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Recommended: The Bhagavad Gita analysis
Every single person on this earth has a set of beliefs that steer their actions, impact their decision making, and completely change their lives. Whether it be a Christian, Hindu, Muslim, or non religious person, each believe in something (or the absence of something) that determines how they live their lives. When someone has committed to a set of beliefs, their actions become a representation of these beliefs. An example of this behavior can be found in the Bhagavad-Gita, or put simply, the Gita, which is a sacred Hindu text where a character named Arjuna is able to inquire about ethical matters and the nature of God to the divine Krishna. Krishna shares of how to reach the desired and invaluable “enlightenment,” which he described as being …show more content…
After hearing Arjuna’s reasoning about how he believed he would receive negative karma for performing those actions, Krishna sheds light on the fact that it is actually bad karma to ignore his own Dharma. In trying to prevent bad karma, Arjuna would allow even worse karma to be placed on him since he would not fulfill his sacred duty, which is of critical importance. After presenting other arguments to support his claims, Krishna convinced Arjuna that he would not only receive no bad karma for fighting against his family, but that it would actually be opening the door to getting closer to acquiring Moksha. Krishna proposed an argument that refuted his claim and causes Arjuna to even change his beliefs. This changed Arjuna’s perspective completely, turning him around and opening himself up to becoming a fierce warrior against his own family members. This reversal in his worldviews caused a transformation in both Arjuna’s personality and his decision to fight his …show more content…
They push against the inertia of their flesh and earthly desires in order to grow spiritually. Their worldviews are what shape them. All of this is clearly illustrated in the Bhagavad-Gita, where Arjuna was set on following what he believed to be true and even shifted his beliefs and actions to follow what he later discovered to be the real truth. His motivation and actions stemmed from his belief that he would receive the karma that would be due to him, based on those actions that he made on earth. Therefore, he would live his life based on those principles that he believed in. The same is true for others, both in the past and present, who live their lives based on their beliefs. Their choices and actions are a pouring out of their heart and what they believe of this world and is the determining factor of how a person lives their
In order to understand the truth, people must have solid justified beliefs to prevent diminished autonomy. As humans, we are motivated to practice morally good actions since God provides love. His act of caring is compelling and promotes gratitude.
From the beginning of humankind, people have constantly had to deal with inner battles. Many of these issues cease to exist as time goes on, while new ones arise to take their place. There is one issue, however, that has remained consistent throughout time – morality. For centuries, humans have fought against the outside world and themselves to keep their morals properly aligned. The issue of morality is so dominant that it is still plays a vital role in today’s society. This can be seen in wars, law systems, codes of conduct, and religious texts. An example of a religious text where this can be seen is in pages 185 - 188 of the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna, also referred to as “The Blessed One”, guides Arjuna through his inner struggles between
Many students who are enrolled in FFA are already heading in the right direction to a bright future. FFA has many career benefits within the program. Any of the career development events (CDE’s) have something that will tie to a career in agriculture or to a career of other sorts. According to the National FFA Organization, “FFA members embrace concepts taught in agricultural science classrooms nationwide, build valuable skills through hands-on experiential learning and each year demonstrate their proficiency in competitions based on real-world agricultural skills”(“Statistics”). There are so many careers that tie into FFA, and many of them have to do with agriculture. Not every career that has to do with agriculture is about farming. There are so many different aspects of the agriculture industry that many people never think twice about. Most people are not interested in agriculture because they think it is just about farming or
Hinduism is a broad and encompassing religion. Due to such, the study and answer of any specific question in this religion is difficult. In order to adjust for this, I am going to look at the gunas, the various life goals, life stages, and social castes and see the specific impact that each of these have on morality and ethics in Hinduism.
But Lord Krishna says to Arjuna “If you turn from righteous warfare/your behavior will by evil/for you will have abandoned both/your duty and your honored name”, meaning that Arjuna’s cowardice will bring evil and his “honored name” will be lost and forgotten (Bhagavad Gita 1290). Arjuna is in fear of ending their lives, a plaguing uncertainty that is his fault they’ll perish away at his sword and he’ll just be as evil as the men who stole the throne away from his rightful claim. Lord Krishna is saying that it is Arjuna’s duty to fight for virtuous and moral reasons and forsaking his post to fight against the evil, and Arjuna will become what he is fighting against – evil. Arjuna’s external and internal actions are plaguing his eternal being at stake, as Lord Krishna continues with “People will speak of your disgrace…suffers a fate much worse than death”, meaning that shame will carry on in the next life he lives, forever haunted by the
...ely resembles the dharmic action of the Bhagavad-Gita. The fundamental concept of dharma, or proper conduct, is paralleled in the Analects when Confucius provides many examples of how one can remain morally sound. The reason for moral or proper conduct differs in the two texts; while the Bhagavad-Gita presents proper conduct as a step towards liberation from samsara, serving the individual’s needs, the Analects present moral conduct in order to maintain a properly functioning society, serving the society’s needs as a whole. In Western society the goal of Eastern religions are often compared to Heaven; however, Heaven in Hinduism and Confucianism is not a place one goes to at the end of his or her life. Instead, Heaven in Hinduism is a heavenly realm in which the gods reside, and Heaven in Confucianism is a ruling force that instills and enforces values and morals.
The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps the most famous, and definitely the most widely-read, ethical text of ancient India. As an episode in India's great epic, the Mahabharata, The Bhagavad Gita now ranks as one of the three principal texts that define and capture the essence of Hinduism; the other two being the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. Though this work contains much theology, its kernel is ethical and its teaching is set in the context of an ethical problem. The teaching of The Bhagavad Gita is summed up in the maxim "your business is with the deed and not with the result." When Arjuna, the third son of king Pandu (dynasty name: Pandavas) is about to begin a war that became inevitable once his one hundred cousins belonging to the Kaurava dynasty refused to return even a few villages to the five Pandava brothers after their return from enforced exile, he looks at his cousins, uncles and friends standing on the other side of the battlefield and wonders whether he is morally prepared and justified in killing his blood relations even though it was he, along with his brother Bhima, who had courageously prepared for this war. Arjuna is certain that he would be victorious in this war since he has Lord Krishna (one of the ten incarnations of Vishnu) on his side. He is able to visualize the scene at the end of the battle; the dead bodies of his cousins lying on the battlefield, motionless and incapable of vengeance. It is then that he looses his nerve to fight.
Arjuna gives up now, he will be full of shame, and a man who has given up
often a moral issue and the choice to believe can be an emotional or instinctual one rather then an
A large amount of ancient texts contain themes relating to violence, power, and war, while others, such as The Bhagavad Gita and Confucius’ Analects, focus on individual and collective development through a series of selfless acts. The two texts provide an in-depth system of duties and learning created to provide direction for the betterment of the self, as well as society as a whole. The Bhagavad Gita places a greater focus on the duties of individuals that must be fulfilled to achieve an enlightened state with the divine forces. Contradictory consequences are presented for those who choose to act in an egotistical manner and deny their duties. Confucius’ Analects, on the other hand, places its main focus on collective development and responsibility
Religion cannot be lived in textbooks, it is about the personal consciousness of those that believe and “their own account of their religion and its relevance in contemporary life” (Fisher, 1996). It is performed, experienced by the individuals living within society and communities. For some it is a sense of hope, to connect with a supreme power, to end the cycle of birth and death, find inner peace and/or a way of life. Traditional understanding of religion through textbooks, television, and internet does provide one with understanding about the religion doctrine and what they believe in. The majority of people will know what religion is when seeing it, for example, a Buddhist Monk sitting cross-legged in meditation. However, it is important to study religion off campus in order to grasp an explanation and a clear understanding of how beliefs change personal lives, how individuals tackle certain situations due to belief for example, Buddhist Monk sitting cross-legged in meditation, but w...
Every caste had a standard of what they were supposed to do. In the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita, there was a war going on where both opponents had members of the same family in their army. Arjuna was one of those members. When he arrived at the battlefield he realized that his family would be killing each other, he did not believe this to be right. Since Arjuna was born into “kshaktriya rajput” (caste of warriors), he was told by Kṛṣṇa to “not yield to this degrading impotence” (2.3). Because Arjuna was a warrior, it looked weak of him to allow himself to be attached to family ties over doing his warrior responsibilities. He was expected to “give up such petty weakness of heart and rise” as he was called the “chastiser of the enemy” (2.4). Arjuna disagreed with fighting against his family but according to his caste, he had to do what he was born to do; which was fight any enemy put in front of him. It was all based on
The Bhagavad-Gita teaches many things, and amongst these, morality and moral law are developed for the Hindu religion. What Krishna, the primary Hindu god, declares in this somewhat epic poem to be the "basis of good in this world" (stanza 3, pg. 620 of text) is for people to take action. Action, as he goes on to state, is within the very nature of our beings to do. Krishna even states that "without action you even fail to sustain your own body" (stanza 8, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna feels that action is very important and key. To take this concept as a relation to ethics, Krishna tells Arjuna, the warrior he is talking to in this poem, that "Action imprisons the world unless it is done as sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!" (stanza 9, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna is prescribing that, in order for an action to be considered good, the good that he already declared to be the basis of all good in the world, one must detach himself from the action being performed and perform the action sacrificially. The detachment aspect is incredibly important to Krishna, for he proclaims that in "performing action with detachment, one achieves supreme good" (stanza 19, pg 620 of text). By doing this, Krishna believes that the world is preserved, for other people will follow the warrior's actions and imitate them in their own lives. A leader, such as a warrior or king, "sets the standard for the world to follow" (stanza 21, pg. 621 of text), as Krishna says and thus must take whatever action is necessary for the world to not be destroyed, to set examples of goodness and right in his own actions. By separating himself from these actions, thus becoming detached, he can achieve this. Another main reason that Krishna feels detachment is necessary is this: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." (Bhagavad-Gita 2.47). Thus, so long as one does not profit from his own actions, the action itself is good. And, this is Krishna's prescription for leading a life of morality and duty is the moral law to follow in order to achieve this.
The struggle to instill justice, honor, and morality within society has been occurring since the dawn of humankind. Whether man is innately evil or not has long been the subject of debate. The epic poem, the Mahabharata, explores this argument by examining treachery, family ties, and righteousness in the setting of an epic conflict between two royal families, the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Within the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita. Spoken by Lord Krishna to Prince Arjuna, this holy narrative, Lord Krishna explains that one need not be afraid of destroying evil. The destruction of evil, Lord Krishna explains, is in itself virtuous because you are delivering justice to the wicked and reestablishing righteousness. There are numerous teachings in the Bhagavad Gita each with their own moral lessons. The following three teachings focus on Arjuna’s dejection and his moral dillema, followed by Lord Krishna’s response with the philosophy of the soul and spiritual discipline, and finally how the discipline of righteous action can allow an individual to obtain Moksha.
Religion plays an enormous role in the history of mankind. Wars have been fought over it, lives have been surrounded by it, and it has directly or indirectly shaped the lives of many individuals. Culture and religion play a large role in developing each other. People’s religion is decided by their culture. The prominence or the lack of religion will develop someone’s religious identity have play a core role in determining what that person believes.