Lecture 4

Question 1

define itihasa

Answer 1

‘thus it was’ literature; the ‘epics’ (circa 400 BCE- 400CE); unsure if composed over a long time or a short time

Question 2

what is the mahabharata (including the bhagavadgita which is aka gita)

Answer 2

the great [war/story] of Bharata’s descendants; traditionally said to be 100 000 verses
is encyclopedic in nature

Question 3

what are the enteral characters in the Gita

Answer 3

Protagonists- 5 pandaura brothers and their wife Draupadi, Tudihisthira is the eldest and fathered by Dharma, Arjuna is the great warier who is fathered by Indra, Krishna is also a protagonist
Antagonist- 100 kauraras cousins to the pandauras
Krishna - injection of a new way of thinking, friend and ally and counsellor to the pandauras, serves as Arjuna’s charioteer during the war, also an incarnation (avatar) of the supreme god Vishnu, protecting dharma

Question 4

explain the story of the mahabharata; an overview

Answer 4

books 1-5: before the war, Pandavas lose a dice match and are exiled from kingdom and the cousins get the kingdom
books 6-10; the war
books 11-18; after the war, deal with grieving of women b/c of their lost loves, ‘this victory tastes like defeat’, bishma (teacher) ends up on other side of fight and was able to choose when to die

Question 5

what essentially is the mahabharata about

Answer 5

• about a war fought at home and how with any war like this, both sides lose
• Dharma is the theme; if any, ‘right action’, righteousness;; law, sacred duty, ethical propriety, virtue, ‘the good’, the which sustains order in the world; religion, how does one know dharma? idea is that it is subtle

Question 6

explain the importance of Bhagavadgita

Answer 6

‘song of the lord’ (often just called ‘gita’)

• 700 versus in Book 6 of the Gita, right at the start of the war
• possibly 200 BCE - 100 CE
• synthesis of earlier strands (Upanishads, etc) within a theistic framework
• important text for entries, but particularly appealing to the british - seeking a ‘hindu bible’
• many translations

Question 7

give the story of the gita

Answer 7

• setting the scene; the field of dharma, sanjay a speaking to the blind king, field is a real battlefield at the same time is the field of dharma, more going on than just the physical bible
• Arjuna’s dejection, battle field filled with familiar people, normally acts without hesitation but he hesitates here because fighting kin, doesn’t see a victory even if he wins
• Krishna teaches Arjuna the nature of Atman (self), idea of taking off a body as one takes off clothes (idea of reincarnation), never really die even when the body dies
• on action; detachment from the fruits of action: arjuna thinks about renouncing instead of fighting familiar people, Krishna teaches that rather than renouncing the material, renounce attachment of investment! Do what needs to be done and take action from there, renounce attachment of fruits of actions

Question 8

what is yoga

Answer 8

‘skill in action’

Krishna teaches this; acting without letting consequences determine if you do the right thing

Question 9

what is svadharma

Answer 9

‘one’s own duty’

• diff people have diff things that are right for them at diff times
• at this moment, arjuna’s svadharma is to go and fight

Question 10

what is avatara

Answer 10

incarnation of a deity in the world; usually vishnu, for the sake of Dharma

Question 11

What is theophany

Answer 11

appearance of a deity to a human being
-arjuna hears krishna but has doubts, Krishna claims to be all these things and arjuna wants to know who he really is! Krishna gives Arjuna a divine eye to be able to see Krishna in his true form
Arjuna is terrified and cannot focus as Krishna is the embodiment of creation, death, etc

Question 12

what is bhakti

Answer 12

devotion, love

importance about relationship to deity and love, Krishna says whatever you do, do it as an offering

Question 13

what are the 3 main interpretations of Gita

Answer 13

Karma yoga, jnanayoga and bhaktiyoga

Question 14

explain jnanayoga

Answer 14

the discipline or path of knowledge
- Shankara 700-750 CE, comments on upanishads and gita, non-dualism, stressed the liberating power of knowledge (rope/snake, etc; basically the second you understand, fear is gone!)

Question 15

who is a main associate of jnanayoga

Answer 15

Ramana Maharshi 1879-1950

their interpretation has no mention of Krishna/fighting, interprets gita as taking about self and offerings

Question 16

explain bhaktiyoga

Answer 16

the discipline or path of education

• power of devotion (devotion not just personally but through community)
• Jhaneshuar (figure), 13 c, first vernacular translation/commentary of gita, fundamental text for a community, emphasized Bhakti

Question 17

who is a main associate of bhaktiyoga

Answer 17

A. C. Bhaktivedanta Srvami Prabhupada (1896-1977)

• Gaudiya vaishnaua tradition, founder of ISKCON (international society for krishna consciousness), traveled to North Americal, emphasized personal devotion to Krishna,
• interpreted gita as Bhagmad; gita as it is. one of the most distinct interpretations of gita (but prof does not think so), the interpretation is ‘as it is’

Question 18

what is karma yoga

Answer 18

the discipline or path of action (in the general sense)
- bal gagadhar (‘lokmanna’) Tilak 1856-1920
- brits called him ‘father of indian unrest’
-Srimad Bhagarvadgita Rahasya, commentary on Gita written while in jail 1910-1911
- quotes gita to support idea that no blame would be attached to anyone who killed an oppressor without any thought of reward
- interpretation of detachment to fruits of action
‘okay to kill if it is the right thing to do’

-Aurobindo 1878-1950; indian nationalist who first focused on action, brought bhakti into his interpretation of karma yoga, urged activists to see themselves as instruments of divine powers like Arjuna, but for the indian nation

Question 19

who is a main associate with karma yoga

Answer 19

Mahatma Mohandas K. Gandhi 1869-1948
- called the gita as his spiritual dictionary, in jain 1929 wrote commentary on the gita from english translation (perhaps some colonial influence here to begin), his interpretation emphasized action and seeing theological statements as secondary, but interpreted gita as alleged; hence the teaching of non-violence (This is different than before, he has a different interpretation)
he thought it was about inner beings/enemies

Question 20

who was nathuram godse

Answer 20

1910-1949, assassinated Ghandi Jan 1948, right winged hindu nationalist who believed Ghandi’s influences helping Pakistan and hurting india