Morality and Spirituality in The Book Bhagavad Gita

In the book Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches Arjuna how to reach the highest stage of spirituality, and ultimately the divine God. Krishna gives Arjuna a clear road map to follow so he can reach this goal. Yoga is the main tool to obtain spirituality and it takes a lot of hard work and true determination to do so. The main part of reaching spirituality is to depart this world and sense objects, and build strong morals. Upon giving up worldly desire, one cannot but seek the Devine and by seeking God, one will become spiritual.

In the book The Last Days of Socrates, Plato describes Socrates reaction to the court’s decision of condemning him to death and how he spent his last few days awaiting death. Throughout the entire court and while Socrates is in prison waiting to be executed, he stays strong on his principles and beliefs. Socrates fights for morality and justice in court and does not accept to do any immoral act to save his life. The reason Socrates was brought to court is because he was spreading his moral lesson amongst the youth. Socrates basically sacrificed his life for morality and principle which is something not many individuals are willing to do, and it requires a lot of courage and strength.

To reach the ultimate spirituality described in the Gita, one has to sacrifice a lot of worldly possessions and most importantly obtain a high level of morality in this world. Socrates shows us the basic principles of ethics and Krishna teaches us what tools we can use to reach spirituality, so the question is how can someone apply the moral principles of Socrates to reach high level of spirituality as described in the Gita?

The citizens of Athena brought Socrates to the court and sentenced him to death because he stood on his ...

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... the same as the Gita because he said, “If on the other hand death is a removal from here to some other place, and if what we are told is true, that all the dead are there, what greater blessing could there be than this”(Plato 69)? Socrates sees death as a blessing, which is the same perspective that death is described in the Bhagavad Gita. Thus although the understanding of death for Socrates is different from the Gita, there is a similarity as well.

Works Cited

Kak, Subhash. "Hindu Perspectives." Encyclopedia of Science, Technology, and Ethics. Ed. Carl Mitcham. Vol. 2. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005. 915-920. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

Mitchell, Stephen, trans. Bhagavad Gita. New York: Three Rivers, 2000. Print.

Tredennick, Hugh, and Harold Tarrant, trans. Plato: The Last Days of Socrates. London, England: Penguin, 2003. Print