The Bhagavad Gita, which means the song of the lord, is a part of the Mahabharata. It is a story about the discourse between Arjuna, a prince, and Lord Krishna, who is “an incarnation of the highest of all divinity, creator of the entire universe.” In the book, Arjuna is confused about his duty, dharma, to the law of an elite warrior and kinship. It is Krishna who helps guide and encourage Arjuna to follow his true path, svadharma. The book discusses three broad ways to live: devotion to god (bhakti), karma, and jnana yoga which is practice and discipline. The Bhagavad Gita adapts and reformulates many ideas of soul, karma, and ritual from Vedic sacrifice, the Upanishads, and Buddhism. These three concepts are the major themes and are all interrelated with one another.
The Bhagavad Gita adopts and adapts the concept of karma from Buddhism, the Upanishads and Vedic sacrifice. The concept of karma means action. In Vedic sacrifice and the Upanishads, karma is associated with a ritual action. It was believed that by having rituals being performed by saints on their behalf, one could improve the quality of their rebirth in the next life. The sacrificer would “ask the gods for strength, wealth, children, and immortality.” In the Upanishads, karma is also associated to the ideas of atman, self-soul, and brahman, soul. The purpose of jnana yoga is to achieve the Upanishads core teachings of the equivalence of the atman and the brahman. The Buddha changed the concept of “karma
However, the main element is devotion. In the Bhagavad Gita Arjuna loses his courage to fight in the battle and fears for his life. Krishna, as Arjuna’s mentor, teaches him that it is his duty to stay devoted and fight for his family’s rights. This theory applies to The Legend of Bagger Vance, as well. Junah finds no point in playing golf again because of witnessing his friends being killed in battle, yet Bagger Vance tells him to stay devoted to his hometown and girlfriend since they are both relying on him to win the tournament. On the other hand, the main element for The Legend of Bagger Vance is karma. The Hindu way is to perform one’s dharma in such a way that it is the best. In the movie two questions are proposed: Is Junah to be a great golfer by winning any way he can, or is he to be a great golfer by respecting the sport he is exceeds at even if that does mean losing? The answer appears when Junah accidentally moves his golf ball and is faced with the challenge of ignoring it and increasing his chances to win, or to put the ball in its proper place and risk falling behind his competitors. Junah chooses the latter and earns a great deal of respect from Bagger Vance and the town, creating good karma. The religious elements tie in with the overall message, as well; which is respecting what one loves and making it your duty to stay devoted to those things. For instance, Junah respects the game of golf because he did not cheat; while staying devoted to his town and friends by making it his duty to compete in the tournament. Similarly, Arjuna respects his family’s rights by finding the courage to fight in order to win what they deserve and at the same time staying devoted to those
The author Stephen Mitchell reflects on a scripture titled “Bhagavad Gita”. This scripture is a new translation based on ancient Hinduism. Throughout the scripture, it explains the teachings that can be used in an everyday life situation. Its diverse audience can learn how to face different dilemmas, and how to live in this world with happiness and peace by doings ones’ duties. It also helps the audience understand the true purpose of life. For those who go through the encounters of life educating themselves with perfection, knowledge, and intelligence, they are considered God dearest devotees. Overall, the scripture assures that God will respond to his devotees with love. Its teachings focus on those who are suffering and
The quest towards developing the ideal human character is sought after in both the Bhagavad-Gita and Confucius’ The Analects. In the Bhagavad Gita, the concept of sacred duty is prevalent throughout the text, as the warrior-prince Arjuna faces a moral dilemma throughout the story. In Confucius’ The Analects, filial piety is a virtue which impacts an individual’s character in relation to the Confucian religion. Sacred duty within the Gita requires the protection of one’s dharma, which is defined as the religious and moral law that manages an individual’s actions. Within Confucian thought, filial piety is a virtue of respect for one’s elders, ancestors, and parents within a community. Despite the differences between the contextual meanings of developing the ideal human, both the Bhagavad Gita and The Analects utilize their teachings towards developing ideal human character within the themes of sacred duty and filial piety with the goal of establishing a set of communal ethics to be maintained through different caste systems, essentially protecting the existing social structure. To argue this claim, I will begin by analyzing the similar intentions of deviating from selfish actions and thoughts to develop ideal human character. I will then express how the nature of this character leads towards the development of one’s sacred duty and filial piety. I will then connect these two ideas to show how together they work to develop a communal set of ethics aimed at maintaining order
For more than 100 pages, Krishna mainly talks about three types of yoga in The Bhagavad Gita: jnana (knowledge) yoga, karma (action) yoga, and devotion yoga.
Early Buddhism and the Bhagavad Gītā have a wide array similarities and differences. Both Buddhism and the Gita deal with an inner struggle. We see Arjuna dealing with the struggle of whether or not he should murder his family in order to obtain a kingdom. In Buddhism, we see the inner struggle as the quest to find nirvana and the pain that is the very act of living. Although there are some similarities, the differences between Buddhism and the Gita are clear. One of the biggest digressions between the two is how one deals with the notion of atman and how one must live their life in order to reach the ultimate goal of nirvana or moksha.
The Bhagavad Gita uses the conversation between Pandava Prince Arjuna and his guide Lord Krishna to portray Hinduism world view and Krishna’s view on the different fundamental questions. When he’s facing a war, Arjuna is guided by Krishna to be a selfless leader, and dedication to the cause.
The core belief of the two religions is ‘Karma’, which means ‘action’. Buddhism and Hinduism both originated in India, therefore, some of its core beliefs are similar, however, the way the two religions perceive their core beliefs are different. In Hinduism, Karma could be defined as a process of cause and effect. The actions of people have an effect on them somewhere in their life (Tambyah). According to this concept, the good deeds of a person will take him to a good future or vice versa. Karma has also a strong link with the moral actions and intentions of a person. In this regard, if a person does well with a wrong intention, he or she will definitely get wrong effects in the future due to their bad intentions. On the other hand, Karma in Buddhism is commonly known as a‘virtue’. Similar to
This essay will focus on analyzing the ultimate truth while seeing how it coexists with the study and practice of Jhana Yoga. Each of the principles presented in this essay will have an in depth examination. The philosophical and religious as well as human natures are some of the most important themes that will be displayed in this essay. The idea of the materialistic values that is present in everyday life serve as the reason to why one cannot know the ultimate truth and how one can overcome this in order to find supreme peace. Karma yoga will be studied as Lord Krishna tells its importance to Arjuna, so he can follow the path of divine fulfillment. The universality of religion and selflessness serve as the two strengths one can achieve to be capable to have and live by the ultimate truth. The aspect of tradition and the origins of
One’s worldview is immensely influential in every aspect of a person’s life. In “The Bhagavad-Gita”, the importance of having a strong viewpoint is displayed through the actions of Arjuna and Krishna. This epic is a great example of how one’s worldview impacts one’s actions and decisions. Additionally, Arjuna discovers how trying it can be to keep hold of his outlook on life when faced with difficult situations. “The Gita” is an accurate illustration of how one’s worldview persuades the actions and decision making of a person because of Arjuna’s worldview, the theme of karma and dharma, and how one’s world view effects every aspect of a person’s life.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, a truly wise person should seek to subdue his senses in order to achieve Brahman State. The Bhagavad Gita opens with a scene in which Arjuna, a warrior prince, is speaking to his chariot driver who is really the god Krishna. Arjuna is deeply troubled by the fact that he is fighting his relatives and wishes to abandon the fight. It is here that his dialogue with Krishna begins. Their conversation revolves around many issues and questions that Arjuna has, one of them being about emotion and desire. There seems to be a fairly straightforward answer to his question. Many times in the book, Arjuna is told that he should subdue his emotions. However, there are still more questions to be answered. Why should emotions and desires be supressed? How does one suppress these desires? Finally, what is the cultural effect of this teaching? It is through these first two questions that Arjuna is able to understand the role of his desires, and through the third that the cultural effects of this doctrine can be explored.
In The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Bhagavad-Gita, gods play an important role in society and the way of life. In the Bhagavad-Gita, people portray their gods as almighty and perfect beings. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mesopotamian people see their gods as imperfect, human-like beings. The way the people depict their gods, determines how long the religion will last and how much power the gods withhold.
Bhavagad-Gita, is the earliest known yoga scripture dated back to around 500 B.C. The Gita is dedicated entirely to yoga, its main aim is that -- "to be alive means to be active and in order to avoid difficulties in our lives and in others, our actions have to benign and have to exceed our egos." Its connection to the Upanishads is paralleled to the relationship between the Vedas and Upanishads, strengthening each other's meaning.
India gave birth to Hinduism which expanded quickly. This spiritual tradition focused on finding peace and eternal tranquility rather than temporary satisfaction from the worldly pleasures. In order to transmit the idea to other people and guide them through it, they came up with different writings to illustrate this. The Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads are popular writings that exemplify the beliefs and thoughts of Hinduism. The Bhagavad Gita addresses the question about how a person can be one with Brahman, the universal soul or god, while living in this world. This document is set as a dialogue between the warrior Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Krishna. Arjuna is being encouraged by Krishna to fulfill his duty as a warrior and part of the Kshatriyas, one of the higher divisions in the caste system. Arjuna has to enter this battle and fight in order to live up to his duty and consequently live free from attachments and walk in the path of finding himself as one with Brahman. On the other hand, the Upanishads guided all kinds of people regardless of
What is the basic view of the divine in Jnana Yoga, what the goal of Jnana Yoga is, and what practices are used to achieve the goal of Jnana Yoga? Jnana Yoga is the first of four paths to the divine. Huston Smith writes that “while seeking knowledge to become closer to God, it is the hardest because humans will resist the loss of self.” This journey is especially difficult for that reason alone. If I were to ask someone to describe me and match that with what I think about myself, the description would be very different. It is human nature to think good of oneself and bad about other people. Hindu worshipers, aspiring spiritualists who want to use knowledge as a path to God,
In Buddhism, Karma has two forms; mental karma and deed karma (Encyclopedia of Religion 266). The two forms both abide by the belief that good or bad actions yield good or bad results. Mental karma is governed by what a person thinks. If a person thinks impure or malicious thoughts, they will build up bad karma during his life, and for pure thoughts, good karma is built up. Deed karma refers to the actions performed physically by a person. As with mental karma, deed karma is the culmination of good karma and bad karma resulting from one’s actions.