"Svaraj and Self -Reliance: Translating the Self and Its Rule From the ""Bhagavad -Gita"" and ""Manusmr&dotbelow;ti"" to the Works of Emerson, Thoreau, and Gandhi"
Adisasmito-Smith, Steven Eric
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/87284
Description
Title
"Svaraj and Self -Reliance: Translating the Self and Its Rule From the ""Bhagavad -Gita"" and ""Manusmr&dotbelow;ti"" to the Works of Emerson, Thoreau, and Gandhi"
Author(s)
Adisasmito-Smith, Steven Eric
Issue Date
2003
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Palencia-Roth, Michael
Christopher Minkowski
Department of Study
Comparative Literature
Discipline
Comparative Literature
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Religion, General
Language
eng
Abstract
The Bhagavad-Gita and the Manusmr&dotbelow;ti view the self as the locus of divine authority, but they struggle with the social implications. Jones and Wilkins filtered their translations through a Neoplatonic Christian lens with a liberal Enlightenment tint, while also weakening the political implications. Emerson, fueled by the Romantic drive for originality, restored these elements: the power of self-trust arose from reliance on God within. Thoreau cultivated himself by the asceticism of The Laws of Manu, and he transformed the Bhagavad-Gita's reflections on action into the grounds for political resistance. Gandhi recombined the Transcendentalists with Indian ideas to develop his satyagraha (holding to the truth in a good cause), swadeshi swadharma (self imposed duties of self-reliant individuals for their own communities), and true swaraj (self control as the key to political independence). The idea of self-rule was extended by these interconnections, from the self-mastery to harness the power of truth of classical Hinduism, to the liberal truth and emancipated self of European thought, to the reforming power of soul-force. It developed as a result of its translation by active interpreters.
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