Bhagavad-Gita's Philosophy of Reconciliation of Term Paper

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Rather than being the reward for one's earthly obedience to God, and therefore a destination in and of itself then, as it is within Islam, Christianity and Judaism; arrival at nirvana and therefore the ceasing of further reincarnations comes from finally reconciling non-attachment in one's present life with personal responsibility in one's present life - as Krishna advises Arjuna to do now, on the eve of this war.

Holden further points out that during Krishna's conversation with Arjuna, Krishna, with his words from Bhagavad-Gita 2.12 "Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be" (qtd. In Holden)

Krisna [sic] is telling us that death is not an end - life itself continues, and always will, as it always has. The implication here is that reality is not what it appears to be to the senses, or even to the common sense view. Not only are we being told birth and death are other than they appear, but that God himself is eternal, and we are like God - but, significantly distinct entities. We are individuals that are not God, although they are with God. ("On the meaning of Krisna's [sic] statement to Arjuna: "Never was there a time when I did not exist

Holden further observes: "This is quite a different concept of causation than the... idea of life of beginning and ceasing to be -... Krisna seems to be asking us to overcome our senses via the rational mind -...

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applying a rational argument for why we should not believe what we perceive to be true..." ("On the meaning of Krisna's statement to Arjuna: "Never was there a time when I did not exist..."). In this way Krishna encourages Arjuna to see the cyclical rather than linear essence of life and death through a lens of earthly rationality rather than having Arjuna deny the familiar in order to begin to understand the essence of divine life according to Krishna.

Arjuna's fighting in this battle then, which he wishes, rationally, not to do but which Krishna illustrates that he must, is but a part of the multiple cycles of life and death that the warrior prince has yet to complete on the way, ultimately, to his final state of nirvana. While Krishna does not deny to Arjuna the importance of earthly rationality, Krishna nevertheless shows Arjuna how Arjuna's current resistance to fighting on this battlefield, based on earthly attachment, must be overcome in order to eventually reach nirvana, the ultimate spiritual state of mind within which all further reincarnations cease.

Events on earth are but part of a much greater cyclical whole, Krishna further illustrates to Arjuna while giving him a brief glimpse of the perfection of the divine beyond earth. Arjuna's participating in the battle is also a part of his overcoming attachment, as one must do in order to ultimately arrive at nirvana.

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