Do some people really find the Bhagavad Gita evil?

[Subhankar Zac]

Bhagavad Gita is the primary book that made me attracted towards Hinduism and Dharmic religions. I read the book occasionally and when I m feeling down.
On a few forums and quora, some people have suggested that Bhagavad Gita or the celestial song advocates for murder and lowers compassion for other Human beings by asking Arjuna to kill his teachers, friends and cousins at Kurukshetra... Views shared by both atheists and theists.
What is your perspective?
And why according to you is its teachings evil?

 

[Aupmanyav]

A supreme book. I do take a different meaning of verses (advaitic). But what do they know?

 

[idav]

I've never heard that the Gita is evil, I got nothing. I think India has demonstrated time and time again, hinduism is a religion of peace. We all have stuff to learn though, US aint perfect either.

 

[Valjean]

It

Bhagavad Gita is the primary book that made me attracted towards Hinduism and Dharmic religions. I read the book occasionally and when I m feeling down.
On a few forums and quora, some people have suggested that Bhagavad Gita or the celestial song advocates for murder and lowers compassion for other Human beings by asking Arjuna to kill his teachers, friends and cousins at Kurukshetra... Views shared by both atheists and theists.
What is your perspective?
And why according to you is its teachings evil?

It could be interpreted that way. "Do your dharma and don't worry about consequences" could be a variation of "Just follow orders and don't worry about the morality."

Krishna's exhortation must be interpreted from a metaphysical level.

 

[Terese]

I have heard of this opinion also. Lord Krishna does not mean 'kill your friends, it's ok when I'm around' but they only see the surface of Lord Krishna's actions. they do not find value in the Bhagavad Gita, which is a shame. The Bhagavad Gita evil? They are the Lord's words being spoken by he himself! ...a person who severely lacks knowledge of Lord Krishna would believe this.

 

[Vinayaka]

Lots of stuff going on here.
1) Not all Hindus even have 'evil' as a concept, at least in the western way. I don't. Yes, there is that which leads us astray, but not absolute evil.
2) Lots of non-Hindus of the fundamentalist variety see ALL Hindu stuff as evil. We're just evil, as is anything outside of their box. So yes, those people do.
3) i don't think it helped the BG's case that Himmler carried it in his pocket, and thought of Hitler as a modern day Arjuna. So, IN THE WRONG HANDS it could be considered as a scripture condoning violence.

Bottom line is that it isn't thought of as evil by most Hindus. I certainly don't think so.

 

[LuisDantas]

I don't see the Gita as evil, certainly. But it can most certainly be abused. Less so than most other scriptures IMO, but that is still a real possibility and worth watching for.

 

[atanu]

..... or just a butthurt Saivite.

What is a butthurt Saivite?

 

[Jainarayan]

I haven't heard of it being considered evil or endorsing killing, and I don't see it that way. Rather, I've heard it and see it as a metaphor for one's one own internal struggles, and how to deal with them and do what;s right even though it may seem impossible. But killing others because your think they deserve it is not the thrust of it.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

I have heard of this opinion also. Lord Krishna does not mean 'kill your friends, it's ok when I'm around' but they only see the surface of Lord Krishna's actions. they do not find value in the Bhagavad Gita, which is a shame. The Bhagavad Gita evil? They are the Lord's words being spoken by he himself! Either a person who severely lacks knowledge of Lord Krishna would believe this, or just a butthurt Saivite.

I m a Devotee of Krishna, Shiva and Durga as I believe that they are unlimited material manifestations of a single cosmic consciousness.
The Linga yoni which is now a form of Shiva and the Nataraja avatar symbolises the creation and Destruction of this material reality.
Durga is the universal mother or energy that makes life possible, like the Higgs field that forms matter and therefore life.
Shiva, Durga and Narayana are two leaves of the same tree.
ISKCON has adopted the western concept of sectarian division, which is why I couldn't be a member of their group that speaks of Krishna in terms of pandering to Christians while berating their own cousins who are Shivaite and distant relatives like Buddhists.
I read their Gita, visit their temples occasionally to give flowers but I find their organization not suited for someone like me.
Let's not forget that It was with Shiva that Krishna had sex to give birth Lord Ayyappan. So Shiva is a very important concept in Narayana worship and Shakti is the concept that with Narayana or Shiva causes this cosmos to create, destroy and recreate.
That's just my view. Sectarian division within Hinduism will bring it to the level Abrahamic faiths.

 

[atanu]

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Krishna's exhortation must be interpreted from a metaphysical level.

I agree.

If one stops being a blind devotee and subjects Gita to a rational examination, one will have reasons to find a lot of apparently illogical and evil things. One can easily ask, why the Supreme God creates such a situation that will require a violent solution?

A blind devotee will be aghast at my post but will have no answer as to why Lord creates such a situation, other than saying 'Leela', which is another term for mAyA.

 

[Aupmanyav]

Butt-hurt, whoever, Shaiva or Vaishnava, I Ignore it.

It could be interpreted that way. "Do your dharma and don't worry about consequences" could be a variation of "Just follow orders and don't worry about the morality." Krishna's exhortation must be interpreted from a metaphysical level.

It is on a very practical level. It is "Just follow your dharma (which includes fighting a war when necessary), and care not to be attached or influenced by personal benefit, anger or hate even in a war, that is 'adharmik'."

"Sukha-duḥkhe same kṛtvā, lābhālābhau jayājayau; tato yuddhāya yujyasva, naivaḿ pāpam avāpsyasi." BG 2.38
Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without considering happiness or distress, loss or gain, victory or defeat - and by so doing you shall never incur sin.

"Karmaṇy evādhikāras te, mā phaleṣu kadācana; mā karma-phala-hetur bhūh, mā te sańgo'stv akarmaṇi." BG 2.47
You can only perform your duty, the result of your action is not in your hands; never consider yourself the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to inaction.

"Yoga-sthaḥ kuru karmāṇi, sańgaḿ tyaktvā Dhanañjaya; siddhy-asiddhyoḥ samo bhūtvā, samatvaḿ yoga ucyate." BG 2.48
Perform your duty equipoised, O Arjuna, abandoning all attachment to success or failure. Such equanimity is called yoga.

One can easily ask, why the Supreme God creates such a situation that will require a violent solution?

That may be a problem for others but not for an advaitist.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

I agree.

If one stops being a blind devotee and subjects Gita to a rational examination, one will have reasons to find a lot of apparently illogical and evil things. One can easily ask, why the Supreme God creates such a situation that will require a violent solution?

A blind devotee will be aghast at my post but will have no answer as to why Lord creates such a situation, other than saying 'Leela', which is another term for mAyA.

Very accurate.
Gaudiya Vaishnava or ISKCON takes a stand similar to the Christian right. Telling people as inherently sinful and evil, and blaming people for their suffering, saying that the blind doesn't need eyes but only God and their unwelcoming expression towards other religions except Vaishnavas and Christians. Takes the Buddha and his atheist views as the 9th incarnation but then condemns atheism the most.
It's a denomination of strict laws, fully to the Gita and Bhagavadam.

Secterian bias is an unwelcoming idea for Hinduism. The Vedas fully support polytheism and even agnostism...
I like their statues and temples (still don't think they need such big complexes when children are dying in the streets) but I'd rather not be a member of this group.
I like Nataraja, Durga, Buddha and also shamanism.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I think Buddha is off their list of avataras, it is Balarama, and of course, Chaitanya.

 

[idav]

I agree.

If one stops being a blind devotee and subjects Gita to a rational examination, one will have reasons to find a lot of apparently illogical and evil things. One can easily ask, why the Supreme God creates such a situation that will require a violent solution?

A blind devotee will be aghast at my post but will have no answer as to why Lord creates such a situation, other than saying 'Leela', which is another term for mAyA.

The test is by the actions. If there is a terrible amount of evil it would show more in their followers. I certainly never heard of anything like a "terrorist Hindu" but I'm not from a place with a lot of Hindus, by all means I would like to understand how some of these evil scripts are used to terrorize civilians and opposing religions.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

I think Buddha is off their list of avataras, it is Balarama, and of course, Chaitanya.

No, Iskcon takes Buddha as the 9th avatar, which is contradictory with Buddhas teachings.
They also take Chaitanya as an avatar of Krishna but maybe like Mohini.
The Dashavatara is a new concept that doesn't include incarnations like Mohini.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

I think Buddha is off their list of avataras, it is Balarama, and of course, Chaitanya.

No, Iskcon takes Buddha as the 9th avatar, which is contradictory with Buddhas teachings.
They also take Chaitanya as an avatar of Krishna but maybe like Mohini.
The Dashavatara is a new concept that doesn't include incarnations like Mohini.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I certainly never heard of anything like a "terrorist Hindu" but I'm not from a place with a lot of Hindus, by all means I would like to understand how some of these evil scripts are used to terrorize civilians and opposing religions.

At times, when buggered a lot, Hindus do retaliate. After all, they are human.

 

[Jainarayan]

Shiva, Durga and Narayana are two leaves of the same tree.

BOOYAH!!! My feeling exactly, though it's not necessarily a majority belief:

śivāya vishnu rūpaya śivaḥ rūpaya vishnave
śivasya hridayam viṣṇur viṣṇoscha hridayam śivaḥ
yathā śivamayo vishnu evam vishnu maya śivaḥ
yathāntharam na paschyāmi thathame swasthirayushi

The transliteration may be a bit off.

My impression of the Godhead:



OK,sorry to hijack the thread.

 

[Subhankar Zac]

The test is by the actions. If there is a terrible amount of evil it would show more in their followers. I certainly never heard of anything like a "terrorist Hindu" but I'm not from a place with a lot of Hindus, by all means I would like to understand how some of these evil scripts are used to terrorize civilians and opposing religions.

Hinduism being a collection of millions of religions doesn't speak of forceful conversions like the Quran and the bible hints at. It has no bias against people of other religions.
Caste system, human sacrifice and SATI are a few of the negative and extreme ideologies of Hinduism.
Nevertheless, very few Hindus tried to penalize Jains in the past. Buddhists were also attacked by Hindus after Ashoka died but not in the name of religion.
Religious bias in Hinduism perhaps came after the Islamic invasion by the Mughals and colonialism. It was then when Hinduism became radicalized and the partition of India added fuel to the fire.
Hindus still had secterian conflicts like in denominations of Christianity and Islam, but had a pantheon of many gods, all equal of devotion.
Islamic rule in India brutalized Hindus, Jains and Buddhists. Made Sikhism into a militant faith which was a very pacifist one before its two gurus were murdered by Islamic kings. Temples were destroyed for mosques and Hindus would pay taxes.
Then colonialism added racism that has taken a serious turn in India.
RSS, VHP, bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena, etc are well known terror gangs of Hinduism.