Finding Enlightenment
Honors World Literature
Dr. Auge
May 10, 2012
Which type of Enlightenment is better, Eastern or Western? This question is addressed in
Gita Mehta’s novel, A River Sutra. Through Mehta’s background, she is able to portray both
sides of Enlightenment leading the reader to question which one is correct. Born to a freedom
fighter father in India, Mehta experienced the Indian culture throughout her early life. While still
a young child, she was placed in a boarding house with her brother so that her mother could help
support her father in his political fight. While she left India to attend Cambridge University, she
still experienced the entirety of Hindu beliefs, including an Eastern notion of Enlightenment.
When Mehta went to Cambridge, she also learned the Western notion of Enlightenment as well
as a proper education (“Gita Mehta.”) After being fully engulfed in both styles of
Enlightenment, she used her experience to right many books, including “A River Sutra.” In this
book, the author offers many characters who share their personal experiences to help address this
question.
Throughout the novel, the author portrays characters who display both Eastern, and
Western notions of Enlightenment. At many points, there does not seem to be a clear cut answer
to which viewpoint this book represented due to her vast experience and capabilities at writing
for both viewpoints. Due to the plethora of characters, she is able to use them to contradict one
another. However, as the book comes to a conclusion, there seems to be only one notion that she
believes. Gita Mehta’s A River Sutra supports an Eastern notion of Enlightenment. It does so
through the multiple stories the narrator hears namely the Jane Monk, Nitan Bose, and the
musician. Through these three characters, one can see how the book clearly promotes an Eastern
notion opposed to a Western view.
To better understand the matter at hand, one must first define the two sides of
enlightenment better. In terms of an Eastern notion of Enlightenment, the Hindu religion
follows four stages of life. These stages are the student, householder, retiree, and the renunciant.
At this final stage, a person breaks all their connections with the world and depends on the
generosity of others to survive. By living this new life style, these holy men attempt to detach
themselves in order to receive Moksha, or ending the cycle of reincarnation. According to Tim
Hayward, “…the idea of enlightenment refers to a more momentous kind of spiritual awakening
or realization.” Conversely, the Western, or European notion of Enlightenment supports a
rational reasoning for nature and society. Opposed to Eastern, this notion of enlightenment
focuses on learning through experience opposed to spiritual belief. For example, according to
Michael Eamon, “During the Enlightenment, it was commonly believed that the laws of Nature
could be discovered through experimentation and observation: ‘Experience’ was the operative
word.” He went on to say that only through experience could one test previous beliefs and
discover the true nature of past laws. To conclude, Eastern supports a religious, faith based
viewpoint while Western follows beliefs found upon rationality.
This story is told from a narrator who is attempting to seek some version of
Enlightenment. Once a high standing government official, the unnamed narrator meets many
people who share stories that help him find his way. Through these stories, one can see how
Mehta attempts to unfold her beliefs to the reader.
The first character that the narrator meets also proves to be the first person to represent an
Eastern notion of Enlightenment, the Jain Monk. Through the Jain Monk’s experiences before
becoming a holy man, one can see how the Western notion of Enlightenment is flawed and
corrupt. First, the holy man discusses his travels with his father. Due to their beliefs in ahmisa,
Jains are not allowed to harm any living creature, causing them to choose careers that have little
to no effect on the environment or others people. While the Jain Monk travels with his father,
who is a very wealthy diamond merchantman, he sees the hypocrisy in their beliefs. While they
claim that they do not harm any person or creature, the effects of their diamond company are
detrimental. Though their sales, they indirectly harm many types of animals caused by the
mining for diamonds as well as the miners themselves. When the Jain Monk confronts his father
about it, he is astonished to see how much he does not care about his actions. This sense of
carelessness shows how the Western culture corrupts the world through their ideas of dominating
nature.
The second form of corruption is shown through actions of the holy man while abroad in
Europe. During his time away, the Jain Monk filled his life with many worldly goods: fast cars,
attractive women, expensive gifts. While this lifestyle may be luxurious and desired by many,
the man soon became bored with this routine. At the end of his stay in Europe, he no longer
received any satisfaction, longing for his return home. Through his denouncing of the western
world, he also denounces the Western notion of Enlightenment by showing a lack of interest in
experiencing everything.
Along with the Jain Monk, Nitan Bose is another character that helps support this Eastern
Notion of Enlightenment. The story of this rising executive in the tea company directly shows a
link to the story of Shiva and Kama. In this myth, Kama shoots Shiva with one of his arrows
that cause people to fall in love. Angered, Shiva lashes out at Kama, burning him to ashes.
Because of this god’s demise, the world lost all love and sexual desire and everything turned
baron. Seeing the need for Kama’s presence in the world, the other gods asked Shiva to grant
Kama new life. The moral of this myth shows the need for love and desire in this world.
Nitan Bose’s story supports the Eastern Notion of Enlightenment in multiple ways. First,
after he spends some time at the estate, he begins to read Hindi scriptures and books. Instead of
filling his boredom with alcohol like his colleagues had predicted, he chooses religion. Here one
can see his detachment from worldly goods as Nitan Bose separates himself from the world and
becomes dependent on achieving knowledge through studying religious ideas.
Second, as his affair with Rima begins and thrives, Nitan Bose falls madly in love with
this mystery woman. This relationship allows Nitan Bose to grow in many ways. First, the
affair recovers him from an empty life. After meeting with his old friend for the tea company, he
begins to find emptiness in his life and starts taking out his aggression on his workers causing the
estate to lose productivity. After the relationship starts, however, he finds himself again and
returns to the way he was before meeting his friend. Second, he discovers a form of love and
desire that is beyond normal social boundaries due to his standing. Due to his status, it would be
questionable to fall in love with a woman so much lower than him. However, he does not let
that stop him and he follows his feelings. Lastly, through the relationship, he develops a heart
that makes him less egocentric which furthers his move towards enlightenment.
Finally, as he abandons Rima because of her lover’s social class, he rejects the natural
human desire that is found in the mythical story of Shiva and Kama. When he returns to the
estate to finish up his duties, Nitan Bose is punished by Rima for rejecting her. This proves an
Eastern Notion of Enlightenment because his rejection of desire caused by social class lead to his
punishment.
Similar to the Jain Monk and Nitan Bose, the Musician supports the Eastern viewpoint of
Enlightenment. Through this story, one can see how Moksha is supported in many ways. First,
while many people want to use Imrat in order to receive fame and fortune, Master Mohan shows
no greed throughout the story. He treats Imrat with a great deal of respect and kindness while
also never receiving any money for teaching him or taking him in. Similarly, Imrat has does not
squander the money that he makes after the first record sale. Instead, he saves it in hopes of
using it to find his lost sister. Second, while Master Mohan had no alternative purposes for
training the child other than to teach him how to sing, money still caused this child to lose his
life. Because of Master Mohan’s stingy cruel wife, Imrat was forced to sing for a sahib for a
large sum of money. At this presentation, the sahib slit the young boy’s throat, saying that no
one should be able to hear the voice of the gods. This supports Moksha and an Eastern notion of
Enlightenment because his death was caused by a worldly attachment. If the wife had not been
so greedy, Imrat would have never died. Finally, the reason why the child’s voice is so beautiful
is because he is blinded by the world around him. The child is oblivious to the ugliness and evil
that that surrounds him. For example, as he sings for the sahib, Master Mohan is quite
frightened by the surroundings and finds it quite ominous. However, due to his blindness, Imrat
sings just as beautiful as normal, which unfortunately ultimately leads to his death. This
supports Moksha because the blindness is a metaphor to detachment. Through his blindness,
Imrat is not hindered by the malevolence and temptations that are found in society.
While there are many reasons why this book supports an Eastern Notion of
Enlightenment, there are also some characters that support the Western, rational viewpoint of
Enlightenment. Naga Baba, or the Professor, portrays the European notion very well due to his
drastic life changes. As the narrator is hears the story of the Naga Baba, the reader begins to
realize the extreme life style that an individual must take on in order to receive Moksha
according to the Hindu faith. The Naga Baba is forced to live in mountains or deserts for weeks
at a time without any water. In the case of this particular holy man, he had to track over 200
miles in order to find a crematory to honor Shiva. The amount of dedication to this life style is
absolutely enormous, encompassing total detachment from worldly goods and depending upon
others to survive. However, as the book comes to a close, the Naga Baba eventually turns down
this life style and reenters society. He returns to his life of archeological digging, mainly
focusing on the Narmada. While he still emphases his work on the Narmada, he does not believe
that there is anything sacred to it. At one point, he renounces the idea of it having any religious
value, claiming that only few events happened to individual people. This begs the question, if a
holy man who renounces the world to receive Moksha and Enlightenment reenters the society
and disregards all of his beliefs, how can an Eastern notion of Enlightenment be the right path?
Not only does he totally renounce the Narmada for its sacred value, but he uses an enormous
amount of equipment to help in his research. He dove back into the world and reattached
himself with many worldly items.
While one may be able to argue that Naga Baba, or the Professor, disputes an Eastern
notion of Enlightenment, this story can also support Moksha as well. Although the holy man
leaves his life style of detachment from the world that does not necessarily mean that he did not
attain enlightenment. One can argue that through his detachment, the Naga Baba followed the
path which lead him to achieve enlightenment from ego. His reentering into society does not
cancel out his achievement but instead shows his progression. As the book comes to a
conclusion, the author shows how the Professor talked with Uma, attempting for her too to
achieve enlightenment. Through this conversation, one can see how the Professor has changed
his life and attempts to help Uma find her enlightenment as well.
Throughout the novel, Gita Mehta supplied interesting ideas about Enlightenment that are
applicable to the real world. This work helps ask many questions that may go unasked, such as:
what is more important to receive enlightenment? Should a person base their views of
enlightenment through scientific experience that helps explain the reason for why things are or
religious beliefs that explain the world through beliefs? While an Eastern Notion of
Enlightenment that is recommended by this book may help some people, it seems like today’s
society would follow a Western viewpoint much more. So many facts about religions have been
disproved through science and research. New finds through scientific works have helped people
understand the world for the better while also denouncing many religious beliefs, such as
evolution. While Eastern Enlightenment, detachment from the world may help some people
reason their version of Enlightenment, Western society has proven time and again that learning
from the past is the only way that one can become better prepared for the future.
Reference
Enlightenment. (2002). In International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics. Retrieved from
http://www.credoreference.com/entry/routenvpol/enlightenment
Enlightenment. (2005). In Britain and the Americas: Culture, Politics, and History. Retrieved
from http://www.credoreference.com/entry/abcbramrle/enlightenment
“Gita Mehta.” Contemporary Authors Online. Detroit: Gale, 2004. From Literature Resource
Center