| Discourses On Gita By Acharya Vinoba Bhave |
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| Discourses On Gita |
| A SUPPLEMENT - THE CONFLICT BETWEEN DIVINE AND DEMONIC TENDENCIES |
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The armies of violence and non-violence 4. Just as in the First Chapter the Kaurava army stood fact to face with the Pandava army, so here, the divine army of good qualities is brought fact to face with the demonic army of bad qualities. From very early times is the tradition of representing through symbols the struggle that rages between good and bad in the heart of man.In the Vedas, Indra against Vritra; in the Puranas, devas against danavas; in the epic, Rama against Ravana; in the scriptures of Parsis, Ahuramazda against Ahriman; among the Jews, Jehovah against Satan; in Islam, Allah against Iblis - such conflicts are found in all religious traditions. While in poetry concrete things are described metaphorically through subtle objects, in religious works subtle inward movements are described by giving them clear concrete forms. In one, the gross is described through the subtle, and in the other, the subtle in terms of the gross. This is not to say that the battle described at the beginning of the Gita is merely imaginary; it may have been a historical event. But the poet here uses it to achieve his chosen purpose. Through the image of a battle he explains what a man should do when his mind is deluded by conflict of duties. The Sixteenth Chapter describes the conflict between good and evil. The Gita uses the allegory of war. |
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