Life and Death

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the Hindu creed concerning life and death. It examines how according to the "Bhagavad-Gita", an ambiguity arises as to how one is supposed to live life in accordance with Krishna's teachings of life and death. It argues how Krishna brings up the fact that one should not worry about killing because of the insignificance of the current life. Thus, leading one to question why one should refrain from killing at all. It evaluates how the teachings of Krishna portray how one should live life in a disciplined manner so that one may attain knowledge. It shows how the ultimate goal that Krishna teaches is to detach oneself from the fruits of ones actions so that one may conduct oneself in a manner that may allow one to fulfill his/her dharma and therefore be closer to the ultimate goal of immortality.

From the Paper:

"Knowledge plays a very important role in reaching the ultimate goal. "You will cross over all evil on the raft of knowledge" (Gita 54) assures Krishna. If one wishes to attain a goal, one must have knowledge on what he/she must do in order to achieve it. "He who really knows my divine birth and my action, escapes rebirth when he abandons the body "and comes to me"" (Gita 50). Thus, the person who has faith in the divinity and does his duties without seeing a clear cause to do so will be the one who will be able to escape this vicious cycle of birth and rebirth. Ultimately, it is a combination of discipline and knowledge that is required of a person who wishes to attain moksha."

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