Post Chapter 2 blogs here.
Chapter 2 has some of the most famous lines in the Gita, but it seems to me that it doesn't yet have the most sophisticated theology. Krishna is just warming Arjuna up before he takes him to the highest truths.
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“Physical sensations—cold
and heat, pleasure and pain—
are transient: they come and go;
so bear them patiently, Arjuna.”
As the seasons change from winter to spring, and as a new earth-day dawns every 24 hours, the human world is constantly in motion—constantly changing. “This too will pass,” was a phrase my father once used to appease my childish tears when I was upset or merely tired. It comforted me to know that the pain brought by hurts would eventually fade away. To this day, I remind myself of this simple saying during times of stress and depression, however, this passage from the Gita reminds me that good things too must ultimately come to an end. Many Hindus believe in many worlds, and thus, many heavens and hells. But another common belief is that neither heaven nor hell is eternal and that one can fall from grace back into maya relatively easily. In fact, as Krishna mentions in the Gita, “this Self who dwells in the body” is really the only thing that “is inviolable forever.” Physical passions, possessions, even relations, come and go; only God is forever. This is a huge part of Hinduism.
I like the lines, “You have a right to your actions. / but never to your actions fruits. / Act for the action’s sake.” In these lines, Krishna both gives advice for how to act, and reminds Arjuna about his rights. Many people assume rights that Krishna says they do not have. If you do a good deed that does not mean you get to reap the benefits. These lines serve as a guideline on how to view choices of action. Any action you take should be preformed out of principle, without considering the possible rewards. This applies to the concepts in religion of “treating thy neighbor as thy self.” In most religions, followers are expected to treat others with respect and kindness, whether they are treated kindly in return or not.
I like the lines, “These bodies come to an end; / but the vast embodied Self is ageless, / fathomless, eternal. / Therefore you must fight, Arjuna.” Arjuna is worried about the thought of death for all the people in the battle. He doesn’t want to put death on all these people. Krishna then reminds Arjuna that yes they will die and the body will come to an end, but the soul will live on. The “embodied Self” as Krishna says is ageless. Krishna is trying to make Arjuna realize that dieing is not always a bad thing. The soul will live on in another life. By telling Arjuna that the Self is eternal, Krishna wants him to fight and not have concern in the back of his mind.
Although you mean well, Arjuna,
your sorrow is sheer delusion.
Wise men do not grieve
for the dead or for the living.
These are the first lines spoken by the Lord in the Bhagavad Gita, and it basically goes along with everything the introduction was talking about letting go. Krishna is saying that he should have no direct feelings towards all the people he thinks mean so much to him in order to achieve eternal serenity.
As unnecessary as a well is
to a village on the banks of a river,
so unnecessary are all scriptures
to someone who has seen the truth.
To someone who takes any scripture literally, whether the chosen text is the Koran, the Bible, or the Vedas, these lines may seem blasphemous. To me, however, being someone who is incapable of adhering myself to one particular set of sentences, these lines are befitting. These words explain that in order to achieve enlightenment, to see truth and goodness, to let go of selfishness etc., one does not have to live by one scripture or any scripture for that matter. The Bhagavad-Gita is about letting go, and if one was to abide by written words so persistently, then that person might be too caught up in wondering if god approved of how well, by the book’s standards, he or she was living life to actually let go of the idea of a goal. A Ramana Maharshi said, “…We are the goal; we are always peace. To get rid of the idea that we are not peace is all that is required.”
“When your understanding has passed beyond the thickets of delusion, there is nothing you need to learn from even the most sacred scripture”
I find these lines intriguing because I truly believe in clearing the mind and becoming a free soul. I would love to seriously attempt yoga practices, but that just seems too difficult. These lines are inspirational though because it seems as if they are telling you to have your own thoughts. Somebody may teach you a lesson, and you must learn that lesson. After you understand the concept, you can use it as you like to create your own ideas which you cannot learn from anyone.
Just as, in this body, the self
passes though childhood, youth,
and old age, so after death
it passes to another body
This paragraph is talking about rebirth therefore Samsara on Hinduism. Most Hindu believes that you have many life’s your soul just goes from one body to another. If you do as a Hindu a good work this lifetime, the next life will be better. As same if you are a bad person in your next life you will suffer from it. When you have lived many good life’s you will get to the motsha “heaven”, But it is same as Christian you live a good life you will get to heaven. We just have one lifetime the Hindus has many.
Just as, in this body, the Self
passes through childhood, youth,
and old age, so after death
it passes to another body.
I thought that it was an interesting parallel to draw between the amount of time that is traditionally viewed as a lifetime and the amount of time it requires to complete the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth in the Hindu faith. The idea that in a single human lifetime a person matures and grows is commonly accepted and easily witnessed first hand. Perhaps it is similar to the idea that a being in its first birth is much like an infant, innocent and yet uneducated and capable of mischief. As a being continues through the process of rebirth, lessons are learned and karma is accumulated, much like adolesence, when a child or even a young adult attends school and is involved in social situations. Learning through experience is easily immagined when you are deliberating over a single lifetime, but the experience gained in another lifetime is much more difficult to grasp.
“Death is certain for the born;
for the dead, rebirth is certain.
Since both cannot be avoided,
you have no reason for your sorrow.” (50)
Krishna explains the concept of Samsana to Arjuna, in order to motivate the warrior to proceed in battling his opponents and fulfilling his duty. It is a widespread Hindu belief that each individual’s soul, each Atman, is repeatedly reincarnated after physical death until it reaches perfection. Because this seemingly infinite cycle of death and rebirth continues no matter what, Arjuna mustn’t feel guilty for ending a person’s life in war – this person is destined to die and will be reborn into another body. Arjuna’s dharma, or the personal duty that he must fulfill as a warrior, is more important than any feeling of remorse he might feel when murdering his cousins, teachers, or friends.
"Foolish men talk of religion in cheap,sentimental words, leaning on the scriptures :'God speaks here, and speaks here alone.' "
I thought this passage was very interesting, and really gave me more perspective on Hindu philosophy. To me this passage is conveying the fault in restricting communication from God to humans only in scripture. Krishna seems to be reminding us that God's voice will never be fully revealed to humanity, and we must accept that scriptures are just like tiny, incomplete clips of God's wisdom. They will never be perfect, and although they may serve to aid us in some ways of understanding, we cannot rely on scriptures to be the only things we base our life and religious philosophies on.
“Wise men do not grieve for the dead or for the living. Never was there a time when I did not exist, or you, or these kings; nor will there come a time when we cease to be.”
These lines at the beginning of chapter two seem to hone the idea of the importance of reincarnation within the Hindu faith for me. Arjuna’s situation is similar to that of many other heroes throughout history and literature: confusion, distress, and not quite understanding who the true enemy is. Krishnu’s response, however, is quite different then both what I was expecting and have previously read. As demonstrated by Krishnu’s response, grieving the dead is not a fundamental aspect of the Hindu culture, for there is never “a time when [they] will be.” While these beginning lines are informative on the Hindu faith, they would make me, if I were in Arjuna’s position, ever more confused. Life is an endless cycle, therefore grief is an unnecessary emotion since we will all continue on the cyclical path of life.
"When a man gives up all desires that emerge from the mind, and rests contented in the Self by the Self, he is called a man of firm wisdom."
This comment has a lot to offer in how to live life. Every material possession can’t give happiness, only wisdom and happiness with one’s self can be the actual determinant for wisdom in life. It reminds me of Chris McCandless in Into the Wild. He gave up all his worldly possessions and chose to live in the wild because he thought it would give him what he needed to be happy. Many people viewed McCandless as a prophet of some sort because of his wisdom and perseverance to fight against all norms in the material world. He moved beyond that and found his own wisdom, just as Krishna is telling Arjuna to let go of his “desires that emerge from the mind” so that he may find wisdom in life.
"The wise man lets go of all
results, whether good or bad,
and is focused on the action alone.
Yoga is skill in actions."
I thought these were interesting lines because he says let go of all results. Dont dwell on how bad or good the situation is. Clear your mind and focus on the action at hand. To not be attached to things of great importance leads to the path of freedom. In the introduction it speaks of letting go and how it will eventually lead to absolute freedom, and how using the different paths of self- realization helps the process of letting go.
"Driven by desire for pleasure
and power, caught up in ritual,
they strive to gain heaven; but rebirth
is the only result of their striving." (2.43)
It is interesting that, according to the Bhagavad Gita and Krishna, in order to achieve enlightenment, one needs to give up desire and emotions such as anger. To achieve this, one must control and become untroubled and unattached to all things. In our society it is believed that if you in order to achieve a goal, you must strive to become better; we place emphasis upon ability to achieve through practice and pushing yourself harder until, one day, you succeed in reaching your goal. However, many Hindus believe that is not true, that in order to achieve a goal such as enlightenment, they must draw back from their senses and their desire to reach perfection. This verse says that if you are driven by “desire for pleasure and power” that, instead of reaching perfection, you will only be reborn again until you learn to draw back and become a wise man. Desire and drive only result in rebirth.
The wise man lets go of all
results, whether good or bad,
and is focused on the action alone.
Yoga is skill in actions.
I'm following up Taylor's interpretation of this stanza.
I feel like what Krishna is saying here is basically "do something, even if it's wrong."
I've always liked the concept of "do something even if it's wrong." Mainly because I feel like I can use it to rationalize some of my mistakes, but also because I feel like the net benefit of spur-of-the-moment decisions is at least even, if not positive.
The intention of these lines as I interpret them is to condemn indecisiveness, urging people to, instead, operate based on their hunches.
[2.23-27]
“ It is called the Inconceivable,
the Unmanifest, the Unchanging.
If you understand it in this way
You have no reason for your sorrow.”
For four chapters Krishna tries to help Arjuna see the ultimate truth—his Self; however, these four lines eloquently put the whole idea of Self into an understandable perspective. Krishna says that everything in the universe and in our lives is dualistic—material and spiritual, and the spiritual is the only real truth in the world. For us, the truth is always latent; however, until we can realize that our body is the material, and only temporary, and our soul, our Self, is eternal and inherently wise, can we truly understand and become enlightened. Krishna refers to the Self as basically something we can’t naturally understand. We must let go and work towards annihilating the dualisms that separate us from our Self, which in turn is our inner God. If we can realize this, then you will eternally understand.
“Nonbeing can never be;
being can not be;
Both these statements are obvious
to those who have seen the truth.”
To me, these lines represent two major Hindu ideas:
1. Life is eternal because God is eternal. God never began and he will never end. This idea is important because it explains the reincarnation cycle. Every piece of Earth has a piece of God in it. Atman is Brahman. As a result nothing has either an end or a beginning. Everything is eternal.
2. This scripture also backs up the Varnas in my opinion. These lines state that one object can not be another object; one caste is not another caste. Additionally, one caste’s duty is not another caste’s duty, and only by realizing your dharma can you see the truth.
Foolish men talk of religion
In cheap, sentimental words,
leaning on the scriptures: "God
speaks here and speaks here alone."
In this passage Krishna is making a strong criticism toward some of the most highly regarded holy people. He is stating that the scriptures are claimed by some to be the only voice of God. It is hard to grasp that God can speak in other places besides the scriptures, but the base of most Hindu teachings tell us that we are all part of God. So logically our actions and our experiences are the voice of God guiding us along in an indirect manner. Krishna also uses this statement to call out the misunderstanding between worshippers of God and what some of them are preaching about the grand scale of his voice.
"O best among men [Arjuna], the person who is not disturbed by happiness and distress and is steady in both is certainly eligible for liberation."
In our book the word "liberation" is used in this context; "This release is known as moksha, liberation." According to our book and my additional studies, the sense of moksha(liberation) is based on karma; not whether one is steadfast in happiness and distrest. Good karma is gained when one does something, which will shorten the number of samsara one undergoes. Therefore, when one does nothing to improve, one will uktimatly never moksha, because one isn't making any progression. Example, one can never win a foot race if one doesn't move; therefore what Krishna is "wrong" based on the basis if Hinduism.
"If a man keeps dwelling on sense-objects, attachment to them arises;from attachment, desire flares up; from desire, anger is born."
This line from chapter 2 essentially explains jealousy. If we lust after everyday objects we lose sight of what we should be working for, the goodness of God. When we as humans get attached to valuable possessions, the people around us begin to lust after what one already has. These lines are telling us that judging the wealth of someone by the amount of valuables he/she has is wrong. We should be jealous and angered by the good deeds that a human does. The desire to better one's life should be the only jealousy of another human. We should desire to do more deeds than our neighbor.
“You have a right to your actions
but never your action’s fruits.
Act for the actions sake.
And do not be attached to inaction.”
The last line “and do not be attached to inaction” made me think of all of the times that I wish I that I had done something that I did not. Especially since it is my senior year, I find myself saying this quite often about clubs or sports I should have tried or classes I should have taken or people I should have talked to before senior year. It’s just like the typical senior speech. They always tell you to not be afraid to do things and try everything you can so you won’t have any regrets when you are a senior, but I think having regrets is inevitable. So, I liked the line “and do not be attached to inaction” because it is good advice. I can not change the past so why should I dwell on it?
"The scriptures dwell in duality / Be beyond all opposites, Arjuna: / anchored in the real, and free / from all thoughts of wealth and comfort"
I find these lines interesting because Krishna is acknowledging the fallibility of scripture, in the sense that it can supposedly separate right from wrong or truth from blasphemy. Krishna insists that Arjuna not make such a distinction with his own perception of reality, because all things are part of the same cosmic entity, and one's preoccupation with material comfort and the illusory ending of one's life (which only ends for the body) is ultimately meaningless. One can only find truth and peace by removing themselves from trivial changes in the material world; because no change is truly permanent for one's Self.
If you are killed, you gain heaven; triumph, and you gain the earth. Therefore stand up, Arjuna: steady your mind to fight. I find these lines interesting because it shows that people should not be afraid to die. Krishna tells Arjuna that even if he dies in the battle all is not lost. Krishna tells him that he will "gain heaven" if he dies. This shows that some Hindus are not afraid of death becuase thier God Krishna has told them they will keep living in heaven or on earth after death. For Arjuna it is a win win situation to go and fight. If he wins the battle then he is victorious but if he dies then he will go to heaven.
It never was born;coming to be, it will never not be. Birthless, primordial, it does not die when the body dies. I really like these lines because it basically says that the soul will not die when the body dies. The soul is almost immortal.The soul the base of a person,and the body means nothing.So when you die the soul just has a rebirth and you leave another life as something else.
2.24
It cannot be pierced or singed,
moistened or withered; it is vast,
perfect and all-pervading,
calm, immovable, timeless.
These lines are essentially saying the same message than twenty previous. But that’s the point of this poem. Keep saying the same message over and over again in different ways as many times as the last one of us finally gets it. These lines are describing the Self very well. You can’t move it or change it. You can’t hurt or see it, but it’s there waiting for you. Even though you are a part of it already it’s waiting that you are completely the same with it. When the poem says It’s perfect and all-pervading means that it’s complete and some day you will be complete. Calm means peace of universe and souls. Immovable means that it’s not going anywhere and everybody gets in the point when they are it. Timeless, it’s yesterday, tomorrow and today it’s everywhere, all the time. Actually we can see it but we don’t realize it because it the bigger picture…it’s everything.
"Decent men, for all time, will talk about your disgrace; and disgrace, for a man of honor, is a fate far worse than death." page 52
These lines jumped out at me mainly because it really hits the major center point of Hinduism on the head. Not only does death not matter because you are only going to be reborn, what you do in your life will follow you for your many lives to come. Krishna tells Arjuna that if he does not fight in this war, because it is the right thing to do, the disgrace will follow him for all of time. Because there is not a true death in Hinduism, obviously disgrace is much worse because it is something so completely real that will affect what you will be revered as for eternity.
"If you think that this Self can kill
or think that it can be killed,
you do not well understand
reality's subtle ways."
At a first glance, I did not understand the meaning of the lines. However, I see the relationship between this and the fundamental Hindu concept of death. It comes to me that if you are worried about killing or dying, you do not know the actuality. Hinduism believes in rebirth of living organisms. Since it implies the basic concept of Hinduism, this sentence impresses me the most.
“These bodies come to an end; / but that vast embodied Self / is ageless, fathomless, eternal. / Therefore, you must fight, Arjuna.” - 2.18
It’s not everyday that you hear God encourage fighting or war. I am struck by the differences between Western God and Krishna here. Like the introduction said, the Hindu Self, the essence of God, is “the core from which all glories and horrors of the universe unfold.” It’s hard for me to comprehend God as a representative of both good and evil, as my “own scriptures… split the universe into good and evil and place God solely on the side of good.” For the most part I find Krishna’s philosophies and definitions of the search for Self entirely understandable; transcendence is an admirable goal. However, the motivations for a “righteous war” (2.33) do not seem entirely legitimate. Though “duty and honor dictate” that Arjuna should fight, what need would he have to avoid society’s criticism if he were entirely in tune with his Self, as Krishna encourages?
2.30-31
"This Self who dwells in the body
is inviolable, forever;
therefore you have no cause to grieve
for any being, Arjuna.
Know what your duty is
and do it without hesitation.
For a warrior, there is nothing better
than a battle that duty enjoins."
I thought this passage was really interesting because Krishna is saying that fulfilling you dharma is so important that you are to do it, without thinking, even if that means killing something. This belief is very different form the Christian theology that explicitly says "thou shall not kill." This difference makes it very easy to understand the Hindu beliefs of atman and reincarnation. Most Hindus believe that all you truly are is atman and when you "die," your atman either goes to join Brahman or is reborn in something else. Because of this belief, no harm is done in dying, and if your duty is to kill, you must kill.
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