As a student of UNCC and taking my course is LBST 1104 – Theatre, I feel deeply enhanced by the

material of the course that taught me my lifelong lessons about art, productions, theory behind it, how
am I connected to it, and theatre itself. During this final reflection responses which is about a work of
art/object that has most meaningful impact over me. I would like to dedicate this response for holy
Indian Sculpture called Shrimad Bhagavad Gita, which is an ancient Indian text that became an
important work of Hindu tradition in terms of both literature and philosophy. The name Bhagavad Gita
means “the song of the Lord or the ‘manifested one.’” It is composed as a poem, and it contains many
key topics related to the Indian intellectual and spiritual tradition. Although it is normally edited as an
independent text, the Bhagavad Gita became a section of a massive Indian epic named “The
Mahabharata,” the longest Indian epic. There is a part in the middle of this long text, consisting of 18
brief chapters and about 700 verses; this is the section known as the Bhagavad Gita. It is also referred to
as the Gita, for short. I would like to connect the lessons from Bhagavad Gita to my life and to theatre as
a work of art. The theme of Bhagavad Gita is that it revolves around the following questions: How can
someone live a spiritually meaningful life without withdrawing from society? What can someone who
does not want to give up family and social obligations due to live the right way? The Gita challenges the
consensus that only ascetics and monks can live a perfect spiritual life through renunciation and
emphasizes the value of an active spiritual life.

The message from Lord Krishna, the first reason Krishna mentions is that because atman (the Self) is
eternal; it is a mistake to think that one can kill someone. What happens is that people are sent to the
next stage of reincarnation. “[Krishna speaking] One believes he is the slayer; another believes he is the
slain. Both are ignorant; there is neither slayer nor slain. You were never born; you will never die. You
have never changed; you can never change. Unborn, eternal, immutable, immemorial, you do not die
when the body dies.” (Bhagavad Gita 2:19-20). Another reason why Arjuna should fight is because of
honor and duty. (The root of the word Dharma, commonly translated as “duty”, derives from the
Sanskrit root – meaning “what holds things up or sustains. Dharma, here refers to the way in which
aligning one’s decisions to dharma duty) hold together the proper order of things, and therefore
Krishna-the sustainer, is the manifestation appearing now to Arjuna.) Arjuna is a member of the warrior
class; the battle is the very reason of his existence within this order now. The third reason Krishna gives
is that inaction is impossible. Withdrawing from battle is a conscious decision; not choosing is still a
choice. This is, in a way, a criticism of some worldviews, such as asceticism, which claim that leaving
everything behind is inaction. Withdrawing from society is always a deliberate act. Another reason given
by Krishna is that the source of evil is not in actions, but in passion and desires, the intentions behind
the actions. This brings the dialogue to the last reason. The fifth and last reason is that there are ways to
act where we can do what we must do without getting bad karma. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna
explains three ways to act without getting bad karma. The first way is Jnana yoga (the way of
knowledge). This idea is based on the Upanishads and holds that life and death are not real. Selfhood is
nothing but an illusion. All we see are manifestations of the one. Once we realize that the one is behind
all things, we can escape the bad karma from acting. “[Krishna speaking] I am ever present to those who
have realized me in every creature. Seeing all life as my manifestation, they are never separated from
me.” (Bhagavad Gita 6:30) The second way is Bhakti yoga (the way of devotion). This in an idea
developed in detail in Hinduism and holds that our actions can be dedicated to Krishna by surrendering
our will to him, and he will take upon himself any bad karma. The third way is Karma yoga (“the way of
action” or “the way of works”). The idea behind Karma yoga is acting without attachment; in other
words, to act without being so concerned about the outcome of our actions. According to this view, if
we act in such a way as not to get attached to the fruits of our actions, we can be more effective.
Sometimes emotions like fear, embarrassment, or anxiety can interfere in the outcome of what we do.

This sacred text holds its position very close to heart of Hinduism followers and just by learning the
lessons from this sculpture, a person can live his life and gets Moksha, which is release from the cycle of
rebirth impelled by the law of karma. Therefore this was my final reflection response for this course and
I am really feeling proud that this Theatre course have given me opportunity to describe myself and help
to understand my belief and to express my lifelong lesson from the most important sculpture, work of
art, object, sacred text which has plays, films, poems, rituals, writings, films/movies, etc as a from of art
and that is Lord Krishna’s incarnation in form of Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.