The Moral Development of Job and Arjuna

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Recommended: Critical analysis of the book of job

One might ask, why has God, selected these two men, of all the men in the world, to be His personal targets for moral learning and spiritual growth? Even though these heroes share a myriad of dissimilarities, these men are chosen, amongst all men, to set and example for the rest of humanity. Throughout the course of The Book of Job and The Bhagavad-Gita, Job and Arjuna are beset with adversity. And it is only through this adversity, that the true character of each of these men is ultimately revealed. Accordingly, as their character develops, so does their spirituality.

Job is the protagonist from the Book of Job. It has been said that, "Job is the greatest man in all the East." (Job 1:3) Job was a blessed pious man, whom was loved by God and man alike. In the Book of Job, God is argues with Satan and in an attempt to prove the piety of Job, God tests Job with many challenging obstacles to the point where Job is left with fundamentally nothing.

Throughout the course of Job's trials, he begins to experience internal conflict. "My thoughts are resentful, for God's hand is heavy on me in my trouble. If only I knew how to find him, how to enter his court, I would state my case before him and set out my arguments in full; then I should learn what answer he would give and find out what he had to say." (Job 23:2-5) As a result of this internal conflict, Job begins to question the actions of God, and whether or not he deserved his `punishments.' At this point in the Book of Job, Job's friends and kin are led to believe that Job has sinned and must repent. The reader is left to debate whether Job is being naïve or whether he is actually making conscious to endure God's `punishments' in an attempt to get to heaven.

Similarly, Arjuna, the protagonist from The Bhagavad-Gita also experiences inner-conflict. The source of this conflict is that Arjuna is torn between fighting in a battle even if it must mean the death of his kin. As Arjuna confronts this life-or-death moral dilemma, he reader can empathize with Arjuna, and his emotional predicament. At the brink of an epic battle, Arjuna converses with the god Krishna.

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