam. Damayata" (50). This is the message of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad , which narrates a Hindu mythological story, according to which, Prajapati (the Creator) tells his three groups of disciples—gods, men and demons to observe the three cardinal virtues—self-control ( dama ), charity ( dana ) and compassion ( daya ), respectively for their wellbeing (5.2.1-3). There are so many impacts, besides those mentioned above, of the Hindu philosophical thoughts on Eliot's writings. Regarding this, Sri (1985) in his book T. S. Eliot: Vedanta and Buddhism clearly expresses that Eliot's poetry and drama have the themes of "Impermanence and Suffering," "The Wheel," "Craving and Maya" and "The Still Point" (Contents, p. iii). Sri's book could be useful for researchers seeking to know about the tenets of Hindu philosophical thoughts, which are expressed by Eliot in his poems and plays. This researcher's article is an extended attempt to study Eliot's writings by bridging earlier works with new insights from the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and Patanjali Yoga Sutras. Much more could be done to study Eliot's writings from the viewpoint of Hindu philosophical thoughts, especially from the Upanishadic perspective.

Conclusion

Eliot's essays, plays, literary and social criticisms and poems bear the impact of Hindu philosophical thoughts. They present the tenets of the Hindu philosophy due to his immense interest in them. His spiritual views, which are similar to Hindu philosophy reflected in the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita and the Patanjali Yoga Sutras , are the outcomes of his personal quest for understanding the meaning of human existence and the spiritual essence of life to address the human suffering and 104 The Journal of University Grants Commission, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2018 spiritual dryness caused by two World Wars, modernity and the rise of the scientific materialism. Eliot's message is that life without spirituality is not peaceful and happy. Only with a spiritual response to life, as envisioned by the Hindu philosophy, can we realize "the still point" (Atman/Brahman) and understand the essence of life, the world, and the universe. Then real peace and happiness follows. When we attain "the still point," the Wheel of life and death stops permanently. Only then we can be free from our myriad desires and bondages (materiality, the Wheel). This is the key to enlightenment. This is possible only through the knowledge of the Oneness of the Ultimate Reality. This is not possible through duality, which is the main cause of human suffering. Once we have the light of knowledge, then the darkness of ignorance disappears. The cause of sorrows is moha ( delusion). The cause of moha is ignorance. Revisiting or rediscovering the spirituality of the past is a must to make our lives peaceful and happy. The wise sayings of Hindu philosophy such as that of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita should be rediscovered. They should be the foundations of ancient Christianity as suggested by Eliot. As a whole, Eliot's writings revolve around universal themes concerning the relationship of man with time, eternity, immortality, the universe, unreality, transience, bondage and suffering, dispassion and renunciation, divinity and humanity, history and humanity, and freedom and happiness. These themes are created due to the impact of Hindu philosophical thoughts on his writings borne at the time when the world was turning to a wasteland and people were losing their spiritual values of life. He finds solutions to the world problems in terms of the spiritual thoughts of Hindu philosophy, which inspired him to create his eternal writings with universal themes.

References

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