Linking Prince Myshkin with the Bodhisatva

Reviewed by Aditha Dissanayake

Now that I have read Martin Wickramasinghe's "The Buddhist Jataka Stories and the Russian Novel" I believe one of the new year resolutions I have been making for the last three years that of reading "Brothers Karamazov" to the end, need not be repeated next year.

Now that I have read there are similarities between Father Zossima and the Bodhisatva I am confident I can go through the bulky volume in one breath, trying to justify for myself the claim that Father Zossima has many similarities with the character of the Bodhisatva as depicted in the Jataka stories.

In the first of the two essays of this volume now on to its fourth edition, Martin Wickramasinghe introduces the reader to the literary aspects of a few selected Jataka stories and in the second chapter from which the title is derived, compares certain recurring types of characters in the Jataka stories with the characters of Dostoevsky's major novels.

He also explores the similarities of the philosophy of life implied by these characters; similarities for example in the Ananusochiya Jataka, where the Bodhisatva, born to a Brahmin family is portrayed as a young man who is incapable of having any physical love for a woman, with that of The Idiot where Prince Myshkin fails to love (in the Western sense of the word), two beautiful and enigmatic women, Natasya and Aglaia.

Sage Wickramasinghe believes the English language lacks a precise word to describe Myshkin's feelings towards these women and suggests the Pali word Metta would correctly define Myshkin's feelings. "The Boddhisatva represents the Buddhist conception of the character of an imperfect human being striving to attain moral and spiritual perfection....and Prince Myshkin is also the same type.."

On page 82, he confesses that even though when he first read Dostoevsky's Idiot he had thought by creating the character of Myshkin Dostoevsky had anticipated Ghandi and that after reading the other major novels he was haunted by a vague idea of an affinity between the Russian novel and the Jataka stories he had treated these thoughts as figments of his imagination and forgotten about them till he read Andre Gide's "Dostoevsky" where Gide observes "Dostoevsky leads us, we may take it, if not to anarchy, to a sort of Buddhism, or at least quietism..."

But whereas Gide leaves off with these vague suggestions, sage Wickramasinghe, analyses this concept in simple yet profound terms.

He shows clearly that unlike the characters of most Western novels who are persons of intellect the heroes of Dostoevsky's novels are disturbed by an inner urge or restlessness.

Their idea of honour like that of the characters of the Jataka stories, is humility and compassion. Myshkin and Father Zossima become saints by surrendering their individuality and intellect. In most of the Jataka stories too the Bodhisatva becomes a homeless wanderer or saint by completely surrendering his individuality and intellect."

Not only in the fictional characters, but in the lives of the Russian novelists too, sage Wickramasinghe sees similarities with certain ideals of life of the ancient Indians.

Here is how he describes Nicholai Gogol, the father of the Russian novel. Gogol, "after writing his masterpiece, Dead Souls, became tired or discontented with life...he left Russia, wandered like a tramp on the Continent and settled down in Rome but later went back to Moscow where he died."

Tolstoy too was dissatisfied with his domestic and social life and after renouncing his property preferred to live like a recluse. He dressed like a peasant, chopped firewood, cooked his own food and mended his own boots...finally he` left this "forest" life to become a wanderer." These stages of the writers lives are similar to the phase known in ancient India as that of the sannyasi (the homeless wanderer).

In the Appendix in an unpublished article focusing on Gorky he draws similarities between Patachara and Gorky's The Birth of a Man and reveals interesting tidbits about Gorky; his real name was Alexie Maximovich Peshkov; the pseudonym Maxim the Bitter suggests his attitude to society and life etc.

Though at a glance the gap between the Jataka Stories and the Russian novel seems as wide as the distance between the sky and the earth, on reading "The Jataka Stories and the Russian novel" it is easy to realize that the basic psychological and spiritual elements, the conflict between reason and intuition, pride and humility that combine to make the puzzling characters of the Russian novel can be detected in the characters of the Jataka stories too.

Still sceptical? Follow me and start reading Brothers Karamazov. You might fall asleep in five minutes, but if you read the Jataka stories and the Russian novel first you might find yourself turning into an insomniac till you reach the end of Brothers Karamazov.

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Attention! Armchair bird watchers

Title: Portraits, birds of Sri Lanka
Author: Sunil Gunaratne
Printed by: Karunaratne & Sons Ltd.

“Birds and art fit together”. I don’t know if I am quoting someone or not. But if no one had said this before, it’s high time they did - specially with a book like this in their hands.

Almost every photo in Portraits; birds of Sri Lanka by Sunil Gunaratne is a masterpiece. A mixture of full page stunners and smaller images, every photo carries a brief description giving ample details about the bird, the location and sometimes even interesting anecdotes.

The “White-breasted water hen for example carries the following description; “The picture... was taken from my car at the bund of a tank in Tissamaharama.

The bird was literally at arms length from the lens, and it was a surprise for both me and the bird, meeting face to face at such close range. Just as my vehicle stopped and I spotted it, I was quick enough to click the camera, simultaneously.

The black jacketed bird with a white shirt front is common all over the island, except in the highest hills. It is constantly on the move, flicking its tail, to show the rust coloured under-tail covets....The usual call of the bird puwak-puwak has given rise to a popular folk tale.

The tale goes that the bird had once upon a time been an Arecanut seller and had one fine day, lost his bag of Arecanuts(Puwak) while crossing a stream, and ever since, had been hopelessly looking for it by repeatedly crying puwak-puwak’. The Sinhala name of the bird (Korawakka) as well as the Tamil name (Kanan Koli) makes the book uniquely Sri Lankan.

A simple glance of the photos is enough to realize here is a rare photographer who has captured the colours, the wildlife, the landscapes of the country in a unique, aesthetic manner.

Even though it is unlikely you will ever jump into the jungle these photos will make you more aware of all the millions of details which have to be right to make a good photo. Having always been more interested in reading and writing than in bird watching or photography, I confess before I set eyes on this book I had never thought of photographing birds. But I realize now that bird photography is also a kind of ‘writing’ the pen replaced by the lens.

Great photos. Useful information. Clear organization and elegant layout. Here is a must read for anyone keen on the birds of Sri Lanka, specially those who are not going to spend hours hidden behind a bush waiting for a rare bird to show up.

If you love birds this is the book for you and if not, by the time you reach the last page, you would have learnt to love them.

Aditha Dissanayake