Bhagavad Gita Analysis
Kevin Lo
Professor Godfrey
Religion 0811
10 September 2015
The Bhagavad-Gita Translation In the Bhagavad-Gita, Vishnu presents three qualities of nature that are bind within a person’s inner self, atman, which are sattva, rajas, and tamas. In the Bhagavad-Gita translated by Barabara Stoler Miller, she translated in the fourteenth teaching, verse five, that sattva, rajas, and tamas were lucidity, passion, and dark inertia respectively. The first quality of nature, sattva, is portrayed as the good and light in humans. However, according to the Merriam-Webster, lucidity means the clearness of thought or style. I believe that the usage of the word lucidity has less impact and focus on the good nature of humans but more on the clearness and one-dimensional thought of being neither good nor evil. The second …show more content…
However, in the translation by William Quan Judge, Vishnu says, “The sattva quality attaches the soul through happiness and pleasure, the rajas through action, and tamas quality surrounding the power of judgement with indifference attaches the soul through heedlessness.” In the Barabara Stoler Miller’s translation, Vishnu says, “transcending the three qualities that are body’s source, the self achieves immortality.” Both translation wants the person to essential master and transcend from the qualities to reach enlightenment, but Barabara Stoler Miller’s translation was that to reach enlightenment a person must always have sattva to go upwards as the other qualities would stay in between or go downwards. I believe that William Quan Judge is more accurate because all of the three qualities sattva, rajas, and tamas can be displayed in all people, and in order to reach enlightenment a person must master and apply all three of the qualities of
Professor Godfrey
Religion 0811
10 September 2015
The Bhagavad-Gita Translation In the Bhagavad-Gita, Vishnu presents three qualities of nature that are bind within a person’s inner self, atman, which are sattva, rajas, and tamas. In the Bhagavad-Gita translated by Barabara Stoler Miller, she translated in the fourteenth teaching, verse five, that sattva, rajas, and tamas were lucidity, passion, and dark inertia respectively. The first quality of nature, sattva, is portrayed as the good and light in humans. However, according to the Merriam-Webster, lucidity means the clearness of thought or style. I believe that the usage of the word lucidity has less impact and focus on the good nature of humans but more on the clearness and one-dimensional thought of being neither good nor evil. The second …show more content…
However, in the translation by William Quan Judge, Vishnu says, “The sattva quality attaches the soul through happiness and pleasure, the rajas through action, and tamas quality surrounding the power of judgement with indifference attaches the soul through heedlessness.” In the Barabara Stoler Miller’s translation, Vishnu says, “transcending the three qualities that are body’s source, the self achieves immortality.” Both translation wants the person to essential master and transcend from the qualities to reach enlightenment, but Barabara Stoler Miller’s translation was that to reach enlightenment a person must always have sattva to go upwards as the other qualities would stay in between or go downwards. I believe that William Quan Judge is more accurate because all of the three qualities sattva, rajas, and tamas can be displayed in all people, and in order to reach enlightenment a person must master and apply all three of the qualities of