Our academia is familiar with the educational theories and thoughts developed in the West. However, we have inadequate information about our own historical and cultural thoughts in relation to education, despite their importance and comprehensiveness. In the Bhagavad Gita, I noticed that some of the basic components of educational philosophy are present. Among the various aspects of educational thoughts, this paper deals with the interpretation of the meaning of education that can be found in the Bhagavad Gita. Interpretation of a comprehensive meaning of education consisted within the Bhagavad Gita can contribute to inspire academicians to look behind the curtain of history for searching valuable knowledge. It can also provide some basis for comparative study of educational philosophy in the East and the West. From methodological perspective, this paper is a product of an Arts-based hermeneutical interpretation of a historical scripture that has established interesting links to cul...

This paper was first brought to light at the AFSU Sanglap 2023 organised at Jadavpur University. ABSTRACT In the context of holistic and multidisciplinary education, responding to NEP’s call for “value-based education” which seeks to preach “universal human values of truth (satya), righteous conduct (dharma), peace (shanti), love (prem), and nonviolence (ahimsa)” among others, Gujarat Education Minister Jitu Vaghani, Karnataka Education Minister BC Nagesh, and the Uttarakhand Government declared the inclusion of Bhagavad Gita and the Vedas in the school syllabi. In Bhagavad Gita, ahead of squaring off against the Kauravas, Arjuna is discovered to be deeply troubled by the idea of the intermixture of the castes potentially resulting from the battle of Kurukshetra. In Chapter I, verse 41, thus, the Son of Kunti declares, “With the preponderance of vice, Krsna, the women of the family become corrupt; and with the corruption of women, O descendant of Vrsni, there ensues an intermixture of castes.” Instead of chiding Arjuna for his deep-rooted faith in the system of castes that divides, Krsna accuses him of “unmanliness” and argues how fortunate the Ksatriyas in the four-fold varna system are since they have the “opportunity for war”. In this sense, the paper looks forward to exposing the exclusionary views present in Bhagavad Gita which is now an instrument for holistic and multidisciplinary education in India. In addition, in Bhagavad Gita Lord Sri Krsna takes complete responsibility for the creation of the castes which he continuously promulgates as the four essential orders of the society. Although Krsna claims to reside in “all beings” and vice versa, he justifies the creation of castes which helps form mischievous and exploitative Brahmin dogma. In The Riddles in Hinduism, Ambedkar attacks the so-called infallibility of these Hindu texts and the widespread and mischievous Brahmin dogma. In fact, in the introduction of the mentioned text, he is of the view that “this dogma must be destroyed root and branch if India is to progress.” In addition, he states that such texts “are a worthless set of books”. Furthermore, Ambedkar has problematized the characterization of Krsna in the Harivamsa and the Bhagavata Purana. Although the Bhagavad Gita brands Krsna as “the Universal self”, Ambedkar, in The Riddles in Hinduism with references to His “indecencies”, barely hesitates to argue that He is a seducer and a sinner. While in Gita, Krsna declares himself the creator of the varnas, in The Riddles in Hinduism, citing the Bhagavata Purana, Vishnu Purana, Satapatha Brahmana, the Vedas, and the Smrits, Ambedkar exploits various accounts regarding the origins of the Varnas. Thus, exposing the varied and inconsistent explanations on the origin of Varnas, Ambedkar questions the “Sanatana” status of the Hindu religion. Doing so, he reasons that texts such as the Gita that promote the supremacy of the Brahmans have transformed religion into a “matter of trade and commerce”. Hence, borrowing aid from Ambedkar’s extensive analysis, the paper proposes to question the inclusion of the Bhagavad Gita which is very likely a political move that ultimately seeks to deceive and eradicate social efficiency in the 21st century. Given the current stance taken by the ruling Government of India, encouraged by the NEP if Bhagavad Gita is taught in school, the overt glorification of Arjuna and Krsna and reinforcing their prejudices are almost unavoidable. From one angle, one might as well argue that including the said text will strengthen the belief in untouchability. Thus, the paper simultaneously seeks to speculate the concerns that remain with the teaching of the Bhagavad Gita to young and underdeveloped schoolchildren who are the future of the nation.

The Srimad Bhagavad Gita is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, narrated in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata. It comprises eighteen discourses of a total of 701 Sanskrit verses. A considerable volume of material has been compress within these verses. On the battlefield of Kurushetra, Sri Krishna, during the course of His most instructive and interesting talk with Arjuna, revealed profound,. Sublime and soul-stirring spiritual truths and expounded the rare secrets of Yoga, Vedanta, Bhakti and Karma. The current study deals with value oriented education concerning Bhagavad Gita,s teaching. The Bhagavad Gita,s teaching is acting as a catalyst in the development of value oriented education. The developing countries like India have been facing problem of deficient value oriented education. To solve this problem, the Bhagavad Gita,s teaching help a lot in inculcating value education not only amongst students but also to fake a greater role in building capacity for institutional leaders, further appraisal of the leading factors of Bhagavad Gita,s teaching which influence value oriented education is necessary for a whole range of factors as. For example, physical value, mental value, moral value, discipline value, national value, cultural value, ethical value, economical value, educational value, cognitive value, religious value and so on. The paper is attempt to study about the Gita,s teaching concerning value. However, the present study suggest that the Bhagavad Gita,s teaching would be beneficial for the both students and teachers for inculcating value sloping education among them for the betterment of the society as a whole.

Our academia is familiar with the educational theories and thoughts developed in the West. However, we have no adequate information about our own historical and cultural thoughts in relation to education, despite their importance and comprehensiveness. In the Bhagavad Gita, I noticed that some of the basic components of educational philosophy are present. Among the various aspects of educational thoughts, this paper deals with the interpretation of the meaning of education that can be found in the Bhagavad Gita. Interpretation of a comprehensive meaning of education consisted within the Bhagavad Gita can contribute to inspire academicians to look behind the curtain of history for searching valuable knowledge. It can also provide some bases for comparative study of educational philosophy in the East and the West. From methodological perspective, this paper is a product of an Arts-based hermeneutical interpretation of a historical scripture that has established interesting links to cu...

The current study deals with the Value-Oriented Education Regarding Bhagavad-Gita’s Teachings. Bhagavad-Gita’s Teaching is acting as a catalyst in the development of value-oriented education. The developing countries like India have been facing problem of lacking valueoriented education. To solve this problem , Bhagavad-Gita’s Teachings help a lot in inculcating value education not only amongst students but also to take a greater role in building capacity for institutional leaders, further assessment of the dominant factors of Bhagavad-Gita’s Teachings which influence value-oriented education is necessary for a whole range of factors as for example physical value, mental value, moral value, disciplinary value, emotional value, social value, political value, practical value, cultural value, educational value, national value, international value, aesthetical value, ethical value, economical value, religious value, cognitive value, affective value, psychomotor value and so on. The pape...

In Hinduism, there is a distinction made between dharma and karma. Both are essential for the purpose of reaching moksha. Dharma (moral) is the cosmic law or moral principle that governs an individual’s conduct and Karma is the result of past, present and future actions. To achieve good karma (ethical), it is important to live according to dharma. Therefore, in terms of morality in Hinduism, there is an obligation to fulfil one’s destiny as prescribed by the cosmic principle. Karma, on the other hand, serves as the ethical principle in achieving this moral obligation. This distinction is observed in the dilemma, which is played out in the story of Krishna and Arjuna as expressed in the Bhagavad Gita. Contribution: As a result, the contribution to understanding the morality of the Bhagavad Gita rests on Sri Krishna’s strong argument that an individual must set aside their own desires and aspire solely to perform actions that are aligned with the cosmic principle. This means that an individual has the moral obligation to perform those actions irrespective of whether they agree or disagree with the prescribed action. This article engages with the moral obligation and karmic actions, which seem to be at odds with each other, yet the moral obligation takes precedent.

The idea of a univocal property of 'goodness' is not clearly found in classical Sanskrit sources; instead, a common ethical strategy was to clarify the ontological nature of the self or world in such a way that ethical implications naturally flow from the adjustment in our thinking. This article gives a synoptic reading of sources that treat features of ethics-dispositions, agents, causal systems of effect, and even values themselves-as emergent phenomena grounded in complex, shifting, porous configurations. One conclusion of this was that what 'goodness' entails varies according to the scope and context of our concern. Firstly, we examine how the Bhagavad Gītā fashions a utilitarianism that assumes no universal intrinsically valuable goal or Good, but aims only to sustain the world as a prerequisite for choice. Recognising that this pushes problems of identifying the Good onto the individual; secondly, we look at accounts of malleable personhood in the Caraka Saṃhitā and Book 12 of the Mahābhārata. Finally, the aesthetic theory of the Nāṭya Śāstra hints at a contextconstituted conception of value itself, reminding us that evaluative emotions are themselves complex, curate-able, and can expand beyond egoism to encompass interpersonal concerns. Together these sources show aspects of an ethical worldview for which each case is a nexus in a larger ethical fabric. Each tries to pry us away from our most personal concerns, so we can reach beyond the ego to do what is of value for a wider province of which we are a part.

"It seems convenient, before treating on the specific subject of the present paper, to give some information about the Mahābhārata, the great epic poem of Indian, of which the Bhagavad Gītā is a part. (…) The Bhagavad-Gītā is an episode of the Mahābhārata. It comprises more or less 700 stanzas."