In this class (Class 12 ), we will discuss chapter 7, "The Creed of the Aryan Fighter" (pp. 57–67), of Sri Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita. This chapter discusses verses 1–38 of chapter 2 of the Gita, so please read those verses from the Gita BEFORE reading chapter 7 of Sri Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita.
Study questions:
1. On pp. 58-59, Sri Aurobindo contrasts “divine compassion” with “pity” and “self-pity.” What is the difference between compassion and pity?
2. On p. 60, Sri Aurobindo writes: “The answer of the Teacher proceeds upon two different lines, first, a brief reply founded upon the highest ideas of the general Aryan culture in which Arjuna has been educated, secondly, another and larger founded on a more intimate knowledge, opening into deeper truths of our being, which is the real starting-point of the teaching of the Gita. This first answer relies on the philosophic and moral conceptions of the Vedantic philosophy and the social idea of duty and honour which formed the ethical basis of Aryan society.” The first line of response (“a brief reply founded upon the highest ideas of the general Aryan culture in which Arjuna has been educated”) comprises verses 11-38 of chapter 2 of the Gītā, while the second line of response (“another and larger founded on a more intimate knowledge, opening into deeper truths of our being”) comprises verses 39-72 of the Gītā. With respect to the first line of response (verses 11-38), which verses of chapter 2 of the Gītā refer specifically to “the philosophic and moral conceptions of the Vedantic philosophy”? And which verses of chapter 2 of the Gītā refer to “the social idea of duty and honour which formed the ethical basis of Aryan society”?
3. Do you have any questions about the reading? Did you have difficulty understanding anything? Do you have any doubts or confusions?