The Second Teaching

First, I would like to say that I really do like the topic for our second paper. It's a good one, and the pre-writing was actually enjoyable. But, onto the Gita.

If they had translated action to charisma within the text, I think the whole teaching would have been so much easier to understand. It just sounds funny and confuses the reader using the words action and inaction. I understood the text a bit better with that clarification. Anyways... I think it sounds like Sanjaya is telling this story around a campfire or something. He even includes description of how they are talking to each other. I thought that Arjuna and Krishna were on the same level of intelligence, unlike Euthyphro and Socrates. But then Krishna begins to mock Arjuna a bit. Thankfully, Arjuna does seem to actually understand exactly what Krishna is trying to teach him, whereas Euthyphro was too arrogant to take in others ideas. This could be because Arjuna earnestly wants to learn from Krishna and he has a open, intelligent mind. The conversation between Arjuna and Krishna is actually fascinating. If Arjuna knows Krishna and asks his council, shouldn't he know what Krishna's teachings are all about? And why in hell are they still the in middle of the battlefield? This conversation is long, and people are jonesing to kill someone! Talk about killing the spirit of a battle with a long talk about how to live your life.

The reason I first had a difficult time grasping this text (other than the action thing) was the fact that it is sooooo different from anything else I've read or learned before. Hinduism is something the I've researched extensively. But, I have found it enjoyable to read about the characters in the story (they are a lot more developed than the characters in the Bible). I think that the teaching itself is how to be a devout and become a more perfect person through resisting temptation. This sounds familiar huh? I also noticed that a lot of ideas are packed into each teaching. I really want to move forward with this text in class and discuss a few more of the lessons!