Sunday, September 06, 2020

Circles

वृत्तांत
में होता है
आदि
मध्य
और अंत.

वृत्त में
सम्पूर्णता।

Translation: 
Stories have a beginning, middle and end.
But in a circle, there is no such distinction.
Circles are complete unto themselves. That which is the start might well be the middle, or even the end.

The idea is from the Indian philosophy of Advait - non-duality. So long as we view time as a linear concept and see a duality between us and the world, there will be a concept of a beginning and an end. But the minute we view the entire cosmos as a unified whole, we understand that like a circle, it is complete and forever. There is no beginning, no end, no pain, no attachment, nothing except a feeling of wholeness and perfection. 

The wordplay is on the word for narration (vritaant) and circle (vrit) in Hindi.