Bhagavad Gita Reincarnation Essay

Arjuna feels distress in having to kill his family members. This is shown in the passage “The (bow) “Gandiva” slips from my hand and my skin burns all over; I am unable even to stand, my mind is reeling, as it were. And I see adverse omens, O Kesava! I do not see any good in killing my kinsmen in battle.” Here Arjuna believes it not right to kill his family, However, Krishna reminds him to fulfill his Kshatriya dharma to be a warrior and fight the battle despite his earthy bonds to family. He also says “It is better to strive in one’s own dharma than to succeed in the dharma of another. Nothing is ever lost in following one’s own dharma, but competition in another’s dharma breeds fear and insecurity.” Meaning that Arjuna would not be doing wrong in following his Dharma even if it lead to his death or his family’s. Also, the Bhagavad Gita shows the Hindu thought of the evolutionary journey of the self where Krishna teaches four chief ideals to Arjuna: look to your Dharma, complete an action or Dharma entirely and whole heartedly, not concentrating on the fruits of ones actions and lastly offering all to the divine and in doing so will allow one to break Samsara and be released into the

Arjuna is faced with an internal dilemma during the Second Discourse of the Bhagavad Gita, and although the God Krishna seeks to help guide him towards an understanding of the meaning of his life, Arjuna is still wary of making the wrong decision. This decision concerns itself with either fighting in a civil war against family relatives, having to kill those Arjuna cares most about, or abandoning his dharma as a warrior and jeopardizing fulfilling his duty the greater Self that plays such a pivotal role in his people’s culture and beliefs. While advocating for the battle and fulfilling one’s dharma, Krishna utilizes the point that the Self – an overarching force in life – is a formless, eternal entity that cannot die and is more than the mere vessels that encompass the human beings across the battlefield. It is more important to the greater vitality of one’s existence to complete a duty to the Self rather than live with the temporary benefits of living in what may appear to be a more pleasurable life, but one with no fulfillment.

Hinduism is faced with a revolving wheel of life, death and rebirth called Samsara better known as reincarnation. They believe this life cycle is a direct relation to a person’s karma of deeds done. Karma “determines the kind of body, whether human, animal, or insect, into which he or she will be reincarnated in the next

The uncertainty of where the soul goes after death is the greatest source of fear for mortals. Whether the soul goes to a new body or to a place of divine reward or punishment, these texts reveal a change of scenery for souls. While many would like to believe that if they follow a generally moral path they’ll be rewarded after they die, “The Priest Walchelin and the Hellequin’s Hunt” challenges that idea. In this story, a member of the living is shocked to see “many highly regarded figures who… should have gone straight to join the saints in heaven” (Joynes 50) roaming the earth as punishment for sins of which the public was unaware. Through this story it becomes apparent that previous modes of judging whether one will be rewarded after death aren’t reliable. This unexpected outcome is a source of terror and apprehension for many other seemingly qualified men, such as Prince Arjuna in “The Bhagavad Gita”. In the Gita, Arjuna vehemently protests killing any of his kin because “hell is waiting for those whose familiar rituals of righteousness are no more” (The Bhagavad Gita 47). Prior to his moment of weakness at the beginning of the text, Arjuna had been a “heroic warrior” (The Bhagavad Gita 43) and loyal follower of Krishna, but

Many of the core beliefs of Hinduism have evolved over time, with some becoming increasingly clearer, and others going from merely an idea into full-fledged beliefs. Karma, Dharma, and the theory of Samsara and moksha are the core beliefs that almost all who define themselves as a practicer of Hinduism would accept. The belief of karma started out in the Early Vedic period merely as “ritualistic action or labor”. It transformed into a “moral law” that incorporated the idea that all actions have fruits, whether good or bad. “Action, which springs from the mind, from speech, and from the body, produces either good or evil results”. This concept of a "law of karma" where good actions yield good results, and bad in bad, extends from the Vedic idea of consequential action from the confines of the ritual to everyday life.

In The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Bhagavad-Gita, gods play an important role in society and the way of life. In the Bhagavad-Gita, people portray their gods as almighty and perfect beings. In The Epic of Gilgamesh, the Mesopotamian people see their gods as imperfect, human-like beings. The way the people depict their gods, determines how long the religion will last and how much power the gods withhold.

In both Gilgamesh and the Bhagavad Gita, we are whisked away into two different stories with many similar aspects. One is an epic of a half man and half god who is the king of Uruk, while the other is about a disciple about to go into battle. In both, they depict of these gods with great influence and power over the people and the main characters depicted in their tales. Although they have similar qualities, one key difference between the two stories is how they depict gods and their personalities in their stories. Specifically, gods in Gilgamesh are flawed but have the outright concern of the conservation of humanity. While the gods in the Bhagavad Gita are seen as flawless deities who are almighty but have anthropomorphic characteristics and are dissonant in the decisions they make.

Krishna’s words to Draupadi- “Just as we cast off worn clothes and wear new ones, when the times arrives, the soul casts off the body and finds a new one to work out its karma. Therefore the wise grieve neither for the living nor the dead.” Karma is the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences as believed in Hinduism and Buddhism. Whereas

Karma seems like a pretty simple concept; all actions have a reaction. However, karma may not catch up to you in this lifetime and instead effect you in future lives. According to both Hinduism and Buddhism, karma determines what happens after death; either rebirth or liberation. The only way to escape reincarnation is by achieving good karma. In Hinduism, karma is determined according to one 's actions whereas in Buddhism, karma depends solely on intention. Even though both Hinduism and Buddhism originated in India and their ultimate goal is to be freed from the cycle of rebirth, they view karma in two different ways.

Kamma or karma as it is commonly referred to, has a complex system of cause and effect that makes up the law. All humans experience karma, that is the process of acting with intention, throughout their lives (Jeffreys, 2/18). The result of their intent filled actions, vipaka, is either immediate or it accumulates and transmigrates across lifetimes. Though this may seem simple, the process is a very complex law. Maurice Walshe, the main editor of The Long Discourses of the Buddha helps explain the law of kamma in the “Cakkavatti-Sīhanāda Sutta: The Lion’s Roar on the Turning of the Wheel.” This paper will explore the law of kamma in terms of cause and effect as well as differing viewpoints on the law's existence.

In Hinduism, karma is basically cause and effect. It leaves no room for chances and depends heavily on personal responsibility, so no saying that an event happened by luck, good or bad (Huston 64). This idea can sometimes lead other outside the religion and few in to relate it to fatalism, but to Hindus that understand it, it is not like fatalism at all (Huston 65). For them, karma allows for you to make choices freely, but with each choice does come consequences, but not every consequence is bad. It is all choices and consequences are all based of what the soul or jiva wanted(Huston 65). The actions of a jiva, or the choices it makes, will all lead to an eventual life of repetition of wanting more out of life, but if it can see past the game that it is and insteads goes after something infinite and eternal, then will the jiva fill more complete (Huston 66). For Hindus, karma is just another part of their lives but does not bring fear to them. Meanwhile, in western societies, karma is many times

Krishna repeats many times that, “Even if you are the most evil of all sinners, you will cross over all evil on the raft of knowledge.”(BG 4:36). He also says, “Arjuna, when you have realized this, you will not descend into delusion again; knowledge will let you see creatures within yourself and so in me”(BG 4:34). Krishna is saying that even though your dharma might cause you to act in a “wrong doing” because you followed dharma you will be rewarded. One extremely important lesson taught in Buddhism is to not kill. Arjuna is choosing between following his dharma and going to war with his family and Hinduism is telling him that the right choice is to follow his dharma. Buddha’s ‘Eight-Fold Path’ from his first teaching of the ‘Four Noble Truths,’ number four is right action. This includes not harming any living beings, taking what is not yours, and sexual misconduct. Killing anyone at any given time would be seen as

The Bhagavad Gita and A Thousand and One Nights serve as a lesson for how to live and act in the world. A Thousand and One Nights employs parables to expound on the decadence of human nature and the Bhagavad Gita discusses how to live a spiritual life without complete withdrawal from society. In A Thousand and One Nights, the dualism between vengeance and mercy as told through Shahrazad’s stories teaches us about the complexity of life and need for empathy in an unjust world. By choosing to be vengeful over merciful, people assert their own power and self-importance. The text encourages people to place other people’s importance above their own, inevitably relinquishing self-importance. In the Bhagavad Gita, the dualism between soul and body as explained by Krishna, teaches Arjuna about relinquishing attachment to the physical world. By giving up his personal attachments, he defers to the divine knowledge instead of his own desires. The dualisms in both works represent the necessity of detaching oneself from self-importance in order to cultivate peace and harmony for ourselves, since one can only reach peace and harmony through mercy and an understanding of the human soul.

The Hindu culture of India expressed in this book emphasizes the belief in the caste system. The caste system begins with the brahmins, warriors, merchants, the servants, and the lowest, the untouchables. “Death is certain for anyone born, and birth is certain for the dead; since the cycle is inevitable, you have no cause to grieve!” (BG 2:26). The Bhagavad-Gita shows the belief that death is not defeat.

The avatar Krishna brought up Hindu concept of atman saying, “the Eternal [atman] in man cannot die”. Hindus believe in brahman, the essence of life. The brahman in humans is the soul, or atman. As opposed to the human body, the atman is eternal. The ultimate goal in Hinduism is to achieve moksha, or reunion with brahman. But it takes multiple lifetimes to achieve moksha, so Hindus believe in samsara, or rebirth. After the physical death of the human body, the atman then takes another form and Krishna reminds Arjuna of this by saying, “As…our mortal body wanders on in