Po-Chui

I enjoy reading his poems. His poems are very easy to read. It is straight forward and not too analytical. His poem shows mostly autobiography of his everyday life. As compared to other Chinese poet, Po Chu I is more concerned with his family. An example of his concern for his family is in the Golden Bell and Watching the Reapers poem. Instead of relating it to his occupation, which is being an official whose work is based on government rules and regulations, his poetry is more easygoing. He focuses more on his personal life and his carefree nature. My favorite poem by his is the Pruning Trees.

Trees growing--right in front of my window;
The trees are high and the leaves grow thick.
Sad alsa! the distant mountain view,
Obscured by this, dimly shows between.
One morning I took knife and axe;
With my own hand I lopped the branches off.
Ten thousand leaves fell about my head;
A thousand hills came before my eyes.
Suddenly, as when clouds or mists break
And straight through, the blue sky appears.
Again, like the face of a friend one has loved
Seen at last after an age of parting
First there came a gentle wind blowing;
One by one the birds flew back to the tree.
To ease my mind I gazed to the South-East;
As my eyes wandered, my thoughts went far away.
Of men there is none that has not some preference;
Of things there is none but mixes good with ill.
It was not that I did not love the tender branches;
But better still--to see the green hills!

I like this poem by him because he writes about simple things in nature. During the first part of the Pruning Tree, the only problem here is that the tree with thick leaves is covering his views of the mountain. So he decides to cut off the branches and leaves in order to have a better view of nature from house. With the branches clear off of his view, he can see many scenes from his window.

Kalidasa

I love reading this play. Kalidasa and the Ring of Recollection is about a romance between the king and the daughter of a sage. The play is interesting in many ways. The play keeps us interested in their romance. Out of the seven scenes, their exchange is very brief. Their brief interaction with each other is like a hook for me to keep on reading the play. This is similar to a person falling in love with someone, but he/she can not see each other daily. They will reminisce each other and wanting to see more and more. It keeps me wondering when will they see each other again or when will they express their love for each other. I see that someone who is harder to go after is worth it to wait. Therefore, the king is waiting for the right person to wed to because Sakuntala is harder to go after.
Another interesting part about the play is the plot. The king did not marry Sakuntala in public. Their marriage is a secret affair. There is no witness between them and so Sakuntala does not have any evidence that she is married to the king. This seems to be a major problem when the king loses his memory. The king does not recollect being married to her. Besides that the king loses his memory, he does not know that Sakuntala bears him a child. I dislike this part the most in the play. Sakuntala receives all the disadvantage on her side.

Bhagavad Gita

In the Bhagavad Gita chapters, god Krishna teaches Arjuna how to be free from the cycle of karma. Krishna persuades Arjuna that he should not hestitate to kill because Arjuna is a warrior. The duty of a warrior is to kill. I can see that Arjuna and Krishna's each has their own view. Although I can not say whose view is right or wrong, I can relate more to Arjuna than Krishna's view. I can relate more to him because he is just a normal individual just like any of us. In Arjuna's argument, he is conflicted between his family. Even though he is a warrior, he does not see any reason to fight his own family. Arjuna thinks that it is a sin to kill. If I was to put myself in his situation, I would not want to kll my own family member nor do I want to be killed by them. I can only assume the "what if" questions. What if I give up everything so they can have what they wanted? What if there are more alternatives? There are peaceful ways to resolve a conflict without killing each other.
However, Krishna has a different view on this matter. He speaks that in Arjuna's case it is not a sin to kill in battle. If a conflict is not resolved by words or diplomat, there is no other choice except fighting. Action is the result when using intelligence and knowlegde failed to resolve a conflict. Krishna says that it is action over emotion. Sometimes people have to fight their family for what they believe in. Not unless Arjuna practices ascethic then it is acceptable for him to not fight or be killed for his believe.
Krishna's view is all about duty. The duty of a warrior is to fight despite it is one's relative. Krishna stresses that it is performing one's duty in life is the greater importance.