Who else is interested in this wonderful spiritual text? I'm not saying I necessarily agree with all of it or hinduism in general, but like the upanishads it is a very uplifting philosophy to meditate your life on.

Like the bible you have to regard the supernatural elements as metaphorical or you'll get really confused or contradicted.

It fits in with the theory that Hinduism, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, etc has a piece of the answer. No one religion is right.

I thought there would be a link to an e-text of the Bhagavad Gita in here.

Not sure why.

quote:Originally posted by I_Like_Traffic_Lights:

I thought there would be a link to an e-text of the Bhagavad Gita in here.

Not sure why.



Oh shit sorry, here's one http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/en

Stick with it because the first couple of chapters are kind of boring and repetitive. The good bits are mostly in the middle. I prefer Stephen Mitchells translation which get's rid of the erroneous material though, but that's because I find the original a bit too dry. I would suggest that version if anyone actually gets interested enough to buy or borrow a copy.

its just part of a very very long semi-historical account of some random people some where in ancient India...talking about different tribes/kingdoms having a war, certain princes, etc, and then later on for some reason, people added to it claims that certain characters were gods. Basically poets just took what kshatriyas wrote about in the upanishads and applied those theories to the heroes in the mahabharata epic, there you have the bhagavad-gita.

[This message has been edited by shuu (edited 01-27-2007).]

Hinduism is definitely my favourite religion. I've been meaning to read a lot of it's texts.

What I've read is good but sometimes I wish Prabhupad's translations and explanations were a bit better.

Not only was it enlightening but it was also beautiful to read.

quote:Originally posted by ---Beany---:

What I've read is good but sometimes I wish Prabhupad's translations and explanations were a bit better.

Read Stephen Mitchells version, I'm not too fond of the Hari Krishna version either. This site has more versions to choose from: http://www.gitasupersite.iitk.ac.in/index.htm

The Krishnas are kinda odd...

Can you summarize what the fuck it is all about?

Looks like those guys are about to have a fight. Didn't read.

quote:Originally posted by Mahatma Gandhi:

Can you summarize what the fuck it is all about?

A battle betwen 2 armies. The leader of 1 army (Arjuna) becomes filled with compassion after seeing friends and relatives in the opposing army.

The book involves a conversation between him and Krishna (God), where god explain various truths about life that relate to Arjunas reluctance to fight.

Mainly though it comes down to the discipline of action.

quote:Originally posted by psuedogunslinger:

Who else is interested in this wonderful spiritual text?

Yes, one of the truly great ancient texts, I read the Hare Krishna version twice and whilst I gained some things from it there was, IMHO, an undertone, or an impression of negativity that in fact turned me off the HK's. Some years later a friend, a member of the Self Realisation Society, gave me a copy of the translation and commentary by Paramhansa Yogananda.

Yogananda's version is a sublime exposition on the metaphorical message of the ancients who composed it, and it succinctly delivers a message about the spiritual struggle within a person. The opposing armies on the battlefield are one's positive and negative inclinations - personified, and the struggle each of us has to reach a balance.

Arjuna is analogous to the divine 'fire'-force, and the power of patience and self control. Krishna is the Spirit or Christ(Higher)Consciousness. The King of the opposing army is Dhritarashatra - blind sense mind, with one son Durydhana representing material desire, and another sonm Duhshasana, meaning hard to restrain or control anger.

Likewise the warriors, captains and geenrals on each side. For the positive we have Sahadeva, the power to observe the negative rules of morality(the thou shalt-nots). Nakula, the power to follow the prescribed spiritual rules(the thou shalts). Bhima, soul controlled vital breath and life force. Yudhisthira, or King Calmness as divine discrimination - and many others.

Supporting them are a host/army like Kashirya - discriminative intelligence, and Abihimanya - self mastery, plus more. In the opposing metaphorical army, there are the negative attributes personified as Duhasana - anger, hard to control; Jayadratha- fear of death; Karna - attachment ot material actions; Vikarna - repulsion to unpleasantness. Together Vikarna and Karna produce likes and dislikes.

Brilliant stuff, it gave me an insight into the way in which the ancients passed on wisdom and also helped me to look at the scriptures of other religions differently.

Peace http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif (http://www.totse.com/bbs/smile.gif)

I read the Barbara S. Miller Translation myself. I just read some stuff by Yogananda yesterday and found it really interesting his translation sounds worth checking out.