Vedanta in Star Wars

Hey everyone,

So, I recently re-watched Star Wars (the first time was ages ago when I was a kid) and had an epiphany; that there are so many concepts from Hindu philosophy in the film series. This includes the original trilogy and the new prequel trilogy as well.

But when I did a little research I realized that I am not the only one to have had this epiphany; and that George Lucas was, in fact, influenced by Hinduism when he made Star Wars.

You see part of Lucas’s inspiration for Star Wars came from Joseph Campbell’s book The Hero With A Thousand Faces. And Joseph Campbell was, in turn, greatly influenced by the teachings of Shri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the Guru of Shri Vivekananda.

A more direct inspiration for the Star Wars movies is Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress. Of course, westerns (where it’s always good vs. evil), world war II films (all those plane fights), and sci-fi (lightsabers, spaceships, and aliens anyone?) all played a role in the making of Star Wars as well. However, I’ll stick to the Hindu aspects that I found in the first six episodes.

Vedanta in Star Wars

Now, I don’t believe that George Lucas was trying to expound Hindu philosophy when he made the Star Wars films. In fact, he is said to have commented at some point that the films were made for 12-year-olds.

In any case, the films do have a few Vedantic concepts in them. Here are the main ones that I noticed:

1. The Force: The Force is extremely important in Star Wars; it is almost a character in itself. In the first film (Episode IV), it is described as an energy field created by all living things that surrounds, penetrates and binds the galaxy. This is quite similar to the concept of ‘Brahman’ in Hinduism. The ‘Brahman’ according to Vedanta is the ultimate reality that all things are part of and from which all things originated.
2. The Dark Side of the Force: While the ‘Brahman’ in Hinduism doesn’t have a dark side (it is, in fact, described as satchitananda which means it is truth, consciousness and bliss), it is possible to use mantras and rituals (which are means to realize the ‘Brahman’) to gain power over other beings (think Black Magic). This is quite similar to the Sith using the dark side of the Force to gain power.
3. Master Yoda: Master Yoda reminds me a bit of Lord Krishna, in that he is the enlightened one even among the Jedi. Moreover, when he trains Luke in the original three movies, the ideas he propagates are some of the concepts from The Bhagavad Gita. For example, when he says “luminous beings are we, not this crude matter”, it is what Lord Krishna says about the True Self that is beyond the body and the mind. Moreover, Yoda, like Lord Krishna, keeps emphasizing detachment. In the one of the prequels he tells Anakin, “Train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose”. Just to add to this, the scene in Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where Yoda lifts Luke’s ship out of the swamp using the Force, is rather like Lord Krishna showing Arjuna his vishwaroopam or true form.

So there you go. These are the Hindu concepts I found in Star Wars. I’ll admit, some of these ideas are sourced from Dr. Jeffery Long’s lecture about Star Wars and Vedanta. However, I have only used the lecture to help me better articulate the Hindu concepts I noticed while watching the movies. He is more exhaustive in his list and I recommend watching the video I have linked if you’re interested.

That’s it for today… Until next time folks!!