LIKE HIS FRIEND Paul Elmer More, Eliot was as deeply versed in the ancient traditions of Indic thought as he was in the later and more precisely delineated tenets of Buddhism. The matrix of myth provided by the Vedas and the philosophical richness and diversity of the Upanishads repeatedly claimed his attention, and the brilliance of the orthodox Hindu systems, sometimes parallel to, sometimes diverging from Buddhist debates, formed an important part of his philosophical training. Nor was the effect of these traditions and debates merely theoretical; their terminology, their distinctions, and at times their tone and cadence inform Eliot's poetry at many points, providing images, aphorisms, and points of view that often shape his stance toward his material, even when the material itself seems quite different in origin and intent.

VEDAS AND UPANISHADS

The term “Veda” means “knowledge” and is applied to four collections of very early hymns, songs, and priestly formulas and to materials appended to them, including the Brahmanas; the Aranyakas, or “forest” texts; and the Upanishads, the extended epilogues.1 All of these contain, after the manner of archaeological sites, various strata of materials, ranging from primitive sacrifice and magic, through esoteric instruction and priestly codification, to extensive passages of extremely sophisticated philosophical and religious thought.