This blog is written as a task assigned by the head of the Department of English (MKBU), Prof. and Dr. Dilip Barad Sir. Here is the link to the Syllabus for background reading: Click here.
Here is the Mind Map of this blog: Click Here
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"Where the Western Absurdist sees a dead-end of nothingness, the Gita sees the veil of Maya - a self-imposed prison where waiting for a 'fruit' paralyzes the soul's capacity for 'action'."
Section A:
1. In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis). Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in Waiting for Godot.
Arjuna’s Vishada vs. the Tragicomic Crisis
In the Gita, Arjuna’s vishada (despair) stems from a conflict of duty, leading to a temporary paralysis of will. Similarly, Vladimir and Estragon experience a chronic existential crisis, but theirs lacks a clear cause or divine guide. While Arjuna questions the purpose of action, Beckett’s pair questions the possibility of it, trapped in a "nothing to be done" state that mirrors a secular, unresolved vishada.
2. Krishna emphasises karma (action) without attachment to results. How does Beckett portray the absence or failure of karma in the play?
The Failure of Nishkama Karma
Krishna teaches Nishkama Karma performing duty without attachment to the fruit. In Godot, Beckett portrays a total failure of this principle. The characters are obsessively attached to one "result" Godot’s arrival and because that result never manifests, their lives become stagnant. Their actions (struggling with boots, trading hats) are not selfless duties (Dharma), but futile distractions to pass time, illustrating action without purpose rather than action without attachment.
3. The Gita presents time (Kala) as cyclical and eternal. Identify two moments in Waiting for Godot that reflect cyclical time.
Cyclical Time (Kala) in Beckett
Beckett reflects the Gita’s cyclical Kala through repetitive, closed loops:
The Circular Dialogue: Each act begins and ends with almost identical exchanges (e.g., "Shall we go?" "Yes, let’s go," followed by the stage direction They do not move), suggesting a wheel of existence with no exit.
The Reappearing Tree: The tree, bare in Act I and suddenly sprouting leaves in Act II, symbolizes a mocking cycle of "rebirth" that offers no actual progress, much like the repetitive arrival of the Boy.
Section B
1. How does this idea change your understanding of the title Waiting for Godot?
Re-interpreting the Title: Waiting for Godot
If Godot is an expectation rather than a physical character, the title Waiting for Godot shifts from a literal description of a meeting to a profound metaphor for the internal state of human consciousness. The focus moves away from the "who" and "when" of the arrival and settles on the "how" and "why" of the waiting.
The title becomes a diagnosis of a life lived in a "conditional" state where the present is perpetually devalued in favor of a future resolution that may never occur. In this light, "Godot" is not a person, but a mental anchor. The act of waiting becomes a self-imposed prison where the characters surrender their agency to a projection. Instead of an external drama about a missing benefactor, the play becomes an internal exploration of how humanity uses "expectation" as a tool to avoid the terrifying silence of the present moment. The title essentially suggests that the tragedy isn't that Godot doesn't come, but that the characters have defined their entire existence by the act of expecting him.
2. Compare Godot with any one concept from the Bhagavad Gita: o Maya (illusion) o Phala (fruit of action) o Asha (hope/desire) o Ishvara (idea of God)
Comparing Godot with Maya (Illusion)
Comparing Godot to the concept of Maya provides a striking intersection between Beckett’s Absurdism and Vedantic philosophy. In the Bhagavad Gita, Maya is the illusory power that veils the true nature of reality, causing individuals to mistake the transient for the eternal. Godot functions exactly as this veil. He is a "mirage" that prevents Vladimir and Estragon from seeing their immediate reality or seeking internal liberation.
In the Gita, Maya binds the soul to the cycle of Samsara (birth and death) through ignorance. Similarly, the expectation of Godot binds the duo to their repetitive, cyclical suffering. They believe that Godot’s arrival will "save" them, which is the ultimate expression of Maya the belief that external circumstances can resolve internal existential voids. While Krishna urges Arjuna to pierce through the veil of Maya to realize the Atman (the Self), Vladimir and Estragon do the opposite: they wrap themselves tighter in the illusion. By treating Godot as a savior, they remain trapped in a world of shadows, proving that as long as one is chasing a phantom, the truth of existence remains hidden.
Section C
Complete the table below:
Section D
Option A (Dialogue Writing): Write a short dialogue (300–400 words) where Krishna explains one key aspect of Waiting for Godot (waiting, hope, time, or meaninglessness) to Arjuna as an MA English student.
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Scene: The Kurukshetra of the Mind
Characters:
Arjuna: An exhausted MA English student, clutching a dog-eared copy of Waiting for Godot.
Krishna: His mentor, leaning against a library shelf with a calm, knowing smile.
Arjuna: (Slamming the book shut) Krishna, I’ve read this play three times, and my head is spinning. It’s a void. Vladimir and Estragon sit by a dead tree, they talk in circles, and this "Godot" never shows up. Is it just a celebration of meaninglessness? Is this what my degree has come to studying nothingness?
Krishna: (Chuckles) Steady yourself, Partha. You are looking at the void and mistaking it for a lack of Truth. Tell me, why are they suffering?
Arjuna: Because they’re waiting! They’ve staked everything on this Godot. They can’t leave, they can’t act, and they can’t even hang themselves properly because the rope breaks. It’s pathetic.
Krishna: You’ve identified their Vishada their despair. But look closer through the lens of Karma. In the Gita, I told you that you have a right to the action, but never to the fruit (Phala). What are Vladimir and Estragon doing?
Arjuna: They aren't doing anything! That’s the point.
Krishna: No, Arjuna. They are performing the most grueling kind of "action" they are performing Expectation. Their "waiting" is actually an intense attachment to a specific result. They have made Godot their Ishta-Devata, but they seek him only for a personal "save." Because they are obsessed with the result of Godot’s arrival, they have become paralyzed in the present.
Arjuna: So, you’re saying their waiting is actually a form of "selfish action"?
Krishna: Exactly. It is Sakama Karma action driven by desire. They are bound by the ropes of Asha (hope). To the Western Absurdist, this is "meaningless." But to us, it is the definition of Maya. They are trapped in a cycle of circular time (Kala) because they refuse to find the center within themselves. They think "meaning" is a person who arrives on a road, but meaning is the Dharma performed right where you stand.
Arjuna: (Thoughtful) So, if they just walked away if they stopped "waiting" and simply "existed" without attachment they’d be liberated?
Krishna: (Smiling) Then the play would end, Arjuna. And perhaps, their Moksha would begin. But as long as they say "Yes, let's go" and "do not move," they remain on the battlefield of the mind, refusing to fight.
Section E
How does using Indian Knowledge Systems change your reading of a Western modernist text?
Applying Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) to a Western modernist text like Waiting for Godot transforms the narrative from a terminal cry of despair into a diagnostic study of the soul's bondage. While Western Modernism often views the "absurd" as an inescapable dead-end resulting from a Godless universe, an IKS framework reinterprets this vacuum as Maya (illusion).
Through the lens of the Bhagavad Gita, the characters’ paralysis is not merely a literary device but a failure of Dharma. Their suffering stems from Sakama Karma action performed with an agonizing attachment to the "fruit" (Godot’s arrival). Where a Western reading might see meaningless repetition, an IKS reading sees the cycle of Samsara, fueled by a lack of Viveka (discernment). This shift moves the reader from a state of passive sympathy for the characters to an active philosophical critique: the "void" isn't external reality, but the internal state of those who have not yet achieved Vairagya (detachment). Ultimately, IKS provides a "cure" for the absurdist ailment, suggesting that liberation lies in the internal realization of the Self rather than the external arrival of a savior."
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