Sun Analogies in the Bhagavad-Gita Term Paper

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There they see just how far removed from reality they previously were. In the cave, they knew only shadows of what were only copies of ordinary objects; in the light of the sun they are able to see the objects themselves and finally the sun itself, which gives being to all else. (79)

While Plato's forms may be difficult to conceptualize, these remains the perfect embodiment of what these objects represent, and for humankind, the attainment of light out of the dark represents the freeing of the soul and imagination. For example, Rice notes that "Plato treats the form of the good, then, as a final and highest reality upon which all other things are dependent. It is a sort of cause of all causes; without knowledge of goodness our knowledge of other things is uncertain" (Rice 80).

What Can Be Learned from These Analogies?

At first blush, the sun analogies in the Bhagavad-Gita appear to be irrelevant to modern people, particularly in view of its unfamiliarity with many Western readers. It would be a mistake, though, to overlook just how similar many of these analogies are to contemporary thoughts about the world in general and religion in particular. Despite the apparent trend that is taking place in Europe and to some extent in the United States concerning people abandoning their religion, many people around the world continue to believe in a supreme being that created the world and everything in it. When these people think about their deities and their relationship with them, there is a virtually universal tendency to make these same sorts of assertions concerning the preeminence of their respective god compared to those of other religions.

This same process has been taking place throughout history, of course, but there are some important differences today. The ancient people of India and Asia did not have the benefit of global communications and scientific inquiry; they did, however, have the same type of powerful faith in someone they could not see, and when they could not see it, they compared it to the most visible and predominant body in their world: the sun. Today, though, many people appear to be discounting the importance of religion and worshipping a god of their in their lives, but the search for truth, happiness and the best way to live one's life still involve the same types of basic issues as they did when the Bhagavad-Gita was written.

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Conclusion

The research showed that both the Bhagavad-Gita and Plato's Republic contain important analogies to the sun that provide modern readers with a glimpse into how ancient peoples viewed the world around them. The Bhagavad-Gita was an attempt to explain how mankind came about and what forces were at play in the universe; likewise, Plato's Republic was an attempt to provide mankind with specific definitions and descriptions of the nature of forms through a continuous search for knowledge. Therefore, these analogies also serve as a useful insight into how these ancient peoples gained understanding and learned how to live their lives to achieve happiness and fulfillment in a world full of mystery and danger; they also provide a framework in which people today can recognize the limitations imposed by a rigid way of thinking that precludes any new information or facts since these might contradict what is already believed. The search for knowledge is ancient, then, but is also a current imperative as well. In the final analysis, the sun analogies in these works are illustrative of what ancient mankind thought about the most preeminent celestial body and how they used it to describe and define the most important things in their lives.

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