Re Vl-IV: Chapter 10 - Krishna

[Michael Bailey]

Robin Landseadel  wrote:
>... as silly as Pynchon's name choices, puns and other
> varieties of joke-making are, they are always woven into the text for deeper
> and more complicated reasons than simply producing a punch-line. Krishna
> might seem like a silly name for a silly character in Pynchon's silliest
> book, but it is no accident that his name appears in a novel so wrapped up
> with the concept of karma. Family history becomes crucial starting with this
> novel. There is an echo of family history [and family betrayal] in Krishna's
> sermon.

I picked up a copy of _Mildred Pierce_ (the movie was ok but I
generally like the book better) and her daughter's name was Veda,
which was deliberately chosen as the name of the Hindu scripture.
That fact came to mind just as I was going to write "Krishna is
probably a self-chosen name for a gentle hippie" - but in fact Krishna
could be a Indian from India, or a non-Asian with parents who were
influenced by one of the many gurus who made the scene (lecture tour,
books, even founding ashrams) in the US...
...no matter how he got his name, somebody did a good job raising him.

So I'll just stifle the rest of my comments about Krishna and how his
arguments to Arjuna are about as deep and noble as Eddie Haskell
convincing Beaver to get into trouble, and how founding a religion on
them is as contrary a notion as Deleuze finding wisdom and depth in
Nietzsche, where I can only see incitement to bad behavior.  And yet
people whose judgement rings true on other matters agree...so I shall
earnestly seek enlightenment, but nothing either of those guys said
makes much sense to me at all...





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"Frenesi's eyes, even on the aging ECO stock, took over the frame, a
defiance of blue unfadable."