Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Emerson's Brahma

Ralph Waldo Emerson (25 May 1803- 27 Apr 1882, could be Poosam) was strongly influenced by the Vedas, and much of his writing has strong shades of advaita. From wiki: One of the clearest examples of this can be found in his essay "The Over-soul":

We live in succession, in division, in parts, in particles. Meantime within man is the soul of the whole; the wise silence; the universal beauty, to which every part and particle is equally related, the eternal ONE. And this deep power in which we exist and whose beatitude is all accessible to us, is not only self-sufficing and perfect in every hour, but the act of seeing and the thing seen, the seer and the spectacle, the subject and the object, are one. We see the world piece by piece, as the sun, the moon, the animal, the tree; but the whole, of which these are shining parts, is the soul.


Emerson’s poem Brahma poignantly captures a part of the essence of Gita:

If the red slayer think he slays,
Or if the slain think he is slain,
They know not well the subtle ways
I keep, and pass, and turn again.

Far or forgot to me is near;
Shadow and sunlight are the same;
The vanish'd gods to me appear;
And one to me are shame and fame.

They reckon ill who leave me out;
When me they fly, I am the wings;
I am the doubter and the doubt,
And I the hymn the Brahmin sings.

The strong gods pine for my abode,
And pine in vain the sacred Seven;
But thou, meek lover of the good!
Find me, and turn thy back on heaven.


1 comment:

Deb said...

Totally agree that 'Brahma' captures an essential aspect of Gita, the transcendence of the spirit. The first line of 'Brahma' instantly transports one to the Gita shloka:

Ya enam vetti hantaram, yashchainam manyasay hatam,
Ubhau tau na vijaneeto, naayam hanti na hanyatay.

Thanks.