Manipal Academy of Higher Education

Faculty of Liberal Arts – Humanities and Social Sciences

DEPARTMENT OF EUROPEAN STUDIES

Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in India-EU Interdisciplinary Studies (CLES)

MA European Studies
Education, Globalisation and Society

MORAL LITERACY AND GITA

A Review Paper

Vishambharnath S Agarwal
Reg. No. 183308007
MA programme.
Abstract
Teaching values and character building has a major role to play in literacy
programs. Bhagavad Gita text has a pivotal role in imparting moral literacy.
Children find it easier to understand stories, which can be used as a medium to
help internalize the profound values which Gita is trying to convey through a
dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna at the Mahabharata battlefield. In the
Indian context, moral literacy through Gita and storytelling can be effective. It is
not prudent to keep Gita out of education curriculum on the pretext of
secularism

Key Words:
Moral literacy, Gita, Character building, Story- telling, Values, education.
CONTENTS
Introduction
Objectives
Literature Review
Conceptualizing Moral Literacy
Content, Process and Reflection for moral education
Moral Literacy in formation of Character
Gita used as a source book to generate stories for moral literacy
As a concept in CLIL
Reading Moral Stories to build Character: Is it so simplistic?
Comparing Gita and Kant
Interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita
The Art of Man making
Why Gita and Mahabharata are excluded from Indian Schools
Lok Sabha Bill
Findings and Observations
Conclusions
References
Introduction
Education has four pillars as per the report submitted to UNESCO in 1996 by
International Commission on Education and cited in the preamble to the draft
National Education Policy 2019, which are:
- Learning to know,
- Learning to do,
- Learning to live together
- Learning to be.
Out of this, learning ‘to live together’ and learning ‘to be’ are the core of moral
literacy. The new National Education Policy 2019 has kept moral literacy in the
background while preparing the draft.
Swami Vivekananda had said “Education is not the amount of information that
we put into your brain and runs riot there, undigested, all your life. We must
have life-building, man-making, character-making assimilation of ideas. If you
have assimilated five ideas and made them your life and character, you have
more education than any man who has got by heart a whole library. If education
is identical with information, the libraries are the greatest sages of the world
and encyclopaedia are the greatest Rishis” (Policy, 2019)
Education is the ability to read, write, speak, count and think but also to develop
the sense of right and wrong which will guide the children throughout the life.
This character building starts from early childhood and the parents,
grandparents and the primary school teachers play a major role in imparting
this. Jefferson, speaking of sound education mentioned writing, calculation,
geography and improvement of one’s morals and faculties. Unless equal
importance is given towards the value system or the character building,
education is incomplete. “If we want the children to possess the traits of
character, we most admire; we need to teach them what those traits are. They
must learn to identify the forms and content of those traits. They must achieve
at least a minimal level of moral literacy that will enable them to make sense of
what they will see in life”.
“Literacy is basically acquiring knowledge and skills and can be of several types
such as computer, vernacular, digital, visual, school, media, health, emotional,
cultural and moral” (Kapur, 2019). “Moral literacy is a skill that must be crafted
and honed by students, and with the aid of teachers who are well-versed in
moral subject matter. It is a complex and multifaceted skill set that is
interconnected and must therefore be learned completely in order to be used
properly. Teaching students about moral literacy is truly necessary, if schools
wish to produce productive and responsible citizens” (Tuana, 2007).
 What is value? Is it a price? A thing by itself has no value. A piece of iron rusting
has no value but if someone heats it and makes a knife out of it, it has value. A
thing plus the effort in it gives it value. After reading and listening to a story, one
starts thinking and internalizing and that is when it becomes a value
(Chinmayananda, 1994, pp. 14-15)
Moral Behaviour is defined by Lisa Kuhmerker as “intentional behaviour that has
social consequences and it is the judgement of these consequences that often
render such behaviour good or bad, moral or immoral. Moral behaviour has to
do with individual’s capacity to feel, reason and respond morally”.
Moral literacy is described by William Bennett “as similar to cultural literacy.
Literacy is the ability to read and write. Cultural literacy requires base of
knowledge beyond mere decoding of words. There should be a shared content
on the national level to be able to communicate with the same moral
vocabulary. A sound moral education must be linked with the intellectual
content of the culture”. Since each nation has its own culture, history and texts,
it is natural that we draw from the rich reservoir of our scriptures which have
guided our civilization for thousands of years. Bhagavad gita has a strong case
for use as a sourcebook to impart the value education by inclusion in the
curriculum.

Objectives of the Study

This study has the following objectives:
1. To understand the importance of moral literacy in education
2. Whether Gita can be a source book for ethical training and is it secular?
3. How story telling can be a medium to convey the teachings of Gita as a
tool for moral literacy.

Literature Review
Conceptualizing Moral Literacy
As per Nancy Tuana Moral Literacy can be sub-divided into three parts:
- Ethics sensitivity
- Ethics reasoning skills
- Moral imagination.
Moral literacy has a major role in education. Ethical life is to be constantly
worked upon and cultivated. To be able to make ethical choice is a skill which
must be learned. We try to develop these values in our children. “Ethical
behaviour requires complex abilities and skills, but it also emphasizes that the
development of these abilities and skills can be and should be enriched through
education. Just as math skills or reading skills can be developed and sharpened
far past the basics of comprehension, so too moral literacy is an ability that is
best developed with careful instruction and practice to develop basics, but that
also is enhanced and honed with additional training and practice. Like language
fluency and math and reading literacy, children first develop the rudiments of
these skills at home and in the communities of which they are a part”.
Ethical sensitivity consists of:
1. To be able to establish whether a situation involves ethical issues
2. To be able to see its moral intensity.
3. To be able to identify the moral values underlying the situation
Ethical reasoning skills also requires three abilities:
1. Understanding of various ethical frameworks
2. Identify and assess the validity of facts
3. Identify and assess the values that are relevant to the issue.
(Tuana, 2007)

Content, Process and Reflection for moral education

Lockwood applied a three-level approach combining content, process and
reflection to develop a workable moral education through narratives. In view of
the conflict between religious and secular, concept of story and storytelling is
considered as a unifying force which while using the traditional form of
storytelling remains within the confines of secularism. Earlier moral lessons
were mainly based on religious stories, but the stories always have a great role
in shaping children’s character and therefore a new framework is required to
redesign the stories to meet the secular as well as moral literacy objective.
Gandhi and his ashram were the experimental laboratory for such a project and
that is why the prayers were generally more inclusive. R M Hare has helped in
forming a theory that moral education has three levels:
- content of the story
- process of story analysis
- reflection on the stories.
When these stories are brought into the classroom, it helps in reflecting upon
the story. While reflecting one looks at society as well as one’s own life and this
stimulates imagination and critical thinking. This then works at the
subconscious level to formulate the moral action.
First is the content approach and it is hoped that student will learn right conduct
through stories and model provided by teacher. Moral content will be with the
person throughout life and help him in doing the right thing. Moral of the story
is focussed on to internalize the content (Lockwood, 1996).
Moral Literacy in formation of Character
There may be differences in how to impart moral literacy, but the need of moral
literacy and character building is beyond question. Children need to learn the
different traits of character. Examples which will make a lasting impression are
ideal (Bennet, 1986). Stories from history, fables and tales like Panchatantra are
helpful in imparting this education. India has a vast repository of such stories
from Mahabharata, Ramayana and Puranas and because of which although the
literacy levels are low, the moral literacy is significantly higher in even the poor
and uneducated millions. A comparative study of moral literacy in India can be
a good research area.
The Vice President while addressing the 32nd convocation of IGNOU said that
“Higher education must transform an individual into a responsible human being
with social, moral and ethical values instilled in him or her, apart from making
the person more productive” (Naidu, 2019).
The Metro Man of India, E. Sreedharan has this to say, "You see, spirituality has
no religious overtones. The essence of spirituality is to make a person pure in his
mind and his thoughts. When I started reading our old scriptures, like the
Bhagavad Gita, I found it was useful for day-to-day life, so I started practicing it.
I consider it an administrative gospel, one that will help you in doing things like
running an organization" (Timmons & Rainaa, 2011)

Gita used as a source book to generate stories for moral literacy

The Gita is part of Mahabharata and is told by Krishna to Arjuna on the
battlefield when Arjuna is totally confused about what he should do. It enjoys
popular esteem not only for its theistic inclinations but also for its practical
ethical teachings and has moulded the moral consciousness of Indians over the
ages.
The moral teachings are simple, direct and practical. Gita enumerates the virtues
of serenity, self-restraint, austerity, purity, forgiveness, uprightness, knowledge,
wisdom and faith. Even with all their theoretical differences, all the
commentators unanimously accept that the Gita, aims at spiritually elevated
moral conduct of men and that its teaching is essentially ethical. The purpose
here is to look beyond the philosophical meaning and use it as a sourcebook for
moral literacy. An attempt was made in this direction by Shivaji Bhave, the
younger brother of Vinoba Bhave, who used the Gita as a base for generating
short stories which can be used to impart moral literacy education. As suggested
by Shivaji Bhave in the preface to his Marathi book Gitai Niti Katha, teachers can
use these stories as a starting point and build new stories using their own
imagination. He has presented one or more story for every stanza of the Gita
along with its moral (Bhave, 1957).
To illustrate, the very first stanza of Gita is:

धर्मक्षेत्रे कुरुक्षेत्रे सर्वेता युयुत्सवः।

र्ार्काः पाण्डवाश्चैव ककर्कुवमत सञ्जय ।।1.1।।

Once a fox came and told a wolf that a big fight is about to resume
between the Lions and the tigers. The wolf said, let it be. What we have
to do in between the fight between big people. Let anyone live or die.
The fox said that is true nut the Lions are saying that we feel that the
wolves are on the side of the tigers. Immediately, the wolf said, Oh, Is
that so! Please tell me all the details very clearly and I will be highly
obliged to you. Because in the fight between them we will be destroyed.

This is one of the first lessons in moral literacy. When something is not
affecting us, we remain indifferent towards it. The moment we realize
that it will have repercussions in our lives than we become alert. The
word ‘mamkah’ means mine and is the foundation stone of moral
literacy. Treat others as you would like to be treated.
Similarly, there are stories and fables constructed on every stanza of Gita
and these are still just the guide/direction in which more such interesting
stories can be created by teachers to help in the moral literacy project.
Now we will move to the last stanza of Gita and a story based on it:

यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुधमरः।

तत्र श्रीकवमजयो भूकतर्ध्ुमवा नीकतर्मकतर्मर्।।18.78।।
Once a King asked his spies to find out where righteousness, good
fortune, Victory and happiness stay constantly together. They went all
round in the kingdom as well as in the surrounding kingdoms and came
back. They told the king that we have found people with wealth, some
noble persons with dharma; but it was very difficult to find all these
characteristics together at one place. Even in your palace we could only
get a whiff of these, but that was also more like an illusion. Finally, they
found an Ashram in the forest where a teacher and student were
residing, and there they could find all these together and in abundance.

This illustrates that where proper education is given, all successes follow
in a natural course. Value education is the tool for achieving lasting
success and Gita can aid in this as it has been a source of inspiration and
wisdom to famous persons like Henry David Thoreau, Albert Einstein,
Gandhi, Aurobindo, Vivekananda, Vinoba and many more.
As a concept in CLIL
The paper by Dr Anand Mahanand “aims at studying whether consciousness
raising tales from the Mahabharata can be used for English language education
following CLIL approach. It defines CLIL, describes its features and frameworks
and attempts to fit in the consciousness raising tales from the Mahabharata as
content subject. It looks at the underlining principles of CLIL and examines
whether these tales will be suitable to be used. Then it looks at the classroom
principles and examines whether they can be applied in the teaching of skills
using these tales. The paper also illustrates this by designing two model tasks
by using two tales from the Mahabharata. At the end the rationale for designing
such tasks is also explained”. In conclusion he mentions “that the principles and
approach of CLIL can be applied in the teaching of stories from Mahabharata”.
In addition to enhancing language skills it gives value education to readers
(Mahanand, 2016). This would also help in popularizing our culture and tradition
at the international level. India has a vast storehouse of this knowledge and by
using it in education we will be become the producers of knowledge rather than
being only the consumers of knowledge as was lamented by Mr. Ganesh Devi.
Reading Moral Stories to build Character: Is it so simplistic?
The traditional view that reading or listening to moral stories builds character
has been researched and the findings suggest that the relationship is not as
straight forward as one assumes. The comprehension varies based on the skill
level and background of the reader. As per William Bennett and others, reading
virtue stories is a pillar of moral education. However, as per Narvaez, this
assumes a passive reader, in which a reader digests what he reads, and every
story speaks to every person in the same way and as the author intends.
However, as research indicates “In general, as a child reads and remembers text,
he or she attempts to create a coherent understanding of the text by integrating
text information with prior knowledge” (Van den Brock, 1994). Children derive
meaning from the text based on their prior knowledge and hence the meaning
can be quite different from the intended meaning. Narvaez sums up, “traditional
character educators need to attend to the following points derived from current
research:
• Reading is active
• Readers get different information from a text based on their back ground (e.g.,
skills, knowledge, expertise)
• Readers do not necessarily get the information or message the author intends.
• Themes can be constructed by the reader but not automatically or easily.
• Moral messages are a special kind of theme the reader puts together that are
influenced by reading skills and moral development.
Considering all these points, traditional character education advocates should
drop their simplistic understanding about reading moral stories to build
character” (Narvaez, 2002).
Comparing Gita and Kant
Dr S Radhakrishnan has compared Gita with Kant on the question of free will
and the law of duty. If there was no conflict, there will be no Gita. The case of
Arjuna is what is happening in our lives. The battlefield is the battlefield of life.
Kauravas are the lower passions and temptations. Krishna is the voice of God
echoing in every man. “Each one of us stands in the battlefield of life, in his
chariot of mortal flesh drawn by the horses of his passions and sense faculties.
These faculties, according to the ethics of the Bhagavad Gita, are to be
controlled and intelligently guided by reason and are not to be allowed to carry
him to the abysmal depths of ruin. It is a defect of Kant's ethical theory that he
conceives an act of duty as positively indifferent, nay, disagreeable to the
senses. He even defines duty as ‘compulsion to a purpose unwillingly adopted.’
The Gita ethics, on the other hand, does not ask us to destroy the impulses, but
asks us only to control them, to keep them in their proper order, to see that they
are always subordinated to and regulated by reason” (Radhakrishnan, 1911).
Interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita
The book by Robinson provides the views of number of Indian and Western
thinkers such as Max Müller, M.K. Gandhi, Bede Griffiths, Swami Vivekananda,
Aldous Huxley and Swami Bhakti Vedanta and provides its relevance in
understanding of Hinduism. “Children’s storybooks are other sources of
knowledge and understanding of the Bhagavad-Gita. Attractively illustrated and
clearly expressed accounts, in much the same way as comics, they tend to add
interest and excitement by bringing the battle to the fore while expounding
complex philosophical and theological concepts in an accessible way. Certain
general trends do emerge, the distinction between soul and body, the quality of
equanimity and the role of detached action among them. However, storybooks
can exploit longer wordage than comics and so can explore ideas in more depth
while still adopting a flexible attitude towards order and structure. Alongside
the importance attached to building the character of their young readership,
what becomes apparent, notwithstanding individual differences of emphasis
and interpretation, is that there is often a juxtaposition of the Indian and the
universal” (Robinson, 2006).
The Art of Man making
Swami Chinmayananda gave a series of ten- minute talks based on Bhagavad
Gita on All India Radio in 1960s, which are compiled as a book. The purpose was
to revive the young generation of Indians who were drifting without clear goals,
vision or direction. He gave this ancient wisdom a contemporary context and
presented in a form that was practical to the modern youngsters. Although
delivered in the 1960s, these teachings are relevant even today. Politicians,
Scientists and Economists, all over the world, come to the conclusion that the
individuals are saved when the world has improved. Politicians work to improve
the social life and law and order in the community, Economists to increase the
wealth of the nations and redistribution with equity and justice and scientists to
explore natural resources to harness energy and make life more comfortable,
thus all contributing to better standard of living. The thinkers, scriptures and
philosophers show that the happiness depends on the standard of life, since
man is an intelligent animal where the needs are beyond mere physical needs.
Every nation must determine its own political institution and economic system.
Philosophers have their theories and detailed schemes for the development of
personality. Bhagwad Gita indicates theories of the Indian way of life as well
gives definite schemes for the improvement of every individual. If individuals are
strong, efficient, industrious and self-sacrificing, the nation becomes great. If
they are selfish, immoral, idle and corrupt, it is a sad nation. Gita is a manual
which gives the know how to train the youth for mental balance and sound
judgement amongst challenges and confusing situations in life (Chinmayanand,
1978).

Why Gita and Mahabharata are excluded from Indian Schools

This is a major area of controversy. Gurcharan Das argues that since the three
great religions Islam, Christianity and Jewism promise heaven if one is good, one
looks up to God to find their duty. Thus, morality and Religion get intertwined.
However, the word dharma itself connotes duties and a word equivalent to
religion does not exist in the Indian traditions. That is why Krishna tells Arjuna
after explaining all the facets of living through Gita that now you make your own
decision. Therefore, morality is a secular concept which has evolved with
Society. One can be moral without being religious. Das was invited to speak at
one of the best schools in Delhi by the Principal. He said that I have been reading
Mahabharata and would like to speak on it. She (the principal) just could not
accept the idea and said that she does not want controversy about religion. “But
surely the Mahabharata is a literary epic, I protested, and dharma is about right
and wrong. Where does religion come in? My remonstrations were to no avail.
She was scared. I wondered why a successful, professional woman had reacted
in this odd way. I asked myself if Italian children can proudly read Dante’s Divine
Comedy in school or English children can read Milton, why secularist Indians
should be ambivalent about the Mahabharata. True, the Mahabharata has
many gods, and in particular the elusive divinity, Krishna, but Dante and Milton
have plenty of God as well. Dante’s great poem, which practically created the
Italian language, is a deeply religious work” (Das G. , 2012, pp. 300-301).

Lok Sabha Bill

Ramesh Bhiduri, Member of Parliament presented a bill in the parliament for
the compulsory teaching of Bhagwad Gita as a moral education textbook in
educational institutes (Bidhuri, 2016)
Observations and Findings
Education is incomplete without moral literacy. How to impart moral literacy is
a challenge in front of every society.
Every nation must dig into its cultural, historical and scriptural reserves to
prepare the contents for the curriculum.
India being one of the oldest repositories of such knowledge can use the
resources available in line with its culture and traditions. Indian scriptures and
traditions evolved thousands of years before the other religions took root (Oak,
2017). The context of most of the Indian texts and the review the moral
dilemmas which one encounters in day to day life. Under the garb of secularism,
we are depriving the children of India’s rich heritage and moral values which we
all so easily connect with. The deserted streets during the screening of
Mahabharata episodes on Doordarshan during the 1980s establishes it.
Gita is a text which addresses the problem of moral conflicts directly and has
been a source for thousands of years in providing this education. It deals with
ethical conflicts which are seen in everyday life and provides solutions to all
humanity without any religious bias.
Story telling can be a powerful way to convey the teachings and this is an area
in which lot of work can be done. As argued by Narvaez, it may not be as
simplistic as it sounds, but then every task has its challenges. The efforts which
go in, decide the degree of success and that is how value was defined in the
beginning of this paper.
Conclusions:
Education without moral literacy is incomplete. In India, it has always received
the highest priority. However, after independence, due to misconstrued notion
of secularism, teaching of ancient Indian texts has been kept out of the school
curriculum, which has broken the chain of value transmission. Planning is
required to convey the message of Gita through translation, interpretations and
story telling by teachers and parents through different curricular and co-
curricular activities. The purpose of education has to be beyond qualifications.
Man must learn to take responsibility of his environment and fellow beings, so
that the world becomes a better place. As seen above, Gita is an ideal text which
contains so much wisdom that it can easily be a source book for moral literacy
and as demonstrated by Shivaji Bhave story telling format can be used to easily
transmit the valuable insights to children as well as adults.

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