Gold ( )

Adquirido de um Hare Krishna em Õnibus da Rua da Consolação em abril/1995

Dharma, the way of a warrior, action vs. renunciation, and the nature of God are the themes explored in this timeless conversation taken from the Hindu epic - the Mahabharata. Set on the eve of war, Krishna, (God in human form) and Arjuna (a warrior), discuss the duties of life and the spiritual heights of those duties. Krishna lets Arjuna know that there are many paths, but all of them end in love and devotion to one's Higher Power.

samenvatting van het tiende canto van het Srimad-Bhagavatam

I'll begin by saying that my intention of reading Bhagavad Gita was not to find god, but to gain a better understanding of life.

Unfortunately, most part of the book is just blind following of Krsna - "DO THIS; DON'T DO THAT because Krsna said so". The primary goal of the book was to provide enlightenment to the ignorant and those in suffering. Instead all it does is to drive people in believing that 'follow Krsna and all your problems will go away'. Hmm.. I don't think so.

In 9:23, it says: "Those who are devotees of other gods and who worship them with faith actually worship only Me, O son of Kunti, but they do so in a wrong way.".

And the purport of 3:22 goes as: "The Supreme Lord is the controller of all other controllers, and He is the greatest of all the diverse planetary leaders. Everyone is under His control. All entities are delegated with particular power only by the Supreme Lord; they are not supreme themselves."

So are other gods like Jesus and Prophet in agreement with this? Indoctrination breeds religious intolerance.

It is deeply disturbing to note what Krsna thinks of women. Verse 1:40 is only concerned about women getting 'polluted', but not the fact that men are equally responsible for 'polluting' a woman. The purport that follows takes this discrimination one step further - "women are generally not very intelligent and therefore not trustworthy". Verse 9:32 considers women as 'lower birth'.

Verse 2:31 and the purport that follows seems to be written by a fanatic. Preachings like these cause people to take the law in their own hands and 'kill someone in the name of their religion'. I'm also pretty sure that organizations like PETA completely disagree with 'killing animals in the sacrificial fire benefits'.

There's also a contradictory statement made - "The animal sacrificed gets a human life immediately without undergoing the gradual evolutionary process from one form to another". So does Bhagavad Gita endorse evolution?

There are some parts of the Gita that stand out brilliantly. My best take aways from the book are versus 2:47 and 2:48 where it is mentioned that every person has to do their duties diligently and equipoised. This point should have been elaborated and stressed more to signify it's importance. Sadly, the author deviates from this topic very soon, giving an impression that it is less critical (than say praying god) to lead a better life.

Also, 18:47 clearly states that it is not your 'janma' (birth), but your 'karma' (deeds) that decides your caste. On the whole, chapter 18 is the best chapter where it clarifies what are the requisites if you claim yourself to be a brahmana, kshatriya, vaisya or a sudra.

Can we lead a moral life independently and in absence of god? Can we ignore religion, thus removing all the divisions among humans and build a peaceful world? I think yes, but this is not the book to provide answers to such questions. ( )