Well, Kari has now officially declared her paper topic: an examination of the anxiety of influence and the the epiphanies of time/history through and in War and Peace. Which the unabridged Mahabarahata is even thicker and heavier than.

I liked the quote from Aldous Huxley that was brought up in class today: "All roads lead to Rome, provided it is Rome you are going to." And what determines where we are going to, Rome or otherwise? Our sacred duty, and bhakti, the way of devotion, be it to Krishna, Jesus, Allah or to some other avatar which our devotion turns to center upon. It was mentioned in class that the Bhagavad Gita, read at a superficial level(which means it will sadly be read that way often)seems to justify or uphold the orthodox Hindu caste system. In reality, this is a narrow limited way of looking at the text, which when read at a deeper level calls you beyond class boundaries; and boundaries of all types.

And we have more conversations about Hamlet, in which the avenging of his father is perhaps a metaphor for sacred duty. And the Ghost intones "Adieu, adieu, adieu, remember me." in Act 1, scene five line 91. And this is the still point of the drama, the moment the most vital of commands is given.