Location: Kansas City Public Library, Plaza Branch, Small Meeting Room
Address: 4801 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Date: October 30, 2015
Time: 7:00 PM
We will discuss the book Bhagavad Gita.
The Bhagavad Gita
is made up of 700 Sanskrit verses of Hindu scripture that is part of the Hindu
epic Mahabharata. English translations of it are available on-line and usually
consists of about 250 pages.
The setting of the Bhagavad
Gita is in a battlefield and has been interpreted as an allegory for the
ethical and moral struggles of the human life. It is set in a narrative
framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and his guide and
charioteer Krishna. Krishna counsels Arjuna to face his duty as a warrior to
fight the righteous war. Inserted in this appeal is a dialog between diverging
attitudes concerning and methods toward the attainment of liberation.
The Bhagavad Gita's call for selfless action inspired many
leaders of the Indian independence movement including Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mohandas
Karamchand Gandhi. Gandhi referred to the Bhagavad
Gita as his "spiritual dictionary".
The following report about the meeting on October 30, 2015 was provided by Marty Hatten:
ReplyDeleteBernie, Don, Tom and I (Marty) were there. We did not discuss the Oppenheimer quote (not sure if any of us knew what it was), but the flyleaf on the translation I had mentioned that he, among others, had been influenced by the writings. Bernie was the expert on the book and the large tome from which it was taken, so he gave us background. We had three different translations and read various parts from each and discussed them. We noted the comparison to other religious thoughts. My translation, a recent one, was beautifully written--very poetic. I enjoyed it.