# Night and Morning in the Spheres explained — The Pilgrim Kamanita

> Chapter companion for The Pilgrim Kamanita by Karl Gjellerup.

## What happens

Kamanita, alone in the universal night, reflects on the Buddha's teachings and chooses the path to the eternal over becoming the hundred-thousandfold Brahma. As a new Brahma world dawns, he pities the gods who rejoice in ignorance, and his light fades until he extinguishes completely, attaining nirvana.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Nature of Nirvana

Kamanita chooses the eternal path to the untraversed land, rejecting the temporal Brahma existence, and extinguishes like a lamp, symbolizing the attainment of nirvana.

### Compassion and Mercy

Kamanita feels deep pity for the gods and Brahma who rejoice in ignorance, and hopes his departure will aid their future salvation, showing compassion for all beings.

### Illusion and Reality

The Brahma world and its glory are portrayed as transient and illusory, while the eternal path Kamanita follows is the true reality beyond the cycle of creation.

## Character check-ins

### Kamanita

Alone in the universal night, Kamanita recalls the Master's discourse, rejects the Brahma existence, and resolves to tread the path to the eternal, ultimately going out like a lamp.

### The Master

The conversation with the Master in the potter's house at Rajagriha is recalled by Kamanita, guiding his thoughts toward nirvana.

### Vasitthi

Kamanita reflects that Vasitthi has passed away without leaving seed of existence, and that life without her is meaningless, motivating his choice of the eternal.

### Brahma

The hundred-thousandfold Brahma appears, summons the new universe, and tries to illuminate Kamanita, but fails, leading to his own anxiety and doubt about omnipotence.

## Key lines

> And this pity of his with the world, with the gods, and with the supreme god, vanquished in Kamanita the last remnant of his self-love.

His compassion for all beings, including the gods and Brahma, overcame the final trace of selfishness within him.

_Highlights Kamanita's selfless compassion as a key step toward nirvana._

> But one thing I could not do⁠—I could never again call Vasitthi into being. Vasitthi has gone, in that passing away which leaves no seed of existence behind; neither god nor Brahma can find her.

He realized that even as Brahma he could not recreate Vasitthi, who had attained a final liberation beyond all rebirth.

_Shows Kamanita's motivation to seek the eternal rather than temporal power._

> And while in immeasurable space, worlds upon worlds flashed and shouted as they pressed forward into the new Brahma day, the pilgrim Kamanita went out quite, as a lamp goes out when it has consumed the last drop of oil in its wick.

As the new universe blazed into existence, Kamanita's light faded completely, like a lamp that has used up all its fuel.

_Symbolizes Kamanita's final attainment of nirvana, the extinguishing of all desire and suffering._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_pilgrim_kamanita_se/chapters/xlv-night-and-morning-in-the-spheres
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_pilgrim_kamanita_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/the_pilgrim_kamanita_se/chapters