is the Gita dishonest?

[Arun Gupta]

Dr. Gunthard Mueller has a good point. The devotee may overlook the
paradoxes/inconsistencies in the Gita.

No need to run for cover. I am open to the possibility that ultimately
I will find the Gita inconsistent.  But it is too early for me to
judge one way or the other.

Meanwhile, what Dr. Mueller writes is true of quantum mechanics as well.

We have Neils Bohr saying :

"If anyone says he can think about quantum problems without getting giddy,
 that only shows that he has not understood the first thing about them."

and Richard Feynman's "I think I can safely say that nobody understands
 Quantum Mechanics"   (that included himself).

Without the shraddha that quantum mechanics is meaningful, it would be
all too easy for a student of the subject to give up. But if one keeps at
it the paradoxes are resolved and an operational comfort-level is reached.
Whether this comes from indoctrination or familiarity or devotion --
you tell me !

But there are an enormous number of experiments which require quantum
mechanics for explanation -- true. But Gita is about subjective experience.
You can access only your own inner state and no-one else's, and physics-type
experiments are not possible, even in principle.

There are a number of people whom Hindus consider to be of high character
who assure us students that the Gita is meaningful.

My claim is that like Quantum Mechanics, Gita requires shraddha and
practice to bring understanding.  Textual analysis (of QM text, or Gita)
will not get you much, and will show inconsistencies that are ultimately,
not real.  (You are of course, free to decide that Gita or QM is not your
cup of tea.  But you would not be so free with comments about QM if you
did not understand it.)

Which brings me to my third complaint about Professor Doniger's statement --
it seems to me that she seeks to undermine students' shraddha. But who
is she to decide what is worthwhile to understand ?

-Arun Gupta