ALBERT CAMUS AND THE ANCIENT WISDOM OF UPNISHADS ......

                   

ALBERT   CAMUS   AND   THE ANCIENT WISDOM OF UPANISHADS

 

Even to this day, Albert Camus (1913-1960) remains a widely read writer   world over. His novels ,plays, short stories, essays and  editorials ( for THE COMBAT a  Newspaper that Camus   edited  ) that he wrote in French   stand translated into English and many other Languages by so many  eminent translators like    Stuart Gilbert (The Plague)  and Joseph Laredo ( The Outsider).

 In 1957, Camus was awarded Nobel Prize for literature.  He established international reputation with books like Le Peste (The Plague written in 1947), Les Justes (1949) and La Chute (1956). Two books L'Etranger  and Le Mythe de Sisyphe  brought  him worldwide fame. In 1957, he was awarded Nobel Prize for Literature and in 1969, he was killed in a road accident. On his death, Anthony Hartley   wrote in 'The Guardian’,

“His death is a terrible blow to French literature and to those who admire the limpid upright mind which is reflected in his work."

Every year more than 160,000 copies of his most impressive novel “OUTSIDER” are sold by his publishers. I do not know the pirated versions and all other versions. Catherine Camus, his daughter says-

“My father never forgot his origins and the extreme poverty he experienced.  The one who loves the power, can’t love Camus. My father not only wrote with his head, but also wrote with his heart and his flesh. He’s a hundred percent human. He never refuses contradictions, because contradictions are part of our life.As far as I know about my father ,  Emile Senart had translated  some  Upanishads    to French   that my father not only read but also recommended to  Claude’ De Ferminvelle in 1935.”

 Noted French writer and   scholar Dr  Sharad Chandra writes:-

"Albert Camus had read '  Bhagwat Gita' and Upnishads . He  had  attended the lectures given by Swami Shraddhananda of the Ramakrishna Mission in Paris."

Dr. Sarvapalli  Radhakrishnan writes :

“Western Existentialism is the  new name for an ancient Indian  method  detailed  in   Upnishads . "

 And when I read   some Upanishads in English translation, Camus’s philosophy started becoming unambiguously clearer and clearer.   Through his work, Camus tried to understand the time he lived in. Not only time, he tried to understand the nature of human Joy and sorrow. And the Chhandogya Upanishad says:

"Where there is the infinite, there is joy. The finite holds no joy. Understand the nature of Joy.  The infinite is the whole universe.”

Camus believed that peace was paramount and fundamental to human existence. Camus says:-

“Peace is the only battle worth waging. Says Camus .

And prayer for universal peace is contained in Upanishads/ Veda .The Hymn to peace in Atharva veda says:-

“Peaceful be the heavens, May the earth be calm, And the spacious atmosphere gentle. May the flowing waters, rich in moisture ,be soothing ;May all the plants and herbs be beneficial to us. May all signs of coming events be free from Turmoil; And may happiness lie in that, which has been done and that ,which has not been done. May our past and future be peaceful and may all be gracious unto us .”

Mundaka Upnishad says:-

“May our ears hear what is auspicious. May we become efficient to worship and see with our eyes what is auspicious. May we , who sing your praise, live our allotted span of life sound of body and strong of limbs"

The spirit of detachment is the essence of Vedanta or Upanishads. It is the message of Bhagwad Gita. The real Nishkam Karma arises from spirit of detachment only. "Nishkam Karma" means "action without desire" or "work without motive”. Detachment never seeks   motive or reward for action. Consequently it is a step towards individual happiness.And Albert Camus writes:-

"To be happy, we must not be too concerned with others."

In his novel 'THE OUTSIDER’, Camus creates a truthful character (Meursault) who is somewhat detached in his dealings with others. Meursault is in a detached mode   even when his girlfriend (Mary) puts up a proposal of marriage. Does a truthful man appear detached? I quote from the novel:-

"She came that evening and asked me if I’d marry her. I said I didn’t mind; if she was keen on it, we’d get married. I explained that it had no importance really, but, if it would give her pleasure, we could get married right away. Then she remarked that marriage was a serious matter. To which I answered: “No.” "

 Camus believed in BENIGN   nature of this physical world that confronts an individual. According to him, Even if this physical world appeared indifferent to the sorrows of an individual, it was profoundly benign. The universe behaved like a silent and watchful sympathiser.  The profoundly benign nature of the Cosmos is the message of some Upanishads. I quote Maha-Upanishad:-

“The Cosmos is only the manifestation of that being (Supreme) ;There is nothing other than that ; The difference in the Universe are also his manifestation. He does not exist as there is nowhere (Substratum) to exist, yet exists because he is existence by nature."

In his work, Camus deals with fundamental issues of humanity; Issues like individual liberty, War,  freedom of choice,, death   Existence, Absurdity, God, Religion, Love, suffering, sorrow, human dignity, peace and happiness etc. For him, all human beings are just one race. He is a strong votary of peace, harmony and brotherhood. So is the core message of Upanishads. Isha Upanishad says:-

"When a man realises that all beings are but the Self, what delusion is there, what grief, to that perceiver of oneness?"

Atharva Veda says:-

“Common be your store of water, common your share of food . i knit you together to a common bond -,United , gather round the sacrificial fire like spokes of a chariot wheel."

 SATYA or   TRUTH is another issue that is the Core message of many Upanishads. The Upanishads say that TRUTHFULNESS   is primordial for triumph over this worldly BHAV-SAGARA   or this ocean of worldly existence. And in an afterword to his novel' THE OUTSIDER '    , Camus says:-

“A truth born of living and feeling may be a negative one, But without truth no triumph over the self or over the world will ever be possible. So one wouldn't be far wrong in seeing"  THE OUTSIDER" as the story of a man who, without any heroic pretensions , agrees to die for the Truth. I also once said, and again paradoxically, that i tried to make my character represent the only Christ that we deserve.”

Camus believed, 'everything that exalts life at the same time increases its absurdity’.  And Absurdity of existence is a major issue that Camus deals in his work. It is reflected in his plays and short stories also. And this thought has also been dealt in many   Upanishads .In his work "Myth of Sisyphus”, Camus has presented Sisyphus as the symbol of humankind and his task as the symbol of absurd human existence.  I quote Maha Upanishad:-

“The world is born only to die and dies only to be born. Life is unsteady like a drop of water hanging on the top of a tender leaf. Whatever in this moving and un-moving world is enjoyed by Ego - All that is unreal?"

Camus's idea of freedom of Choice is very close to concept of liberated soul or Purity of Spirit as mentioned in Upanishads. Upanishads say that   attachment, anger, ego, greed limit or curtail the freedom of choice of an individual resulting in suffering or sorrow. Camus believes that human suffering is a result of denial of freedom of choice. For Camus, man suffers because he doesn't have freedom of choice. In addition to absurdity, another subject that ancient Upanishads insistently deal with is ethics, the purity of human conduct. Exactly like the Existentialists, the Upanishads, hold man himself responsible for his actions. Isn't this another way of interpreting the DOCTRINE OF KARMA? Brihadaranyaka Upanishad says:

“Act he must. As he acts so does he become. The doer of good becomes good. The doer of sinful actions become sinful. By virtuous actions, he becomes virtuous; and by evil actions evil.”

Before Camus arrived on the scene, Andre Malraux, Jean Paul Sartre, and many others had already developed the existential line of thought. It had started percolating down to western Society    through Theatre and literature. Camus was not the pioneer of this thought; He did something new in this field.   Firstly, he clarified that this world’s absurdity should not be a cause for despair, but on the contrary, a spur to happiness. And secondly, that, mortality and suffering actually enhance the value of life: they invite men to live more intensely.

More next time. Reading Isha Upanishad……………

 

(Avtar Mota)

 

PS

Upanishads are a part of Vedas. Upanishads contain the loftiest message of the Veda. That is why Upanishads are generally referred to as Vedanta or  as the  last chapters of the Veda.

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