When one reads critically the Geetha, as a guide for living, not as a hymn to be chanted for favours handed out by a pleased deity, the first thing which strikes one may be, is it not callous and even cynical to use all these high-sounding words and philosophy, only to make Arjuna fight a bloody internecine war for the sake of material gain? similar to Arjuna’s feelings expressed in chapter 2.
If you hold the author in respect as a serious poet, you might wonder whether there is a purpose in inserting this noble philosophy in this context. The national poet of Kerala, Vallaththol, has hailed it as the bugle of detachment even in the battle field, a testimony to India’s deep spiritual commitment!
I personally should like to think that the central idea is, given the harsh realities of life, which nobody can escape, bound as he is by Nature to its laws of survival, how best can one reconcile himself to it, and at the same time strive to raise himself above them, by a basic transformation of his base impulses through a process of introspection and practice of self control. There is no room for repression, or quick fix in it. The objective is one’s finding the truest abiding happiness in a feeling of self-mastery and resulting self-esteem, and through this, stability and all-round development of society as a whole.
The means to achieve this, according to Indian tradition is, manifold, the chief being: one, positive committed action with the object of self-control, two, submission and emotional bonding to a supreme Godhead, three, intellectual search for the ultimate reality. Geetha I think assimilates all of them, and asserts that they are not contradictory, but are complementary, the basic requirement being sincerity and integrity..
It is customary to consider Geetha as divided into 3 sections of 6 chapters each, the first mainly dealing with karmayoga, the second with bhakthiyoga, and the third with jnanayoga. But there is no hard and fast separation, and it is always emphasized that they are not exclusive of the others.
There is also a gradual development of Krishna’s personality, first a frend and companion, and then guide and philosopher, and later God himself impersonating the entire universe. Towards the end he is again the old self.
God has spoken to many prophets, and devotees, but only through the mind of somebody or the other, this time through Krishna, as envisaged by Vyasa. Just as he has to assume a form to be visible to mortal eyes, he has to assume the egoistic “I” when addressing us. It should not be taken ,I think, as self-glorification.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
I guess what I find missing is the concept of absolute right & wrong - the 'thou shalt not' sort of stuff. You made the argument that this is what makes Hinduism a more powerful religion, but one could make a case that it could be misinterpreted and abused by those who wish to do 'something bad'.
I wonder if (historical realities being what they were) some sages who may have been basically non-violent by nature came up with 'do your duty & don't worry about the results' (death included),as a way to justify & get people to fight in wars ?
Or one may ask the question - who decides what my 'duties' are - do I have a say in this matter ?
" Hinduism " actually is not one religion. it is a collective name for whatever was practised or writtten in ancient india.
it is presriptive and does give do's and dont's at one level, for ex. in manusmrithi, and other texts.
they however gradually accepted all viewpoints and adopted the stand that the various forms of religion are suited to different stages in the development of men.
vedantha on which geetha is based, is a highly intellectualised religion. it invites thinking for oneself into the deep roots of existence, and the complexities of concepts like right, wrong, duty, etc. this will definitely mot be palatable to many "ordinary" people who want simple presciptions.
a/c to my understanding, what is required is sincerity and integrity to oneself, and the criterion is one's own feeling of lasting self esteem and peace of mind.
they have categorized duty into different castes, which have become stereotyped and lost all connection to the proffessional aptitudes, as was probably intended in the beginning.we in the modern times may take it as a matter of aptitudes and capacities, and try to find what they are, by ourselves or through couselling, i suppose.
it can be misused, no doubt. but you cannot cheat yourself.
and those who simply follow blindly, for them there should be only the presriptive type of do's and dont's. geetha calls them men of part knowledge and says that they should not be confused, but should be left undisturbed until they are able to understand such complex concepts.
Post a Comment