Lord Krishna’s Quote to Arjuna and Its Relationship to Hindu Society

This paper will focus on the quote from Lord Krishna to the warrior Arjuna which was “Let tradition be your standard in judging what to do or avoid, knowing the norms of tradition perform your action here” (Van Voorst, 2013). The following topics will be discussed relating to this quote: how this quote relates to the Hindu view of society, the relationship of this advice to the fact that Hindu society has remained stable for many years, and the concept of an ethical system that contributes to this stability. The Hindu view of society is closely related to Krishna’s quote. Even in modern times, tradition is a very important and closely followed part of life. India has remained a rural, agricultural people (Molloy, 2013) in which traditional views remain unchanged. The Vedic texts, the Upanishads and the Laws of Manu have been used to shape Hindu societal views. These were all originally developed by commentary (Van Voorst, 2013) and thus were perpetuated. The Vedas were the original scriptures of India. As mentioned before, they were only in verbal form at first before being written down and becoming the earliest books of Hinduism. The Vedas laid the original belief structure and traditions for Hindu society. The Upanishads were added later and brought with them the notions of Brahman, Atman, maya, karma, samsara and moksha (Molloy, 2013). These are primary concepts that are part of Hindu spirituality. The Laws of Manu further describe the guidelines for all of the classes, especially the caste system. The caste system is a traditional system that shows the interaction of each caste with the others and what should be done or avoided. The social classes of the caste are as follows: the priest, the warrior-noble, the merchant, the peasant and the untouchables. This traditional social class system has very strict rules that dictate what each member should do and avoid and also each person’s role. Another traditional view of society can be found in the

References: Molloy, M. (2013). Experiencing the World 's Religions. New York: McGraw-Hill. Van Voorst, R. E. (2013). Anthology of World Scriptures. Boston: Wadsworth.