Research Paper on:
Spiritual and Non Spiritual Separation and Bhagavad Gita

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
The "Bhagavad Gita" is one component of the Mahabharata, the sacred text of the Hindu religion. A Sanskrit poem, this document is  interesting from a number of regards, not the least of which is the manner in which it defines the relationship between ritual and the ultimate destination of the soul.  The Hindu religion is a religion in which the complex theology is administered by an elite priesthood. An integral function of the "Bhagavad Gita" was the distinction of the  non-spiritual from the spiritual aspects of human existence. The text has other important functions as well, however. Ancient Hinduism supported a society in which people were rigidly divided  into a system of caste, role, and power. Consequently, the "Bhagavad Gita" devotes considerable attention to the concepts of disrespect and the manner in which individuals were supposed to  conduct themselves. One particularly interesting aspect of this concentration is the consideration of whether the actions of one individual can outweigh those of another in regard to respect.  In other words, can the actions of one individual diminish the disrespectfulness of another? Before we can broach the question presented above it  is first necessary to understand the teachings of the "Bhagavad Gita" in terms of the separation which exist between the spiritual and the non-spiritual worlds. The "Bhagavad Gita", often  referred to simply as "The Gita", is a conversation between Krishna and Prince Arjuna the night before the great battle of Kurukshetra. Arjuna is distraught by the obvious power  of the opponent which he is about to face. He is even more distraught by the fact that many of those opponents are his friends, teachers, and even relatives.