Theology v. Mythology
sidebar: for those of you reading unwilling to be familiar with any scripture beyond your present choice of faith/study/practice for fear that you will violate your relationship with the Majesty of our universe and burn in hell, sheol, hades, tartarus or freeze in cocytus right now would be a good time for you to stop reading. Although I am certain that this is going to benefit you I do not want you to step for and be blind sided by my mentioning of text and names of God that cause you to smell burning sulfur.
back to text...the title of this Hindu scripture roughly translates as "The Song of the Lord" and is an excerpt from the Hindu epic The Mahabharata which translates as "The Great War". The Gita is centered around the life of Arjuna a royal master archer who is headed into battle with Krishna, whom Arjuna is not yet aware is an embodiment of God, as the driver of his chariot. The great issue at hand in the text is that this battle is two sides of the same family who are warring for the throne. When Arjuna reaches the battlefield, he falls into deep sorry at the sight of brothers cousins uncles nephews on opposing sides of this battle. He thus assumes that no matter which sides wins both sides lose because they would have to slaughter their own family in order to become victorious. At the point Krishna begins to console Arjuna and impart divine truths to him on the battlefield in the process Krishna reveals who he is as well as Arjuna's divine role in the battle at hand which parallels the battle of life.
Now the article I came across was in regards to a translation of the Gita which made it onto the best seller list of the San Fransisco Chronicle. The Chronicle, at the time this occurred had only two categories for best selling books fiction and non-fiction (the article I read is not dated and a date though important is not relevant to the point I am making). The best seller list classified the Gita, a book of scripture, as fiction.
David Kipen, the editor of the paper's book review section is quoted in the article as saying the following...
"I wish I could say that we had devoted hours of thoughtful colloquy to the subject of whether to place the Bhagavad Gita under fiction or nonfiction, but it was kind of a snap decision," he said. "Still, I'd like to think that we would place the Bible or the Koran, or any other holy book under fiction, judging them to be closer to mythology than history, but at the same time wishing we had other categories than fiction and nonfiction to place them in."
I found this interesting which is why it is here in my blog. Across the literary world there are of course more boxes than fiction and non-fiction but as many especially from a religious point of view take on the idea that a thing is either right or wrong where do book of scripture classified by the believers in them as holy fit into the scheme. Keep in mind that the Roman-Greco pantheons of gods and goddesses had temples erected in their honor thus stating that these people believed in and worship them as Deity yet centuries later they are stories of legend. Was Homer's Odyssey once The Holy Odyssey HV (Homer's Version)? Will the Holy Bible one day just be King James' Bible and no longer just the King James Version? Are mythologies just theologies that died in daily applications? And if the answer is yes does it make God any less a reality?
Venkatachalapathi Samudrala, the priest who offered the first Hindu prayer in Congress said,"To me, it's not a fiction or nonfiction issue, the text is about divinity-the practical knowledge of life and doing one's duty and not expecting rewards. Who am I to say if it is fiction or nonfiction? I am just a priest and I know what the Gita is about."
Where do you stand are the holy texts works of fiction, non fiction or are the labels insignificant? Could this be the beginning of the end of religion as we currently understand it or is this an irrelevant flash in the pan that no one will remember next year this time?
Share your thoughts.
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Comments
In Ahmedabad where I grew up, religion has always been very divisive among the Hindus and Muslims. The animosity goes back for several generations. This is one of the reasons why I don't like religions. Whenever someone asks me about my religion, I say that I am not religious. I think any religion that proclaims to be the "one" creates a sense of superiority and inferiority and leads to divisions.
Having said all that I do find that I have learned quite a bit about life, suffering, illusions, attachment, oneness from Buddhist writings and the Upanishads.
If you are interested in Indian religious thought, I would encourage you to check out the Upanishads which precede the Bhagvat Gita and are lesser known. Thanks again for sharing this post.
In Ahmedabad where I grew up, religion has always been very divisive among the Hindus and Muslims. The animosity goes back for several generations. This is one of the reasons why I don't like religions. Whenever someone asks me about my religion, I say that I am not religious. I think any religion that proclaims to be the "one" creates a sense of superiority and inferiority and leads to divisions.
Having said all that I do find that I have learned quite a bit about life, suffering, illusions, attachment, oneness from Buddhist writings and the Upanishads.
If you are interested in Indian religious thought, I would encourage you to check out the Upanishads which precede the Bhagvat Gita and are lesser known. Thanks again for sharing this post.