Realisation of the Supreme The Soul of Literature

Raji B Nair

Genuine literature ultimately deals with life and the truth behind life. One of the concepts basic to Indian metaphysics is that of ‘Paramatma’ and ‘Jivatma’ and the conscious and unconscious urge of the ‘Jivatma’ to realise and be one with the ‘Paramatma’. The realisation of the unique non-dualistic Brahman is possible only after traversing many difficult paths of dualism and devotion and after encountering 'Maya' or delusion and countering it with the knowledge about the Atman. The highest philosophic principle of the Advaita propounds knowledge of the union of the self and the Brahman, a realisation of the existence of a non-dualistic Brahman. This paper aspires to establish through an analysis of some of the explicit and implicit statements in some prominent pieces of literature that the realisation of the Supreme appears in the form of thematic resonances in works of art. Sometimes literature proves to be more effective than all philosophies as they teach greater philosophic truths than pure philosophy.