Book review and opinion on The Bhagavad Gita?
I'm not asking for a homework pass. I have been assigned to write a book review on my opinion and what I liked about The Bhagavad Gita. I have read the book and it sounds true and has interesting and unique ideas but that is about all it does for me. I only have one page written & it is supposed to be 3. HELP! What was your opinion on the Gita? What specific parts or chapters did you find interesting?
I read the Gita every once in a while. I'm intrigued by many of its teachings, especially that of acting without attachment to the act.
I have one problem with the Gita, and it's a big one. In the first chapter, Krishna tells Arjuna that it's okay to kill members of his family who are on the opposing side of the war. Krishna says it's okay because the soul, which is the essence of a human being, can never be destroyed, even if the body can.
I can't quite come to terms with condoning murder.
That war took place around 3,000 B.C. In those days, when a husband and father died, his family's very survival was stake. If an unmarried man died, that might be the end of a family's name. And Krishna says it's okay to do this to your own family!
If nothing else, no one has a right to interfere with another person's karma. Murder prevents one from becoming wiser and more devoted, and perhaps burning off some karma, which would bring him closer to leaving the cycle of Samsara.
Yet, at the same time, my favorite line is:
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings, nor in the future shall any of us cease to be." (2.12)
December 3rd, 2007 at 3:48 pm
Here is a book review.
References :
http://classiclit.about.com/cs/productreviews/fr/aafpr_bhagavad.htm
December 3rd, 2007 at 5:49 pm
I read the Gita every once in a while. I'm intrigued by many of its teachings, especially that of acting without attachment to the act.
I have one problem with the Gita, and it's a big one. In the first chapter, Krishna tells Arjuna that it's okay to kill members of his family who are on the opposing side of the war. Krishna says it's okay because the soul, which is the essence of a human being, can never be destroyed, even if the body can.
I can't quite come to terms with condoning murder.
That war took place around 3,000 B.C. In those days, when a husband and father died, his family's very survival was stake. If an unmarried man died, that might be the end of a family's name. And Krishna says it's okay to do this to your own family!
If nothing else, no one has a right to interfere with another person's karma. Murder prevents one from becoming wiser and more devoted, and perhaps burning off some karma, which would bring him closer to leaving the cycle of Samsara.
Yet, at the same time, my favorite line is:
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings, nor in the future shall any of us cease to be." (2.12)
References :