Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Greatness of the Know-It-All: Bhagavad Gita 11 & 15
In both chapters, Krishna shows Arjuna what a great and mighty being he actually is. In chapter eleven, Krishna shows Arjuna his universal form because he wanted to see it. But, it seems like as if Krishna did it on purpose to convince Arjuna to battle in the war. He tells him that all these warriors are anyways going to die, so killing them would only fulfill his duty to become a king and not change anyone's destiny:
"I am time grown old, creating world destruction, set in motion to annihilate the worlds; even without you, all these warriors arrayed in hostile ranks will cease to exist. Therefore, arise and win glory! Conquer your foes and fulfill your kingship! They are already killed by me. Be just my instrument, the archer at my side!" (p. 103)
In this passage, it is also said that Krishna has the ability to control life and death of any being since he is connected with everything on the universe (he IS the universe). This, again, shows how great and mighty Krishna is; after all, he is a god. Later on, in chapter 15, Krishna talks about a metaphor between a tree and a person's spirit. He, again, says that everyone who knows him would be spiritually advanced and understand the world better. To me, it seemed like as if Krishna kept on saying this just to keep on reminding Arjuna how important he is and that he should be worshiped.
It's strange how I already read until the end of the book and the story still didn't progress. Now, I can surely say that the main purpose of the book is the teachings and lessons of Krishna, rather than the actual events happening in the book. Also, Krishna seems to keep on teaching many different things to Arjuna, but his main goal always seems to be the same: To make Arjuna notice him and to persuade him to fight the war.
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