JEAN PAUL SARTRE AND THE BHAGWAD GITA..

                                          

JEAN PAUL SARTRE AND THE   BHAGWAD GITA..

( Above Three  Photos ... Avtar Mota at the tomb of Jean Paul Sartre inside Montparnasse cemetery in Paris ..2023 )

"An individual chooses and makes himself."....( Jean Paul Sartre) 

"Man is condemned to be free."..... (Jean Paul Sartre )

"There is no reality except in action." (Il n'y a de réalité que dans l'action.) ...( Jean Paul Sartre )

Jean Paul  Sartre's existentialism and the Bhagwad Gita might seem worlds apart, but there are some interesting parallels .While American transcendentalists like Emerson and Thoreau were influenced by Bhagwad Gita in the 19th century, this interest was largely separate from the 20th-century French existentialist movement. And many  modern scholars often draw comparisons between the two ,  particularly on topics such as freedom, action, responsibility, and the nature of selfhood.

Both ,  Sartre and the Bhagwad Gita emphasise individual freedom and choice. Sartre's "existence precedes essence"resonates with the  Bhagwad Gita's idea of detachment and doing your duty without attachment to outcomes. Both  nudge an individual to take responsibility for  his actions.

Sartre's "Il n'y a de réalité que dans l'action" (There's no reality except in action) vibes with the Bhagavad Gita's emphasis on "Karma" (action) and "Nishkama Karma" (action without attachment) .The  Bhagwad Gita's  concept of  Karma  (action) without attachment to its phala (fruits) resonates  with Sartre's "cry for action born of choice"

Both, Sartre and the Bhagwad Gita say that reality unfolds through our actions, and it's our choices and deeds that give life meaning .The Gita encourages acting with detachment, while Sartre's existentialism leans into freedom and responsibility in action .

Although Bhagwad Gita expounds it's philosophy on a total theistic platform acknowledging the existence of supreme reality , Sartre developed his philosophy purely on a atheistic principles. Yet the similarities convince a serious reader that Sartre did have some basic study of the Bhagwad Gita .

Noted Bengali scholar Pathik Basu writes this :-

 " Within  the confines of a  capitalist-centric State, one frequently experiences  a shift from  " Self " to "Other " . This phenomenon has been astutely  observed  by Jean Paul Sartre. The Bhagwad Gita also illuminates this transition revealing the intrinsic nature of the work itself and a reversal from  "Other " to "Universal Self "  through the path of selfless action ." 

*"If you are lonely when you are alone, you are in bad company" Jean Paul  Sartre

This Quote from Sartre echoes the message  of meets the Upanishads and the Gita

The above quote of Jean-Paul Sartre, cuts deep. It says loneliness in solitude isn’t about the absence of others. It’s about the quality of the self you’re left with. Indian philosophy has been saying the same thing for 3000 years, but it frames the problem differently. The issue isn’t “bad company” as in a flawed personality. It’s Avidya, ignorance of who you actually are.

1. The Upanishadic View: You Are Not Alone When You Know the Self 

The Upanishads constantly return to one idea: 'Tat Tvam Asi or " That Thou Art" . The Chandogya Upanishad uses this to show that the essence within you, Atman, is identical to the essence of everything, Brahman.  

So why do we feel lonely? The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad answers: “For where there is duality, as it were, there one sees another... But where everything has become just one’s own self, then whereby and whom would one see?”( 2.4.14) Loneliness requires “two”. A separate “me” looking for a separate “other”. But if your real identity is Atman, which is whole and complete, then being alone means being with the fullest version of reality.  

Sartre’s “bad company” is what the Upanishads call  Ahankara , the ego-mind. If your solitude is filled with anxiety, regret, craving, and self-criticism, you are sitting with a conditioned, restless version of yourself. That is indeed poor company. The Isa Upanishad opens with “Ishavasyam idam sarvam” or "All this is pervaded by the Lord " . A person who sees that has no ground for loneliness. As it asks later: “For one who sees oneness, where is delusion, where is sorrow?”

2. The Bhagavad Gita: From Loneliness to Svastha

The Gita picks up where the Upanishads leave off and makes it practical. Arjuna’s crisis in Chapter 1 is existential loneliness. Surrounded by armies, he feels utterly alone and collapses. Krishna’s entire teaching is to move him from Vishada or  dejection, to  Yoga or union.  

In Chapter 6, Krishna describes the Yogi: “He who is satisfied with knowledge and wisdom, who is steady and self-controlled, to whom a clod, stone, and gold are the same, is said to be yoked.”(6.8) . Then the key line: “A person is said to be lifted by Yoga when, having renounced all desires, he is established in the Self alone by the Self.”(6.18).  

The Gita’s term for this is Svastha,  literally “established in one’s Self”. A Svastha person is good company to himself. He is not dependent on external validation to feel whole. Krishna contrasts this with the person “whose mind is uncontrolled”_ (6.6). For him, “the Self is like an enemy”. That is Sartre’s “bad company” in Sanskrit. If your own mind attacks you the moment you’re alone, solitude becomes unbearable.  

3. The Link: Solitude as a Mirror

Both traditions agree: solitude tests you. Sartre saw it as exposure to an authentic self that many people dislike. The Upanishads and Gita go further. They say the self you dislike isn’t the real you. It’s the bundle of Vasanas or habits, and Samskaras or  impressions, that you’ve mistaken for yourself.  

The Mundaka Upanishad gives the image of two birds on the same tree. One eats the fruit and suffers. The other simply watches. The first is the ego lost in experience. The second is the Atman, the witness. Loneliness is the first bird wondering why the second won’t talk to it. Realising you are the second bird ends the loneliness.  

The Gita’s solution is  Abhyasa and Vairagya or  practice and dispassion, (6.35). Train the mind to rest in the Self, and detach from the “bad company” of endless desires. Then , " Ekaki yatachittatma", or “dwelling alone with a controlled mind”,( 6.10) , becomes peace, not punishment.

So the quote is true, but incomplete by Vedantic standards. If you’re lonely alone, yes, you’re in bad company. But that company is not you. It’s the untrained mind. The Upanishads and Gita don’t tell you to get better friends. They tell you to realise there is only One here. When that happens, Ekant or  being alone, becomes Advaita, not-two-ness. And where there is no “two”, there is no loneliness.

Will add more ...Working on it .

( Avtar Mota )

PS

Jean-Paul Sartre and his lifelong companion Simone de Beauvoir are  both buried in Montparnasse cemetery in Paris under one tombstone. 

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