Book review 19/02/2022: the Bhagavadgita
Feb. 19th, 2022 01:56 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lobelia321I'm giving this four stars because it is just such a classic and ancient text and such an amazing piece of poetry. Of course, I can't appreciate the poetry completely as I am not able to read sanskrit but I am assured by numerous translators that the Bhagavadgita really is a beautiful piece of language. It is such a famous poem that I was rather in awe of starting it, and pleasantly surprised at how accessible it is.
Accessible until Song 13, that is, when it suddenly ratchets up the philosophical complexity. : - )
The fabulous things first:
Aside from its fame and ancient fount of wisdom and all that, I enjoyed:
The socratic back-and-forth between Arjuna, the despondent warrior on the battlefield and on the eve of battle, and Krishna the Sublime, human avatar of the god Vishnu and human avatar of basically the All-God. Arjuna keeps asking questions, and Krishna answers patiently and at length. Time stops around them as if all warriors and battle elephants stand frozen, mid-motion, to heed the divine wisdom being spoken.
The spiral-like structure, coming back again and again to similar elaborations, in circular motion, in spiral motion, in ebb and flow.
The generous religious tolerance of Song 7, verses 21-22:
'Und welche Gottheit einer auch im Glauben zu verehren strebt, --
Ich sehe seinen Glauben an und weis' ihm zu den rechten Platz.
Wenn er in festem Glauben strebt nach seines Gottes Huld und Gnad',
Dann wird zuteil ihm, was er wünscht, denn gern wend' ich ihm Gutes zu.'
(My pathetically bad translation of the German translation of the Sanskrit: 'and which divinity whatsoever someone aims to honour in belief, I see their belief and show him to the right place. If he strives for god's mercy in firm belief, then he will get what he wishes for because I will gladly give him good things.')
I say 'tolerance' but it is also a certain portion of arrogance: no matter what God you honour, I (Krishna) am the ultimate God so the other gods sort of don't matter because ultimately it is I, Krishna, who will gladly give you the good things.
So this is ambivalent and thinky, and I like that. I also like the taken-for-granted acceptance of different gods which is wonderfully different from Jewish, Christian and Muslim monotheism.
Some nice poetry:
'Aus dem Unsichtbaren entspringt das Sichtbare, wann kommt der Tag, --
Wann kommt die Nacht, dann löst sich's auf im Innern, das unsichtbar heißt.' (Song 8, verse 18)
[I mean, you can find excellent translations in English elsewhere but to make this review intelligible, here's my bad attempt: 'From the invisible springs the visible, when day comes, --When night comes, then it dissolves in the interior which is called invisible.']
Whoa and echoes of Jesus Christ's 'I am the alpha and the omega' which makes me think of all those scholars who find Indian roots for Christianity.
'Ich bin der Anfang, Mitte ich und Ende auch der Wesen all...' (Song 10, verse 20)
['I am the beginning, I the middle and the end of all creatures...']
And then a number of lovely metaphors:
'Ich bin die Zeit, die nie vergeht, .... Ich bin der Tod, der alles raubt, ... von den Metren die Gâyatri, ... Der Würfel unter dem, was trügt...' and many more (Song 10, verses 33-36)
['I am time that never passes, ... I am death that robs all, ... of the metres, I am Gâyatri,... Am the die beneath that which deceives...']
I love having the Gâyatri metre as one of the similes. I have no idea what this metre is but making metre, any metre, into a central simile for God is fab.
Some nice peaceful lines before we return to the core of the poem which is, unfortunately, war:
'Wer keinem Wesen feindlich ist, ... Vor dem die Welt nicht zittern muß, der auch nicht zittert vor der Welt, ...' (Song 12, verses 13, 15)
['Who is not hostile towards any creature,... Before whom the world must not quake in fear, who himself does not quake before the world...']
And this is actually what I believe about spirituality, faith and being human:
'Aus Glauben ist der Mensch gemacht -- wie er glaubet, so ist er selbst.' (Song 17, verse 3)
['The human is made from belief -- how he believes, so he is himself.']
The less-than-fabulous things:
The Bhagavadgita excuses and justifies war. It justifies the caste system. Krishna tells Arjuna that he must act without thinking of the consequences, and that his particular way of acting lies in waging war because that is in his nature -- his nature being his caste, the warrior caste.
Krishna, in the last Song, Song 18, exhorts each caste to do their bit: the priests to be pure, the warriors to be courageous and strong, the other Aryans to trade and do agriculture, and the non-Aryans to serve. And none must try to act outside their duty. And the duty is that which nature ordains, that is to say, the caste system.
This irks.
My edition:
I read the 1922 translation by Leopold von Schroeder, published by Eugen Diederichs in Jena, and re-published as a paperback in 1973 by Eugen Diederichs in Düsseldorf and Cologne (Jena by then being 'behind the Iron Curtain'). I liked this translation. I have no idea as to its accuracy or ideology. The translator appends notes and writes a foreword, all of which quote very many German and English scholars. These scholars love and adore Indian philosophy and literature but they do see it as the 'Other', as 'romantic India' (p.7), not as human literature and religion. I would like there to have been quoted some Sanskrit scholars, some Hindi scholars, some scholars not from Europe. But the 1920s were firm in their confidence: they were the ones uniquely placed to interpret India to the Indians.
The format is very pleasant. The paper is firm and creamy. At points, there is the indentation of actual physical typeface (not electronically generated font). You know, when the page goes braille-like? The cover is a very nice green, and, in this age of highly irritating 'velvet' book cover textures I absolutely loved the texture of this cover: a sort of cross-weave linen effect, very nice to the touch. I wish I knew what the technical name for this kind of cardboard finish is. I want it on all my paperbacks.
Crossposted from Goodreads.
Accessible until Song 13, that is, when it suddenly ratchets up the philosophical complexity. : - )
The fabulous things first:
Aside from its fame and ancient fount of wisdom and all that, I enjoyed:
The socratic back-and-forth between Arjuna, the despondent warrior on the battlefield and on the eve of battle, and Krishna the Sublime, human avatar of the god Vishnu and human avatar of basically the All-God. Arjuna keeps asking questions, and Krishna answers patiently and at length. Time stops around them as if all warriors and battle elephants stand frozen, mid-motion, to heed the divine wisdom being spoken.
The spiral-like structure, coming back again and again to similar elaborations, in circular motion, in spiral motion, in ebb and flow.
The generous religious tolerance of Song 7, verses 21-22:
'Und welche Gottheit einer auch im Glauben zu verehren strebt, --
Ich sehe seinen Glauben an und weis' ihm zu den rechten Platz.
Wenn er in festem Glauben strebt nach seines Gottes Huld und Gnad',
Dann wird zuteil ihm, was er wünscht, denn gern wend' ich ihm Gutes zu.'
(My pathetically bad translation of the German translation of the Sanskrit: 'and which divinity whatsoever someone aims to honour in belief, I see their belief and show him to the right place. If he strives for god's mercy in firm belief, then he will get what he wishes for because I will gladly give him good things.')
I say 'tolerance' but it is also a certain portion of arrogance: no matter what God you honour, I (Krishna) am the ultimate God so the other gods sort of don't matter because ultimately it is I, Krishna, who will gladly give you the good things.
So this is ambivalent and thinky, and I like that. I also like the taken-for-granted acceptance of different gods which is wonderfully different from Jewish, Christian and Muslim monotheism.
Some nice poetry:
'Aus dem Unsichtbaren entspringt das Sichtbare, wann kommt der Tag, --
Wann kommt die Nacht, dann löst sich's auf im Innern, das unsichtbar heißt.' (Song 8, verse 18)
[I mean, you can find excellent translations in English elsewhere but to make this review intelligible, here's my bad attempt: 'From the invisible springs the visible, when day comes, --When night comes, then it dissolves in the interior which is called invisible.']
Whoa and echoes of Jesus Christ's 'I am the alpha and the omega' which makes me think of all those scholars who find Indian roots for Christianity.
'Ich bin der Anfang, Mitte ich und Ende auch der Wesen all...' (Song 10, verse 20)
['I am the beginning, I the middle and the end of all creatures...']
And then a number of lovely metaphors:
'Ich bin die Zeit, die nie vergeht, .... Ich bin der Tod, der alles raubt, ... von den Metren die Gâyatri, ... Der Würfel unter dem, was trügt...' and many more (Song 10, verses 33-36)
['I am time that never passes, ... I am death that robs all, ... of the metres, I am Gâyatri,... Am the die beneath that which deceives...']
I love having the Gâyatri metre as one of the similes. I have no idea what this metre is but making metre, any metre, into a central simile for God is fab.
Some nice peaceful lines before we return to the core of the poem which is, unfortunately, war:
'Wer keinem Wesen feindlich ist, ... Vor dem die Welt nicht zittern muß, der auch nicht zittert vor der Welt, ...' (Song 12, verses 13, 15)
['Who is not hostile towards any creature,... Before whom the world must not quake in fear, who himself does not quake before the world...']
And this is actually what I believe about spirituality, faith and being human:
'Aus Glauben ist der Mensch gemacht -- wie er glaubet, so ist er selbst.' (Song 17, verse 3)
['The human is made from belief -- how he believes, so he is himself.']
The less-than-fabulous things:
The Bhagavadgita excuses and justifies war. It justifies the caste system. Krishna tells Arjuna that he must act without thinking of the consequences, and that his particular way of acting lies in waging war because that is in his nature -- his nature being his caste, the warrior caste.
Krishna, in the last Song, Song 18, exhorts each caste to do their bit: the priests to be pure, the warriors to be courageous and strong, the other Aryans to trade and do agriculture, and the non-Aryans to serve. And none must try to act outside their duty. And the duty is that which nature ordains, that is to say, the caste system.
This irks.
My edition:
I read the 1922 translation by Leopold von Schroeder, published by Eugen Diederichs in Jena, and re-published as a paperback in 1973 by Eugen Diederichs in Düsseldorf and Cologne (Jena by then being 'behind the Iron Curtain'). I liked this translation. I have no idea as to its accuracy or ideology. The translator appends notes and writes a foreword, all of which quote very many German and English scholars. These scholars love and adore Indian philosophy and literature but they do see it as the 'Other', as 'romantic India' (p.7), not as human literature and religion. I would like there to have been quoted some Sanskrit scholars, some Hindi scholars, some scholars not from Europe. But the 1920s were firm in their confidence: they were the ones uniquely placed to interpret India to the Indians.
The format is very pleasant. The paper is firm and creamy. At points, there is the indentation of actual physical typeface (not electronically generated font). You know, when the page goes braille-like? The cover is a very nice green, and, in this age of highly irritating 'velvet' book cover textures I absolutely loved the texture of this cover: a sort of cross-weave linen effect, very nice to the touch. I wish I knew what the technical name for this kind of cardboard finish is. I want it on all my paperbacks.
Crossposted from Goodreads.
(no subject)
Date: 2022-02-19 07:47 pm (UTC)Here are two takes that you might find of interest (or not):
(1) The entire war in the Mahabharata can be read as symbolic of Man's internal struggle, and not a physical war between outside parties.
(2) The idea of caste can be read as being true to one's nature, and should be determined by searching internally and following a path that is your natural talent or feels true to you.
I think the text mentions that the path you choose should NOT be pre-determined by family lineage or birth, which unfortunately is what the "caste system" has been twisted into in modern India. :/