[Advaita-l] Gita and westerners comments

[Sanju Nath]

Namaste Kripa Shankar,

Very nice quotes - will try to get that book.  Appreciate the reference.

Dhanayvaad,
Sanju

On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 3:41 PM, Kripa Shankar via Advaita-l <
advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:

> ‎Namaste,
>
> Gita occurs in the Mahabharata. So it's best to go to the source, that is
> the Mahabharata to clear your doubts. Fate is supremely powerful, so much
> so that cowards sometime become victorious and the brave ones become
> cheerless. Similarly fools, liars and robbers interpret the scriptures!
>
> Ahimsa in the Vedas is not like the Buddhist one, where the monk
> vehemently opposes the Vedic sacrifices on the pretext of himsa, during the
> day and happily e‎ats meat during the night. The Buddhist justifies it by
> declaring that he had closed his eyes when the meat was being grilled.
>
> A person who acts in such a way that causes harm should be restrained in
> the same manner and that is not himsa. If an innocent person who causes no
> harm is injured, that is violence. If a person cannot safeguard his
> property / family, then that is impotence not Ahimsa. If we are indeed that
> stupid to believe in some random 'scholar's' opinions, we will have to
> oppose the idea of armed forces depending upon which a society thrives.
>
> I suggest you read the Mahabharata translated to English by Kisari Mohan
> Ganguly. That is the only authentic version available. It's a humongous
> book. It is not dry philosophical mumbo jumbo. It is narrated from the
> vantage of sense-controlled sages.
>
> Quoting from the Mahabharata -
>
> Vasudeva said, 'Diverse words, worthy of being accepted and fraught with
> reasons, were said both by myself and the Rishis, but Duryodhana accepted
> them not. As regards Suyodhana and his followers, their hour is come. With
> thy leave now, I shall speedily repair unto the Pandavas. What should I say
> unto the Pandavas as thy instructions to them? Tell me that, O thou endued
> with great wisdom. I desire to hear thy words.'‎
>
> "Kunti said, 'O Keshava, say unto king Yudhishthira of virtuous soul these
> words, 'Thy virtue, O son, is decreasing greatly. Do not act vainly. O
> king, like a reader of the Vedas incapable of catching their real meaning,
> and, therefore, truly unlearned. Thy understanding, affected by only the
> words of the Vedas, vieweth virtue alone. Cast thy eyes on the duties of
> thy own order, as ordained by the Self-create. For all ruthless deeds and
> for the protection of the people, from his (Brahmana's) arms was created
> the Kshatriya, who is to depend upon the prowess of his own arms.
> .......'. ‎
>
> Regards
> Kripa
>
> ---‎
> ‎Vyasaya Vishnu roopaya Vyasa roopaya Vishnave
> Namo vai Brahma nidhaye Vasishtaya namo namaha
>
>   Original Message
> From: Dinesh Patel MD via Advaita-l
> Sent: Tuesday 29 November 2016 10:11 PM
> To: Praveen R. Bhat
> Reply To: Dinesh Patel MD
> Cc: A discussion group for Advaita Vedanta
> Subject: Re: [Advaita-l] Gita and westerners comments
>
> Thank you Praveenji and others
> The translation from Sanskrit and the translator are not giving true
> justice to what Lord Krishna explains to grief stricken Arjun
> Can I request you and others in terms of recommendations of books on
> Gita
> Different authors
> English
> Or series of discussions on each chapter
> Thank you again
> Dinesh
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Nov 29, 2016, at 6:25 PM, Praveen R. Bhat <bhatpraveen at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > Namaste Dineshji,
> >
> > Since the Professor taught Sanskrit at many Universities, including BHU,
> maybe he was linguistic scholar, but sorry to say, thats all he was. I know
> English very well, but I hardly have any say over all books written in
> English. Being a linguistic scholar, his opinion in scriptural works, where
> he has no expertise, is irrelevant. This is precisely why it is said that
> even if a scholar, one should not study the scriptures on his own. It will
> appear contradictory and one could lose whatever little shraddhA one has.
> >
> > People may say that Bhagavan made Arjuna fight a war which Arjuna
> himself was unwilling to fight, especially where in the former says:
> "fight" in 2.18. This seems like an order to them, because they read some
> translation or Sanskrit grammar which may say its a vidhi. However, it is
> not, as Bhashyakara explains. Bhagavan is just removing the obstacle in the
> form wrong thinking to Arjuna's dharma as a kShatriya. Gita is a
> mokShashAstra and any shloka has to be understood in the context. Giving up
> one's dharma is not conducive to spiritual growth. The sampradAya, teaching
> tradition, exists for this very reason as to teach the person willing and
> fit to learn.
> >
> > Moreover, what kind of dharma would there have been if Kauravas had
> ruled, instead of Pandus?! The war was also the greater good *in the long
> run*. That is why Mahabharata is called a dhArmika war and was dharmakArya
> for Arjuna. That said, the the Prof has it all wrong as is clear from his
> statement "The Gita is hampered by the fact that it is supposed to justify
> Arjuna's preparation in war... and the author seems to have it in the back
> of his head a large part of the time", which makes one wonder if the Prof
> read Bhagavan's final address to Arjuna in 18.63 so: "yathA ichChasi tathA
> kuru", since being a Sanskrit scholar, he couldn't have not understood it!
> :)
> >
> > shrIkRShNArpaNamastu,
> > --Praveen R. Bhat
> > /* Through what should one know That owing to which all this is known!
> [Br.Up. 4.5.15] */
> >
> >> On Mon, Nov 28, 2016 at 9:25 AM, Dinesh Patel MD via Advaita-l <
> advaita-l at lists.advaita-vedanta.org> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Franklin Edgerton - (July 24, 1885 – December 7, 1963) was an American
> linguistic scholar. He was Salisbury Professor of Sanskrit and Comparative
> Philology at Yale University (1926) and at Benares Hindu University
> (1953–4). Between 1913 and 1926, he was the Professor of Sanskrit at the
> University of Pennsylvania. published as volume 38-39 of the Harvard
> Oriental Series in 1944.
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