‘I Have Regained Memory’ (smṛtir labdhā): The Bhagavad Gītā as a Parrhesiastic Journey Against Forgetfulness

Authors

Raquel FERRÁNDEZ-FORMOSO

Abstract

This paper proposes an interdisciplinary reading of the Bhagavad Gītā, presenting it as a parrhesiastic dialogue between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna, and focusing on the importance attached to memory. Foucault’s studies on the exercise of parrhesia (“true speech”) in the Greco-Roman context, but also Heidegger's views on the original memory, and Abhinavagupta’s commentary to the Bhagavad Gītā have been used as important tools of interpretation. Devotion is described as the constant memory of Kṛṣṇa, through which the practitioner succeeds in substituting some subconscious dispositions (saṃskāras) for others, building a psychic memory that allows for liberation at the time of death. On the one hand, Kṛṣṇa’s goal is to awaken transcendental memory in Arjuna, on the other, at the end of the Gītā we are invited to remember and study this sacred conversation. This leads us to establish a comparison between the use of memory promoted in the Bhagavad Gītā and in the Epicurean school, highlighting important similarities and differences between the two pedagogies.

Recommended Citation

FERRÁNDEZ-FORMOSO, Raquel (2020) "‘I Have Regained Memory’ (smṛtir labdhā): The Bhagavad Gītā as a Parrhesiastic Journey Against Forgetfulness," Comparative Philosophy: Vol. 11: Iss. 2, Article 5.
Available at: https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/comparativephilosophy/vol11/iss2/5