Vishnu is the Supreme form of God in the Hindu sect known as Vaishnavism. This means that, while there are other gods and demigods, Vishnu reigns supreme above all. He, in the minds of the Vaishnavites, is the lord of all creation. Vishnu has taken many forms throughout the eons, known as his avatars, whenever the dharmic balance on the earthly plains requires direct intervention in order to be set right. The ten most recognizable of these avatars are called the Daśāvatāra, among them such heroes and wise men as Rama (the hero of the Ramayana, said to be the ideal man) and the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama. But by far the most recognizable of these names is Krishna. Krishna was the eighth incarnation of Vishnu and is one of the most worshipped figures in all of Hinduism. He is perhaps most well-known for his appearance in the Mahabharata as Arjunas charioteer. But even more than that, through manipulations Krishna was able to destroy the three greatest foes of the Pandavas without ever raising a weapon. Thus it can be said that Krishna was the most important figure in the Mahabharata – even discounting his role in the Bhagavad Gita – as without him the Pandavas would have certainly lost the war.
Krishna is thought to have been born around 3220 BCE and to have lived for 126 years, dying in the year 3102 BCE (Knott). Krishna, the son of the Princess Devaki, was born (according to the Bhagavata Purana) from the mind of Vasudeva entering the womb of his mother directly . Sent away from his kingdom because of his mother’s fear for his life, Krishna grew up as a shepherd of cows, and there are many stories of his exploits as a youth. He killed the Demon Putana, who was disguised as a wet nurse, and defeated the Naga Kāliyā by dancing on i...
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.... Without the intervention of Krishna, the Pandavas would have faced three foes they would have had no chance to slay on the battlefield, and would have inevitably lost. Thus it can be said that Krishna was the most important figure in the Mahabharata.
Works Cited
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From the beginning of humankind, people have constantly had to deal with inner battles. Many of these issues cease to exist as time goes on, while new ones arise to take their place. There is one issue, however, that has remained consistent throughout time – morality. For centuries, humans have fought against the outside world and themselves to keep their morals properly aligned. The issue of morality is so dominant that it is still plays a vital role in today’s society. This can be seen in wars, law systems, codes of conduct, and religious texts. An example of a religious text where this can be seen is in pages 185 - 188 of the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna, also referred to as “The Blessed One”, guides Arjuna through his inner struggles between
Using the above definition of hero and heroism, this essay attempts to assess three famous heroic characters portrayed in arguably the three greatest literary epics known to humankind, Achilles of Ancient Greece, Sundiata Keita of Ancient Mali and Rama of Ayodhya in what is today Modern India. With references to Stanley Lombardo’s translation of Homer’s Iliad, D.T. Niane’s Sundiata and R.K. Narayan’s translation of Valmiki’s Ramayana, this essay seeks to compare and contrast the attributes of these heroes, the morals associated with their heroism and their reasons for engaging in battle.
"Selections from Gandhi : Complete Book Online." WELCOME TO MAHATMA GANDHI ONE SPOT COMPLETE INFORMATION WEBSITE. Web. 01 Oct. 2011. .
Most people know Leonardo da Vinci as only the painter of the Mona Lisa, but he did much, much more. He was born on April 15, 1452. There are many misconceptions about Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo da Vinci was a Humanist who regularly challenged the church. Da Vinci is arguably the smartest man to live in his time.
mom and the dragon. He has helped mankind a great deal and because of that he
"From the Bhagavad-Gita." Prentice Hall Literature. Trans. Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood. Upper Saddle: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 182-89. Print.
Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand. Young India, Volume 9. N.p.: Navajivan Publishing House, 1927. Print. Vol. 9 of Young India.
2. Ellison, Ralph. Battle Royal. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company, 2013. P. 2395-2405. Fairfield Medium.
Potpourri, Kamat. "Gandhi: A Biography." Kamat's Potpourri -- The History, Mystery, and Diversity of India. 4 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 Feb. 2011. .
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. Mehta, Ved. Mahatma Gandhi and His Apostles. New York: Viking, 1977. Print.
Anderson, Amy. "Profiles in Greatness - Gandhi." Success 12 Feb. 2013: 1-4. Success. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
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 book is based on the conversation between Arjuna who was one of the greatest warrior of his time and Krishna who was a charioteer of Arjuna. Studying Bhagavad Gita teaches us about Dharma, Karma, reincarnation and salvation. Dharma is defined as duty and Karma is a belief that each and every action we do have consequences which has to be suffered by reincarnating through various lives. Bhagavad Gita informs us that Karma guarantees that every individual will be able to reap the benefits of his/her good work and have to suffer the consequences for the actions, good actions brings benefits whereas bad actions brings costs (Chatterjee). Taking base of the facts about Dharma, Karma, reincarnation, and salvation, the book teaches us to be wise and faithful with our duties. With an irony that salvation can only be attained by keeping track of Dharma, the book motivates us to rethink about the consequences of every action we take. This has helped developing good morality in individuals and has helped developing a better
Susan Bayly. (1999). Caste, Society and Politics in India: from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age. Cambridge University Press