Hinduism in Bhagavad Gita

Hindu View of Human Self

The ideals and concepts of life vary immensely for each religion. From the approximately twenty different religions that exist, each religion consists of its own perceptions and beliefs of life and the human self. The Bhagavad Gita strongly emphasizes a majority of the Hindu’s conceptions of the human self. Hindu religion believes that God remains a part of the human self and most of the actions that one performs are of God’s doing. Additionally, a human needs to work to receive happiness and eternal bliss similar to many other religions. Disobedience and poor behavior result in no endless peace in that lifetime. It appears as though humans tend to possess bad behavior and to reach a state of yogi, or peace, they need to overcome it. Overall, it seems that human beings are not worth anything unless they work to conquer their sins and rise above.

To begin with, in Hindu religion, God remains a part of every single being that he creates. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna explains the presence of God in all creatures:

“I am the Spirit seated deep down in every creature’s heart; from Me they come; they live; at My word they depart!” (Page 50)

Each human contains a part of God and God influences many of the decisions and actions that a human takes. Many of the activities of mind, actions, and emotions are a result of God’s behavior.

Additionally, in Hinduism, those who do not try to better themselves will remain in their current state and never reach eternal peace. Those who attempt to follow God’s wishes and better their behavior will eventually reach a state of never-ending bliss:

“Vowed to the Infinite. He who thus vows his soul to the Supreme Soul, quitting sin, passes unhindered to the endless bliss of unity with Brahma.” (Page 32)

Followers who abide God and rid themselves of sin will easily reach a state of bliss with Brahma. Brahma remains the highest known power and being in the Hindu religion:

“I Brahma am! The One Eternal God, The Soul of Souls! What goeth forth from Me, causing all life to live.” (Page 39).

Brahma, the one supreme God, remains the level of eternal harmony that people work to reach. Brahma emphasizes in the Bhagavad Gita the standards the one needs to be in order to reach eternal bliss:

“He who with equanimity surveys luster of goodness, strife of passion, sloth of ignorance, not angry if they are, not wishful when they are not; “These the Qualities!” He unto whom – self-centered – grief and joy sound as one word; to whose equal heart holds the same gentleness for lovely and unlovely things, firm-set, well-pleased in praise and dispraise; satisfied with honour or dishonor; – he is named Surmournter of the Qualities! And such – with single, fervent faith adoring Me, passing beyond the Qualities, conforms to Brahma, and attains Me!” (Page 75-76)

The ones who follow Brahma’s standards of staying selfless along with the characteristics mentioned above will be the ones who reach everlasting tranquility with Brahma. Those that do not follow Brahma’s standards will keep going through different lifetimes and never reach endless bliss:

“He who should fail, desiring righteousness, cometh at death unto the Region of the Just; dwells there measureless years, and being born anew, beginneth life again in some fair home amid the mild and happy.” (Page 33)

Reincarnation, the rebirth of a soul into a new body after death in the previous one, remains a strong concept in Hinduism. If one does not reach Brahma in their first lifetime, they will continue to be rebirth until they finally follow the ideals requested. Those that exhibit qualities of evil, or sin, will not attain Brahma and be rebirth in degraded places:

“Deceitfulness, and arrogance, and pride, quickness to anger, harsh and evil speech, and ignorance, to its own darkness blind, – These be the signs, My Prince! Of him whose birth is fated for the regions of the vile.” (Page 81-82)

Furthermore, in the Hindu religion, the human being is given the impression of being evil or impolite from the start and they need to improve from this stage. To reach the highest level, one needs to work to advance themselves. In the Bhagavad Gita, the three kinds of faith that exist consist of two evils ones along with one good, untainted one:

“Threefold the faith is of mankind, and springs from those three qualities, – becoming “true,” or “passion-strained,” or “dark,” as thou shalt hear!” (Page 85)

Two out of the three different faiths associate with wrong ideals, passion-strained and dark, according to the Bhagavad Gita. This depicts that human faith leans towards wickedness. One needs to work hard to reach the only one pure faith of true.

Overall, Hindus believe that to earn endless freedom and happiness one needs to free themselves of sin. Those who fail to do so will continue living in the cycle of birth and death. As they work off their karma in each lifetime, they will become closer to reaching Brahma. Once a person works off all of their karma, sins or bad deeds, their soul will join with the greater power and they will reach enlightenment. If one acts selfishly, they will keep accumulating bad karma and keep remaining the cycle of birth and death. Their soul will continue to move from one lifetime to another. Like many other religions, Hinduism focuses strongly on human beings following the orders or standards of God to reach happiness.