Literary Influences of The Bhagavad Gita
While one expects the Bhagavad Gita to influence India as a country and Hinduism as a religion, this influence has spread beyond India to many other countries and cultures and has even veered outside the bounds of religion. One influence that is readily known is the influence of the "Gita" on Yoga. However, there are many other influences that the Gita has on many aspects of different cultures.
The Gita affected many influential Americans and Europeans in the past centuries. Henry Thoreau read The Gita during his time at Walden Pond. According to Ian Chadwick, a Canadian journalist, Thoreau wrote in his book Walden, “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seems puny and trivial" (qtd. in Chadwick). There are many overt references to the sacred texts of India, as in "How much more admirable the Bhagvat-Geeta than all the ruins of the East!" (Walden 63) There are also many less obvious references, such as flute playing, his own and that of John Farmer, is also mentioned and is reminiscent of the god Krishna's favorite musical pastime. Most significant of all are the many references to the river and the definite equation of Walden Pond with the sacred Ganges. To dismiss all of these references as simply part of Thoreau's affinity for India is to underestimate the extraordinary influence of the Orient on his own thinking and to misunderstand the purpose of Walden. (Macshane)
Aldous Huxley, the author of Brave New World wrote an introduction to one version of the Bhagavad Gita and is reputed to have stated, “The Bhagavad Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity” (qtd. in Das).
http://www.bombaymuseum.org/ahimsa/sec3/gita.html
According to Dr. Neria H. Hebbar, Ralph Waldo Emerson received a copy of the “Bhagavad Gita” and its influence reflects itself in his work as the “poems Celestial Love, Woodnotes and Brahma describe nature and immanent God, akin to that seen in the Upanishads” (Hebbar). Hebbar also indicates that Emerson believed in the Supreme Being, and was a believer of immortality and reincarnation. Furthermore, many believe that the Gita directly influenced Emerson’s essay “Over-Soul”. William Torrey Harris and John Smith Harrison after him insisted that Bhagavad-gita 8.3 was Emerson's prototype: “aksarara brahma paramar svabhavo 'dhyitmam ucyate, where adhyatman”, literally translated, yields very naturally Oversoul. (Leidecker)
http://www.bhagavad-gita.us/articles/687/1/The-Bhagavad-Gita-in-Pictures/Page1.html
Rudolph Steiner, an Austrian philosopher, literary scholar, educator, artist, playwright, and esoteric gave a series of lecture (now in book form) called The Bhagavad Gita And The West: The Esoteric Meaning of the Bhagavad Gita and Its Relation to the Letters of St. Paul. In these lectures, Steiner essentially connected the “Bhagavad Gita” and Lord Krishna to Jesus Christ and his teachings (Steiner).
President Obama stated the following in his book The Audacity of Hope concerning the Gita: “In [my mother’s] mind, a working knowledge of the world’s great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education. In our household the Bible, the Koran, and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology” (qtd. in Whitten).
President Obama was also given his own copy of The Bhagavad Gita As It Is (which is considered to be one of the bestselling versions of the Bhagavad Gita in the west) by Krishnalaulya Dasi, a disciple of Srila Prabhupada, right after his inauguration last January. Dasi attended school with Obama back in Hawaii and with her gift, she wrote a note to him that read:
In modern times, Bhagavad-Gita provided guidance, wisdom, and solace for Mahatma Gandhi, who regularly turned to it. Even the great American transcendentalists Thoreau and Emerson found great wisdom in the Gita and often quoted from it. My hope is that you will also find the same support in this classical Vedic text. Please let it speak for itself. (qtd. In Whitten).
The Gita's influence even reaches the American cinema. According to Steven J. Rosen’s article in Hinduism Today, Robert Redford’s film “The Legend of Bagger Vance” is based on the book The Legend of Bagger Vance by Steven Pressfield, who in turn, based his text off the story of Krishna and Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita (Rosen). Rosen states, “In his work, Pressfield introduces us to the mysterious caddie known as Bagger Vance, a variation on Bhagavan, a name for Lord Krishna, who knows the parallels between the secrets of golf and the secrets of life, and the famed but troubled war hero, Rannulph Junuh, that is "R. Junuh.” Get it? Arjuna..” (Rosen).
All in all, Albert Einstein’s quote regarding the “Bhagavad Gita” sums it up succinctly, “When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous" (qtd. in Das).
Works Cited
Chadwick, Ian. "Thoreau and Buddhism." The Mumpsimus Blog. The Blue Agave Forum, 04 Sept. 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2009. <http://www.ianchadwick.com/forum/blog/mumpsimus/index.php?showentry=233>.
Das, Subhamoy. "In Praise of the Bhagavad Gita: Great Comments by Great People." About Hinduism - What You Need to Know About Hinduism. About.com, n.d. Web. 28 Nov. 2009. <http://hinduism.about.com/od/thegita/a/famousquotes.htm>.
Hebbar, Neria H. "Influence of Upanishads in the West." Boloji.com. Boloji Media Inc. 15 Mar. 2009. Web. 28 Nov. 2009. <http://www.boloji.com/culture/021.htm>
Hijiya, James A. "The "Gita" of J. Robert Oppenheimer." Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 144.2 (Jun. 2000):123-167. JSTOR. Web. 5 Dec. 2009.
Picture of a statue of Arunja’s Chariot. N.d. The Message for Bahgwat Gita. Bombay Museum. Web. 5. Dec. 2009.
Rosen, Steven J. "Legend of Bagger Vance: How the 'Bhagavad Gita' landed on a golf course." Hinduism Today. Himalayan Academy. 1 Mar. 2001. Web. 5 Dec 2009. <http://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3988>.
The Bhagavad Gita. Ramanand Prasad Trans. Exploring Ancient World Cultures: Essays on Ancient India. The University of Evansville. 1996. Web. 5 Dec. 2009. <http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/gita.htm
>.
"The Bhagavad Gita In Pictures - #117." N.d. The Bhagavad Gita: The Divine Song of God. IndiaDivine Communications. Web. 5 Dec 2009.
Whitted, Qiana. "Obama and the Bhagavad Gita." Literary Obama. WordPress.com, 23 Feb. 2009. Web. 04 Dec. 2009. <http://literaryobama.com/2009/02/23/obama-and-the-bhagavad-gita/trackback/>.
Leidecker, Kurt F. “Emerson and East-West Synthesis” Philosophy East and West. University of Hawai'i Press. Hawai’i. Vol. 1, No. 2 (Jul., 1951), pp. 40-50
Macshane , Frank. “Walden and Yoga” The New England Quarterly. The New England Quarterly, Inc. Vol. 37, No. 3 (Sep., 1964), pp. 322-342
Navigation Links
Comments (0)
You don't have permission to comment on this page.