РефератыИностранный языкBhBhagavadGita Themes Essay Research Paper The BhagavadGita

BhagavadGita Themes Essay Research Paper The BhagavadGita

Bhagavad-Gita Themes Essay, Research Paper


The Bhagavad-Gita begins with the preparation of battle between the two opposing


sides: on the left stands the collected armies of the one hundred sons of


Dhritarashtra and on the right lies the soldiers of the Pandava brothers.


Warring relatives feuding over the right to govern the land of Kurukshetra, both


forces stand poised and ready to slaughter one another. The warrior Arjuna,


leader of the Pandava armies, readies himself as his charioteer, the god


Krishna, steers toward the opposition when the armies are ready to attack.


Arjuna stops Krishna short before the two sides clash together. Hesitation and


pity creeps into Arjuna?s heart as he surveys his family and relatives on the


other side; he loses his will to win at the cost of the lives he still loves. As


Arjuna sets down his bow and prepares for his own death, the god Krishna begins


his council with Arjuna, where Krishna uses various ideas on action,


self-knowledge, and discipline to reveal to Arjuna the freedom to be attained


from the suffering of man once Arjuna finds his devotion to Krishna. Before


Krishna begins his teachings, Arjuna analyzes his emotions and describes to


Krishna the way his heart feels. ?Krishna, I seek no victory, or kingship or


pleasures? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 25). Arjuna admits that he stands to gain


nothing of real worth from the war. He knows he cannot consciously triumph over


family for his own wealth and glory. ?We [Pandava brothers] sought kingships,


delights, and pleasures for the sake of those assembled to abandon their lives


and fortunes in battle? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 25). Arjuna continues on to


state that once the family is destroyed and family duty is lost, only chaos is


left to overcome what remains. He goes so far as to describe how chaos swells to


corrupt even the women in the families, creating disorder in society. Arjuna


tells Krishna that the punishment for men who undermine the duties of the family


are destined for a place in hell. Finally, Arjuna asks Krishna which is right:


the tie to sacred duty or reason? Krishna begins his explanation by stating that


all life on earth is indestructible. ?Never have I not existed, nor you, nor


these kings; and never in the future shall we cease to exist? (The


Bhagavad-Gita, p. 31). Because life has always been, reasons Krishna, then how


can man kill or be killed when there is no end to the self? Also, Krishna tells


Arjuna that his emotions of sorrow and pity are fleeting, and that endurance is


all that is necessary to outlast the temporary thoughts. ?If you fail to wage


this war of sacred duty, you will abandon your own duty and fame only to gain


evil? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 34). Krishna reinforces the idea of dharma,


reminding Arjuna of the consequences faced when one does not fulfill the duty


set before him. ?Your own duty done imperfectly is better than another man?s


done well. It is better to die in one?s own duty, another man?s duty is


perilous? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 46). Doing one?s job poorly is preferable


to doing another?s well. Even if talents lie in a different area, the duty one


is assigned to is the responsibility of the individual. Failure of Arjuna to


abide by his duty would have a profound effect on his worldly life as well.


Enemies would slander Arjuna and companions would lose faith and respect in the


man they once held in such high favor. If Arjuna loses his life, then he gains


heaven and if he wins then he gains the earth; thus there is no need for Arjuna


to fear for his own fate. To complete his sacred duty, Arjuna must perform the


necessary actions for the duty to be achieved. ?Be intent on action, not on


the fruits of action; avoid attractions to the fruits and attachment to


inaction!? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 36). In the third teaching, the abstinence


from action fails because one cannot merely reject one?s actions and find


success. Inaction threatens the well-being of the physical body, warns Krishna.


Discovered through techniques like yoga and inner reflection, action allows the


freedom of the self to be found and attained. Once Arjuna loses desire in the


consequences of his actions, then a new kind of discipline can be realized.


Understanding, rated superior to action by the god Krishna, provides the


necessary tools to perform the skills needed to execute the action. Krishna


warns Arjuna that this understanding can be lost once man begins a downward


process by lusting after pleasurable objects which creates desire, and from


desire anger is born, from anger arises confusion, from confusion comes memory


loss, and from this the loss of understanding, signaling the ruin of man.


Krishna blames Arjuna?s current emotions on worldly desires, and encourages


Arjuna to seek a detachment from these worldly ties, so that the duty may be


completed and Arjuna will achieve his release from human suffering. The


discussion of passion in the fourteenth teaching illustrates one of many


inconsistencies in Krishna?s argument. ?Know that passion is emotional, born


of craving and attachment, it binds the embodied self with attachment to


action? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 122). Previously, Krishna counseled that a


strong detachment from action, as well as from the fruits of action, is


necessary for the success of the endeavor. In a sense, Krishna says that passion


creates the drive and will needed to accomplish an action. ?When passion


increases, Arjuna, greed and activity, involvement in actions, disquiet, and


longing arise? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 122). Exactly what merits the longing


remains to be seen; Krishna gives the impression that this craving may deal with


the fruits of action, a clear contradiction to Krishna?s past words. In this


sense, Krishna describes a unit of the three qualities that bind man to the


self. Including passion, lucidity, and dark inertia, these qualities (while


being praised by Krishna) must be transcended for the achievement of liberation.


To receive all knowledge of the cosmos and the self, Arjuna learns of Krishna


himself. Krishna describes himself as having eight aspects: earth, fire, water,


wind, space, mind, understanding, and individuality. These are his more worldly


factors labeled as his lower nature. His upper nature is Krishna?s ability to


sustain the universe, and be the source of all in existence. The three qualities


of nature arise from him, as well as the beneficial aspects of strength without


desire and desire without imposing on the duty all man must possess. ?The


disciplined man of knowledge is set apart by his singular devotion; I am dear to


the man of knowledge, and he is dear to me? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 73). To


Krishna, the man of wisdom and knowledge goes hand in hand with the man who has


complete devotion to the god. Krishna likens the man of knowledge to himself,


saying ?…self-disciplined, he holds me to be the highest way? (The


Bhagavad-Gita, p. 73), once again establishing the need for complete submission.


Knowledge, while seen as a way to achieve freedom, requires enough discipline to


be able to fully devote oneself to the god Krishna. It is through devotion,


Krishna reveals, that man can truly achieve freedom from life and death. ?By


devotion alone can I, as I really am, be known and seen and entered into, Arjuna?


(The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 108). In his teaching on devotion, Krishna tells Arjuna


to ?renounce all actions to me? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 112) In the fifth


teaching, Krishna calls for the release from attachment and the fruit of the


action, saying that once this occurs, then joy is found in the detached


individual. Yet, freedom can not be achieved through renunciation alone; it is


action with discipline that is essential for the success of the enlightened. As


Krishna continues his discourse, he begins to talk about the divine and demonic


qualities inherent in all of man. ?All creatures in the world are either


divine or demonic;? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 133). Apparently, all creatures are


naturally good or evil. ?…do not despair, Arjuna, you were born with the


divine? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 133). Born with the quality of good or evil,


the individual is fated to be what is in his nature. If it is his duty to be


evil, then it is at evil that the man will succeed. Krishna states that living


in evil leads to the bondage of the self in worldly things. Unable to free


himself, the demonic man is forced to repeat the cycle of life and death in an


everlasting pattern as Krishna casts each evil man back into demonic wombs.


Krishna also identifies the evil man as a slave to his own desires. Controlled


and dictated by futile efforts, ?they hoard wealth in stealthy ways to satisfy


their desires? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 134). The god also warns against three


gates of hell: desire, anger, and greed. The renunciation of these allows for


the release of the self. In the seventeenth teaching, Krishna discusses the


differences in the nature of man. As stated before, these three aspects (also


thought of as aspects of faith) are lucidity, passion, and dark inertia. The


lucid man sacrifices to the gods, eats of the rich and savory foods, and


sacrifices with all the traditions met. The man of passion sacrifices to the


spirits and demons, eats harsh and bitter food that cause suffering, and


sacrifices only to gain. The man of dark inertia sacrifices to the dead and


ghosts, eats food that has long spoiled, and sacrifices void of faith or any


real emotion. Into one of these three types fits every human on earth. Krishna


praises the lucid while warning of the passionate and the darkly inert. The


discussion comes to a close when Krishna begins to summarize and conclude the


points he has already mentioned. He specifies the difference between


?renunciation? and ?relinquishment?. Renunciation is the refusal of


action grounded in desire, while relinquishment is the rejection of the fruit of


action. In death, the relinquishing of the fruits allows the self to lose all


ties to the body and the desires that go with it. Krishna reminds him that


resistance to his duty, that is, refusal to go into battle is futile because


Arjuna?s nature compels him to it. Krishna spurns Arjuna to go against his


will and do what his heart forbids. Arjuna learns to take refuge in Krishna and


to commit fully to him. Krishna vows that Arjuna will be received to him in good


time. ?Arjuna, have you listened with you full powers of reason? Has the


delusion of ignorance now been destroyed?? ?Krishna, my delusion is


destroyed, and by your grace I have regained memory; I stand here, my doubt


dispelled, ready to act on your words.? (The Bhagavad-Gita, p. 153) Thus


Arjuna, through his discourse with the god Krishna, accepted his duty with


devotion and learned how to overcome his desire, while freeing himself from all


worldly suffering.

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