The Analysis Of Moral Duty In India - Essay Example

To Fight in a Righteous War Varnas and Moral Duty in India Introduction Bhagavad-Gita India’s religious text has been the of a broad and varied range of interpretations. Mahatma Gandhi the greatest leader the world has ever seen also lays claim that his non-violent doctrine has its roots in the teachings of the Gita. This is true as Gandhi used the twin concepts of engagement in the world and renunciation of the world from the Gita. In reality the Bhagavad-Gita is not just a philosophical or theological piece, but it is actually treated as such. The Gita actually researches the calamity of conscience that confronts the warrior Arjuna when he discovers himself contradicted in battle by members of his own family. Krishna tells Arjuna that the war is a righteous one. The Gita is actually a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna when Arjuna is confused whether to fight or not to fight against his own people (cousin brothers). Entering the battle field Arjuna tells Krishna; “…station my chariot between the two armies, far enough for me to see the eager warriors in position—for, whom am I to fight in this enterprise of war?” (Bhagavad-Gita 1.21-22). But when Arjuna finds himself staring into the faces of his Kinsmen he laments to Arjuna that when he see all his family ready for war his limbs flatter and his mouth dries up. He says that there is no good in fighting and killing his own family in a war. He does not wish victory of this kind. He further says that “We have resolved to commit a great crime as we stand ready to kill family out of greed for kingship and pleasure! It were healthier for me if the [Kauravas], weapons in hand, were to kill me, unarmed and defenseless, on the battlefield!” (Bhagavad-Gita 1.30-34, 45) But Krishna pacifies Arjuna and at the end of the conversation prepares him for the war. Krishna weaves through a range of complicated philosophical and religious themes; but from the point of view of the epic’s core description these themes are divergent to Krishna’s vital message: he tells Arjuna to set aside his moral sense, take up his bow, and fight and finally this is what Krishna persuaded Arjuna. Now it is rather puzzling that given the Gita’s martial thrust, and the fact that it bears as a preliminary to and vindication for an internal bloodbath, how can the Gita allow for the basis for Gandhi’s policy of non-violent opposition? To this Gandhi argues that the two armies in the Bhagavad-Gita represent the different aspects of an individual’s personality and the war of Arjuna with his own family is indeed a holy war, in which the more imposing parts of the soul strain for supremacy over the humbler parts. How did the Bhagavad-Gita reinforce the system of varnas, or castes? Lord Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gita (4.13) says “According to the three modes of material nature and the work ascribed to them, the four divisions of human society were created by Me.” He furthers says that “Brahmanas, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras are distinguished by their qualities of work in accordance with the modes of nature” (Bhagavad-Gita, 18.41). Thus we can find that the varnas or classification of one is not determined by birth. The quality of work done by one ascertains his/her varnas. The divisions are created by the Lord himself so that every one is placed in the work that most suits him/her or in which they are most comfortable. “By following his qualities of work, every man can become perfect. By worship of the Lord, who is the source of all beings and who is all-pervading, man can, in the performance of his own duty [or occupation], attain perfection” (Bhagavad-Gita, 18.45-6). Whatever professional inclination a person may have is decided by the styles of material nature one has gained, or in which he or she connects. Apart from this, these classifications are to coordinate society in a way that can assist in the methodical growth of the spiritual awareness of all mankind. The caste system prevalent in India today can also be traced back to 3180 B.C.E. during this era the Purus were a tribe, and their mention can also be seen in the Rigveda. There were quite a lot of sects of Purus, one being the Bharata. Purus beat up many other federations of tribes against King Sudas of the Bharata, but was thwarted in the Battle of the Ten Kings (RV 7.18). The Rig-Veda which is the first Aryan epic assigned the growth of the caste system to the gods. The Vedas says that when they separated the unique man into how many parts did they divide him? The Vedas answers as that the Brahmin was his mouth, of his arms was made the warrior. His thighs became the Vaisya; of his feet the Sudra was born. Kosambi (2004) states that “The Purus tribe seems to have been as Aryan as any. It survived in the Mahabharata story, and to Alexanders time (perhaps in the modern Punjabi surnames Puri).” Dharmanand (1966) also states that: “The cause of the Ten-Kings battle was that the Ten tried to divert the river Parushni. This is a stretch of the modern Ravi which, however, changed its course several times. Diversion of the waters of the Indus system is still a cause for angry recriminations between India and Pakistan. The greasy-voiced Purus, though enemies of Sudas, were not only Aryans but closely related to the Bharatas. Later tradition even makes the Bharatas a branch of the Purus. The same clan priests in the Rigveda impartially call down curses and blessings upon the Purus in diverse hymns, which shows that the differences between them and the Bharatas were not permanent. The quarrel was of another sort than that between Aryan and non-Aryan. The Purus remained in the Harappa region and expanded their rule over the Panjab in later times. It was they who put up the strongest fight against Alexander in 327 B.C. The modern Panjabi surname Puri may possibly originate with the Puru tribe.” Fascination of the Bhagavad-Gita and reliance of Hindu religion on other stories Hinduism is the greatest living tradition on which no other tradition can boast of a continuous custom as faithfully preserved as the Hindu tradition. In reality Hindu literature is the most antique and widespread religious writings in the world. Hindu religion is not deduced from a single book. It has numerous sanctified writings which function as an origin of doctrine. The most important texts are the Vedas, Upanishads, the Epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Puranas and the Bhagavad-Gita. According to Professor Klaus K. Klostermaier: "Since ancient times India has been famous for its wisdom and its thought. The ancient Persians, Greek and Romans were eager to learn from its sages and philosophers. When, in the eighteenth century, the first translations of some Upanishads and the Bhagavad-Gita became available to the West, European philosophers rhapsodized about the profundity and beauty of these writings. Here they encountered a fusion of philosophy and religion, a deep wisdom and a concern with the ultimate that had no parallel in either contemporary Western philosophy or Western religion. Indian philosophy is highly sophisticated and very technical and surpasses in both in volume and subtlety" (Retrieved from http://www.hinduwisdom.info /Hindu_Scriptures.htm on 15th April, 2010). Sir William Jones was constantly bewildered by the grandness of Indian literature. He wrote: "Wherever we direct our attention to Hindu literature, the notion of infinity presents itself." Hinduism has for eternity emphasized Pramanas (the means and instruments of correct knowledge). Hindu philosophers have discoursed at great lengths the science of Noetic (Retrieved from http://www.hinduwisdom.info /Hindu_Scriptures .htm on 15th April, 2010). Max Muller states: "In thus giving the intellectual the first place, the thinkers of India seem to have again superior to most of the philosophers of the West" (Retrieved from http://www.hinduwisdom.info /Hindu_Scriptures.htm on 15th April, 2010). Krishna, proclaims himself the all-god, elaborates every present-day system of doctrine in turn as his own. He does not name any of the many doctrines drafted in crystal clear verse. As all the views come from the one god, there is no polemic, although Vedic yajna and custom in general are snubbed with an authorizing sneer. The pure life without any violence or greed and self-seeking are proclaimed (Kosambi, 1964). When amazed Arjuna of course asks “Why then do you ask me to kill?” the god neatly slides away to the next point of his expo, without replying to the direct question. At a grave instant the divine character discloses his true self, depicts that he is the Maker of all beings and their up rooter as well (Kosambi, 1964). Thus Arjuna did not commit any sin in killing a kinsman unemotionally. “So long as one has complete faith in the supreme god, the vital gain of union with that god in life not of this world is assured to him. If Arjuna won the purely formal and symbolic battle, he amazed would have the further joys of universal sovereignty in this world as a bonus” (Kosambi, 1964). The heavenly but rather muddled message by Krishna to Arjuna with its control of expository Sanskrit is typically Indian in seeking to accommodate the incompatible, in its authority of guzzling down sharp disagreements painlessly. The alternative of all-god, prescribed by his disseminating personal cult, is as unfitting as if Heracles were to sprout an abstract of the New Testament synthesized with all major Greek philosophical works as his own one philosophy. According to Kosambi, (1964) “Krishnas philandering with the milkmaids, dalliance with mother goddesses, killing of his own uncle and invariably crooked advice in the Mahabharata epic hardly inspire confidence in any morality he might preach.” Actually, it took a while for the great work to catch on. Even in its own day it did not supply the main intention of the Brahmin rewriters of the great epic. A flat continuation called the Anu-Gita was consequently read out in the same epic poem by the same god to Arjuna after the total triumph. This only praises Brahmins and Brahmanism. No one troubles to read it now, while the first Gita finally went on from strength to strength. According to Kosambi (1964) “The rather simple reason lies in the transformation of medieval society. Hsiuan-tsang mentions a Brahmin’s forgery, written to incite a king to war against his own cousins. The context shows that this must have been the Gita, and that it was by no means considered the quintessence of Brahmanism that it became later.” Even in contemporary times, Tilak and Gandhi drew in their own decisions from the Gita about the spiritual bases which they conceived essential for the Indian national liberation struggle. That so many dissimilar people could draw such changed direction from the same document is due evidently to its holding back so incredible a variety of diverging ideas. “Its divine sanction made it the one orthodox book which could be used to reach conclusions disagreeable to orthodoxy. It kept alive some vestiges of the spirit of dissent in the age of superstition which it did so much to promote” Kosambi (1964). Kosambi (1964) stated that “But why should it gain authority at all when its beginnings remain so obscure? All puranic works are spoken by some god or other, some even by Krishna himself, but none other had the same force. Why? The extraordinary success of the Gita was due to its new doctrine of bhakti, unblinking loyalty to a god whose rather questionable personal record was not allowed to stand in the way. “ Conclusion Hinduism and other caste systems organized the most classifiable and lasting products of the classical period of Indian history. Even apart from rebel religions, Indian culture at this period was effervescent and varied, and religion covered only part of its concerns. Hinduism itself promoted many wider pursuits. Indian thinkers wrote aggressively about a variety of vistas of human life. Even though political assumption was bare, a great deal of legal writing took place. The theme of love was significant also. A guidebook of the "laws of love," the Kama-sutra, which was actually written in the 4th century C.E., is a strangely complex and significant debate of the sexual experience. Indian literature took many of its themes from the great epic poems and also from their stories of military adventure, emphasized full of life story lines. The eposes were entered in final written form during the Gupta period, and other tale accumulations, like the Panchatantra. The Panchatantra includes stories of Sinbad the Sailor, Jack the Giant Killer, and the Seven League Boots. These stories created adventurous threads which is famous even now all over the world. Classical narratives were a great deal profane, but they occasionally included the gods and also dealt with Hinduism a stress on vision and excitement. Indian drama boomed also, again especially under the Guptas and emphasized themes of romantic adventure. Reference 1. The Bhagavad-Gita epic, 1.21-22 and 1.30-34, 45, 4.13, 18.41, 18.45-6 2. The Rig Veda and the History of India (Rig Veda Bharata Itihasa) - David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri), Aditya Prakashan, 2001, xxvii, 364 p, ISBN : 81-7742-039-9 3. Kosambi, Damodar Dharmanand, 2004, “An introduction to the study of India history”. pp 95. 4. Kosambi, Damodar Dharmanand, 1966. “Ancient India: A History of its Culture and Civilisation,” pp 81-83. 5. Kosambi, D. D. 1964. “The Culture and Civilization of Ancient India in Historical Outline, New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House. 6. http://www.hinduwisdom.info /Hindu_Scriptures.htm retrieved on 15th April, 2010). Read More