REFLECTION OF HINDU AND BUDDHIST PHILOSOPHY IN T.S ELIOT'S 'WASTE LAND.'

The spiritual and ethical ideals of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, especially their Vedic and Upanishadic traditions, deeply influenced T.S. Eliot's poetic vision and provided a framework for addressing the spiritual emptiness of modern humanity in his poem The Waste Land. The study traces how Indian religious thought, encountered through Eliot's mentors and the Oriental Study Centre at Harvard, permeates each section of the poem, offering a moral and spiritual yardstick to restore meaning alongside Christian intent. The analysis argues that this infusion of Eastern wisdom gives the poem a universal undertone, balancing European cultural traditions with enduring Indian values of high moral character and ethical living.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The Indian spiritual thoughts are inundated with enduring values and timeless appeal, which has carved a niche in Eliot's mind. Its universal appeal has the ability to allure all categories of people starting from the illiterate to the elite, from the peasant to the perfectionist, from the writer to the religious preacher with a profound sense of high moral character and ethical living. The soil of Eliot's poetic fervor has been properly prepared with the manure and fertilizer of the Indian religious thought which provides a balanced nutrition to the seedling of The Waste Land. In order to examine how far oriental wisdom influences Eliot's poetic vision and sensibility to give it a universal undertone running parallel with the wisdom of Europe, this study attempts to trace the reflections of Hindu and Buddhist philosophy in Eliot's famous poem The Waste Land. The everlasting ideals and eternal attractiveness of Indian spirituality have left a lasting impression on Eliot. From the ignorant to the elite, from the peasant to the perfectionist, from the writer to the religious preacher with a great sense of high moral character and ethical life, its global appeal has the power to enchant all sorts of people. Eliot's poetic fervour has been dutifully prepared with the manure and fertiliser of Indian religious thinking, which gives the seedling of The Waste Land a nutritious diet. Eliot's relationships with mentors like Irving Babbitt, George Santayana, Charles Rockwell Lanman, and James Haughton, as well as the Oriental Study Centre at Harvard, have been carefully analysed to determine the effect of Indian ideas on Eliot's thinking. Each section of the poem has been examined in order to comprehend how meticulously Eliot depicts the tragic impasse of modern humanity due to spiritual draught and how at each stage Indian thoughts, specifically Buddhism and Hinduism with its Vedic and Upanishadic lore stand as yardstick to restore spiritualism by centralising the moral vision of European Waste Landers, which centres on the Christian intent that formed Eliot's Indian sensibility