Saturday, November 28, 2015

The Peace Mantra





T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land (TWL), lines 433-434 





433  See Brooks**: The mad prince may be “mad for a purpose.” See Shakespeare, Hamlet 2.2. 202-203: “Though this be madness, yet there is method in’t.” What first appears as gibberish (see Dadaism, note 418) on a closer look reveals a deeper design. 

434  Eliot: Shantih. Repeated as here, a formal ending to an Upanishad. 'The Peace which passeth understanding' is a feeble translation of the conduct of this word.

  This is THE PEACE MANTRA, uttered conclusively even as it is not fully understood. Several of the Upanishad passages have an “Om Shanti Shanti Shanti” ending, a basic mantra that loosely translates as “Let there be peace, peace, peace.” See, e.g., Upanishads, Taittiriya Upanishad 1.1 and 1.12. See also Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 1.3.28, which often includes the same “shanti” ending (although Hume’s 1921 translation regularly left it out: “From the unreal lead me to the real! From darkness lead me to light! From death lead me to immortality! [Let there be peace, peace, peace.]” This is also the third instance in the poem that Eliot employs a repetitive mantra, each time in relation to eastern allusions; see also burning burning burning (line 308) and da da da (note 400). Eliot’s translation of Shantih is taken fromPhillipians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” Still the doubting Thomas, our poet confesses to a feeble understanding of that which all would-be believers seek. This, in time, will change for Eliot (see The Four Quartets, note 296), and indeed he would direct that his epitaph be etched with words from East Coker (see note 296): “In my beginning is my end. In my end is my beginning.”

Eventually.  But for now it is the poet’s words in this final note, as much as any others, that have intrigued my own understanding and encouraged these annotations.

from T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, with annotations (and other explanations)

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