This text then states that avoiding these, recognition of one's stage in life or ashram, and acting in (*) accordance with one's nature or varna is the path to self-realization.
August Schlegel said of this text "It is perhaps the deepest and loftiest thing the world has to show" and translated it into Latin. Some apologists identify apparent scientific truth in this text in comparing its line "curving back within myself, I create again and again" to the Big Crunch theory of the end of the universe. In this text, a man identifies the three gates to darkness as being lust, greed, and anger. This text then states that avoiding these, recognition of one's stage in life or ashram, and acting in (*) accordance with one's nature or varna is the path to self-realization. This text's core theme is that, in the context of samsara, it is most important for one to fulfill one's dharma, so its central character should put aside concerns about slaughtering friends on the fields of Kurukshetra. For 10 points, name this 700-verse dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna from the Mahabharata.
August Schlegel said of this text "It is perhaps the deepest and loftiest thing the world has to show" and translated it into Latin.
Bhagavad Gita [prompt on Mahabharata until it is mentioned]