A Small Comparison

After reading Mary Zimmerman’s interpretation of the beginning of Metamorphoses, I have to say it is definitely much better to read and understand than it was to listening to someone saying other things that I wasn’t really able to understand. It starts, by telling the story of some laundresses and the tale they have to tell and all the things they say and all the characters they introduce, I think is a very cool way to start reading a story like that, because it makes me be more interested in what will happen and makes me realize it could actually be from a good author. I think it’s going to be a good that will be fun to read and get a lot from.

Metamorphoses (The Creation) How Things Came to Be

I had seen the Metamorphoses play in school some time ago, and thought that maybe reading or this case listening to the story would help me understand it better, but since the first few words I heard from the guy telling the story, I realized I wouldn’t be able to understand it.
For some reason, I think reading is better than having to listen to someone saying it in a very boring and hard to understand. Did I ever mention that the audio is in English and Latin?! Well, it is and I think that, that makes even more confusing.

There was little I was able to understand. It mainly talked about the way things came to be, and in a way it was something like the Bible, because it also talks about water and earth being divided by the gods. It like the creation, how thing began, and led to the present time.
Everything changed and develop, until to be how we now them now a days. It mainly refers to nature, and how the elements began and how the rivers started to flow and the rocks made the mountains and hills, plains and valleys. There was also climate and how it was made to have a perfect relationship between hot and cold and be able to find a valance.
I think it would be more interesting if we read it and not listened to it, because it could be a very good story.

Bhagavad-Gita Conclusions

I actually really liked Reading Bhagavad-Gita, I think it is very interesting and a very important piece of literature. It really made me think and realize that sometimes there are much better ways of doing things and that being in peace with yourself and being able to be disciplined in what you want to do and actually work or have faith and action towards your goal, you will be able to reach it and will have a great satisfaction. I also liked the way Arjuna was able to stick to his believes and what he wanted to do. I think he was a great example of just being firm in the decisions we take. I also believe that this is actually a very inspiring book if it was actually religiously analyzed, it’s easy to read, and even though it might be kind of confusing at some points, it actually does carry a message and I think that message can been delivered to everyone who reads it.

It’s not like I will convert or anything like that, but I do think it is important to know about other cultures and their beliefs, and this does a pretty great job interpreting what the people that believe in it do. Just like reading Gilgamesh, reading Bhagavad-Gita was a good experience.

Wondrous Aspects of Faith Teachings

Krishna answers other doubts Arjuna has and one of them is about some people who think differently about sacrifice, and the other one is relinquishment. First he explains that there are three different types of faith, and that leads to three different types of people. The faith we have or the belief we believe in, makes us what we are: “The faith each man has, Arjuna, follows his degree of lucidity; a man consists of his faith, and as his faith is, so is he.” (131) according to Krishna there are people who are lucid, passionate and others that are darkly inert, and because each believe different things, they make sacrifices to different things. What Arjuna must have understood from what Krishna said, was that the ones that are lucid, sacrifice to the gods, sacrifices to the demons and spirits if they are very passionate, and to ghosts and corpses if they believe in the dark inertia. Then he talks about relinquishment, and tells Arjuna that it has also three kinds.

Last but not least, and to finish off, Krishna ends by restating about what he thinks are the most important things, such as the picture above shows. It mainly shows a cycle, and that the way I think Krishna taught Arjuna.

Devine Power, Krishna’s Totality, Devotion, Knowing Natures Qualities and The True Spirit Teachings

Krishna continues to talk more about of how powerful he is in comparison to every creature and everything that exists, and things wouldn’t exist without him. "Among horses, know me as the immortal stallion.” (94)"I stand sustaining the entire world with a fragment of my being." (96)
Then Arjuna asks Krishna to reveal himself and show him his real form. Krishna explains that he has thousands of forms, all with different colors and shapes. He also tells Arjuna that he can’t see him with his eyes, but needs eyes that will make him be able to see his discipline and majesty. At the end Krishna does show himself to Arjuna and sees how awesome and totally powerful he is, and tells him all that he sees and how he feels about what he is seeing. "I see no beginning or middle or end in you; only boundless strength in your endless arms, the moon and sun in your eyes, your mouth of consuming flames, your own brilliance scorching this universe. You alone fill the space between heaven and earth and all the directions; seeing this awesome, terrible form of yours, Great Soul, the three worlds tremble" (101) One of the most important things that Arjuna says, I think is the way he describes Krishna, and how little he might feel seen something so powerful. "Seeing the many moths and eyes of your great form, its many arms, thighs, feet, bellies and fangs, the world trembles and so do I. " (102) I think that Arjuna being able to see Krishna really help in the way he feels about him, and that way gets to know and understand much better his way of thinking and the way he sees things.
Krishna showed one of his many forms to Arjuna, and this time it was some kind of monster, because of the fangs and all the destruction it has caused. I think this created a kind of bond in their relationship, because no one had ever seen that form Krishna had and even though Arjuna was scared he was able to relax and understand how powerful the one he was dealing with really was.
Krishna also talks about devotion and how important it is to be dedicated to him, have faith and reach out to him, so that those who do become dear to him. Then he tells him more about knowledge and how beings came to be, Krishna tells him that he is the father, the one that gives the seeds so beings can be. “Arjuna, know that everything inanimate or alive with motion is born from the union of the field and the owner.” (116) He also tells Arjuna about negligence and how it sometimes comes by passions, dark inertia and when there is no action.
I think Krishna teaches Arjuna about death, and how those who don’t have knowledge suffer when it comes to them, and takes all their senses away, but he tells him that he can penetrate and sustain them with his strength, because he says: “I dwell deep in the heart of everyone; memory, knowledge, and reasoning come from me; I am the object to be known through all sacred lore; and I am its owner, the creator of its final truth.” (125)

Discipline, Knowledge, Judgments, Infinite Spirits and Mystery Teachings

Teachings continue, they never stop, and it’s probably because there is always something else to learn and there are still many things we don’t know about. Krishna continues his deep talk about discipline and the sacrifice it sometimes takes. Once again we see things start to come up again just like in Gilgamesh, and again, I think that they do this to emphasize things. This time we get to know more about how Krishna feels about himself. He teaches Arjuna about his eight aspects of nature. "My nature has eight aspects: earth, water, fire, wind, space, mind, understanding, and individuality". (73)
Here we understand Krishna a little better, we learn that he is some sort of god and that he is actually someone really powerful. In a way I think Krishna is very selfish, and just wants to make Arjuna feel inferior, but then there are times when it seems to be as if he was just telling Arjuna these things so he can know he can count on him because he is powerful enough to help him in everything he might need.
"I am the universal father...object of knowledge, purifier...I am the way, sustainer, lord... friend, source, stability... I am immortality and death; both being and nonbeing I am". (87)
"Keep me in your mind and devotion, sacrifice to me, bow to me, discipline yourself towards me, and you will reach me!" (90)
We also get to know Arjuna some more, we can see that he is a very curious, but at the same time knows how to listen to what Krishna has to say. An example is when Krishna starts to say: "men who know me as its inner being, inner divinity, and inner sacrifice, have disciplined their reason, they know me at the time of death" (77) and Arjuna, being curious, asks questions to be able to know and understand what he is talking about. Krishna just tells that inner beings are like forces, mans spirit and existence.
Something different, was that this time they started to talk about death and how rebirth can happen but only to those who have been disciplined, but in a way it still happens to everyone else because it’s a cycle.
"without faith in sacred duty, men fail to reach me… they return to the cycle of death and rebirth" (85)"...and by reason of this, Arjuna, the universe continues to turn"(86).

This video mainly shows the story or the relationship between Krishna and Arjuna.

Discipline, Knowledge and Renunciation Teachings

This time, they get to talk about deeper things such as understanding, acting, knowledge, sacrifices, having self discipline, and not being possessive or individualistic, so there isn’t so much destruction and chaos. We have to "perform necessary action; it is more powerful than inaction; without action you even fail to sustain your own body" (44) There are things we have to do and they won’t be done by themselves, we have to get up, and act so they can be done. But how are we going to do them if we don’t know how? That’s why there is knowledge. "Knowledge is obscured by the wise man´s eternal enemy, which takes form as desire, and insatiable fire." (48)
When doing things or acting we sometimes have to sacrifice some good things, but instead of sacrificing something good we will get something much better. We all sacrifice different things. "Others sacrifice... the cycle or vital breath, others... food" (55) and others, other things. Sometimes when sacrificing material things we can gain knowledge. "Wise men who see reality will give you knowledge." (56) There is nothing that equals knowledge. Knowledge is something precious, and if we don’t take care of it, we will certainly lose it.
"When ignorance is destroyed by knowledge of the self, then, like the sun, knowledge illuminates ultimate reality." (61)Having knowledge is everything, when you know what to do and how to do it, then the only thing you have left to do is to actually do it. Knowledge can lead us almost anywhere, we just have to act and be disciplined, but also keep in mind that there will be times where we will have to go through sacrifices that will make everything much better than what it used to be, we will have peace and be joyful with ourselves and others around us.