Stairway to Heaven

The nature of Hinduism is elusive at best. It is perhaps the most inclusive religious system in the history of human beings in that it incorporates aspects of every other religious system that it comes into contact with. This is not to say that it says that all religions are "the same," a gross oversimplification and common misconception when "white guys like me" try to approach Hinduism and/or any other religious branch of thought from India.

At some point, somewhat exasperated by this inclusive nature, the urban legend goes that the British Raj needed to have a "bible" of sorts, something to pin down the protean religion. The Bhagavad Gita was apparently selected.

Bhagavad Gita itself literally means, "The song of the Lord/Divine One," but in itself is not a discreet text, despite being treated as such, but is rather merely a very small portion of the much, much larger Mahabharata, which means "the Great Epic/Event/Story." However, the Gita (as it is usually called and is the past passive participle of the verb "gai" <<to sing>>) has served its purpose and has come down through the recent centuries earmarked as the "Hindu Bible."

It was a source of inspiration for Gandhi, who made his own Gujarati translation and purportedly read it each day, as well as being the source of poetic inspiration for many writers, Western and Eastern, Northern and Southern, over the years.

The story is in media res of the great battle between the related families, the Pandavas and the Kauruvas.

Arjuna, a warrior prince of the Pandavas, has viewed the battlefield of Kurukshetra and is disheartened and lays down his bow and arrow dejectedly, lamenting to his charioteer, who is none other than the Lord Krishna, that he cannot fight his own flesh and blood, merely for honor.

After some deliberation, Arjuna refuses to fight, thus introducing the Gita's dilemma and prompting the response of Krishna, which comprises the remaining chapters of the Gita.

Weighing the choice between being responsible for killing one of his cousins or friends or being slain unarmed by one of them, Arjuna believes that he prefers the latter. The despondent words of Arjuna set up one of the most influential discourses on the need for us to act in the face of the greatest dilemmas that we face in life, exposing the illusive duality of the Desires of the Self and the Will of the Universe.

Aho bata mahat papam

kartum vyavasita vayam

yad rajyasukhalobhena

hantum svajanam udyatah

yadi mam apratikaram

ashastram shastrapanayah

dhartarashtra rane hanyus

tan me ksematram bharet

Alas, woe is me, 

We are fated to execute such great evil

Standing prepared to kill our own kin

For the greed of royal pleasures.

Should the armed Sons of Dhritarashtra

Strike me down in battle,

Unarmed and unresisting,

Such would be the greater serenity for me.