Ideas from Indian Religion, Philosophy and Literature inParsifal

Translator's Introduction

he following extract has been translated from the final section ofRichard Wagner och den Indiska Tankevärlden (Stockholm, 1985) by the Indologist and Sanskrit scholar, Professor Carl Suneson. Neither this section, or indeed any of Suneson's fascinating monograph, has, to my knowledge, been published in English translation. This is a pity because it contains information and insights that deserve to be available to all who are interested in the dramatic works of Richard Wagner. Those who wish to read the entire book (of approximately 100 pages) but who cannot read Swedish might like to seek out the German translation by Gert Kreutzer, published under the titleRichard Wagner und die Indische Geisteswelt.

For the reader who is accustomed to thinking of Wagner'sParsifal as an exclusivelyChristian work that is based upon a specific medieval poem,Wolfram'sParzival , some of this extract might come as a surprise. In his monograph on the Indian influence (direct and indirect) upon Richard Wagner and his dramatic works, Carl Suneson both summarised and extended all previous studies in this area. It might be noted thatWolfgang Osthoff's study ofDie Sieger (The Victors) is contemporary with Suneson's book; these separate studies of theBuddhist elements in Wagner's works are complementary and together throw new light on this aspect of the Wagner canon.

Those of us who incline towards the view that Schopenhauer's philosophy was the dominant influence on all of Wagner's later works (i.e. after the 1854 watershed), while accepting the importance of theBuddhist and Brahmanist (i.e. Hindu) influences, tend to regard them as secondary. It is also possible to take the view that these oriental ideas influenced Wagner directly and independently of any Schopenhauerian context. In any case, in order to understand what happens inParsifal it is first necessary to recognise the importance of Wagner's belief (clearly stated in aletter of August 1860) in reincarnation andkarma; this subject was explored in depth byOsthoff.

It is more difficult to take seriously, in the light of the studies by Osthoff and Suneson respectively, the extreme view ofParsifal forcefully put forward inRichard Wagner: Parsifal by Lucy Beckett, that this drama is an exclusivelyChristian work in whichBuddhist and Brahmanist ideas — which, it should be noted, Wagner often blended and confused — likekarma , if present at all, are insignificant. The Indian concepts ofkarma (literally actions, also used in a wider sense to mean the results of actions) andpunya (merit, which accumulates from good actions) are offundamental importance in Wagner'sParsifal, a fact that has escaped most commentators, among whom Carl Suneson and Wolfgang Osthoff are the notable exceptions.

Translator's note: I have omitted some of the Sanskrit and Pali quotations, retaining only an English translation of the Swedish text. I have included English prose translations of the Middle High German quotations but I have provided translations only forsome of the modern German quotations. One MHG quotation has been replaced by a link to another page on this web site where several descriptions of Condrie are provided for comparison. Where lines from Wagner'sParsifal are not translated below, I refer the reader to myannotated English translation of the libretto. I have kept most of Suneson's footnotes (marked as "author's footnote") except for those that only reference the poem ofParsifal inSämtliche Schriften und Dichtungen; and I have added a few explanatory footnotes of my own (marked as "translator's footnote") as well as a few in-line clarifications (contained in [brackets]). Section headings have been added to assist the reader; they do not appear in the original.

Parsifal and Parzival

agner's "Bühnenweih-Festspiel", completed in the twilight of his life, is a summary of his musical and literary achievements, and the light of theGrail reveals reflections from many cultures and epochs. Sacred and profane, occidental and oriental,Christian andBuddhist, all included in this unusually beautiful and multifaceted synthesis.

The formal starting-point for Wagner wasWolfram von Eschenbach's medieval epic-poemParzival, completed around 1210. This work, a broad fresco in which all of the richness and motley of medieval society is brought to life, is characterised by a direct, popular and burlesque style. So it is quite unlike Wagner'sParsifal in character.Wolfram's medieval realism can be seen as a contrast with the idealism of Wagner and the nineteenth century, and although Wagner and his contemporaries receivedParzival as a mystical and allegorical work, the modern scholar is more likely to emphasise its political and didactic content. Already in Wagner's Dresden library there was the Middle High German "editio princeps" of the text, Karl Lachmann's edition, Berlin 1833, together with the modern German translations respectively by San-Marte (1836) and Simrock (1842), and Wagner made his first acquaintance withParzival already in 1845. During the long process through which theParsifal -drama grew to maturity, before it could be performed for the first time in the summer of 1882, elements of widely varied traditions and diverse origins were assimilated and blended together. Wagner took fromWolfram personal names and specific incidents, and he decorated the outer frame withChristian symbols in accordance with the aesthetic- religious view of art that he made his own. This does not hide the fact that motives with their origins in non-Christian world- views also found their way into the work. 

It should also be recalled, asKarl Heckel demonstrated already in 1891¹, that even two earlier works by Wagner contributed to the diversity of ideas inParsifal: the unfinished dramaJesus of Nazareth from 1848 and even more so,The Victors [Die Sieger]. The extremely intimate relationship betweenThe Victors andParsifal was something on which Wagner himself remarked² and it appears with extreme clarity in a diary entry made by Cosima on 6 January 1881. This establishes a link betweenPrakriti andKundry , in that the essence of both works is said to be the redemption of a woman:

Wir sprechen davon, dass ungefähr dasselbe Thema (die Erlösung des Weibes) in beiden, Parsifal und Sieger, behandelt würde.

In the diversity of motives and representations which can be found inParsifal, there are many which have oriental connections. The worlds of theGrail and ofKlingsor respectively might suggest an Iranian background, and the strange and suggestive final words of the work could be seen as referring to gnostic ideas of a god who permeates matter:

Höchsten Heiles Wunder: Erlösung dem Erlöser!

rabian references are prominent inWolfram's poem, naturally enough in a work written at the time of the Crusades, and their weak echoes can be heard in Wagner's drama. Of special interest in this context is the revision of the spelling of the name of the title character, from Parzival to Parsifal, on which Wagner decided and which Cosima recorded on 14 March 1877:Und Parsifal wird er heissen. This was based on a supposed Arabic etymology which Wagner connected with the expressionder reine Tor, and it was explained to Parsifal byKundry in the second act:

Dich nannt' ich, tör'ger Reiner, "Fal parsi" - Dich, reinen Toren "Parsifal".

agner had found a reference to this false etymology when he read Joseph von Görres edition ofLohengrin, ein altdeutsches Gedicht ..., Heidelberg 1813, where the author put forward the following argument:

Wir wissen nicht, ob es allein Spiel des Zufalls ist, dass selbst der Name des Helden Parcifal auf ganz ungezwungene Weise aus dem Arabischen sich ableiten lässt: Parsi oder Parseh Fal, d.i. der reine oder arme Dumme, oder thumbe in der Sprache des Gedichts, in welchem Charakter er auch durch den ganzen Verlauf vortrefflich gehalten ist. (Einleitung, s. VI)

Indian Influence onParsifal

arsifal is in my opinion, of Wagner's completed music-dramas, that in which the Indian influence is most demonstrable. In what follows below, a number of episodes and ideas in the work will be subjected to analysis and discussion, which with a high degree of certainty can be said to derive fromIndian tradition and Indian thought. This appears more natural when we considerParsifal's dependency uponThe Victors, even if an exact delineation of which motives are Indian, and which are not, might not be possible. Departures fromWolfram will be noted, although it should not be overlooked that even in that medieval work, despite its somewhat fluid geography, there are significant Indian contents³.

lready in their outer framingWolfram'sParzival and Wagner'sParsifal reveal significant differences.Wolfram's colourful medieval world, full of contrasts, with its tumble of characters, tournaments and battles, is marked by its almost total absence in Wagner's drama, where in its place there appears a portrayal of nature and scenery which are closer to those ofIndian literature. The naturalistic description of the area surrounding Monsalvat, which has no counterpart inWolfram, is more suggestive of an Indian hermitage (ashrama) in which theGrail knights, especiallyGurnemanz, are more like Indian ascetics (sannyasin) thanChristian templists. In the third actGurnemanz explains toKundry the ascetic ideal, in which one lives like the animals on herbs and roots from forest and meadow:

Das wird dich wenig müh'n!
Auf Botschaft sendet sich's nicht mehr:
Kräuter und Wurzeln
findet ein jeder sich selbst,
wir lernen's im Walden vom Tier.

That won't keep you busy!
We send out no messengers now.
Herbs and roots
each finds for himself.
We learn from the forest beasts.

he sacredness of animals, something quite alien to the western medieval world, clearly is promoted in the first act when the squire says:

He! Du da! - Was liegst du dort wie ein wildes Tier?

to whichKundry replies:

Sind die Tiere hier nicht heilig?

espect for life and non-violence (ahimsa) belong to the ethical foundations of almost all Indian religious and philosophical traditions. This solidarity with and fellow- feeling for all that lives is forcefully expressed inGurnemanz 's condemnation of Parsifal after the latter has shot down a swan:

Du konntest morden? Hier, im heil'gen Walde,

dess' Stiller Frieden dich umfing?
Des Haines Tiere nahten dir nicht zahm?

Grüssten dich freundlich und fromm?
Aus den Zweigen was sangen die Vöglein dir?

Was tat dir der treue Schwan?
Sein Weibchen zu suchen flog er auf,
mit ihm zu kreisen über dem See,
den so er herrlich weih'te zum [heilenden] Bad:
dem stauntest du nicht? Dich lockt' es nur
zu wild kindischem Bogengeschoss?
Er war uns hold; was ist er nun dir?
Hier - schau her! - hier trafst du ihn:
da starrt noch das Blut, matt hängen die Flügel,

das Schneegefieder dunkel befleckt -
gebrochen das Aug', siehst du den Blick?
Wirst deiner Sündentat du inne?
Sag', Knab', erkennst du deine grosse Schuld?

Wie konntest du sie begeh'n?

You could commit murder, here in the holy
forest,
surrounded by stillness and peace?
Did not the woodland beasts approach you
tamely?
Did they not greet you as friends?
From the branches what did the birds sing to
you?
What had the faithful swan done to you?
Seeking his mate he flew up
to circle over the lake with her,
gloriously to bless the [healing] bath.
Did this not impress you?  Did it only tempt
a wild, childish shot from your bow?
We cherished him; what is he now to you?
Here - see here! - here you hit him,
see how the blood congeals, how the wing
droops,
the snowy feathers flecked with blood -
the eyes glazed; do you see his look?
Do you realise your sinfulness?
Tell me, boy, do you acknowledge your great
guilt?
How could you do this?

he nature-poetry passages inParsifal, with serene woods and meadows in which humans and all kinds of creatures live together in total harmony, have countless parallels in descriptions of Indian ashrama. The epic poemRamayana (Sanskrit: रामायणम्), which Wagner praised highly⁴, contains an abundance of such descriptions. Here is one such, of a hermitage in the forest of Dandaka, where an ascetic speaks to Rama:

O hero ! See the pleasant thresholds of the hermitages in the forest of Dandaka. In them the sages seek by their penance to gain purified souls. See the flowering forest abundant with fruits and tubers, with its fine herds of deer and peaceful flocks of birds. And see these clusters of lotuses spreading over the tranquil waters of the pools and lakes with their water-birds. The water falling from the mountains delights the eye, and pleasant are these forests, resounding with the cries of peacocks.

Parsifal Shoots a Swan

e have already seen how Parsifal makes his entry on stage after shooting a swan with an arrow, and how this results in moral condemnation fromGurnemanz . At this point it seems appropriate to address the question of where this scene came from, since there is nothing directly comparable inWolfram. A certain commonality of motive might be claimed withParzival118, 4-10, in which the young Parzival with bow and arrow hunts birds and bursts into tears whenever he kills one:

bogen unde bölzelîn
die sneit er mit sîn selbes hant,
und schôz vil vogele die er vant.
Swenne abr er den vogel erschôz,
des schal von sange ê was sô grôz,
sô weinder unde roufte sich,
an sîn hâr kêrt er gerich.

bows and arrows
he fashioned with his own hands,
and shot at the flocks of birds there.
But when he had shot a bird
that had been singing loudly just before,
he would burst into tears
and tear out his own hair.

remote similarity can perhaps be traced inParzival281, 23 to 282, 22, where Arthur's falcon, which happens to be near to Parzival, attacks a flock of geese. The falcon wounds agoose, causing three drops of blood to fall upon the snow, which causes Parzival to think of his wife. The origins of the episode are more likely, however, to be found in two very different areas of Indian traditions, presumably combined by Wagner: oneBuddhistic and one epic⁵.

he underlyingBuddhist tradition is one of several that are connected with Devadatta, who inBuddhist texts is usually described as a cousin of the Buddha. He is said to have sought to dominate theBuddhist order, to have attempted to divide it, and to have attempted a series of coups against the Buddha. There are many accounts of these events preserved in theBuddhist tradition but the brief episode that is relevant toParsifal is found only in the tradition of "mulasarvastivada", one of the many earlyBuddhist schools that flourished around the time of the birth of Christ. Here it is told how Devadata shot with an arrow ahamsa, agoose, which fell to the ground near to the Buddha; who sharply reproaches him, heals thegoose and refuses to accede to Devadatta's demands for its return, with the argument that he has a better right to thegoose than has Devadatta, on account of the merit he has gained in countless earlier lives. Mulasarvastivada's canonical texts in Sanskrit had been thought lost but parts of them were rediscovered in the twentieth century⁶. Before then only Chinese and Tibetan versions were known, and in Wagner's time only a very limited number of translations from these versions were available. The probable source for Wagner was an article of Anton Schiefner entitled,Eine Tibetische Lebensbeschreibung Çakjamuni's, des Begründers des Buddhathums which appeared inMémoires des savants étrangers, Tome VI, St. Petersburg 1851, pages 231-333. (Articles by Schiefner in Tome I of this publication were mentioned in Schopenhauer'sreading list [item 6, inOn the Will in Nature]). In this article Schiefner gives a translation of the episode of Devadatta and thegoose from a Tibetan version of 1734, prepared by the Tibetan scholar Rin chen chos kyi rgyal po (page 238):

Devadatta verwundete mit einem Pfeil eine Gans, welche über seinem Garten flog. Sie stürzte in den Garten des Bodhisattva herab, ward von ihm ergriffen, ihr der Pfeil ausgezogen und sie durch ein Heilmittel wiederhergestellt. Devadatta aber fordete die Auslieferung der Gans, da er ein früheres Recht auf sie habe. Das war der erste Streit, welcher zwischen dem das letzte Erdenleben begehenden Bodhisattva und Devadatta stattfand.

he connection between thegoose in thisBuddhist tradition and Wagner's swan is explained by the fact that the [Sanskrit] wordhamsa (cognate with GermanGans ) was, in accordance with European poetic tradition, often mistranslated as "swan". In two important respects Wagner's version differs from theBuddhistic: in theParsifal-text he mentions a pair of swans which circled above the lake, when the male is killed, not just wounded.

Valmiki and the Hunter

It was in the vicinity (of this forest) that the venerable one saw a lively singing krauñca-pair who flew without fear.
In his sight a hunter, filled with wickedness and an abode of enmity, killed one of the pair, the male.
When the hen saw him whirl around, dead on the field, with bloodstained body, she cried out bitterly...
(Valmiki cried out in compassion:) "O, hunter! May you never find peace in all eternity, after you slew one of that krauñca-pair who were drunk with love."

HereRamayana is consistent withParsifal in mentioning the female (Sein Weibchen zu suchen flog er auf) and the blood on the bird's body (da starrt noch das Blut).

The Bodhi Tree

he act ofParsifal that is most influenced by Indian motives is without doubt the second, which in a powerfully expanded form builds upon a central episode in the biography of the Buddha. The Buddha's life-history is related piecewise in the oldestBuddhist texts in Pali, and it was only in the first century after the birth of Christ that there were compiled two complete Sanskrit biographies of the Buddha, although in different literary forms. Both works build upon an already long-established oral tradition and contain many legendary episodes. This applies especially toLalitavistara, an undated anonymous composition from one of the first centuries of theChristian era, which contains both older and newer parts. The work reflects ideas that characterised a recent development in Buddhism,Mahāyāna. The Buddha character has developed transcendental properties and his life-history is played out on a cosmic stage.Lalitavistara was a significant component in the foundation that underlies the Tibetan text that Schiefner translated. The other work,Buddhacarita , is an early example of the most advanced verse form in Sanskrit, kavya, and was written in the middle of the first century after Christ, by a Brahmin who had converted to Buddhism, Asvaghosa.Buddhacarita gives a significantly more credible account of the Buddha's life thanLalitavistara. The later work had not been published in its Sanskrit original text during Wagner's lifetime although it could be studied in the French translation of the Tibetan text which Foucaux published in 1848 (see Schopenhauer'sreading list no.11). The other early account of the Buddha's life,Buddhacarita, would not be published before a decade after Wagner's death. We can take it for granted that Wagner obtained his basic knowledge of the Buddha's biography from the work ofBurnouf (no.10 on the reading list) and later fromKöppen (no.26)).

he central episode in the life of the Buddha takes place under the Bodhi-tree where he sits in deep meditation is search of highest wisdom and with it supreme enlightenment, thus to become a Buddha. This turning point in Buddha's life and development takes place despite the determined attempt of the evil tempter Mára to turn him from the path of meditation and wisdom. This event is described in detail and with artistic, dramatic power in theBuddhist texts. Mára attacks both with the help of his seductive daughters and with his warriors, armed with all kinds of weapons. Buddha resists the daughters' seductive temptations, and the weapons, stones and rocks that hail down upon him are changed to offerings and a peaceful rain of flowers, so that Mára finally accepts that he has been defeated.It is not difficult to see similarities between this scene andKlingsor's magic garden in the second act of Parsifal: Mára's daughters = flowermaidens; Mára =Klingsor; Buddha = Parsifal. The character ofKlingsor appears inParzival, of course, but there he plays an insignificant role.Wolfram's Clingschor, a conventional sorcerer, is in Wagner's version transformed into a satanic incarnation of evil, more like Mára, and a worthy opponent for Parsifal. The traditional Buddha biographies lack, however, any parallel to the very climax of the second act ofParsifal, in whichKlingsor hurls at Parsifal the holy spear, which remains hanging in the air above his head:

Klingsor:
Halt da! dich bann' ich mit der rechten Wehr:
den Toren stell' mit seines Meisters Speer!

Klingsor:
Stop there!  I banish you with the true weapon!
The fool falls to me by his master's spear!

Parsifal grasps the spear, makes the sign of the cross and with it all ofKlingsor's world collapses:

Parsifal:
Mit diesem Zeichen bann' ich deine Zauber:
wie die Wunde er schliesse,
die mit ihm du schlugest, -
in Trauer und Trümmer
stürze die trügende Pracht!

Parsifal:
With this sign I banish all your magic;
as the spear closes the wound
which you dealt with it,
in grief and ruin it
destroys your deceptive display!

  exact counterpart to the motive of the spear that hangs in the air above Parsifal's head is not found either inLalitavistara or inBuddhacarita⁷, and it appears neither inKöppen's book or in Schiefner's article. However, a parallel to this motive appears in a regional tradition of Ceylon, where already centuries before Christ was aBuddhist stronghold. The previously-mentionedKarl Heckel drew attention many years ago to a passage in theManual of Buddhism , 1853, by Spence Hardy, which might have been Wagner's source. This unique work, which Schopenhauer praised highly (and included as no.24 on hisreading list), reflects a living tradition from Ceylon as it was in the first half of the 19th century. The author, who had spent more than twenty years on that island, presents Buddhism not only on the basis of study of the texts of the Pali canon, but also from the oral tradition and popular religious literature,sannaya, in Singhalese. The version of the event at the Bodhi-tree which Spence Hardy translated tells how Mára, when all of his previous attempts had failed, himself mounted his elephant and grasped his fearful weapon, a discus. He hurled the weapon towards the Buddha, but like a leaf it remained hanging in the air above his head. In colourful terms the attack is described as follows (page 176):

Thus these nine dangers, wind, rain, rocks, weapons, charcoal, ashes, sand, mud and darkness, did no harm whatever to Siddhártta, but were converted into offerings. When Mára perceived this, as he was unable to approach the prince, he said angrily to his army from a distance, "All of you, seize Siddhártta, pierce him, cut him, break him to pieces, grind him to powder, destroy his desire to become Buddha, do not let him escape." Saying this, he mounted his elephant Girimékhala; and brandishing his formidable discus on every side, he approached the prince and threw it towards him. Were this weapon to be thrown against Maha Méru, it would cleave the mountain in twain as if it were a bamboo; were it cast into the ocean, its waters would be dried up; were it hurled into the sky, it would prevent the falling of rain for twelve years; but though it has such mighty energy, it could not be brought to approach the prince who was seeking the Buddhaship; through his great merit, it rose and fell in the air like a dry leaf, and afterwards remained in splendour above his head, like a canopy of flowers.

pence Hardy wrote his book at a time when the Pali texts had not yet appeared in Europe. Today there are several texts available in which the motive of Mára and his discus can be found⁸.

  Although the IndianBuddhist sources first became available in the west only in the 19th century, many centuries earlier echoes of the life of the Buddha had reached Europe in the indirect form of the once widespreadChristian legend ofBarlaam and Josaphat. Presumably during the 8th centuryChristian monks in Central Asia had come into contact with traditions of the Buddha and elements of these traditions, including the temptation scene, were woven intoChristian proselytising in the form of the tale of the prince Josaphat, who was converted toChristianity by the monk Barlaam. From an original, now lost, in the middle-Iranian language, pahlaví, this story was transmitted in Arabic and Greek versions, which were translated into practically every language of theChristian world. In and with the 12th century Latin version which was the basis of translations into west-European languages, the legend achieved an unprecedented popularity in the middle ages, when Barlaam and Josaphat were regarded as historical individuals, finally resulting in their canonization by the Catholic Church.

hese names can be traced back to Indian originals. Barlaam might have been originally the Sanskrit wordbhagavan, the venerable one, a common term used for divinities and persons of high religious status. Josaphat might, perhaps through the Arabic formBudhasaf, derive from the Sanskrit wordbodhisattva, a term applied to one who is on the way to becoming a Buddha. Three versions ofBarlaam und Josaphat appeared in Middle High German, of which one from 1325-30, attributed to Rudolf von Ems, was the most renowned. Rudolf's version was reprinted in Leipzig in 1843, and came into Wagner's possession in his Dresden period⁹ and so might have been a source supplementing theBuddhist tradition. The Indian king Avenir has given the sorcerer Thêodas the task of persuading his son Josaphat to renounce hisChristian faith. Thêodas sends to him a woman who offers Josaphat her erotic services, in exchange for allowing herself to be baptised. Preaching theChristian faith, Josaphat resists the temptation, and this seduction scene resembles that betweenKundry and Parsifal in the second act of Wagner's drama:

»ob dû wilt êwiclîche
ein lebendeƷ leben koufen,
ſô ſoltû dich toufen
und ſolt an den gewæren Kriſt
gelouben, der dîn ſchepher iſt,
der dir mit endelôſer zît
ein iemer werndeƷ leben gît.«
diu vrouwe ſprach: »nû daƷ tuon ich
ob ich alſus erbarme dich,
als dû gihſt, ſô ſoltû
tuon, des ich muote nû.«
»ſwaƷ dû wilt, vrouwe, daƷ tuon ich,
daƷ dû gote toufeſt dich
und dich dem tiuvel roubeſt
unde an got geloubeſt.«
Dô ſprach daƷ minneclîche wîp:
»wil dû gote mînen lîp
und mîne ſêle koufen
und ſol ich mich toufen,
ſô tuo, des ich an dich ger.«
»gerne, vrouwe mîn!« ſprach er,
»ich tuon gar den willen dîn.
nû ſage mir, waƷ dû welleſt mîn.«
»dâ lâ mich dir angeſigen,
daƷ dû geruocheft bî mir ligen
hînaht durch den willen mîn,
daƷ ich mich geniete dîn
und dû dich mînes lîbes,
des ſchœneſten wîbes,
diu hie ze lande iender iſt.
tuoſt dû daƷ, ich wil durch Kriſt
mich morgen toufen unde wil
der heidenſcheſte geben ein zil.«

"if you will purchase
living eternal life,
then you must be baptised
and believe in the proven Christ,
who is your judge,
who gives life and shelter
through endless ages."
The damsel said: "Now I do this
because I have pity on you,
as you preach, so should you
act, as I do now."
"If I can, lady, I shall do as you ask,
if you allow yourself to be baptised,
to cheat the devil of your soul,
and if you will believe in God."
Then said the beautiful woman:
"if your God wants my body
and my soul to purchase,
and if I must be baptised,
then I will grant you this."
"Gladly, lady!", he replied,
"I shall do what you ask,
now tell me, what you want from me."
"Then let me approach you,
let it please you to lie beside me
tonight, as I want
to experience your love
and for you to receive mine,
the love of the most beautiful woman
to be found anywhere in the land.
If you do this, then through Christ
tomorrow I shall be baptised
and forsake the heathen faith."

here can scarcely remain any doubt that the prototype ofParsifal's second act is to be sought in theBuddhist tradition; althoughPeter Wapnewski, the foremost medieval specialist who has also written about Wagner¹⁰, takes the view that it derives fromParzival619, 1-15, whereOrgeluse tells of her encounter with Parzival:

Dô er die mîne überstreit,
nâch dem helde ich selbe reit.
ich bôt im lant unt mînen lîp:
er sprach, er hete ein schœner wîp,
unt diu im lieber wære.
diu rede was mir swære:
ich vrâgete wer diu möhte sîn.
»von Pelrapeir diu künegîn,
sus ist genant diu lieht gemâl:
sô heize ich selbe Parzivâl.
ichn wil iwer minne niht:
der grâl mir anders kumbers giht.«
sus sprach der helt mit zorne:
hin reit der ûz erkorne.

After he had defeated my men,
I rode after the warrior myself
and offered him my lands and body:
he replied, that he had a fairer wife,
and he loved her dearly.
This was hard for me to hear
and I asked him who she was.
"The queen of Belrepeire,
is my dear wife.
My own name is Parzival.
I do not want your love:
the Grail gives me other troubles."
so spoke the hero in anger:
and then he rode away.

hat is related in this short passage, however, is only Orgeluse's offer of marriage to Parzival (ich bôt im lant unt mînen lîp), his rejection of the offer in which he speaks of his wife (er hete ein schœner wîp, unt diu im lieber wære) and of his duty to seek theGrail (ichn will iuwer minne niht: der grâl mir anders kumbers giht), and his farewell. This episode can hardly be compared either with the attempted seduction beneath the Bodhi-tree or that which takes place inKlingsor's magic garden, and therefore it must be seen as a quite inadequate basis on which to explain Wagner's grandiose and dramatic treatment with its metaphysical resonances.

Kundry and Cundrîe

nother Indian angle onParsifal concerns the characterKundry. This mysterious double-creature, whose existence alternates between demonic and servile, is perhaps the most fascinating of Wagner's female characters, and although in her he has combined aspects ofCundrîe inParzival,Mary Magdalen inJesus of Nazareth andPrakriti inThe Victors, she is and remains uniquely "sui generis". Already inWolfram there is a hint of Cundrîe's two natures, and her origin is given as India. See thedescription of Cundrîe inParzival312, 19 to 314, 6 inWolfram's characteristic, rough-hewn, pithy and lightly ironic style ...

n one side of Cundrîe's personality there is an elegant lady of the world, who is able to converse from a knowledge of scholarship and in several languages including Latin, French and "heathen", i.e. Arabic. She dresses in the latest fashions, with an excellent French cloak (daz was ein kappe wol gesniten al nâch der Franzoyser siten) and with a brocade-edged peacock-hat from London (von Lunders ein pfæwîn huot, gefurriert mit einem blîalt - der huot was niuwe, die snuor nie alt). This learning and elegance is only a facade, however, which covers an almost animal nature. Cundrîe has a dog's nose (genaset als ein hunt), ape-like hands (gevar als eines affen hût truoc hende), hair like a boar's bristles (lind als eins swînes rückehâr), two long wild-pig tusks protruding from her mouth (zwên ebers zene ir vür den munt giengen wol spannen lanc) and her pigtails bounce against her humped back as she rides on her mule. The frightening and strange appearance of Cundrîe inWolfram's poem is connected with the exotic and unknown. Further on in the poem,517, 16-30, we learn that Cundrîe and her equally unpleasant-looking brother, Malcrêatiure, came from India, where they grew up beside the river Ganges (Ganjas):

Malcrêatiure hiez der knappe fiere:
Cundrîe la surziere
was sîn swester wol getân:
er muose ir antlütze hân
gar, wan daz er was ein man.
im stuont ouch ietweder zan
als einem eber wilde,
unglîch menschen bilde.
im was dez hâr ouch niht sô lanc
als ez Cundrîen ûf den mûl dort swanc:
kurz, scharf als igels hût ez was.
bî dem wazzer Ganjas
ime lant ze Trîbalibôt
wahsent liute alsus durch nôt.

The proud squire was called Malcrêatiure:
Cundrîe the sorceress
was his lovely sister:
He was her spitting image
except that he was a man.
Like hers, his two fangs
jutted out like those a boar,
not resembling a human being.
But his hair was not as long
as that which dangled over Cundrîe's mule:
but short and sharp like a hedgehogs coat.
By the river Ganges
in the land of Trîbalibôt
are people like that by misfortune.

olfram refers to India by the curious name of Trîbalibôt. The name (Trî)balibôt probably derives, via the Greek form  Βαλιβοθρα, from the Sanskrit Pataliputra [the modern Patna], the capital of the old kingdom of Magadha in the east of India, which has connections with the earliest history of Buddhism.

undrîe's double nature inParzival develops withKundry inParsifal into something of metaphysical dimensions, and her later development from defiant heathen into humble penitent is missing from the former. IfWolfram's Cundrîe symbolises that which is alien, then Wagner'sKundry is more the carrier of fundamentally Indian ideas. As it was inThe Victors, inParsifal the idea of reincarnation is a fundamental motive, and it is in the character ofKundry that it finds its clearest expression. In the first actGurnemanz refers to herrebirth and atonement for guilt in her present life:

Ja, eine Verswünschte mag sie sein.
Hier lebt sie heut' - vielleicht erneu't,
zu büssen Schuld aus früher'm Leben,
die dorten ihr noch nicht vergeben.

Yes, one under a curse she might be.
Here she lives today - perhaps reborn,
to expiate sin committed in an earlier life,
unforgiven there and then.

n the opening scene of the second act, whenKlingsor awakensKundry's demonic nature, he mentions her different incarnations, of whichGundryggia perhaps represents an "Indian" form of name forKundry:

Herauf! Herauf! Zu mir!
Dein Meister ruft  dich, Namenlose,
Urteufelin! Höllenrose!
Herodias war'st du, und was noch?
Gundryggia dort, Kundry hier!
Hieher! Hieher denn, Kundry!
Zu deinem Meister; herauf!

Arise! Arise! To me!
Your master calls you, nameless one,
primeval devil-woman!  Rose of Hell!
You were Herodias, and who else?
Gundryggia there, Kundry here!
Come here!  Come hither, Kundry!
To your master; arise!

he state of hibernation whichKundry enters between her errand for theGrail and her awakening to serveKlingsor might be compared to the Indian [Vedic] concept ofsuṣupti, deep sleep. This is a state, deeper than dreaming sleep, described inIndian texts as one in which theātman; is briefly released from the bands of matter, and which therefore involves a foretaste ofmokṣa [release, Erlösung], the complete release fromsaṃsarā [the cycle ofrebirth ]¹¹.Kundry is in a similar way, while she hibernates, beyond the separation of the material world into good and evil domains.Kundry, who is more than any other character inParsifal a figure representing the cycle ofrebirth, embodies both of the forces that permeate the entire work,Verlangen [desire] andErlösung [redemption]. These terms can be equated respectively with theBuddhist termstṝṣṇā (thirst or craving) orupadana (clinging to existence); andmokṣa (release from the wheel of existence). Driven by lust and desire, she is at the same time gripped by a longing for redemption. Since her fateful meeting with Christ and his curse on her, she has wandered likea female Ahasuerus from existence to existence in vain search of her redeemer, with whom she seeks physical union. She gives Parsifal a harrowing account ofsaṃsarā's irresistable, driving rhythm which never lets her rest but which drives her to new incarnations:

Seit Ewigkeiten harre ich deiner,
des Heilands, ach! So spät!
Den einst ich kühn geschmäht.
Oh! Kenntest du den Fluch,
der mich durch Schlaf und Wachen,
durch Tod und Leben,
Pein und Lachen,
zu neuem Leiden neu gestählt,
endlos durch das Dasein quält!

An eternity have I awaited you,
my Saviour, oh! So late!
Whom once I dared revile.
Oh! If you knew the curse,
which compels me asleep, awake,
through death and back to life,
in pain and laughter,
in ever new forms to suffer anew,
tortured by unending existence!

arsifal, who now perceives the path of awakening and who has become aware of his mission, declares the incompatibility of craving and release. He brings home to her, in almostBuddhist terms, that a precondition ofdie Erlösung is the denial of the craving for life:

Auch dir bin ich zum Heil gesandt,
bleib'st du dem Sehnen abgewandt.
Die Labung, die dein Leiden endet,
beut nicht der Quell, aus dem es fliesst;
das Heil wird nimmer dir gespendet,
eh' jener Quell sich dir nicht schliesst.

For your salvation too I was sent here,
if you will turn aside from your desires.
The balm that will end your suffering
does not flow from its origin;
salvation can never be granted you
until that source is sealed.

That sinful lust is the decisive factor preventing awakening and liberation is a recurring theme inSuttanipāta, the only Pali text of which Wagner owned a translation, in which one verse reads as follows:

He who escapes sinful desire, like the head of a snake at his feet,
he overcomes that desire fully conscious in the world.

ust as forPrakriti, forKundry it is renunciation and an asexual love that leads todie Erlösung des Weibes, andKundry isPrakriti developed and intensified.Prakriti enters into theBuddhist community and by doing so takes the decisive step on the path to her eventual release fromsaṃsarā.Kundry enters the community by allowing herself to be baptised, but her world-wandering is now at an end and when in the final scene, with her gaze fixed upon Parsifal, she falls dead, she leaves forever the cycle of existence. In characteristically Wagnerian manner,Kundry 's double nature is shown in a sensual act that is also a form ofcommunication. In the middle of the second act Parsifal simultaneously and disturbingly experiences bothKundry's kiss andAmfortas's wound, which initiates his development towards maturity and deeds of redemption. Like the Buddha inThe Victors throughPrakriti, Parsifal gains through his encounter withKundry and a deeply emotional experience, a completely new kind of insight.Kundry recognises that she is the catalyst of this change:

So war es mein Kuss,
der welthellsichtig dich machte?
Mein volles Liebes Umfangen
lässt dich dann Gottheit erlangen.
Die Welt erlöse, ist dies dein Amt;
schuf dich zum Gott die Stunde,
für sie lass mich ewig dann verdammt,
nie heile mir die Wunde!

So was it my kiss
that gave you world-perception?
Then the full embrace of my loving
surely will raise you to godhead!
Redeem the world, if that's your mission;
let me make you a god, for just an hour,
rather than leave me to eternal damnation,
my wound never to be healed!

The Path of the Bodhisattva

he Indian teaching of wisdom's decisive importance for final redemption coexists inParsifal withChristian teachings. This true knowledge naturally affects the central character, Parsifal, and his development fromder reine Tor toGralskönig. The theme ofder reine Tor is already, in some respects, found inWolfram. Parsifal is obviously also a kind of Christ- figure, one who suffers the torments of Christ, although Wagner's understanding of Christ is highly individual, complicated, and in some ways incompatible with the Saviour known toChristian theology. Christ is, for Wagner, bothErlöser and in need ofErlösung (recall "Die Gottesklage" in the second act:erlöse, rette mich aus schuldbefleckten Händen!) and there is between him and Parsifal [at the end of the third act] a kind of reciprocal pacification. On closer examination of Wagner's text, it is not unreasonable to perceive in his Parsifal-Christ figure a suggestion of theBuddhist bodhisattva-ideal.

n laterBuddhist tradition, abodhisattva¹² is one who is on the way to becoming a Buddha and who has vowed to postpone their final transition to Buddhahood, to work for the salvation of all sentient beings and in a totally self-sacrificing manner to serve them. The bodhisattva doctrine includes a description of the transfer of merit from a bodhisattva to those in need of help. The being who receives this help is freed from furtherrebirth and the consequences of their actions in earlier lives,karma , are not brought to maturity but absorbed in the depths of the bodhisattva's boundless sea of mercy. Parsifal's confused outburst toGurnemanz in the third act can be interpreted as a reflection of this teaching, also in terms of reincarnation:

Und ich, ich bin's,
der all' dies Elend schuf!
Ha! Welcher Sünden,
welcher Frevel Schuld
muss dieses Toren Haupt
seit Ewigkeit belasten,

And I, I am the one
who caused all this misery!
Ah!  What sins,
what offending guilt
must this fool's head
bear from all eternity;

arsifal rightly accuses himself of having caused, in his ignorance on his previous visit, the present distress of theGrail knights. Yet he also states that he bears a burden of guiltfrom all eternity [seit Ewigkeit], which might be considered a remarkable statement, since his guilt originated in his present life. His self- accusal might be more reasonable if, for one factor, he is taking into account his previous incarnations and, for another factor, that like a bodhisattva he bears the burdens of others. ThisBuddhistic interpretation does not necessarily exclude the presence of theChristian motive of the sinless sufferer.

t is nevertheless possible to present this part of the text in a way that unambiguously reveals the bodhisattva-ideal. According to theBuddhist scriptures the [advanced] bodhisattva should possess a certain number, usually ten, perfected attributes, the so-calledpāramitā¹³. The two most vital attributes that go to make up the ethical character of a bodhisattva arekarunā (करुणा), fellow-feeling [or compassion], andprajñā (प्रज्ञा), wisdom¹⁴, which together express the highestBuddhist ethic. Fellow- suffering was for Wagner, as for Schopenhauer, the highest ethical imperative, and thereforeBuddhist fellow- feeling had a special resonance for him. The bodhisattva's two cardinal virtues,Mitleid und Wissen , are clearly emphasised at the three decisive moments of Parsifal's progress. The first time we encounter these virtues together is whenAmfortas, at prayer before theGrail, receives in a vision the prophecy:

Durch Mitleid wissend, der reine Tor,
harre sein', den ich erkor.

omparison withWolfram reveals that Wagner has deepened the prophecy motive and given it both ethical and metaphysical dimensions. In the medieval text,781, 15-16, Parzival reads on theGrail, which inWolfram is not a chalice but astone, the laconic statement:

daz epitafium ist gelesen:
du solt des gräles härre wesen.

hen the prophecy is fulfilled and Parsifal is anointed asGrail king in the third act,Gurnemanz calls upon Christ, who has shared Parsifal's sufferings. This solemn climax is bathed in a radiance of fellow-feeling and wisdom andGurnemanz, as he blesses Parsifal, accords to Christ the epithetsmitleidsvoll Duldender andheiltatvoll Wissender:

So ward es uns verhiessen;
so segne ich dein Haupt,
als König dich zu grüssen.
Du - Reiner! -
Mitleidsvoll Duldender,
heiltatvoll Wissender!
Wie des Erlös'ten Leiden du gelitten,
die letzte Last entnimm nun seinem Haupt!

Thus it was promised to us;
thus I bless your head,
to hail you as king.
You - pure one! -
Compassionate sufferer,
wise and full of healing;
as you have borne the suffering of redemption,
lift the last load from his head!

he termsMitleid andWissen again appear together in Parsifal's final words when he healsAmfortas' wound with the holy spear:

Nur eine Waffe taugt: -
die Wunde schliesst
der Speer nur, der sie schlug.
Sei heil, entsündigt und gesühnt!
Denn ich verwalte nun dein Amt.
Gesegnet sei dein Leiden,
das Mitleids höchste Kraft,
und reinsten Wissen's Macht
dem zagen Thoren gab!

One weapon alone will serve: -
only the spear that struck you
heals the wound.
Be whole, absolved and healed!
Now I shall perform your office.
O blessed be your suffering,
that gave compassion's highest power
and purest wisdom's might
to the timid fool!

nce again Wagner has blended togetherChristian andBuddhist representations. Suffering has led to compassion and understanding, and it is through the power of these attributes that Parsifal has become worthy of the kingship and thus able to uncover theGrail. The heart ofParsifal is the scene in the third act known as the "Karfreitagszauber", which wonderfully reveals Wagner's ability to extend and enrich an episode fromWolfram, while at the same time interpreting it both fromChristian and Indian perspectives.Parzival448, 1-20 describes how on Good Friday the title character meets a grey knight, with his wife and two daughters:

Dô sprach der rîter grâ gevar:
»meint ir got den diu magt gebar?
geloubt ir sîner mennescheit,
waz er als hiut durch uns erleit,
als man diss tages zît begêt,
unrehte iu denne dez harnasch stêt.
ez ist hiute der karfrîtac,
des al diu werlt sich freun mac
unt dâ bî mit angest siufzec sîn.
wâ wart ie hôher triwe schîn,
dan die got durch uns begienc,
den man durch uns anz kriuze hienc?
hêrre, pflegt ir toufes,
sô jâmer iuch des koufes:
er hât sîn werdeclîchez leben
mit tôt für unser schult gegeben,
durch daz der mensche was verlorn,
durch schulde hin zer helle erkorn.
ob ir niht ein heiden sît,
sô denket, hêrre, an dise zît.«

Then the grey knight said:
"Do you mean God who was born of the Virgin?
Who loved mankind so much,
that he suffered for us,
on this day which we now observe
when it is not fitting to ride in armour.
Today is Good Friday,
on which the whole world can rejoice
and at the same time mourn in anguish.
Where was greater fidelity shown
than when God suffered for us,
when they hung him on the Cross?
Sir, if you believe,
so let this affect you:
he gave up his earthly life,
dying to atone for our sins
when mankind was damned,
to save us all from hell.
If you are not a heathen,
reflect, sir, on these matters."

his is a short but significant scene inWolfram's poem. Dressed in armour, the ignorant Parzival is sharply corrected by the knight and informed of the day's religious significance (als man diss tages zît begêt, unrehte iu denne daz harnasch stêt. ez ist hiute der karvrîtac). The event represents the beginning of an awakening for Parzival, and a short time after it he meets the hermit Trevrizent and begins a process that will lead him to spiritual and intellectual maturity.Wolfram's presentation is a matter-of-fact and direct description, and he makes the grey knight explain the significance of the Crucifixion in conventionalChristian terms as a death of atonement (er hât sîn werdeclîchez leben mit tôt für unser schult gegeben ). Wagner changes this prosaic and realistically described episode into a lengthy sacred drama, with elements of ritual symbolism and meditative nature-mysticism. Arriving like his medieval namesake in armour, Parsifal has returned with the holy spear, to receive a royal blessing fromGurnemanz and to giveKundry baptism. He looks out over the dew-fresh meadows and experiencesdes höchsten Schmerzentags now filled with complete peace, reconciliation and liberation. Through Parsifal andGurnemanz, Wagner expresses the significance of Good Friday and the Crucifixion in terms that go far beyond the limits ofChristian theology. All that lives is part of a unity that although hierarchically structured is a fellowship, on the natural basis ofrebirth (was atmet, lebt und wieder lebt ). The significance of the Crucifixion is directly accessible to mankind, through whom the rest of nature is able to partake of its grace (Ihn selbst am Kreuze kann sie nicht erschauen: da blickt sie zum erlösten Menschen auf). The footprint of redeemed mankind can be felt by all of nature, which is no longer to be harmed (dass heut' des Menschen Fuss sie nicht zertritt). Then Parsifal, as both bodhisattva and redeemer, interprets the day of greatest pain as a day of total innocence, and there follows a hymn to the unity of life, which expresses the essence of the scene:

O weh', des höchsten Schmerzentags!
Da sollte, wähn' ich, was da blüh't,
was atmet, lebt und wieder lebt,
nur trauern, ach! und weinen.

O alas the day of greatest pain!
Then should, I think, all that blossoms,
that breathes, lives and lives again,
only mourn, ah! and weep.

Du siehst, das ist nicht so.
Des Sünders Reuetränen sind es,
die heut' mit heil'gem Tau
beträufet Flur und Au';
der liess sie so gedeihen.
Nun freu't sich alle Kreatur
auf des Erlösers holder Spur,
will sein Gebet ihm weihen.
Ihn selbst am Kreuze kann sie nicht erschauen;
da blickt sie zum erlös'ten Menschen auf;
der fühlt sich frei von Sündenlast und Grauen,

durch Gottes Liebesopfer rein und heil.
Das merkt nun Halm und Blume auf den Auen,
dass heut' des Menschen Fuss sie nicht zertritt,
doch wohl, wie Gott mit himmlischer Geduld
sich sein erbarmt' und für ihn litt,
der Mensch auch heut' in frommer Huld
sie schont mit sanftem Schritt.
Das dankt dann alle Kreatur,
was all' da blüht und bald erstirbt
da die entsündigte Natur
heut' ihren Unschuldstag erwirbt.

You see, that's not how it is.
It is the tears of repentant sinners,
that fall like holy dew today
to moisten field and meadow;
thus making them fertile.
Now all creatures rejoice
in visible signs of the Redeemer,
to whom they dedicate their prayers.
Since they cannot see Him on the Cross,
they look up instead to man redeemed;
who feels free from dread and the burden of
sin
because of God's pure, loving sacrifice.
The grass and flowers of the meadows notice
that man's foot does not trample them today,
but that, as God with heavenly patience
had mercy and suffered for man,
so mankind today in pious gratitude
spares nature with gentle tread.
Then all creatures give thanks,
all that blooms and soon will fade,
nature now absolved from sin
today enjoys its day of innocence.