Life and Death Vs. Dharma

Life and Death vs. Dharma

        Agamemnon had many titles that distinguished who he was as a person.  He was the husband to Clytemestra, who happened to resent him.  She had ill feelings towards him because he sacrificed his daughter, Iphigenia, in order to gain a promising wind on his journey to Troy.  For this, Clytemnestra murdered her husband, and was proud of it.  But before his death, Agamemnon was the King of Argos and Commander of the Greek armies during the 10-year war.  He was one of the most important kings, along with his brother Menelaus, as he was very competent at being a king.  Something that stood out about Agamemnon though was that he was a pious man.  He obeyed the Goddess Artemis when needed to make it to Troy.  As well, Agamemnon states, “To Argos first, and to the gods within the land, I must give due greeting; they have worked with me to bring me home; they helped me in the vengeance I have wrought on Priam’s city.” (Agamemnon, 811-814) He was devoted to the Gods and always was looking to please them.  

        The Bhagavad-Gita could be cogitated to be one of the most significant philosophical books even written.  Lord Sri Krishna and the warrior Arjuna are talking leading up to the battle against the Pandavas. It was Arjuna’s duty to fight, as he was a warrior, but he refuses.  He is not motivated to fight for his kingdom.  He believes that one should not kill his family or evil because it is the greatest sin of all.  Krishna was supposed to drive his chariot, so he goes on to talk about his social duty to do so, as well as his eternal duty in the spiritual nature to God.  This is also known as dharma, which is deeply explored throughout the Bhagavad-Gita.

        Agamemnon decided the Bhagavad-Gita was a worthy text to read about.  It caught his attention as it talked about certain duties one must fulfill, which reminded him of all the positions he held and what he had to do during battle.  The entities of life and death play a role in what these characters must do for there people, there family, and in some cases the Gods.  Agamemnon allowed me to here his thoughts on this subject:

(Agamemnon talking)

        The Bhagavad-Gita can be considered as formative a text as the Bible and other bases of religion.  One quote that catches my attention about the life of the Hindu’s states, “The wise grieve neither for the living nor for the dead. There has never been a time when you and I and the kings gathered here have not existed, nor will there be a time when we will cease to exist. As the same person inhabits the body through childhood, youth, and old age, so too at the time of death he attains another body. The wise are not deluded by these changes.” (Bhagavad Gita, 2:12-13)   It shows the way of life for many Hindu’s that I find very interesting.  I was interested in what there beliefs on life, death, and once duty to perform certain actions were.  I vowed my love to Clytemnestra, even though she killed me.  I had an obligation to my kingdom to protect them, and I did everything in my power to do so.  I helped win the war against Troy with the help of my army to make sure we prevailed for our city.  Sacrifices had to be made, as u read in Agamemnon.  It states, “He endured then to sacrifice his daughter in support of wear waged for a women, first offering for the ships’ sake.” (Agamemnon, 222-225)  While I didn't want to sacrifice my order, it was my duty.  I was in a position where I was struggling with what to do, but the numbers of my army outnumbered my daughter and we would have possibly not made it to Troy.  We were in demand.  I believe life is important, but everyone has his or her destiny and death is inevitable unless you are an immortal God.  Arjuna would agree with me considering he rather be killed than to destroy many of his people.  I was not sure what to expect before reading because the Hindu’s beliefs regarding Karma and Dharma are something I am not familiar with considering our afterlife is different.  The underworld was not considered a happy place.  We had no Karma built from wrong actions, and our Dharma was different then the Hindu’s.  They had to work off their Karma, but we continued to be resurrected in hope of a serene afterlife.  

        In the Greek world, our soul is taken to the underworld.  It lives a meaningless life where it is not punished, but rewarded if the Gods feel like the soul is warranted.  The samsaric cycle of life and death is an interesting one, with similarities to the Greek cycle of life.  There is no true death of the soul and the soul is just reincarnated into a new body.  I do not object to this as it reminds me of my beliefs, but I am fascinated by there view on the subject.  The goal is to work off their Karma, which is where I have mixed feelings about their views.  If one can work off their Karma selflessly, dissolution of the soul occurs which ends the cycle of life.  One reaches enlightenment at this point, but if they do not work act selflessly, they will continue to accumulate karmic debt.  In a sense, this is a punishment.  I am not opposed to this though.  There complex life cycle amazes me and I agree with it in a way because one must always be in service to the Gods.  Dharma is not always about heroic acts.  The Bhagavad-Gita states, “Acts of heroism are characterized less by physical prowess then by the fulfillment of dharma, which often involves extraordinary forms of sacrifice, penance, devotion to a divine authority, and spiritual victory over evil.” (Miller, 3)  Sacrifice is a concept that relates to my life and my culture as well, as well the piety to the Gods and fight against evil.

        I praise their ways of sacrifice because the goal of it is to make one worthy to the Gods.  I often have this thought of impressing the Gods in my life.  Disbelief of the Gods in Greek culture was an act of treason, and I made sure to always obey them.  I struggled to sacrifice my daughter, but that was what the Goddess asked of me if I wanted to make it to the battle at Troy.  When I came back from war, the Gods were still on my mind in the sense that I had to be of highest service to them.  When Clytemestra asked me to enter on the purple rope I was hesitant.  The gods were on my mind and I did not want to disrespect them.  As stated in Agamemnon, “Since you must have it – here, let someone with all speed take off these sandals, slaves for my feet to tread upon.  And as I crush these garments stained from the rich sea let no god’s eyes of hatred strike me from afar.  Great the extravagance, and great the shame I feel to spoil such treasure and such siver’s worth of weaving.” (Agamemnon, 944-949)  This was my duty, or in the respect to the Bhagavad-Gita, my dharma.  Sacrifice helps the Gods in there creative process to bind the Universe as one.