Chapter 4, The Religion of Knowledge Summary and Analysis

Krishna reveals himself to be "the Lord." Now Krishna is speaking to Arjuna from his god form. He has made the transformation in a way that comes across as if he had been wearing a thick cape for a wrap and has now parted the front and thrown it back behind his arms exposing more of his form.

Krishna encapsulates the many teachings surrounding knowledge. The poetic verse in this section is quite impressive.

There is an impressive and dramatic quality to this chapter's writings. He covers so many ideas so succinctly, including a critique of asceticism among the scholarly religious devotees. He repeats that he advocates the recognition of emotions but also their limitations. The ascetics, Krishna reports, go too far with their forms of self-denial. While sacrifice and self-denial can be...