Why The Bhagavad Gita What Is Right

Chantelle Kiernan
Professor Warner Bellanger
GC2Y 2000 Section 03
02 October 2014
Early Buddhism vs The Bhagavad Gita: Which is right?
The Bhagavad Gita, meaning the Song of God in English, is a text that has been crucial and a foundation for Hindu followers and believers for several years. This text is an excerpt from The Mahabharta. The Bhagavad Gita is located on a battlefield where two cousins, Arjuna and Krishna, are waging war on each other, and one cousin must chose between warrior dharma and family dharma. This can be seen as an allegory of the human struggle deciphering between wrong and right. The conversation between Krishna and Arjuna is what complies the Gita and records the ways and beliefs of Hindus. The Bhagavad Gita also
says what is seen as morally right and wrong. How does dharma differ in early Buddhism and the Bhagavad Gita, which defends dharma as outlined in dharmasastras?
How does Buddhism criticize the varnasramadharma system? What ideas does the Bhagavad Gita appropriate or take from Buddhism in order to redefine dharma and the paths to moksa? By answering these questions, one will be able to fully understand the challenges that were posed by Early Buddhism for varnasramadharma, and the religion of Buddhism as a whole, and the concept of varnasramadharma will become easier to understand.
What is Buddhism? Buddhism is a religion that was founded approximately two thousand five hundred years ago by Siddhartha Gautama also known as Buddha. Buddha was not seen as a god. It is a religion that focuses on the concept of suffering and detachment from material things. Buddhists believe in Enlightenment and Nirvana. Buddhism is based on the ideas that are many times referred to as the four noble truths. These noble truths are dukkha, samudaya, nirodha, and magga, also known as the nature of suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path leading to the cessation of suffering, alias the eightfold path. The nature of suffering states that the
nature of the world is insufficient and inadequate. Life is made up of suffering such as disease, aging, agony, depression, disappointment, fear, etc. Buddhists believe that the universe is made up of matter and that all things are temporary. The Dharma: Some Perspectives on Mainstream Buddhism says “Impermanence always meant simply that all beings, all things, having arisen, pass away: they die” (The Dharma 100). The nature of suffering is a concept called pratitya-samutpada. Clothey defines pratitya-samutpada “as a chain of dependent causation or co-arising in early Buddhism” (Clothey 43).The chain of dependent causation consists of twelve chains that explain samsara. The most important link is the link of thirst. This link describes ones motives for impermanence. The Dharma: Some Perspectives on Mainstream Buddhism says “things are “suffering,” that is, not finally satisfying, because they are impermanent: they do not last forever….” (The Dharma 99). The third noble truth, the cessation of suffering, involves Nirvana which is when suffering is overcome and pure happiness is attained. The fourth noble truth is living life according to the eightfold path. For one to know exactly how they should behave, one must follow the eightfold path. The eightfold path includes three subgroups consisting of eight different parts. The eight parts are right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration.
Arjuna, a fearless warrior, is having a battle with his cousin, Krishna, in order to maintain dharma. Varnashrama dharma is thoroughly explained through the cousins’ conversation on the battlefield. In the first teaching of The Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna does not want to wage war because he realizes that he will have to kill his family and friends. Arjuna has to choose between family dharma and warrior dharma; “when the family is ruined, the timeless laws of family duty perish/ and when duty is lost, chaos overwhelms the family” (BG 1:40). Krishna and Arjuna converse back and forth. In the end, Krishna persuades Arjuna to fight and uphold his svadharma of becoming a warrior and “surrender all actions to me, [Krishna],/ and fix your reason on your inner self,/ without hope or possesivness.” (BG 3:30). In the religion of Hinduism every action is supposed to be done with detachment. The Exposition of the Sangha states, “One of the most important aspects of the Hindu tradition is the emphasis place on the performance of social duties and obligations according to carefully formulated codes of behavior” (Exposition 74). Theism is devotion and honor to one supreme and absolute god. Krishna tells Arjuna that he must fight with detachment. Krishna explains yoga, or discipline to Arjuna. A person who practices yoga is a yogi, and one must meditate and ponder on Lord Krishna. Krishna explains that ascetics are not required in the process of yoga by saying “O Arjuna, the science of uniting the individual consciousness with the Ultimate Consciousness never occurs for one who eats too much or who eats too little…” (BG 6:16). People are called to terminate all evil acts and attachment and dedicate themselves and their life solely to following Krishna. The text ends with Krishna thinking Arjuna is a coward for not wanting to fight, but in the end he knows he must to uphold his dharma of becoming a warrior.
Dharma differs in many ways in early Buddhism and throughout the text of The Bhagavad Gita.
In early Buddhism dharma is defined as the idea of following the teachings of Buddha. This causes a lot of confusion because the life of Buddha and his teachings are not clear. Due to the fact that the life and story of Buddha was passed down orally, also known as smriti, over time the story slowly began to change, so people began to question what was the truth. Through all the doubts and misunderstandings of Buddhist one thing remained certain and that was that non-violence was something Buddhists enforced and live their life in accordance with. Buddha and his teaching were almost flawless. Buddhists must live their life in accordance to five precepts. These precepts are not killing, not stealing, not lying, not having affairs, and always honoring thy father and mother. When talking about killing and stealing Buddha says “whoever destroys life, whether bird or animal, insect or fish, has no compassion for life… /whoever steals what is considered to belong to others, whether it be situated in villages or the forest…”(Vasala Sutta 117, 119). A person was not born into the world perfect, so one must strive to live their life in accordance to Buddhist rules and teachings. Dharma is seen as a way of life, or order, that one must follow at all time, regardless of the situation or predicament. The highest dharma in The Bhagavad Gita is following Krishna. The obligations that needed to be
accomplished were always inferior to Krishna. In the text, Krishna and Arjuna are still talking about how he must fulfill his dharma and fight the war. Krishna bluntly tells Arjuna that if he does not fight he will be looked down upon and that would be seen as not fulfilling his dharma or duty in life. In The Bhagavad Gita dharma is seen as a helpful tool in order to assist one in following Krisha, a high god. One should only focus on their dharma and no one else’s. The dharmasastras explains the life and ways of a householder, which is similar to varnasrama dharma by mentioning the four stages of life. Another’s dharma is no concern to anyone but him or her. In the text, one must follow their dharma and not veer off the path. The Bhagavad Gita definition and view of dharma is more similar to the dharmasastras view of dharma than in early Buddhism. Early Buddhists believed in five morals or precepts but in The Bhagavad Gita says that it does not matter how you act, or behave, and nothing you do matters because as long you fulfill your dharma you will achieve happiness. In The Bhagavad Gita, if one is in a predicament and someone needs to be killed then it is okay because one is fulfilling his or her dharma. Buddha believed in non-violence but The Bhagavad Gita says that one can act any way if it results in fulfilling his dharma. Buddhist ethics were more universal than those in the varnasramadharma system.
The Bhagavad Gita and early religion of Buddhism are similar in many ways but they also differ in many ways. The Bhagavad Gita contains eighteen teachings that are from a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna, which states how one should live their life to attain varnasharmadharma and reach enlightenment. People who practiced Buddhism in the very early stages of it being founded followed Buddha. How does dharma differ in early Buddhism and the Bhagavad Gita, which defends dharma as outlined in dharmasastras? How does Buddhism criticize the varnasramadharma system? What ideas does the Bhagavad Gita appropriate or take from Buddhism in order to redefine dharma and the paths to moksa? These are all questions that help one better understand the challenges that were posed by Early Buddhism for varnasramadharma, and the religion of Buddhism as a whole, and the concept of varnasramadharma will become easier to understand. Although The Bhagavad Gita and early Buddhist followers have different beliefs and mindsets when it comes to reaching enlightenment or liberation, in the end they all have the same goal, which is to reach moska, they just go about attaining the goal in different ways.