*Before I begin writing, I must say I do object to the term "Hinduism" being applied to the primary religion of India. This was a term coined by the European colonists and never used by the actual believers prior to the colonists' arrival. A more appropriate term would be "Varnashrama Dharma", "Sanatan Dharma", or "Vedic". However, for the sake of easy reading and familiarity, I will use the term "Hindu" in this essay, but will use "Vedic" as often as possible. And for that matter, "Bharata" is a more appropriate name than "India". At the risk of becoming excessively politically correct, I shall stop here.
More Hindu Themes in the "Star Wars" Saga
More Hindu Themes in the "Star Wars" Saga
By Cie Sharp
In 1994, Rajan Rajbhandari wrote an essay entitled "Star Wars and Hinduism" (http://www.thejediplanet.com/features/hindu.shtml), which dealt with several Hindu themes embedded in the original three movies of the Star Wars trilogy. Although people have cited many other cultural origins to "Star Wars" names and themes besides India and Hinduism, I am particularly attracted to the Hindu elements, and personally believe they outshine all others.
Rajbhandari's essay was written five years before the first of the prequel trilogy movies was released, and as such, it is bereft of the themes and terms embedded in Episodes One and Two. I attempted to write to Rajbhandari several times about this, to see if he ever intended to write a "sequel" about his essay, but have yet to receive a response. I hardly consider myself qualified to undertake such a task, but through my sheer enthusiasm, sparked by the insightful "Star Wars and Hinduism" essay, I am strongly compelled to write such a "sequel" myself. My only hope is that my words are found to be accurate, thought provoking, and devoid of bias and "delusions of grandeur".
To reiterate, the following were the key themes from the Original Trilogy as cited by Rajbhandari:
Next, I would like to examine some themes. Not so many, as to bore the audience with Quixotic windmills, but a few key themes from the prequels (as well as one from the original trilogy which Rajbhandari did not cite). First I would like to examine the Jedi. We see several influences concerning the Jedi. One popular view is that they are a spiritual samurai caste. The fact that they risk their lives for sometimes ungrateful captors mirrors Kurasawa's "Seven Samurai", but the strong spiritual element of the Jedi suggests another influence. To those more versed with eastern Asia, the buddhist monks who are adept at various forms of martial arts may be brought to mind.
- Yoda concealed himself in the forest, like a Rishi (the venerable sages of Vedic society), or similar to how the Pandavas spent part of their time when they were in exile from the Kauravas (from the "Mahabharat", India's foremost epic which features the "Bhagavad Gita"). In addition, Yoda attempted to fool Luke Skywalker into thinking that he was just a simple sentient creature with no higher abilities, a tactic often used by Rishis, Sadhus, and some Gurus, in order to weed out the true aspirants from the pretenders.
- The nature of the Force and its close similarity to Brahman. In the Empire Strikes Back, Yoda says the Force "surrounds us ... and binds us" and then says "luminous beings are we, not this crude matter". This mirrors the Hindu concept that we are not synonymous with the body, but rather we are higher. The "matter" we are composed of externally is "crude" and therefore, unreliable at best. Obi-Wan Kenobi's quote in "Star Wars: A New Hope" "Your eyes can deceive you, don't trust them" is a further assertation that matter can be deceiving. The "Hindu" equivolent of this matter is known as "Maya", or illusory energy.
- The position that Luke was forced into, i.e. having to do battle with one's own father, brings to mind Arjuna's early predicament in the Bhagavad Gita. He was to do battle with his relatives the Kauravas, but in the beginning, refused to do so. Krishna told Arjuna to remove himself from the attachment, and to complete his warrior caste duty as a ksatriya. Similarly, Obi-Wan Kenobi compells Luke Skywalker to fight his father on very similar grounds.
- "Shmi" Skywalker - The mother of Anakin Skywalker, her name is widely accepted to be a halved version of "Lakshmi", who is the Consort of Lord Vishnu. Those who worship Lord Vishnu exclusively consider Lakshmi devi to have motherly "shakti" or potency, among a plethora of other potencies.
- Padme - The woman who would eventually be the wife of the movie's protagonist Anakin Skywalker. "Padme" means "lotus flower" in Sanskrit, and is widely used in poetry and scripture.
- King Varuna - A king of Padme's homeworld of Naboo, the name is obviously a tribute to Veruna, the demigod of oceans. Naboo has many attractive waterways, as can be seen in Episode 2 of the "Star Wars" films.
- Gungans - The name of the race of aquatic, sentient beings that most movie fans have found annoying, their name is clearly derived from "Ganga", one of the seven holy rivers in India.
- Shaak Ti - The name of a female Jedi master, a simple definition of the word shakti would be "energy" or "potency". When there is a personal embodiment of shakti, it is predominantly in a feminine form.
- Depa Billaba - The name of another female Jedi master (played by an actress of Indian origin), who served on the "Jedi Council" in the prequel trilogy. Another transliteration of these two words would be "Deepa Ballabha", which means "the master of the light".
- Yoda - I have saved the most interesting for the last. Various sources say "Yoda" is a derivation of the Japanese word "yodan", meaning "conclusion". We are also pointed to "Yodeah", a Hebrew word meaning "knows". The exact word "yoda" is found in Punjabi (sometimes presumed to be from Sanskrit) meaning "warrior". Interestingly enough, we do not see Yoda's warrior prowess until Star Wars: Episode 2. On a sidenote, the word "yoga" came to mind whenever I heard or thought of Yoda's name.
- Mandalore - The planet where Jango Fett allegedly originated from, the origin is "Mandala", a symbol of Hindu origin.
- The Rishi Maze - This is a part of space which is directly adjacent to the planet "Kamino", as Obi-Wan Kenobi is told. A "Rishi" is a very powerful sage of Vedic times, as has been explained earlier.
Next, I would like to examine some themes. Not so many, as to bore the audience with Quixotic windmills, but a few key themes from the prequels (as well as one from the original trilogy which Rajbhandari did not cite). First I would like to examine the Jedi. We see several influences concerning the Jedi. One popular view is that they are a spiritual samurai caste. The fact that they risk their lives for sometimes ungrateful captors mirrors Kurasawa's "Seven Samurai", but the strong spiritual element of the Jedi suggests another influence. To those more versed with eastern Asia, the buddhist monks who are adept at various forms of martial arts may be brought to mind.