The Bhagavad Gita and Mahavharata Flashcards
Itrhasa
sanskirt word for the “epics”, translates to “thus it was”
used circa 400BCE-400CE
What is the Mahabharata?
“The Great [story/war] of Bharata’s Descendents”
- said to be 100,000 verses, all- encompassing text
Who are the central characters of the Mahabharata?
- 5 Pandava brothers and their wife Draypad (Yudihisthira is the eldest, fathered by darma)
(Arjuna is the third eldest, great warrior, fathered by Indra) - 100 Kauravas; cousins of the Pandavas (Durogodhana is the eldest and leader of the karmas, the main antagonist of the epic)
- Krishna; friend, ally, counsellor to Pandavas, incarnation of god Vishnu to protect Dharma, serves as Arjuna’s charioteer.
Avatara
means incarnation
What are three distinct sections in the mahabharata?
before the war, during the war, after the war
What happened before the war?
-the birth of the Pandavas and kauravas and the competition that slowly grows between them
- famous story of gambling natch where the kauravas cheat the Pandavas out of their kingdom. This results in a 12 year exile plus one year of hiding successfully in order to get their kingdom back. The Pandavas do it and come back to get the Kingdom but the Kauravas say no. This starts the war.
What was the war like?
a civil war between a bunch of family members, which is why it was so devastating. The war included a lot of battle scences and heros
What happened after the war?
The Pandavas won the war, but at what cost :( very existential and regretful mood.
- famous Bhisma on his deathbed of arrows
What was Dharma in the Mahabharata?
right action, righteousness, law, sacred duty, ethical propriety, “the good”, that which sustains order
What is the Bhagavadgita?
means “song of the lord”
700 verses
takes place in beginning of the war
possibly composed in 200BCE-100CE
some reformers see it as a ‘hindu bible’
What is the field of Kuru?
the scene of the battlefield, also called the field of dharma
How does the Bhagavadgita begin?
Arjuna and Krishna at the battlefield, looking out at all the family and community members about to fight to their deaths
Starts questioning the entire war
What does Krishna tell Arjuna when he starts questioning the war?
explains how human bodies are discarded like worn out clothes, if Arjuna is worried about his friends/family dying they are not truly dying, the atman lives on
What does Krishna say about action?
that we should be intent on the action, not the outcome of the action. Telling Arjuna that he should still perform his duty
- yoga as skill in action
What is Svadharma?
means “one’s own duty”
Krishna tells arjuna one’s own duty done imperfectly is better than someone else’s duty done well.
