IKS and Waiting for Godot

 "Absurdism Meets Advaita: Non-duality in Waiting for Godot"

This Blog is a part of Thinking Activity assigned by Dr. and Prof. Dilip Barad sir regarding the play Waiting for Godot with a blend of Indian philosophical roots where I will ponder up on my view point and knowledge on the same.

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 Section A: Conceptual Warm-Up (Short Answers)- source chatgpt

Q-1 In the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna experiences vishada (existential crisis). Briefly explain how Vladimir and Estragon experience a similar crisis in Waiting for Godot?

• Like Arjuna’s vishada, Vladimir and Estragon’s crisis is not merely emotional but existential. They are disoriented about purpose, time, and action, unsure why they wait or what their lives mean. Their dependence on the unseen Godot mirrors spiritual uncertainty: action feels futile, yet inaction feels unbearable. This paralysis, oscillating between hope and despair, reflects a condition of metaphysical confusion similar to Arjuna’s moral and ontological doubt.

Q-2 Krishna emphasises karma (action) without attachment to results. How does Beckett portray the absence or failure of karma in the play?

• In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna urges purposeful action without attachment, but in Waiting for Godot, action collapses into inertia. Vladimir and Estragon repeatedly plan to leave, work, or change their condition, yet never act meaningfully. Their gestures talking, waiting, quarrelling produce no consequence. This failure of karma creates stagnation, where time moves but life does not, turning existence into endless, resultless waiting rather than transformative action.

Q-3 The Gita presents time (Kala) as cyclical and eternal. Identify two moments in Waiting for Godot that reflect cyclical time. 

• In Waiting for Godot, time repeatedly circles back rather than progressing. First, the structure of the two acts mirrors itself: both days unfold almost identically waiting, casual talk, Pozzo and Lucky’s arrival, and the boy’s message that Godot will come “tomorrow.” Second, Vladimir and Estragon forget the previous day’s events, resetting memory and experience, making each day feel like a repetition, echoing cyclical, non-linear time rather than historical movement.

Section B: Guided Close Reading (Text + IKS)  

“Godot is not a character but an expectation.”

Q-1 How does this idea change your understanding of the title Waiting for Godot?

•  If Godot is seen as an expectation rather than a person, the title no longer suggests waiting for a specific arrival but highlights a psychological and existential condition. In Waiting for Godot, “waiting” becomes the central action, while Godot represents hope, meaning, or salvation that is always deferred. The title thus emphasizes human dependence on future promises, showing how life is consumed by anticipation instead of lived in the present.

Q-2 Comparing Godot with Asha (hope/desire) concept from the Bhagavad Gita.

• A useful comparison emerges when we read Godot alongside the idea of asha (hope or desire) in the Bhagavad Gita. In the Gita, desire tied to outcomes binds the self to anxiety and suffering. Krishna advises acting without attachment to expectations because hope for specific results creates dependence and inner unrest. Thus, asha must be disciplined or transcended through karma-yoga and detachment.

• In Waiting for Godot, Godot functions in a similar but more tragic way. He is not a liberating hope but a paralyzing expectation. Vladimir and Estragon postpone action, decisions, and change because they believe Godot will arrive and solve everything. Their hope does not motivate action; it produces inertia. Unlike the Gita’s path, where detachment leads to clarity and purposeful living, Beckett shows what happens when attachment to hope dominates: life becomes suspended, repetitive, and empty.

• Therefore, while the Gita treats desire as something to master for spiritual freedom, Beckett dramatizes its failure. Godot is misplaced asha-hope that traps rather than transforms, turning existence into endless waiting instead of meaningful action.

Section C: Comparative Thinking (IKS+ Absurdism)

  

Concept in Bhagavad Gita	Explanation	Parallel in Waiting for Godot
Karma (Action)	Life demands purposeful action; one must act according to duty (dharma).	Vladimir and Estragon avoid meaningful action; they only talk and wait, leading to stagnation.
Nishkama Karma	Act without attachment to results; detachment brings clarity and freedom.	Characters are attached to the hope of Godot’s arrival; this expectation prevents action and deepens helplessness.
Maya	Worldly appearances and desires create illusion and delusion about reality.	Godot becomes an illusionary promise; the belief that he will solve everything deceives them and sustains false hope.
Kala (Time)	Time is cyclical and eternal; life moves in recurring cosmic patterns.	The two acts repeat almost identically; memory fades and each day resets, creating a circular sense of time.
Moksha / Liberation	Freedom from attachment, suffering, and the cycle of rebirth through wisdom and detachment.	No liberation occurs; the characters remain trapped in endless waiting, suggesting the absence or failure of spiritual release.

The following chart is generated with the help of ChatGpt

Section D: Creative–Critical Task (IKS Integration)

Q-1 A reflective critical note on the following statement with the concept of Kala/Time and Moksha from The Bhagavad Gita: 

“Beckett shows what happens when human beings wait for meaning instead of creating it.”

• The statement insightfully captures the existential core of Waiting for Godot. Beckett portrays a world in which human beings postpone life while expecting meaning to arrive from outside themselves. Vladimir and Estragon do not act, choose, or transform their condition; instead, they wait for Godot to give purpose to their existence. This passive dependence turns life into suspension. Nothing changes because nothing is initiated. Meaning is treated as something external, and therefore it never comes.

• Seen through the lens of the Bhagavad Gita, this condition contrasts sharply with the ideas of Kala (Time) and Moksha (Liberation). In the Gita, time is cyclical yet dynamic; life moves through continuous action (karma), and each moment offers the possibility of growth. However, in Beckett’s play, time becomes stagnant rather than transformative. Days repeat mechanically, memories fade, and the two acts mirror each other, suggesting empty recurrence rather than meaningful progression. Time does not lead to development because the characters refuse to act within it.

• Similarly, Moksha requires detachment and self-realisation through purposeful action. Liberation comes when one stops clinging to external expectations. Vladimir and Estragon, however, remain attached to Godot as a saviour figure. Their hope binds them instead of freeing them. Thus, Beckett dramatizes the absence of Moksha: without inner initiative, existence becomes endless waiting. The play ultimately suggests that meaning must be created through action, not awaited like a miracle.

Section E: Critical Reflection (Metacognition)

My take on Absurdism becoming more meaningful or more challenging when read through the Gita and the reason.

• Reading Absurdism through the Bhagavad Gita makes it both more meaningful and more challenging for me, but in different ways. It becomes meaningful because the Gita gives me a philosophical vocabulary like karma, detachment, kala, moksha to interpret the stillness and repetition in Waiting for Godot. Instead of seeing Vladimir and Estragon merely as comic or tragic figures, I begin to see them as examples of what happens when action collapses and attachment to expectation replaces responsibility. Their waiting feels like the negative image of karma-yoga.

• At the same time, this lens makes Absurdism more challenging. The Gita insists that meaning can be created through right action and inner discipline, but Beckett refuses that consolation. There is no Krishna, no guidance, no promise of liberation only circular time and exhaustion. As someone used to looking for philosophical coherence, I feel unsettled by this absence. The play almost resists the hope that the Gita teaches.

• So, reading them together doesn’t soften Beckett; it sharpens him. The contrast forces me to confront how fragile meaning is when we stop acting and simply wait.(Idea is mine but arranged with the help of AI)

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References-

Bagchee, Joydeep. “The ‘Bhagavadgītā’: Philosophy versus Historicism.” Philosophy East and West, vol. 61, no. 4, 2011, pp. 707–17. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23015338. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

Barad, Dilip. (2026). UNDERSTANDING ‘WAITING FOR GODOT’ THROUGH THE BHAGAVAD GITA. 10.13140/RG.2.2.25436.04480. 

Ghosh, Ranjan. “RECONFIGURING THE WAITING FOR GODOT: Explorations within Some Paradigms of Hindu Philosophy.” Samuel Beckett Today / Aujourd’hui, vol. 14, 2004, pp. 307–21. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25781474. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.