IKS in the English Classroom: Waiting for Godot through the Lens of the Bhagavad Gita
Introduction: Bridging Two Intellectual Traditions
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this blog is given by Dr. dilip barad .
A country road. A solitary tree. Two men in bowler hats waiting for someone who never arrives.
Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot is traditionally read through Western existentialism, especially Camus and Sartre, as a representation of absurdity and meaninglessness. The circular dialogue, inaction, and temporal stagnation reflect what critics call the Theatre of the Absurd.
However, this blog reinterprets the play through the Indian Knowledge System (IKS), specifically the philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita. When read through concepts such as Karma (action), Nishkama Karma (detached action), Maya (illusion), Kala (time), and Moksha (liberation), the play appears less as cosmic cruelty and more as spiritual stagnation rooted in attachment.
This approach does not replace existentialism but places it in dialogue with Indian philosophy.
Section A: Conceptual Connections
1. Arjuna’s Vishada and the Tramps’ Crisis
In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences Vishada, a crisis of paralysis and moral confusion on the battlefield. However, his despair becomes the beginning of wisdom through Krishna’s guidance.
Similarly, Vladimir and Estragon experience anxiety, confusion, and despair. They question memory, existence, and purpose. Yet unlike Arjuna, they receive no transformative insight. Their crisis does not lead to awakening. It becomes permanent.
Arjuna’s despair initiates knowledge; the tramps’ despair sustains stagnation.
2. The Failure of Karma
Krishna teaches Nishkama Karma action performed without attachment to its fruits. One must act because it is one’s duty, not because of reward.
In Beckett’s play, action repeatedly collapses. The tramps declare, “Let’s go,” yet they do not move. Their waiting is entirely result-oriented: they remain because Godot may reward or save them.
From a Gita perspective, their paralysis stems from attachment. They cannot act because their action depends on outcome. The absence of detached action produces existential inertia.
3. Kala: Cyclical Time
The Gita presents Kala as cyclical and eternal.
In Waiting for Godot, time loops. Act II mirrors Act I. Conversations repeat. Memory falters. Even the tree’s slight transformation does not alter their consciousness.
This resembles Samsara repetition without spiritual evolution. Nature changes; the self does not.
Section B: Godot as Expectation
If Godot is understood not as a literal character but as expectation itself, the title becomes psychologically significant.
Through the Gita lens, Godot resembles:
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Asha (hope/desire)
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Phala (fruit of action)
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Maya (illusion)
The tramps believe meaning will arrive externally. This belief prevents self-awareness. Instead of acting in the present, they defer responsibility to an unseen authority.
The Gita insists that attachment to illusion sustains suffering. Liberation requires inner realization, not external rescue. Thus, Godot symbolizes misplaced expectation. The “wait” is not devotion; it is dependency.
Section C: Comparative Framework
Even suicide symbolized by the rope reflects confusion. Liberation in the Gita is spiritual awakening, not physical escape.
Section D: Creative Critical Dialogue
For this photo given prompt is - “Split composition artwork: left side ancient Indian battlefield with warrior and divine charioteer in philosophical conversation, right side minimalist barren stage with two waiting figures near a leafless tree, dramatic contrast between action and waiting, symbolic art.”
Arjuna: Madhava, I have read a modern play where two men wait endlessly beneath a tree. They expect someone named Godot. He never comes. Is their waiting a form of faith?
Krishna: Arjuna, faith is not measured by duration but by awareness. These men do not wait in surrender; they wait in fear and uncertainty.
Arjuna: They say they are bound to him. They believe he will change their condition.
Krishna: Then their bond is attachment, not devotion. When action depends entirely on an external reward, the mind becomes enslaved to expectation.
Arjuna: But they speak, they think, they question existence. Is that not engagement?
Krishna: Thought without transformation is repetition. They circle their doubts as one trapped in Samsara circles birth and death. They do not act from understanding; they postpone action until meaning arrives.
Arjuna: So their suffering arises from delay?
Krishna: Their suffering arises from dependence. They imagine destiny lies on the horizon. They forget that responsibility lies within.
Arjuna: If they acted without waiting, would absurdity dissolve?
Krishna: Absurdity is born when humans expect certainty before action. Perform your duty without clinging to outcome that is freedom. These men cling to outcome before duty.
Arjuna: Then their tree is not sacred?
Krishna: Every place can be sacred if awareness awakens. Yet without insight, even sacred ground becomes barren.
Arjuna: And liberation?
Krishna: Liberation is not escape from circumstance but clarity within it. Until expectation ends, waiting continues.
Section E: Critical Reflection
For this photo given prompt is - “Minimalist symbolic artwork showing two shadowy figures trapped inside a circular clock without hands, repeating path around a barren tree, existential mood, philosophical theme of cyclical time.”
Using Indian Knowledge Systems significantly reshapes the reading of a Western modernist text. Instead of interpreting Waiting for Godot as proof of meaninglessness, the Gita lens reframes it as a condition of spiritual misdirection. The tramps are not merely victims of an indifferent universe; they are figures trapped in attachment and deferred responsibility.
This perspective does not deny existentialist interpretation. Rather, it expands it. Absurdism becomes less about cosmic silence and more about human dependence on external validation. Concepts like Karma and Maya provide philosophical vocabulary to articulate why paralysis occurs.
Reading Beckett through IKS encourages cross-cultural critical thinking. It demonstrates that modern anxiety can be examined through ancient frameworks without reducing either tradition. The dialogue between the Gita and Beckett enriches both texts and challenges Eurocentric exclusivity in literary interpretation.
Conclusion
Through the IKS lens, Waiting for Godot transforms from a drama of endless nothingness into a cautionary meditation on attachment, illusion, and deferred action. The eternal wait is not fate; it is a consequence of expectation without awareness.
This reading does not claim that Beckett intentionally encoded Gita philosophy, but uses the Gita as an interpretive framework to generate cross-cultural critical insight.
AI-Generated Media Component
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The featured conceptual image (Vladimir and Estragon beneath an inverted Ashvattha tree symbolizing Samsara) was generated using AI image tools to visually represent the comparative framework.
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A short reflective audio commentary summarizing the Gita Godot connection accompanies this blog.
Academic Integrity Disclosure
This blog was refined with AI assistance for structuring and clarity. Interpretations and comparative arguments reflect independent academic engagement.
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