The Gita’s Ethics (A Critical Study)
by Arpita Chakraborty | 2017 | 59,351 words
This essay studies the Ethical Teachings of the Gita, as presented in the Mahabharata in the form of a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna. Ancient Indian ethics as evolved from the Vedas developed through the Upanisads, the Gita, Mahabharata, Ramayana and finally reached the Dharma-Shastras such as the Manusmriti. As the means to liberation, the e...
10. The Puranas
After The epic age one finds the age of the Puranas in Indian ethics. The Puranas are Hindu religious texts that are part of the Vedas. They contain narratives about the history of the Universe from creation to destruction and the genealogies of kings, heroes, sages and demigods. Some of the Puranas are discourses on cosmology, geography and Hindu philosophy. They are usually written in the form of dialogue. Though scholars have differed about the final number of the Puranas, generally their number is held as 18. Of these 18 Puranas each has described in details the beliefs, customs, duties and virtues of a particular religious sect. Thus Puranas describes in details the actions which should be performed for the achievement of the different aims of life. They have also described in details the life after death and prescribed actions and rituals which should be followed in order to achieve desired aims in life after death.