Hindu sacred text - The Bhagvad Gita

[mia5]

Has anyone read the Bhagvad Gita ? What is it like ? What does it talk about ? What are your views on the text ?

 

[micromass]

It's a quite nice text that gives a very good picture of the eastern religions.

It's a part of a bigger text, the mahabharata. It's about a country that is split up by war. So before the big battle, the armies stand and face each other. The hero of the story, Arjuna, then realizes that he will have to fight many people who are dear to him and that a lot of people will die in vain. So he doesn't want to fight anymore.

It is then that the God Krishna tells him that he should fight the battle because he has a duty to. However, he should not fight out of hate or vengeance, but simply because he should. The entire book is an explanation of the eastern philosophies and what they believe. That said, it's a pretty difficult read, so you will want to have some commentary with the book. Also, if you buy the book, don't get the hare krishna version because it's not very accurate.

I would really recommend the book. It really changes your perspective on things, even if you don't agree with things in there.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I read this a few years back. It's a pretty easy translation:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1586380192/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[WannabeNewton]

The text is roughly speaking about what the incarnation Krishna says to one of the soldiers Arjuna amidst a war explained in the Mahabharata. He basically teaches Arjuna philosophical and spiritual virtues such as Dharma and Moksha. I myself didn't read it but my mom read me verses of it regularly when I was a kid (she tried to mix in her annoying religious views into the mix but I thankfully wasn't as naive as she thought I was). As far as views go, I just see it as another interesting piece of reading about ancient Indian philosophy and nothing more. I do, however, dislike its stance on "duties in the face of war" - I find it disgustingly barbaric (not that we are any better today). Other themes in the text (actually a majority of the themes) were much too complicated for me to understand, and I doubt I would even understand them now although I can't say because it's been years since I went near anything even remotely related to Indian culture.

 

[Evo]

Closed