The Bhagavad Gita Classics of Indian Spirituality - Essay Example

The Bhagavad-Gita The Bhagavad-Gita is recognized as an Indian jewel of spiritual wisdom. The Lord (Krishna) to his discipline Arjuna spoke the Bhagavad-Gita. The Gita brief verses offer a definitive direction to the art of self-realization. It provides an insight into the nature of self, the supreme, the universe, and consciousness. The Bhagavad-Gita shows the devotion of human beings to God, which is the origin of spiritual knowledge. The main aim of the Bhagavad-Gita is to describe to the human beings the recognition and comprehension of the actual nature of divinity. Human beings have to attain higher spiritual conception in order to achieve the love of God (Easwaran 15). The Yoga of the despondency of Arjuna (The first discourse) The bloody war between the Kauravas and the Pandavas took place at Kurukshetra. This was a result of the failure of the peace and unity mission by Lord Krishna when he visited Pandavas. They had no choice but to participate in the bloody war in order for them to attain what they perceived as their rightful share of the kingdom. Before the two sides could engage in war, Arjuna questioned the reasons and circumstances of the deadly carnage that was about to happen as he knew that it was not good for the people to fight and in turn kill innocent people for the sake of their pleasures and kingdom (Miller 31). In addition, he wondered if it was right for him to leave or surrender everything in favor of his enemies and retire in peace. Miller (33) state that, as Arjuna was faced with these confusing thoughts, feeling of despondency overtook Arjuna. Arjuna had no desire to participate in the war in that he had to turn to Lord Krishna for enlightenment and guidance. It is therefore rational to note that Arjuna realized that ignorance of the law is not an excuse to warrant a sinful act that would lead to destruction of property and loss of life. People should know that a sinful conduct is a serious crime unworthy of knowledgeable and reasonable people. In the Yoga of the despondency of Arjuna recorded in the Upanishads, shows Arjuna casting way his arrow and bow, and sat down on the chariot with his mind engulfed in sorrow. It is rational to argue that Arjuna did not want the two armies to fight because he knew it would be against the will of the Lord who likes to see people live in peace and unity (Easwaran 12). Sankhiya Yoga (The second discourse) Arnold (55) argues that, unlike in the first discourse where Arjuna is seeking guidance and enlightenment from the Lord Krishna, the second discourse began with Sanjaya explaining the state or conditions of Arjuna, who was disturbed because of fear and attachment. Lord Krishna rebukes Arjuna for his unwilling to participate in the war because of his attachment or ‘Moha’ and tells him to fight. Arjuna did not succeed in convincing Lord Krishna through his wise thoughts that war was disastrous to the society. According to Arnold, this is wise counsel that the Lord Krishna gives to Arjuna. In turn, Arjuna recognizes his helplessness and devotes fully to the service of the Lord, looking for his direction, wisdom, and guidance to overcome the conflict of his mind. The Lord pitied with Arjuna, went ahead to guide, and enlightened him on what he should do. He tells Arjuna about the immortality of the Atman, for which there is past, present, and future. This meant that the Atman is not mortal; therefore, Arjuna should not be overwhelmed by grieve and fear. This is because the Atman is beyond the earth, fire, water, ether and air since it cannot be cut, dried or burnt, and is eternal. In the first discourse, the Lord Krishna rebukes Arjuna and is unwilling to enlighten him (Easwaran 15). Contrary to the second discourse where the Lord explains to Arjuna that everyone in the world experiences things like pain and pleasure, cold and heat because of the conduct of objects with human senses. A person who is in a position to balance between the pain and pleasure will be able to attain immortality. The Lord advises Arjuna that it is better for him to engage in the war because if he fails to do so, people will degrade and see him as a worthless warrior. He also tells Arjuna that a person should perform his actions in a balanced manner enduring the pairs of the opposites such as heat and cold that manifest during the action. He explains to Arjuna that it is better to fight free from desires of preservation or acquisition of the kingdom. From the Sankhiya yoga, it is evident to note that a person with stable mind is the one who has no desires in that he recognized his self and is free from all desires. In addition, a person with stable perfect or stable mind will be able to control his senses. Once a person has attained stable mind and is able to control his senses, he is able to live in an eternal peace since the eternal state frees a person from delusion in that even after death, a person does not lose his conscious identity with Brahman. In sum, the atman is the only reality that exists because other world events are always changing or constant; hence, they are unreal or impermanent (Arnold 66-7). Human self is above all objects like ether in that even if the body perishes, the eternal self that is above all objects cannot be damaged or destroyed. It will live forever. The second discourse also shows that self is extremely subtle and infinite in that it is destined to live forever. The of law nature dictates that people are born, they live and eventually they die, therefore, a person should not be overwhelmed by fear and grieve. The only way a person can achieve eternal bliss or happiness is via self-recognition since he or she will be able to overcome attachment and grieve which are the main causes of pain and pleasure. The Yoga of Action (Third discourse) Unlike in the first and second yoga discourses, in the third discourse, the Lord teaches Arjuna how to overcome attachment, which was the cause of his delusion and grieve. The third discourse is similar to the second yoga discourse; the Lord explains to Arjuna the imperishable nature of the atman. If Arjuna is able to realize his atman, he would be granted freedom and would live eternally. Arjuna does not believe in what the Lord Krishna is telling him and instead doubts the possibility of participating in an action even after achieving eternal state. It is significant to note that Lord Krishna eliminates this doubt by explaining to Arjuna that despite the fact that a person has attained eternal state, he or she should strive to perform actions via the force of nature or Prakriti (Easwaran 14). Perfection is attained by performing all actions as a divine deed accompanied with a spirit of sacrifice and non-attachment. Lord Krishna enlightens Arjuna that a wonderful and brilliant man is the one who engages in good deeds for the benefit of the masses and the entire world in general. Action or deed is very significant for those who have achieved eternal state of perfection and for those who are seeking perfection (Miller 62). It is important for people to perform their duties according to their nature as a perfect way that leads to detachment, and eventually a person attains perfection. Nature or Prakriti is that state in which the three gunas exist in an equilibrium condition. When this balance is disturbed, creation starts and the senses, body and mind are formed whereby an individual who is guided by egoism is able to identify the self with the mind, body, the life forces, and the sense. The gunas of Prakriti perform all deeds or actions (Arnold 79). The Yoga of wisdom (the fourth discourse) In the yoga of wisdom, the Lord Krishna is declares that he is immortal in that he is born from age to age. Therefore, whenever there is a prevalence of unrighteousness and evil or dark forces govern the world, the Lord shows himself to the universe in readiness to destroy evil forces and establish peace, harmony, and order. In this action, we recognize the appearance of the great savior of the world (Easwaran 15). The Lord explains to Arjuna that the secret of yogic action is that if an individual does not participate in action, then it is called action in inaction since the mind is active with the idea of egoism and doership. A free or liberated person is detached and is always calm though engaged in ceaseless deed since he is not influenced by the pairs of the opposites like happiness and sadness. A person who has established real and true relationship with the Lord is not subject to rebirth, which implies that such an individual has attained immortality. Such relationship can be achieved when a person is detached from anger and fear, and purified by true knowledge of the Lord. God does not specify which path a person can use to approach him. Those engaged in the path to God conduct several types of sacrifices. Via these sacrifices, a person mind is purified and he is able to approach God. Therefore, a person should seek divine wisdom at the feet of the freed guru who has recognized the truth. Those who are looking forward to attaining divine wisdom should seek it through spirit of devotion and humility (Miller 64-5). God inspires the guru and tells him what to tell the people. In the process of seeking divine wisdom, the aspirant or the person seeking the divine wisdom is challenged to drop all worldly desires and avoid being deluded by ignorance in order to be freed. The Lord Krishna explains to Arjuna that divine wisdom frees or liberates even the most sinful men in that once they realize their self; they are able to attain God’s knowledge. The requisite for achieving divine wisdom is the ability of a person to possess faith and devotion since faith enables a person to get divine knowledge that eliminates ignorance (Easwaran 16). Those people who lack faith are condemned to destruction and are unable to attain spiritual path. An individual should adhere to the instructions of the guru and eliminate all doubts that can make him fail to achieve highest knowledge and bliss or happiness. The Bhagavad-Gita as compared to The Analects of Confucius The Analects of Confucius tackles the same philosophical stand as of the Bhagavad-Gita, especially in the fields of social philosophy, especially in Analects 3:12, 6:20 and 11.11. The main similarities of the two philosophical literature are basically behavioral – how should one be as a person towards his own self and others. The Analects are basically the teachings and observations by the Chinese philosopher Confucius. This is an integral part of the Chinese culture. Confucius teaches moral responsibility as well as personhood, the way the Bhagavad-Gita teaches moral responsibilities and personhood through the epic. The two pieces of literature are often compared, primarily because they are similar in content. For example, the Bhagavad-Gita and Confucianism talk about personhood similarly. Both pieces of literature also talk about how a person is a social creature. Both philosophies are very important in examining the view of personhood, and in order to understand one of them, one must understand or at least compare it to the other because of the similarities and differences between them. Both systems focus on the individual as components of maintaining the social order. Moral standards are being taken seriously as they are integral to keeping the community. However, the two systems do not offer the same pattern of achieving moral personhood, as to be discussed in the latter paragraphs. In Bhagavad-Gita, the person is a communal being, being shaped by the community, by the objects and the people around him – and that creates the basic character – one cannot be an individual without the help of the community. The Confucian teaching with this is similar in a way that it teaches that the person does not become the concept of ren – or being humane. These concepts of moral personhood between two philosophies are divergent even if they come from different cultures. Another thing that one could be said about the two pieces of literature is the way they instruct the readers to be the ideal persons. Both start at the point where the people should move away from selfish desire in order to achieve harmony and happiness. The ends of this are different though, as Confucianism teaches that the person should be integrated to the society with proficiency, not transcendence of the personal “realm” of the person as the Bhagavad-Gita demonstrates. In short, Bhagavad-Gita is more inward-thinking compared to the other. If you compare The Analects and Bhagavad-Gita, one can say they are practically the same but the formats are quite different. Work Cited Arnold, Edwin. Bhagavad-Gita. New York: CreateSpace, 2011. Print. Easwaran, Eknath. The Bhagavad-Gita: Classics of Indian Spirituality. New York: Nilgiri Press, 2007. Print. Miller, Stoler. The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna’s Counsel in Time of War. Boston: Bantam Classics, 1986. Print. Read More