Death Deemed Undead. The Fragility of Life and the Theme of Mortality and Melancholia In Omar Khayyam’s ‘Rubaiyat’

Death Deemed Undead. The Fragility of Life and the Theme of Mortality and Melancholia In Omar Khayyam’s ‘Rubaiyat’. Abhik Maiti.
American Research Journal on English and Literature. [2018, in Press]

Summary

he term “Vairagya” refers to a deeply ruminative cynicism arising out of wisdom, knowledge and awareness about the ways of the world especially its perplexing transience and man’s search for meaning in the grand scheme of things. No other topic engenders as much vairagic thinking as does the imponderability of life’s purpose, its relevance and meaning. The manifestation of this thinking can be seen in prose tracts, poetry, schools of philosophy, expositions, sayings and aphorisms. Omar Khayyam’s Rubaiyat belongs to this manifestation. With death as the final and unyielding reality it was but natural for Omar Khayyam to bring out the perplexing nature of human existence and passions there in for questioning in his rubai.