Arjuna

Arjuna Renowned hero in Indian culture and Krishna‘s charioteer in the Bhagavad Gita.

Arjuna arguably has the status of a demigod among of much the Hindu-Indian populace.

In the Gita he is prodded by Krishna to fight kith and kin.

Despite his initial reluctance, he overcomes the chronic procrastination which Shakespeare‘s Hamlet cannot–that is, a crippling fear, self-doubt and over-thinking that leads to inaction.

Krishna instructs Arjuna that the body dies but the soul is immortal. Arjuna’s kshatriya caste demands as sacred duty (dharma) that he fight.

According to a literal interpretation of the Gita, it is far better to do one’s dharma – even if this entails killing – than to ignore it.

Today the Gita is cherished for its psychological and spiritual value. Arjuna’s “killing” is usually understood as the death of negative attitudes which otherwise would bind the eternal soul (atman) to worldly pleasures and desires.

On the political level, however, the Gita may be interpreted as roughly paralleling the Christian notion of the just war and the Moslem idea of Jihad.

Image Source:

• Cropped from original by Raji.srinivas, GNU Free Documentation License

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