Rao's concept of Non-duality

Abstract

Raja Rao’s concept of ‘non-duality’ or ‘oneness of all’ is quite close to the Advaitavad’ of Shankara. In
‘The Serpent and the Rope’, however, Rao, the author himself has maintained it. He is of the opinion
that life reveals its meaning when duality merges into non-duality. But in the case of Rama, the
protagonist and his mouthpiece, it is otherwise. His ego does not die. Consequently his affinity with
Madeleine and Savithri is marked by temporal isolation. Rama, the orthodox Brahamin is often in the
grip of anguish of time that he wants to annihilate. When estranged from Madeleine, he feels rootlessness
but ultimately sets out on a spiritual journey to know his own ‘Self’. He feels himself homeless, aimless
and think as if he were reduced to cypher. The novel describes Rama's shift from the Vedantic
philosophy to the tantric cult. The propounders of this cult are of the opinion that it is a way to salvation.
People can perform wonderful things by the tantric cult. There are several references to it in ‘The Serpent
and the Rope'. Rama dreams of Mahatma Gandhi working with him, making the railway line stand up,
going to Fatehpur-Sikri and speaking to Emperor Akabar, an airplane floating over a mountain and then
sitting carefully on a peak, an elephant giving birth to her young one within twenty-four days and the
like. Of course, Rama's dream is an instance of tantric cult. Rama's desire for magical accomplishment
reminds one of the desires of Dr. Faustus in the famous play by Marlowe.
Key words: Non-duality, The Serpent and the Rope, Rama, Madeleine and Savithri.