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The Bhagavad Gita and Life

 

            "Dharma" is the first word in the Bhagavad-Gita. The Sanskrit word "dhri"" is often taken to mean "religion"" or "duty"" but those two explanations alone do not suffice as an answer to the extensive question that dharma proposes. In the Gita, Lord Krishna refers to dharma in progressively deeper ways by shedding light on the meaning of the term and its importance for personal spiritual growth. Krishna asserts his power as a supreme personality over Arjuna, and confronts the challenge of reconciling the conflicting obligations that are imposed on him by dharma. As Krishna successfully reconciles dharma with moksha for Arjuna, his message is a clear one; uphold your true dharma under all circumstances of life. .
             Lord Krishna, in his counsel to Arjuna, teaches him that he can control his desires though the practice of yoga and discipline. "When he controls his senses with his mind and engages in discipline of action, detachment sets him apart." Krishna taught Arjuna that by training yourself to let go of things emotionally, you could achieve a harmony that otherwise could not be attained with those emotions present. In life when a person experiences a great loss, the negative emotions of a broken attachment could potentially succumb the grieving and could become a paralyzing force that withdraws them from the real world. I think that we cry after a loss, not because of our overwhelming love for what we lost, but because of the absences of the physical attachment we created. After you lose someone that is close to you, you can still love him or her, but it is the separation from the attachment you created with them that eventually leads to harmony. .
             Krishna clarified to Arjuna that "It is desire and anger, arising from nature's quality of passion," that makes a person commit to evil forces as if they are compelled. You must free yourself of desire and passion, because they create expectations that can fog your judgment of reality.


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