The Historical Context of The Bhagavad Gita and Its Relation to Indian Religious Doctrines
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.
The necessity for the arose because the one hundred cousins of the Panadavas refused to return the kingdom to the Pandavas as they had originally promised. The eldest of the Pandav brot...
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...e first English translation of the Gita was published. All religious texts of ancient India were written in Sanskrit. In November 1784, the first direct translation of a Sanskrit work into English was completed by Charles Wilkins. The book that was translated was The Bhagavad Gita. Friedreich Max Mueller (1823-1900), the German Sanskritist who spent most of his working life as Professor of Comparative Philology at Oxford University, served as the chief editor of the Sacred Books of the East. (Oxford University Press). The Gita was included in this famous collection. Since then, the Gita has become one of the most widely-read texts of the world. True, there are unexplained contradictions and paradoxes in this brief book, but its wide-ranging implications based on the two ancient Darshans of India and its allegorical meanings are still being examined and reinterpreted.
Merriam- Webster online dictionary defines an epic hero as, “ A grand and noble character in an epic poem, admired for great achievements or effected by grand events.” The same dictionary also defines an epic poem as, “a story told about a hero or exciting events.” The Epic of Gilgamesh is often considered the oldest story on earth; which would make Gilgamesh, the story’s controversial main character, and the world’s oldest epic hero. This epic set a precedent for all epics to follow; it displayed most of the traits that society commonly perceives an epic hero and epic poem should have. The Epic of Gilgamesh exhibits tendencies of an epic poem through its inclusion of an epic hero, multiple gods and goddesses, and it’s vast array of settings across the world. Additionally, Gilgamesh presents attributes of an epic hero through his quest for immortality, his noble birth and his battles with superhuman foes.
The question of suffering comes up much when talking about, or practicing any religion. Many ask why people suffer, and what causes suffering? The various religions try to answer these questions in their own way. Pico Iyer’s editorial, “The Value of Suffering” addresses the questions of suffering and how it is handled. This article could be compared to the Bhagavad-Gita which also addresses and explains suffering through different stories of the interactions of humans and different Gods. One can specifically look at “The Second Teaching” in the Bhagavad-Gita, which explains the interaction between a man named Arjuna and the god Krishna. In it Arjuna is suffering because he does not want to fight in a war and with people whom he should be worshiping. Krishna says to fight because the souls of the people will forever live on, and because he needs to fulfill his Dharma. With what is known about the Bhagavad-Gita and how Iyer thinks about the subject, Iyer would agree with how the Bhagavad-Gita address suffering.
The Bhagavad-Gita, a portion of the great epic the Mahabharata, is the “most typical expression of Hinduism.” It is eighteen chapters long and was composed around the first century BCE. The sage Samjaya recites the story to the blind king Dhrtarastra, the father of the Kaurava princes. While presenting ideas of wisdom, duty, and liberation in the midst of the rivalry between the Kauravas, the Bhagavad-Gita epitomizes the teachings of Krishna. Focusing specifically on the moral struggle of the Pandava prince Arjuna, the Bhagavad-Gita’s major themes include yoga, karma, dharma, and moksa. Yoga, being discipline or the strict and “attentive cultivation of mental character and meaningful action” , is crucial to the text because it is dharma yoga, acting properly according to one’s dharma, and bhakti yoga, a disciplined life of devotion that allows one to achieve moksa, or liberation, one of the four aims of li...
The wars, the victories, the defeats and deaths arose from the warrior’s duty to the Buddhist Law. These warriors lived their duty and this is reflected through the tales that illustrate actions that include loyalty and respect towards other warriors.
Philosophy and religion has seemingly always been intertwined, one following the other. The way one should live one’s life according to a specific philosophy can entirely be dependent upon the existence of a religion they devote their life to. However, with the topic of way of living coupled with religion, many times, when they are not coincided with each other, conflicts arise. This leads to my sense of conflict when reading the Bhagavad Gita.
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
In The Bhagavad-Gita, Arjuna needed to learn to follow the will of god, despite his trepidation at the idea of fighting his cousins. And in Till We Have Faces, Orual learned from her younger sister’s example completely unselfish motives lead to the appeasement of the gods and, therefore, happiness in one’s own life. Each novel concludes that sacrifice consists of being willing to give your own desires over to your god and that, in doing so, true happiness will abound.
The Ramayana is the most famous and well-known of all Indian epics, originally based on an epic poem it has taken many variations and forms over the centuries. Traditionally the story centers on the hero Prince Rama, who is the embodiment of virtue and perseverance, as he is wrongfully denied his birthright of being crowned king and instead is unjustly exiled into the forest where he encounters his fair share of dilemma. In R. K. Narayan’s condensed, modern version of The Ramayana the classic conflict of duality is a predominant theme, as Rama faces many instances of uncertainty and trivial chaos which are eventually balanced by order and goodness under the laws of karmic causation and dharma alike which he virtuously strives to uphold. Nina
...th intense compassion and love for the enemy and wait for the enemy to shoot him down. My contention is that war is impossible when every one follows the principle of “Love they neighbor…” and “service before self”. However, my ethical system does not propagate relinquishing one’s duty. It is possible to imagine a soldier fighting a war as a part of his duty, slaying his enemies even as he continues to love them. This was what Krishna preached in Bhagwadgita to his disciple Arjuna who was horrified at the sight of his kinsmen fighting on the enemy’s side.
The idea that some people are strong enough to be completely independent of others might seem true at surface level, but further examination of this concept proves otherwise. Through analyzing the journey of Rama as well as those around him, The Ramayana becomes proof that all characters are relevant in accomplishing big-picture tasks. Characters in The Ramayana which seem to have varying levels of relevance or show antagonistic behavior all have large roles in accomplishing big-picture dharma; this fact becomes clear as their dependencies on each other are recognized, demonstrating that all individuals must rely on others.
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.
Hindu thought sharply contrasts Western thought. A central theme in the Hindu religion is following one's dharma, which is an individual's "spiritual duty" (McCrae October 30 2003). This duty is "not bounded by a law code, and there is not one path to salvation" (McCrae October 30, 2003). Because there is no law code, morality is ambiguous. Its definition is unique to each individual. In The Mahabharata, fate (which works interchangeably with dharma) presides over what is traditionally right.
Aryabhata was born in around 476 CE. He was born in India during the Kali Kusumpura Yuga (the age of the demon). This age was known as the age of demon because it had constant eclipses, which people believed to be created by a demon. Most of Aryabhata’s childhood and life events are a mystery. Hardly any records are left about his life. During this era, many didn’t write, but rather used symbols that represented words. Aryabhata, for instance, used his knuckles as a calendar. January would start from the pinky of the left hand. February would be the ring finger of the left hand and so on. All that is known about Aryabhata is that he was indeed one of the first Indian astronomers and mathematicians.
I take this as saying that if you are wise then difficult situations would be easy to handle because you would already know the correct way to act. Arjuna's heart is afflicted, meaning he is not allowing his wisdom to mature and grow and not battling off evil with his insight. Following immediately after this quote the idea of enemies is discussed. “Whatever and enemy may do to an enemy, or haters, one to another, far worse is the harm from one's own wrongly directed mind.” Any choice made can in turn be harmful if not following a well directed and conscious mind.
Also with abundance of history relating not only to Hinduism but as well as the backdrop of the story which was the beautiful city of Hastinapura, located on Ganges River, gave me a topographical sense where the city was located therefore providing a connection within me and the epic. There are many topics in which I can analyze and respond about the epic but I will discuss the author Vyasa who is said to be credited for the writing and his important role in the epic also I will describe the epic The Mahabharata and how dharma and fate influences its characters throughout the story and elaborating on the dice game which eventually lead to the declaration of war between the Kauravas and Pandavas clans. Another topic is how dharma is still used to influence society today in India.