THE BHAGAVAD-GITA
1. The God Krishna
The god Krishna has his origins in the non-vedic (non-Aryan) religion of the Satvatas, a tribe in northern India, whose principal deity was Krishna Vasudeva. This tribe eventually was incorporated into the caste system as ksatriya status and their god Krishna was incorporated into the Vedic pantheon. The Satvatas continued their devotion to Krishna and he became over time the only supreme god; also they maintained their distinctive religious practise and belief (referred to as the Vaisnava tradition) against the Brahmins.
This leads to a consideration of the Bhagavad-Gita. This work represents the synthesis in Indian religion of the Vaisnava tradition with the Upanishadic tradition. Krishna becomes Brahman but retains his nature as a personal god: there is a fusion of monism and monotheism in this work. Eventually Krishna is identified with Vishnu, thus connecting it with the Vedic pantheon and therefore with popular "Hinduism."
2. Introduction to the Bhagavad-Gita
Although it can and does exist as an independent text, the Bhagavad-Gita, meaning "Song of the Lord" (i.e, Lord Krishna) is actually part of the much larger epic poem called Mahabharata; this epic poem relates a feud over succession in the ancient kingdom of Kurukshetra; the rivals factions are two sets of cousins who are descended from king Bharata. In the Bhagavad-Gita the two rival factions have met on the battle field; Arjuna is one of the conbattants. Although he is initially ready and willing to do combat, Arjuna falls into a state of despair at the prospect of killing his own kinsmen; he confesses his reluctance to Krishna, his charioteer. Thus the stage is set for the philosophical dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna. (Actually, the reader soon discovers that Krishna is more than he appears.) The narrator of the poem is Sanjaya, who is the charioteer for another warrior.
Two fundamental questions are raised and answered in the Bhagavad-Gita. First, what is the nature of the Self? The question of the Self is also the question of the nature of the Absolute. Second, how does one attain to the knowledge of one's true nature, which will bring release from the cycle of birth and death? This is the question of the methodology to be employed to reach the philosophical or religious goal. All of the philosophical content of the text relates to the answering of one or both of these questions. It must be noted that the Bhagavad-Gita tends to be eclectic, drawing upon various traditions within Indian religion and harmonizing them.
Some of the most prominent aspects of Hinduism are the atman and samsara which is one the clearest distinctions between Hinduism and other religions. When Krishna states, “I have never not existed; nor have you, nor have these lords of men. Nor will we cease to exist, all of us, from now onwards” (Bhagavad Gita, 185), he is referring to the atman or the human soul which is believed to have always existed and will continue to exist. And when he says, “Just as one throws out old clothes and then takes on other, new ones; so the embodied self casts out old bodies as it gets other, new ones” (Bhagavad Gita, 187), he is talking about samsara and reincarnation. It is from this text, where Hinduism gets its defining characteristics. As long as the Gita continues to be relevant in India so will these philosophies. It reinforces the idea of reincarnation, the soul, and duty which shapes the way the Hindus live their lives. The goal for a Hindu is to break out of samsara and achieve Brahman, and according to the Gita, fulfilling one’s dharma is the way to accomplish this. The Bhagavad Gita is significant to Hinduism, because it has helped Hindus identify an ultimate goal and teaches them how to achieve
Being raised in a Hispanic household, there were a lot of different things that went on that could have been consider, a little out of the ordinary. Our culture is a big part of who we are as a people. For example, no matter how successful you think you might get, you can always have a family member in your tree to let you know, that you aren’t that great. This is in no mean shape or form of disrespect, or even a put down, it is just how we are as a people. When someone see’s you succeeding in life, they usually give you a hard time ab...
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
Throughout the history of humankind, man has always searched to find answers to the many existential questions. Numerous different religions and denominations have developed around the world over time. Though, most wonder about the origin and purpose of our existence. Buddhism was founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama about 2,600 years ago in India. After he had experienced that everyone was subject to “birth, sickness, death, and old age”, he tried to find a way to break from the cycle of rebirth (Bloom).
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...
More than a religion, Hinduism is a way of life and a philosophy that is most concerned with spirituality and enlightenment. The idealism of the Hindu religion comes from the Vedas, which are the Hindu religion's oldest scriptures and are considered to be a direct revelation of God. The Upanishads are writings that take their themes from the Vedas. The Upanishads, however, seem to be more along the lines of allegories that give a fleshy quality to the religion rather than a very dry and out of touch feel that can be found in other religious texts. Lastly, the Bhagavad-Gita is a collection of teachings that are based on the conversation between Arjuna, a soldier for one of two warring families, and Lord Krishna, who appears as Arjuna's charioteer. In these conversations the two discuss everything from the purpose of life to the basis of reality. Much like Christian proverbs, the teachings of Lord Krishna give advice and general good sense and...
Hinduism is unlike many other religions in that it does not have a single founder or text, but is more like an umbrella in ways of life. In death and life for the Hindu, “The ultimate goal of the soul is liberation from the wheel of rebirth, through reabsorption into our identity with the Oversoul (Brahma)-- the essence of the universe, immaterial, uncreated, limitless, and timeless” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 134).
Moksha is a common belief in the Hindu religion and it describes a state where one’s soul connects with God’s soul. In the Hindu religion, achieving moksha removes one from the cycle of life and death, which is the state of reincarnation as one moves from one life to the next. In essence, moksha is a state of unification of one’s soul with that of the creator, therefore achieving oneness of atman and Brahman. This essay discusses the various similarities and differences that exist between Buddhist Nirvana and Hindu Moksha. It can be noted that Buddha was raised in a rich family and he lived through the riches up to some point in his life when he realized that he wanted to discover something different.
The duration of life in a material reality is substantial, but insignificant to all the living bodies in the tangible world are subject to a phenomenon of reoccurring past and once again develop other bodies in another realm. This idea of one life coming after another is a continuing occurrence in the literary world of religious themed texts. Across continents and cultural standpoints, east and west, across time, a thousand years, there are two characters who both begin a journey away from the confusion filling their minds. In the epic Bhagavad Gita and Alighieri from the works of the Scribe Veda Vyasa and Dante, respectively, both works near a thousand years apart connect together to the theme of levels in life is portrayed by the physical life and the extraneous or exotic life, and how these all connect to one another.
The Bhagavad-Gita teaches many things, and amongst these, morality and moral law are developed for the Hindu religion. What Krishna, the primary Hindu god, declares in this somewhat epic poem to be the "basis of good in this world" (stanza 3, pg. 620 of text) is for people to take action. Action, as he goes on to state, is within the very nature of our beings to do. Krishna even states that "without action you even fail to sustain your own body" (stanza 8, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna feels that action is very important and key. To take this concept as a relation to ethics, Krishna tells Arjuna, the warrior he is talking to in this poem, that "Action imprisons the world unless it is done as sacrifice; freed from attachment, Arjuna, perform action as sacrifice!" (stanza 9, pg. 620 of text). Thus, Krishna is prescribing that, in order for an action to be considered good, the good that he already declared to be the basis of all good in the world, one must detach himself from the action being performed and perform the action sacrificially. The detachment aspect is incredibly important to Krishna, for he proclaims that in "performing action with detachment, one achieves supreme good" (stanza 19, pg 620 of text). By doing this, Krishna believes that the world is preserved, for other people will follow the warrior's actions and imitate them in their own lives. A leader, such as a warrior or king, "sets the standard for the world to follow" (stanza 21, pg. 621 of text), as Krishna says and thus must take whatever action is necessary for the world to not be destroyed, to set examples of goodness and right in his own actions. By separating himself from these actions, thus becoming detached, he can achieve this. Another main reason that Krishna feels detachment is necessary is this: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty." (Bhagavad-Gita 2.47). Thus, so long as one does not profit from his own actions, the action itself is good. And, this is Krishna's prescription for leading a life of morality and duty is the moral law to follow in order to achieve this.
Print. The. http://www.hinduism.co.za/karma.htm>. 3) Robert Neil Minor,. Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavad Gita.
When Hinduism originated as a religion it was mainly concerned with sacrifices for ancestors. The sacred texts - called the Vedas - on which Hinduism was based were the main root of the many different branches of Hindu philosophy. The Vedas originated around 1400-1200 BC. They consisted of several different documents, the oldest of them called the Rigveda. The Rigveda is considered to be the foundation of Brahmanic Hinduism. The main body of Rigveda's text contains mostly hymns dedicated to the ancient Hindu gods. The second text of Vedas is called the Yajurveda. It was written in 1200 BC. The main themes of Yajurveda are the sacred formulas recited by Brahmin priests during the performance of sacrifices. The third book of Vedas, Samveda (1100 BC), was also known as the Veda of chants. In its essence Samveda was an anthology of Rigveda writings. The last Veda is the Arthaveda (1200 BC).It consisted of hymns, incantations and magic charms.
In my research I kept reading that it was technically Lord Ganesha who dictated it to Vyasa using him as a means of messenger who wrote down the story told to him, where over time the text was lost and the epic became a narrative until it was written again and revised over time.
In this paper I am looking on depiction of "self" in the Upanishads and the Baghavad Gita focusing on "self" and "devotion".
Hindu mythology has been around for ages; it is the world’s oldest surviving religion. Hinduism was formed through diverse traditions in the year 2,000 B.C.E. There is no single person that gets the credit of developing Hindu Mythology because one person did not create it. Hinduism was originated in India, where it is the most practiced now. Hinduism has over a billion followers and about two-thirds of those people are in India. There are many temples open to worship gods and goddesses. “The needs of the gods would be met by the worshipers who have to prepare themselves through purification rites to draw near to their god” (Organ,193) Hinduism is not only the oldest religion but one of the biggest, with Islam then Christianity being above it.