RELS 131 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Bhakti Yoga, Pandava, Upanishads

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Religious Studies
• Course: RELS 131
• Professor: Aditi Sen- Chowdhury

Document Summary

There are only four vedas they are texts. The epics span over longer time but they too have their roots in the vedic period. Stories play a vital role to maintain social order. It reiterates the moral code and shows us the consequence of transgressing them. They serve as a bridge between the rituals and philosophical ideas. Straight forward story that clearly lays down ideal behavior. Duty or dharma is the most important goal of life. Morally much more fluid than the ramayana. Women characters often don"t fit patriarchal ideals. Dialogue between krishna and arjuna at the battlefield. Out of all the texts we have seen so far the gita has the greatest international appeal. Many would argue that it is the text that defines hinduism (i disagree but it"s a popular point of view) Karma is in your hands, not the outcome. To put it simply doing your karma without greed/lust is dharma.