Anthro 349

Reading Review: Bhagavad Gita

I really enjoyed reading the Bhagavada Gita, to my surprise. The
poetic prose style is not something I would normally read, but I found
it to be an appropriate fit in this situation.
I liked how the excerpt begins with Arunjas anguish and sorrow in
regards to the killing of fellow kinsmen and family, in which the
realities of war become more apparent. The way the text is written
helped me to really visualize the brutally violent side of war. I found
this was an interesting place to start at because it gripped my interest
and made me want to keep reading more.
As Krishna continues the dialogue, the passage transitions into talking
about the glory of God. When I began reading these sections, I was a
little confused, because I felt as though the topic of the war was sort
of being sidestepped, while there was plenty of conversation and
dialogue about describing God and the various facets of that. There
were so many descriptors to illustrate the magnificence and splendor
of who God is that I didnt know what to make of all of them. Near the
end, however, it started to make a little more sense, as Arjuna
becomes overwhelmed with the fear of the Lord, he realizes that his
sorrows are not as important as obeying the Holy God, who is higher
than all else. Eventually, I really liked the amount of time that was
spent describing all the things that God was. It really helped to drive
home the point of just how mighty and powerful this God really is, in
the context of the writing. Arjuna ends up realizing his place, in
comparison to Krishna, and I think that this really long vision of the
form of God helps to really cement that in the readers mind, as well. I
know that was the case for me.
The last paragraph spoken by Sri Krishna is what really interested me
the most. I noticed that there was a lot of reference to the Shape,
which I am interpreting as the purest form to be sought after. When I
was reading through this, I couldnt help but draw a parallel to the
ultimate forms that Plato talked about in his writings. The perfect
forms are what are to be looked towards. It is what everyone should
strive to achieve. I think this is interesting to see a similar mindset
developing in two different places at two different time periods. Even
though the actual things they are referring to may be different, this
idea of striving towards the perfect or ultimate form, it caught my
attention.

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This particular piece of writing was interesting to read. It was different
than what I was used to, but I enjoyed it. The heavily descriptive
language was useful in helping the reader to envision what was being
said and described. I enjoyed reading this passage quite a bit.