The Role Of The Soul In The Bhagavad Gita

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Mohandas Gandhi called the Bhagavad Gita the “religious book par excellence,” and it is regarded as the supreme creation of Sanskrit literature. Composed in the same period as the Iliad, this poem, “The Song of God,” is also an epic statement of polytheism, of the belief that god has fashioned many roads to the truth. A story of war and battle provides the vehicle to explore deeper questions of the nature of God and man’s place in the world. The Bhagavad Gita proclaims that beyond the rest of the deities, there is a single divine power, Krishna. God is truth, and wisdom is the pathway to God and freedom that is everlasting. Wisdom is in understanding that material goods and success are false idols. Freedom comes by overcoming our desires for what is false and committing ourselves to what is true. Central themes to exploring man’s place in the world are, truth, Krishna the divine being who is all, the understanding of God, wisdom, the call to learn the ultimate meaning of life, and many roads to the truth. Dharma, or “truth,” is the central theme of the Bhadavad Gita. Krishna, the charioteer of Arjuna, is also the supreme god of the universe; Arjuna is a stand in for everyman, the soul. Krishna explains to Arjuna how he must travel the battlefield of life. Truth as the central theme is that it is more important to believe that truth is God than that God is truth. Truth comes first. Krishna’s message to Arjuna is that Arjuna must be steadfast in the truth and must fight the battle of life understanding what truth is. ‘An ignorant man is lost, faithless, and filled with self-doubt; a soul that harbors doubt has no joy, not in this world or the next ‘ [p. 56, 40:1-4]. ‘So sever the ignorant doubt in your heart with the sword of self knowledge, Arjuna’ [p. 57 42:1-3]! Once Arjuna accepts the truth of his warrior’s duty in life he may come close to God. Krishna;
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