The Bhagavadgita is an episode in the Mahabharata when the climactic battle is about to begin. Here, Arjuna refuses to fight, and it is Kr&dotbelow;s&dotbelow;n&dotbelow;a's counsel that will finally convince him.;The issue of Arjuna's transformation has recently attracted some scholarly comment, but most scholars do not discuss the role of sraddha (zeal, religious fervour, enthusiasm) in this transformation. Rao does discuss sraddha in the Gita , but one needs to question his conclusion that sraddha is the same as bhakti1 Rao's conclusion contradicts, but does not refute, Hara's2 earlier study showing that sraddha and bhakti are different.;Given this scholarly indecision, this thesis is a theological effort to ask, What is the role of sraddha in Arjuna's final acceptance of war as the necessary solution to his moral dilemma? It is my hypothesis that sraddha differs from bhakti, and becomes the immediate cause that moves Arjuna to fight. When the Gita¯ starts, Arjuna is a devotee (bhakta) without sraddha, and, when the Gita¯ ends, Arjuna is a devotee with sraddha That is to say, one can he dejected and still he a devotee. However, one cannot he depressed and full of sraddha at the same time. This distinction between sraddha and bhakti represents the first part of my argument. The second part is the sense I want to convey by translating sraddha as 'zeal, religious fervour, soul force, or enthusiasm.' I argue that the standard translation as 'faith' hinders the effort to construct a comprehensive theology of Arjuna's transformation.;In conclusion, I intend to demonstrate that sraddha and bhakti are different, and that when sraddha is translated by a term that points to the right psychological and religious experience it explains Arjuna's decision to fight.;1See K. L. S. Rao, The Concept of Sraddha (Patiala: Roy Publishers, 1971), and idem, "Sri Aurobindo on the Types of Sraddha (Faith) in the Gila," (Journal of Asian Literature, V. 24, No. 1, E. Lansing, 1989). 2See Minoru Hata, "NOTE ON TWO SANSKRIT TERMS - bhakti and sraddha (Indo-Iranian Journal, VII, Hague: Mouton & Co. (1963-4), 124-145).
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