The Fundamental Teachings of Hinduism - Essay Example

?Client’s Here: 17 September There are many people who live on the planet, so it becomes natural that all may not think, act similarly in a given situation. Considering this, another thing which becomes natural is that all the people will not follow a particular religion or believe in one god, for instance the people who believe in Islam worship Allah, people who believe in Christianity worship Jesus Christ and there are many more religions which the people believe in across the globe. Among those many religions, there is a beautiful religion called Hinduism. A person who practices Hinduism is called a Hindu. 13% of the people across the world practice Hinduism. The sole aim of all the religions is to make the people realize the value of life and to make the most of the same but doing holy acts and by not indulging in undesirable activities, to make sure that this happens every religion has its own holy book, the Christians follow the Holy Bible, the Muslims (people who believe in Islam) follow the Quran, similarly as the other people follow their own holy books, the Hindus follow the Bhagavad-Gita. “Bhagavad-Gita is a poem in eighteen chapters; it addresses the fundamental human concerns. It also provides guidelines on how to live an idle life which is free from greed, lust and all the other evils that one could possibly think of.” (The Norton Anthology of World Literature) Bhagavad-Gita focuses upon the attainment of god, which can only be possible if the holy book is read and followed in all situations. The holy book focuses upon the fundamental teachings of Hinduism and is divided in 18 chapters to simplify complex concepts for the better understanding of the people. All the other holy books focus upon the same fundamental teachings but the only difference is that those books put across the same concepts in different words and situations. The Fundamental teachings of Hinduism Hinduism stresses upon four most important teachings, the same will be seen one by one. The first concept is the concept of Dharma; the term means “A comprehensive ordering of life according to principles and practices appropriate for one’s age and station (“caste”) in life. This includes the basics of the Indian caste system, which segments people from birth into certain levels in society, placing each person in the caste where they will live out their life. Although the caste system was abolished by national law in 1949, it remains a significant force throughout India.” (Windmill). To simplify it can be said that Dharma is nothing but the duties which an individual has to realize and fulfill during his/her period of existence. The same is talked about in the chapter by the name “The Eternal Duties of the human beings” in Bhagavad-Gita. “Chapter three establishes the fact by various points of view that the performance of prescribed duties is obligatory for everyone. Here Lord Krishna categorically and comprehensively explains how it is the duty of each and every member of society to carry out their functions and responsibilities in their respective stage of life according to the rules and regulations of the society in which one lives. Further the Lord explains why such duties must be performed, what benefit is gained by performing them, what harm is caused by not performing them.” (Bhagavad-Gita). Lord Krishna is very firmly believed in Hinduism, there are so many myths about lord Krishna in Hinduism. In this way Bhagavad-Gita covers and puts across the first Fundamental principle of Hinduism. The second Fundamental teaching is known as Samsara, under this teaching it is believed that the soul is immortal; it cannot be destroyed come what may. But on the other hand it is believed that the body is never immortal, this teaching talks about reincarnation better known as rebirth. According to this principle the deeds of an individual decides the fate of the individual, for instance if an individual repeats evil actions over and over again he/she is bound to be born again in category in other words the soul of that particular person will take lower forms of worldly life and the person will suffer for his/her deeds in the previous birth. The same can be seen in Bhagavad-Gita under the chapter titled “Actions and Renunciations”. The chapter aims at the achievement of the very same principle of Samsara. The next concept is Karma. Samsara and Karma are very similar concepts the aim of both is the same which is to make an individual realize that his/her actions decide the fate of that individual. The fourth and the final teaching is Moksha. This principle is also the ultimate reality and an should individual start realizing this reality by leaving all the worldly things aside only then can he/she attain Moksha. Attaining Moskha requires the ultimate control over oneself and this applies to all the situations because only the most difficult of situations test the temperament of people and in order to attain Moksha it becomes inevitable to have good temperament. “In chapter eighteen Lord Krishna sums up the conclusion of the previous chapters and describes the attainment of salvation by the paths of karma in chapters one through six and in jnana yoga section which are chapters thirteen through eighteen. The Lord explains that while doing so one must offer without reservation everything to God. The knowledge revealed gets progressively more and more confidential then in all the previous chapters. Thus this chapter is entitled: Final Revelations of the Ultimate Truth.” (Bhagavad-Gita). This chapter talks about last teaching which is Moksha. Only good deeds and good deeds alone can bless an individual with a good life in the following birth and the choice is in the hands of the people, even after knowing the ultimate truth, people often look for materialistic wealth and other luxuries. In this way Bhagavad-Gita reveals the fundamental teachings of Hinduism. Bhagavad-Gita in a lyrical format The holy book is an epic and the lyrical nature of the book helps in putting across the message better. The main reason of the Bhagavad-Gita being lyrical is because of the rhyming mater used in the epic, the meter is very mellifluous and harmonic. A rhyming meter often has 32 syllables in each verse, there are 18 chapters further divided into many verses and each verse has 32 syllables. This is what makes the Bhagavad-Gita lyrical and this is really good because when anything is lyrical people often get attracted towards it really fast and look up to the writers and the message portrayed in the book. Bhagavad-Gita is translated into many languages. “The Bhagavad-Gita is composed of 700 Sanskrit verses contained within 18 chapters, divided into three sections each consisting of six chapters. They are Karma Yoga the yoga of actions. Bhakti Yoga the yoga of devotion and Jnana Yoga the yoga of knowledge.” (Bhagavad-Gita). The holy book is also called as the song of god. There are many chants in the holy book this is another factor which makes it lyrical in nature. Conclusion Bhagavad-Gita is a masterpiece and it is also the highest expression of the Hindu philosophy, it is the ultimate guide to attaining salvation. Every word of the Bhagavad-Gita makes sense and calls for transformation, many a life has been transformed by the holy book and many will be transformed in future. References “Bhagavad-Gita. (2011)” Bhagavadgita.com. Retrieved from: http://www.bhagavadgita.com/ “Bhagavad-Gita. (2010)” Members.aol. Retrieved from: http://members.aol.com/Heraklit1/gita.htm “For everyone in all the worlds (2011).” Bhagavad-gita.org. Retrieved from: http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/ “The Bhagavad-Gita. (2011)” Eawc. Retrieved from: http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/gita.htm “The other Faiths (2011).” Windmill Ministries. Retrieved from: http://www.windmillministries.org/frames/CH30-2A.htm The Norton Anthology of World Literature, Volume A, Beginnings to 1650, Sarah Lawall, general editor, 2nd ed., 2003, Volumes A-C, ISBN 0-393-92453-X.  Read More