W.B. Yeats and the Upaniṣads (Irish Studies) - Hardcover

Sikka, Shalini

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0820449261 ISBN 13: 9780820449265

Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers, 2002

Synopsis

This book focuses on the Irish Nobel laureate W. B. Yeats (1865-1939), and his interest in the Upaniṣads, the ancient Sanskrit scriptures of India. Yeats undertook to assist the Indian monk Shree Purohit Swāmi in the task of translating the Ten Principal Upanishads into English. Not only did Yeats impart the qualities of spontaneity and fidelity into the work, but also managed to enhance his own creativity. The philosophy of the Upaniṣads enabled him to better understand and revise certain sections of A Vision: the Sphere or ultimate reality, the lunar symbolism and eschatology. Yeats found in the Upaniṣads a confirmation of his belief in the immortality of the soul, something he had sought to prove through countless visits to séances. Yeats also discovered a parallel for his concept of Unity of Being in Turīya, a final stage in meditation wherein bliss and a consciousness of unity are achieved. Imagination, he discovered, was a faculty of the Ātman or Self. It created the images in anima mundi seen in their trances by seers and poets. To Yeats, imagination explained the nature of revelation. Finally, just as an Upaniṣadic seer meditated upon any object chosen from the universe in order to reach the formless reality beyond, a poet could use symbols that a reader would meditate upon, thus evoking the original experience of the poet in the reader’s mind.

About this title

About the Author:

The Author: Shalini Sikka received her Ph.D. in English from the University of Delhi. She is a reader in the Department of English at Jesus and Mary College (University of Delhi), New Delhi. She has published numerous articles and reviews of contemporary poetry in professional journals in India and elsewhere. She has contributed notes to W. B. Yeats Later Essays in the series The Collected Works of W. B. Yeats, Volume V.

Review:

«Yeats’s absorption in Upaniṣadic thought is a subject that criticism has hitherto skirted, or treated warily. Here, for the first time, is an exploration by an author who combines a deep immersion in the subject with a rich understanding of Yeats’s development as a poet and a thinker. Shalini Sikka examines and explains the reasons for Yeats’s turning to the Upaniṣads where he found ‘an ancient discipline, a philosophy that satisfied the intellect’ (Yeats). Written with grace and lucidity and based on impeccable scholarship, this book is a must buy for any Yeats aficionado.» (R. W. Desai, Former Professor of English, University of Delhi; Author of ‘Yeats’s Shakespeare’; Editor of ‘Hamlet Studies’)
«Yeats realized through his study of the Upaniṣads that knowledge and wisdom are both indispensable for the healthy conduct of life. While knowledge of the arts and sciences is necessary for life in the worldly/social spheres, a dilution of the ego is essential for preparing the mind for communion with the spiritual hierarchy; the dawn of wisdom solves riddles which cannot be tackled through mundane know-how. The presence of these ideas in Yeats’s writings is the subject of Shalini Sikka’s book.» (B. R. Sharma, Professor of Sanskrit, University of Delhi; Author of ‘The Concept of Ātman in the Principal Upaniṣads’)
«Shalini Sikka’s well-researched book explores many new sites wherein Yeats’s thought intriguingly relates to the thought of the Upaniṣads. New light is thrown, among other things, on Yeats’s view of the imagination, his concept of Unity of Being, and on the bewildering symbolism of A Vision.» (G. K. Das, Former Professor of English, University of Delhi; Vice-Chancellor, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, Orissa)

About this edition

• Publisher: Peter Lang Inc., International Academic Publishers
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0820449261
• ISBN 13: 9780820449265
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176