1. Human Dilemma
A Study of the Bhagavad-Gita, Esther, and
Poetry by Rumi

2. The Bhagavad-Gita
Focus: The focus
of this work is
Indian
Philosophy; it is
considered the
most influential
work of Hinduism.

3. THE BHAGAVAD-GITA
INCLUDES 700 VERSES IN
18 CHAPTERS.

4. The Setting is India

5. Historical Background:
A Word about India
 Based on what we
know from
archeologists, there
was a great civilization
that existed in
Mohenjo-Daro,
situated in Pakistan
today.
 This city was
populated by the dark-
skinned Dravidians.

6. What about the Dravidians?
 The Dravidians had a
polytheistic fertility
religion that centered
upon worship of the
forces of nature and use
of rituals, merging human
sexuality with the hope
for abundant crops.

7. Things changed…
The light-skinned and
warlike Aryans came
over the Caucasus
Mountains in about
2000 B.C. and
conquered the people
of the Indus Valley.

8. What about the Aryans?
 The Aryans also had a polytheistic
religion and some of the most popular
Dravidian gods, while still maintaining
their given functions, received new
Aryan names.
 The Aryans wrote down their hymns,
prayers, mythic stories and chants into
the Vedas, Brahamanas, Aranyakas,
and Upanishads, [composed between
2000 and 70 B.C., known as Vedic
literature.

9. Vedic Literature
 The term ―Hinduism‖ comes from the
Indus River which of course is in the
Indus Valley region and stems from
the merging of these two people
groups.
 Dravidian polytheistic fertility religion
and the early Aryan Vedic polytheistic
religion laid the foundations of what
later became Hinduism.

10. Vedic Literature continued
 The writings of the Vedic literature are
considered by Hindus to be
supernaturally inspired and are as
sacred to them as the Bible is to
Christians.
 While the earliest Vedas were blatantly
polytheistic and devoted to rituals and
sacrifice, the later Vedas showed a
movement toward pantheism. [According
to pantheism, God did not create the
world; God is the world along with

11. Vedic Literature continued
 Although the earlier Hindu scriptures
had mentioned many gods, the
highest goal, according to the later
Vedic literature, was union with
Brahma, the impersonal absolute.

12. Varna
 Additional Hindu scriptures were
added with the purpose to establish
Varna, a rigid caste system, or social
hierarchy.
 One hymn tells how four castes of
people came from the head, arms,
thighs, and feet of the creator god,
Brahma.

13. Varna: Social Castes of India
 The four castes were the Brahmins
(priests), the Kshatriyas[‗ksha-tree-a]
(warriors and nobles), Vaisyas [vish-ya] –
[long i] (merchants and artisans) and the
Shudras (slaves).
 Each caste was then subdivided into
hundreds of subcastes, arranged in
order of rank.
 The ―untouchables‖ were even lower and
were, until the 20th century, considered
outside the caste system and treated as
subhuman.

14. When India
became a
nation in
1947, the
government
officially
outlawed
discrimination
against the
untouchables.

15. There are two core beliefs in
Hinduism: Reincarnation and
Karma
 Reincarnation—the belief that the
atman, a person‘s uncreated and
eternal soul, must repeatedly be
recycled into the world in different
bodies.
 In some forms of Hinduism, souls may
be reincarnated as animals, plants, or
even inanimate objects.

16. Reincarnation…How does it
work for the Hindu?
Reincarnation is the
process that takes the
Hindu through the
great wheel of
Samsara, the
thousands or millions
of lives (all full of
suffering) that each
atman must endure
before reaching
moksha—liberation
from suffering and

17. Karma in the wheel of
Samsara
 Karma [which means ―action‖] had to
do with the law of cause and effect.
 For the Hindu, Karma means merit or
demerit which attaches to one‘s atman
(soul) according to how one lives
one‘s life.
 Karma from past lives affects a
person‘s present life and will
determine a person‘s station in the
next life.

18. Biblical note on Karma
 The Bible flatly contradicts Hindu
ideas of reincarnation and Karma.
 Hinduism teaches that the atman is
uncreated and eternal.
 The Bible teaches that each person is
created by God, will die once and then
be resurrected once at the judgment
(John 5:17-30; I Cor. 15:1-58;
Hebrews 9:27)

19. Biblical note cont.
 Hinduism teaches that the atman is
perfect, free and unlimited, and no
matter how many lives it
takes, eventually each and every
atman will realize its divine nature.
 The Bible teaches that each person
has one life to live, and after this
comes the judgment (Hebrews 9:27)

20. Three paths to Moksha (or
reunion with Brahma—which is
the goal)
 The path of works (dharma)
 The path of knowledge (inana)
 The path of passionate devotion
(bhatki)

21. Path of works (dharma)
 A person has a set of specific social
and religious obligations that must be
fulfilled.
 He must…
follow his caste occupation, marry within his
caste, eat or not eat certain foods and, above all,
produce and raise a son who can make a
sacrifice to his ancestors as well as perform
other sacrificial and ritual acts.

22. The path of knowledge (inana)
 Includes self-renunciation and
meditation on the supreme pantheistic
reality of Hinduism.
 This path is open to men only and only
those of the highest classes
 The idea is that through yoga the
person can come to understand that
one‘s true self, their undying soul
(atman), is identical with Brahma—
aham asmi Brahma

23. The path of passionate devotion
(bhatki)
 It is the most popular way to achieve
moksha.
 A person can choose one of the 330
million gods to devote themselves to.
 This path is described in the earliest
form of the epic poems including the
Mahabharata which is where The
Bhagavad-Gita is from.
 Almost all Hindus worship Vishnu or
Shiva

24. A little about Vishnu
 Vishnu has many names and has
appeared as avatars (saviors—the
incarnation of deity) in the form of a
giant turtle, as Gautama Buddha, and
as Rama and Krishna.

25. Contrasting Hinduism with God‘s
Word---Regarding God
Hinduism The Bible says
Rejects God that
as the God is the
sovereign creator of our
creator of the souls as well
world. as the world.

26. Contrasting Hinduism with God‘s
Word—regarding God
Hinduism The Bible says
Believes in that God is a
Brahma, a personal,
formless,
abstract loving God
eternal being who is an
without eternal,
attributes who spiritual Being
was the in three
beginning of all
persons—
things
Father, Son

27. Contrasting Hinduism with God‘s
Word—Regarding Jesus
Hinduism The Bible
Rejects Jesus teaches that
Christ as God became
God‘s incarnate only
incarnate once in human
Son. They
history. [John
believe that
Vishnu had 1:14]
become
incarnate
many times in

28. Contrasting Hinduism with God‘s
Word—Regarding Jesus
Hinduism The resurrection of
Christ demonstrates
Teaches
His uniqueness as God
reincarnation the Son and His victory
over death. It refutes
the Hindu teaching of
continuous
reincarnation and their
belief that Christ is just
another avatar or
super-savior.

29. Contrasting Hinduism with God‘s
Word—Regarding Sin
Hindus call sin The Bible teaches that
―utter illusion‖; sin is prideful rebellion
all material that leads to eternal
reality is
illusory and separation from God
deliverance after living only one
from this life…not many. Salvation
endless cycle is gained only through
suffering or the believing in the
samsara is to sacrificial death and
be reunited
with Brahma. resurrection of Jesus
Christ [Rom. 3:24;I Cor.
15:3]

30. Contrasting Hinduism with God‘s
Word—Regarding Salvation
Hinduism The Bible teaches
that Jesus did not
teaches
come to teach
―ways‖ or humanity various
―paths‖ to ―ways‖ to salvation,
salvation but to ―be the way,
the truth, and the
life [John 14:6] and
―to take away to sins
of many‖ [Hebrews
9:28]