Promotion of Religious Texts in Scientific Literature: Relevance and Validity

Dear Editor, Your July–August 2023 issue carried a viewpoint on Bhagavad Gita and Psychotherapy.1 Bhagavad Gita is the best known of all Hindu religious scriptures, which is a guide to a virtuous life. The interpretation of Gita often differs from person to person. The authors, here, have described the sermon of Lord Krishna to Arjuna in Kurukshetra as a form of psychotherapy. However, the justification put forward by the authors for extending this psychotherapy to various critical situations of life raises some questions. A study, mentioning the four D concept of Gita, has been quoted for tackling the 'moral paradox' of health care workers on COVID-19 duty. One contradiction of this concept, in the context of medical science, is the explanation of Doership. It says that we are not the doers of any action but just a conduit for an ultimate power, who is actually performing through us.1 By the same logic, can we doctors escape responsibility for our actions and pass it onto the ultimate power if something goes wrong while treating a patient? Second, a reference (No 10)1 of a comparative study is cited to highlight the superiority of Gita over Seligman's concept of Positive Psychology2 in improving hope, optimism, and resilience in school students. However, the researchers of this study, themselves, convey limitations of their study as follows: "During the study it was felt that the Positive Psychology teachings might be more effective if the duration of the intervention is increased. Having knowledge of the Gita may give one a false sense of control that may be temporary in nature unless reinforced"3 The validity of propagating religious texts in academics and scientific literature has been questioned by some researchers. A meta-analysis by Megha Dhillon on this topic states "…. through the course of his dialogue Lord Krishna makes references to many intangible entities, including Karma, rebirth and the Soul, that modern scientifically oriented psychologists may still be unwilling to incorporate within their therapeutic repertoire.……………… While psychologists are now recognizing the wealth of ideas within the Gita, there is no single cohesive therapeutic approach based on the Gita that has been empirically tested for effectiveness".4 To address personalization, the authors quote a line from the scripture, which reads "all actions occur due to a natural course and one does not have any control over it and considering oneself to be the cause for such actions is not justified".1 Can we justify this statement unconditionally? It is said that though the battle of Kurukshetra lasted for 18 days, the resulting casualty wiped out three generations of men.4Eye for an Eye may appear to some as a natural course of action, but is it always justified? The management focused theme of the Gita is described by the authors as "man's defined duties and their efficient accomplishment or the path they choose to help attain the ultimate goal".1 Just reflect on the path adopted by Arjuna for killing Karna, when he was unarmed, to attain his goal. It was an antithesis to battlefield ethics. There appears to be some inherent contradictions in trying to generalize teachings of Bhagavad Gita to all aspects of day-to-day life. The authors also accept the limitation of application of Gita to clinical practice. In an academic setting, we should take into account the orientation of students who come from diverse religious backgrounds. Religion is highly personal and a matter of faith. Promotion of any religious text in scientific literature runs the risk of bias and may be construed as a conflict of interest. Data availability statement Nil. Author contribution H Bal: Concept, drafting, review and proof approval. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.