Understanding the BG
I've been learning Sanskrit- did I ever mention that earlier on this blog?
Well, I have. It's fun... I used to look at it like a mathematical equation: learn up a few formulae and figure out what kind of verb form to use where. Gets confusing after a point of time, though. I've forgotten all the tables and charts I used last year and now am in a more "free-flow" mode.
Anyway, like everything else in life, there was a nice big spike in interest when I first began learning the language, which died down slowly once we started studying grammar incessantly. So I stopped going to classes. My interest in the language rose again, when I came across Vanraj Bhatia's version of the Bhagavad Gita (BG for short).
What I really like about this guy's version is that he has treated it less as a religious text and more as a dialogue, less as something ancient and to be treated with reverence, and more like a great song, with profound lyrics. So the first chapter, which begins as a description of the two mighty armies at the Kurukshetra battleground, has drums and trumpets and a rhythmic, pounding beat which thrills me no end.
Went online, read up the lyrics and their meanings and am thoroughly satisfied with the dramatic moment created by Vyasa. I give the first chapter of the BG full marks.
Now the second chapter.... that's where the problems begin. No doubt I am shallow and superficial, but God, I cannot understand what the heck is being talked about.
The first part of it is fine. Krishna says, 'Don't grieve over death. Souls are eternal".
Great. Totally on the same page as you, God.
But then? What the heck do you (You?) mean when you say, "Do something without looking at the fruits of your labor", or when you say, "When you are truly enlightened, then you are indifferent to what can be heard and what is heard" and more along those same lines?
Forget the "truly enlightened" business- clearly I'm so far away from that pinnacle, that there's no point in me even trying to figure out what's going on there.
But the fruits of labor business? How can somebody NOT think about fruits of labor before embarking on a project? Or is this only applicable to instances where you help somebody without thinking about how it will affect you in the end? If so, what good is that sort of advice going to do for Arjuna who doesn't want to fight because he doesn't want to kill his relatives?
Maybe the translations I am reading are incorrect. Maybe I should figure out the meanings for myself?
Well, I have. It's fun... I used to look at it like a mathematical equation: learn up a few formulae and figure out what kind of verb form to use where. Gets confusing after a point of time, though. I've forgotten all the tables and charts I used last year and now am in a more "free-flow" mode.
Anyway, like everything else in life, there was a nice big spike in interest when I first began learning the language, which died down slowly once we started studying grammar incessantly. So I stopped going to classes. My interest in the language rose again, when I came across Vanraj Bhatia's version of the Bhagavad Gita (BG for short).
What I really like about this guy's version is that he has treated it less as a religious text and more as a dialogue, less as something ancient and to be treated with reverence, and more like a great song, with profound lyrics. So the first chapter, which begins as a description of the two mighty armies at the Kurukshetra battleground, has drums and trumpets and a rhythmic, pounding beat which thrills me no end.
Went online, read up the lyrics and their meanings and am thoroughly satisfied with the dramatic moment created by Vyasa. I give the first chapter of the BG full marks.
Now the second chapter.... that's where the problems begin. No doubt I am shallow and superficial, but God, I cannot understand what the heck is being talked about.
The first part of it is fine. Krishna says, 'Don't grieve over death. Souls are eternal".
Great. Totally on the same page as you, God.
But then? What the heck do you (You?) mean when you say, "Do something without looking at the fruits of your labor", or when you say, "When you are truly enlightened, then you are indifferent to what can be heard and what is heard" and more along those same lines?
Forget the "truly enlightened" business- clearly I'm so far away from that pinnacle, that there's no point in me even trying to figure out what's going on there.
But the fruits of labor business? How can somebody NOT think about fruits of labor before embarking on a project? Or is this only applicable to instances where you help somebody without thinking about how it will affect you in the end? If so, what good is that sort of advice going to do for Arjuna who doesn't want to fight because he doesn't want to kill his relatives?
Maybe the translations I am reading are incorrect. Maybe I should figure out the meanings for myself?