The holy book of the Hindu religion was the topic of criticism and praise Monday at the Ames Public Library.Different interpretations and teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, a holy book of the Hindu religion, were discussed by four panelists.”The Gita has attracted lofty praise as well as harsh criticism,” said Ramesh Rao, of the Department of Communications at Truman State. He said Ghandi considered the Gita to be an allegory but not history. He said the Gita, a small part of a larger epic of Hindu holy books, calls people to take action combating evil but does not encourage killing for selfish reasons. “The Gita is not a call for mindless slaughter,” Rao said.Another panelist, Manjit Misra, ISU professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering, said it is important to take militant action against people like Hitler for the good of the world.After each panelist spoke for about 15 minutes, the crowd of about 100 was encouraged to ask questions. Panelist Neal Delmonico, professor of philosophy at Truman State, defended his position on the Gita while answering a few of the audience’s questions.Delmonico said the Gita was written to keep Hindus from becoming Buddhists, and it was successful. “After 1,000 years, Buddhism died out in India,” he said.Delmonico also said the two religions responded to each other and changed each other over time. Audience member Gary Tartakov, professor of art and design at Iowa State, asked how modern-day Hindus should deal with the Gita’s acceptance of the caste system, which opposes democracy. “What your father did should not govern what you will be in the future,” he said. Misra said the references to the caste system in the Gita were social descriptions of the times. The Gita does not necessarily advise that the caste system is best, he said. Although there were many conflicting views and interpretations of the Gita, the differences were tolerated. “Most of the profound scriptural texts breed controversy, but controversy is good … it thickens the plot,” Misra said.Misra said one basic philosophy of the Gita was to work hard without expecting to see the results. “If you are successful, you are happy. If you are a failure, you try harder, but you are happy,” he said. He said the Gita teaches the importance of hard work out of love for God and not for selfish reasons.