Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita (Sanskrit: भगव गीता, bhagavad-gītā in IAST, Sanskrit

Bhagavad Gita
pronunciation: [ˈbʱaɡəʋəd̪ ɡiːˈt̪aː]; lit. "Song of the Lord"[1] ), often referred to as
simply the Gita, is a 700[2][3] verse Hindu scripture in Sanskrit that is part of the
Hindu epic Mahabharata (chapters 23–40 of the 6th book of Mahabharata).

The Gita is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince

Arjuna and his guide and charioteer Lord Krishna. Facing the duty as a warrior to
fight the Dharma Yudhha or righteous war between Pandavas and Kauravas, Arjuna
is counselled by Lord Krishna to "fulfill his Kshatriya (warrior) duty as a warrior
and establish Dharma."[4] Inserted[4] in this appeal to kshatriya dharma (chivalry)[5]
is "a dialogue ... between diverging attitudes concerning methods toward the
attainment of liberation (moksha)".[6]

The Bhagavad Gita presents a synthesis[7][8] of the concept of Dharma,[7][8][9] Krishna and Arjuna at Kurukshetra,
theistic bhakti,[10][9] the yogic ideals[8] of moksha[8] through jnana, bhakti, karma, c. 1820 painting
and Raja Yoga (spoken of in the 6th chapter)[10] and Samkhya Information
philosophy.[web 1] [note 1] It is a Bhagavata explanation of the Purusha Sukta and the
Religion Hinduism
Purushamedha Srauta yajna described in the Satapatha Brahmana.[11]
Author Vyasa
Numerous commentaries have been written on the Bhagavad Gita with widely Language Sanskrit
differing views on the essentials. Vedanta commentators read varying relations
Verses 700
between Self and Brahman in the text: Advaita Vedanta sees the non-dualism of
Atman (soul) and Brahman as its essence,[12] whereas Bhedabheda and
Vishishtadvaita see Atman and Brahman as both different and non-different, and Dvaita sees them as different. The setting of theGita
in a battlefield has been interpreted as an allegory for the ethical and moral struggles of the human life.

The Bhagavad Gita's call for selfless action inspired many leaders of the Indian independence movement including Bal Gangadhar
Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi referred to theGita as his "spiritual dictionary".[13]

Contents
Composition and significance
Authorship
Date of composition
Bhagavad Gita in ancient sanskrit literature
Hindu synthesis and smriti
Status
As an explanation of the Purushamedha
Content
Narrative
Characters
Overview of chapters
Themes
Dharma
Dharma and heroism
Modern interpretations ofdharma
 Svadharma and svabhava
The Field of Dharma
Allegory of war
Promotion of just war and duty
Moksha: Liberation
Yoga
Karma yoga
Bhakti yoga
Jnana yoga

Commentaries and translations

Classical commentaries
Śaṅkara
Rāmānuja
Madhva
Abhinavagupta
Others
Independence movement
Hindu revivalism
Other modern commentaries
Scholarly translations
The Gita in other languages
Philological research
Contemporary popularity
Appraisal
Adaptations
See also
Notes
References
Sources
Printed sources
Online sources
Further reading
External links

Composition and significance

Authorship
The epic Mahabharata is traditionally ascribed to the Sage Vyasa; the Bhagavad
Gita, being a part of the Mahabharata's Bhishma Parva, is also ascribed to him.[14]

Date of composition
Theories on the date of composition of the Gita vary considerably. Scholars accept
dates from the fifth century to the second century BCE as the probable range. Bronze chariot, depicting discourse
Professor Jeaneane Fowler, in her commentary on theGita, considers second century of Krishna and Arjuna inKurukshetra
BCE to be the likely date of composition.[15] Kashi Nath Upadhyaya, a Gita scholar,
on the basis of the estimated dates of Mahabharata, Brahma sutras, and other
independent sources, concludes that theBhagavad Gita was composed in the fifth or fourth century BCE.[16]
It is generally agreed that, "Unlike the Vedas, which have to be preserved letter-
perfect, the Gita was a popular work whose reciters would inevitably conform to
changes in language and style", so the earliest "surviving" components of this
dynamic text are believed to be no older than the earliest "external" references we
have to the Mahabharata epic, which may include an allusion in Panini's fourth
century BCE grammar. It is estimated that the text probably reached something of a
"final form" by the early Gupta period (about the 4th century CE). The actual dates
of composition of the Gita remain unresolved.[14]
Krishna recounts Gita to Arjuna

Bhagavad Gita in ancient sanskrit literature

There is no reference to the Bhagavad Gita in Buddhist literature, theTripitaka. The Buddha refers to 3 Vedas rather than 4 Vedas.

Hindu synthesis and smriti

Due to its presence in the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita is classified as a Smriti text or "that which is remembered".[note 2] The
smriti texts of the period between 200 BCE and 100 CE belong to the emerging "Hindu Synthesis", proclaiming the authority of the
Vedas while integrating various Indian traditions and religions. Acceptance of the Vedas became a central criterion for defining
Hinduism over and against the heterodoxies, which rejected the eVdas.[17]

The so-called "Hindu Synthesis" emerged during the early Classical period (200 BCE – 300 CE) of Hinduism.[17][8][18] According to
Alf Hiltebeitel, a period of consolidation in the development of Hinduism took place between the time of the late Vedic Upanishad
(ca. 500 BCE) and the period of the rise of the Guptas (ca. 320–467 CE) which he calls the "Hindu Synthesis", "Brahmanic
Synthesis", or "Orthodox Synthesis".[17] It developed in interaction with other religions and peoples:

The emerging self-definitions of Hinduism were forged in the context of continuous interaction with heterodox
religions (Buddhists, Jains, Ajivikas) throughout this whole period, and with foreign people (Yavanas, or Greeks;
Sakas, or Scythians; Pahlavas, or Parthians; and Kusanas, or Kushans) from the third phase on [between the Mauryan
empire and the rise of the Guptas].[17]

The Bhagavad Gita is the sealing achievement of this Hindu Synthesis, incorporating various religious traditions.[17][10][8][web 1][9]

According to Hiltebeitel, Bhakti forms an essential ingredient of this synthesis, which incorporates Bhakti into Vedanta.[17]
According to Deutsch and Dalvi, the Bhagavad Gita attempts "to forge a harmony"[19] between different strands of Indian thought:
jnana, dharma and bhakti.[10] Deutsch and Dalvi note that the authors of the Bhagavad Gita "must have seen the appeal of the
soteriologies both of the "heterodox" traditions of Buddhism and Jainism and of the more "orthodox" ones of Samkhya and Yoga",[7]
while the Brahmanic tradition emphasised "the significance of dharma as the instrument of goodness".[7] Scheepers mentions the
Bhagavat Gita as a Brahmanical text which uses the shramanic and Yogic terminology to spread the Brahmanic idea of living
[8] According to Basham,
according to one's duty ordharma, in contrast to the yogic ideal of liberation from the workings of karma.

The Bhagavadgita combines many different elements from Samkhya and Vedanta philosophy. In matters of religion,
its important contribution was the new emphasis placed on devotion, which has since remained a central path in
Hinduism. In addition, the popular theism expressed elsewhere in the Mahabharata and the transcendentalism of the
Upanishads converge, and a God of personal characteristics is identified with the brahman of the Vedic tradition. The
Bhagavadgita thus gives a typology of the three dominant trends of Indian religion: dharma-based householder life,
[web 1]
enlightenment-based renunciation, and devotion-based theism.

Bhagavad Gita as a synthesis:

 The Bhagavadgita may be treated as a great synthesis of the ideas of the impersonal spiritual monism with
personalistic monotheism, of the yoga of action with the yoga of transcendence of action, and these again with yogas
of devotion and knowledge.[9]

The influence of the Bhagavad Gita was such, that its synthesis was adapted to and incorporated into specific Indian traditions.
Nicholson mentions the Shiva Gita as an adaptation of the Vishnu-oriented Bhagavat Gita into Shiva-oriented terminology,[20] and
the Isvara Gita as borrowing entire verses from the Krishna-oriented Bhagavad Gita and placing them into a new Shiva-oriented
context.[21]

Status
The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Prasthanatrayi, which also includes the Upanishads and Brahma sutras. These are the key texts for
the Vedanta,[22][23][24] which interprets these texts to give a unified meaning. Advaita Vedanta sees the non-dualism of Atman and
Brahman as its essence,[12] whereas Bhedabheda and Vishishtadvaita see Atman and Brahman as both different and non-different,
and Dvaita sees them as different. In recent times the Advaita interpretation has gained worldwide popularity, due to the Neo-Vedanta
of Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan, while the Achintya Bheda Abheda interpretation has gained worldwide popularity via the Hare
Krishnas, a branch of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.[25]

Although early Vedanta gives an interpretation ofthe sruti texts of the Upanishads, and its main commentary the Brahman Sutras, the
popularity of the Bhagavad Gita was such that it could not be neglected.[6] It is referred to in the Brahman Sutras, and Shankara,
Bhaskara and Ramanuja all three wrote commentaries on it.[6] The Bhagavad Gita is different from the Upanishads in format and
[6]
content, and accessible to all, in contrast to thesruti, which are only to be read and heard by the higher castes.

Some branches of Hinduism give it the status of an Upanishad, and consider it to be a Śruti or "revealed text".[26][27] According to
Pandit, who gives a modern-orthodox interpretation of Hinduism, "since the
Bhagavad Gita represents a summary of the Upanishadic
[28]
teachings, it is sometimes called 'the Upanishad of the Upanishads'."

As an explanation of the Purushamedha

The Bhagavad Gita is a Bhagavata explanation of the Purusha Sukta and the Purushamedha Srauta yajna described in the Satapatha
Brahmana.[11] Chapters 7 and 8 of the Bhagavad Gita describe the relationship between teacher and disciple, where the teacher is
viewed as the absolute person, Purusa Narayana.[11] In Chapters 10 and 11 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna begins to instruct Arjuna
about the directions of space-time within himself reflecting what is written in the Satapatha Brahmana and Purusa Sukta.[11] The
vision of Krishna in his universal form shows the self-devouring nature of the absolute person, as described in the Satapatha
Brahmana and Purusa Sukta.[11] Chapters 12 describes the two paths one chooses after one completes the Purushamedha yajna i.e.
become a renunciate or remain as a householder.[11] Chapter 14 is the highest teaching within the Bhagavad Gita, the knowledge to
[29]
achieve the same state as Purusa Narayana, which is the goal of the Purushamedha.

Content

Narrative
In the epic Mahabharata, after Sanjaya—counsellor of the Kuru king Dhritarashtra—returns from the battlefield to announce the
death of Bhishma, he begins recounting the details of the Mahabharata war. Bhagavad Gita forms the content of this recollection.[30]
The Gita begins before the start of the climactic Kurukshetra War, where the Pandava prince Arjuna is filled with doubt on the
battlefield. Realising that his enemies are his own relatives, beloved friends, and revered teachers, he turns to his charioteer and
guide, God Incarnate Lord Shri Krishna, for advice. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to
[31]
Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince, elaborating on a variety of philosophical concepts.
Characters
Karna (son of God Surya&Kunti)
Arjuna, one of the Pandavas
Lord Shri Krishna, Arjuna's charioteer andguru who was actually an
incarnation of Lord Vishnu
Sanjaya, counselor of the Kuru king Dhritarashtra
Dhritarashtra, Kuru king.

A manuscript illustration of the battle

Overview of chapters of Kurukshetra, fought between the
Bhagavad Gita comprises 18 chapters (section 25 to 42)[32][web 2] in the Bhishma Kauravas and the Pandavas,
recorded in the Mahabharata.
Parva of the epic Mahabharata and consists of 700 verses.[33] Because of
differences in recensions, the verses of the Gita may be numbered in the full text of
the Mahabharata as chapters 6.25–42 or as chapters 6.23–40.[web 3] According to the recension of the Gita commented on by Adi
Shankara, a prominent philosopher of the Vedanta school, the number of verses is 700, but there is evidence to show that old
manuscripts had 745 verses.[34] The verses themselves, composed with similes and metaphors, are poetic in nature. The verses
mostly employ the range and style of the Sanskrit Anustubh metre (chhandas), and in a few expressive verses the Tristubh metre is
used.[35]

The Sanskrit editions of the Gita name each chapter as a particular form of yoga. However, these chapter titles do not appear in the
Sanskrit text of the Mahabharata.[web 3] Swami Chidbhavananda explains that each of the eighteen chapters is designated as a
separate yoga because each chapter, like yoga, "trains the body and the mind". He labels the first chapter "Arjuna Vishada Yogam" or
the "Yoga of Arjuna's Dejection".[36] Sir Edwin Arnold translates this chapter as "The Distress of Arjuna"
[37]

Gita Dhyanam: (contains 9 verses) The Gita Dhyanam is

not a part of the main Bhagavad Gita, but it is commonly
published with the Gītā as a prefix. The verses of the Gita
Dhyanam (also called Gītā Dhyāna or Dhyāna Ślokas)
offer salutations to a variety of sacred scriptures, figures,
and entities, characterise the relationship of the Gītā to
the Upanishads, and affirm the power of divine
assistance.[38] It is a common practice to recite these
before reading the Gita.[web 4][39]

1. Prathama adhyaya[40] (The Distress of Arjuna[37] contains 46 verses): Arjuna

has requested Krishna to move hischariot between the two armies. His growing
dejection is described as he fears losing friends and relatives as a consequence
of war.[web 5]
2. Sankhya yoga (The Book of Doctrines[37] contains 72 verses): After asking
Krishna for help, Arjuna is instructed into various subjects such as,Karma yoga,
Gyaana yoga, Sankhya yoga, Buddhi yoga and the immortal nature of the soul. Krishna displays his
Sankhya here refers to one of six orthodox schools of theHindu Philosophy. This Vishvarupa (Universal Form)
chapter is often considered the summary of the entireBhagavad Gita.[web 6] to Arjuna on the battlefield of
3. Karma yoga (Virtue in Work[37] or Virtue Of Actions contains 43 verses): Krishna Kurukshetra (chapter 11).
explains how Karma yoga, i.e. performance of prescribed duties, but without
[web 7]
attachment to results, is the appropriate course of action for Arjuna.
4. Gyaana–Karma-Sanyasa yoga(The Religion of Knowledge[37] contains 42 verses): Krishna reveals that he has
lived through many births, always teaching yoga for the protection of the pious and the destruction of the impious
[web 8]
and stresses the importance of accepting a guru.
5. Karma–Sanyasa yoga(Religion by Renouncing Fruits of Works[37] contains 29 verses): Arjuna asks Krishna if it is
[41] Krishna answers that both are ways to the
better to forgo action or to act ("renunciation or discipline of action").
same goal, [web 9] but that acting in Karma yoga is superior.
6. Dhyan yoga or Atmasanyam yoga (Religion by Self-Restraint[37] contains 47 verses): Krishna describes the
Ashtanga yoga. He further elucidates the difficulties of the mind and the techniques by which mastery of the mind
might be gained.[web 10]
 7. Gyaana–ViGyaana yoga (Religion by Discernment[37] contains 30 verses): Krishna describes the absolute reality
and its illusory energy Maya.[web 11]
8. Aksara–Brahma yoga(Religion by Devotion to the One Supreme God [37] contains 28 verses): This chapter
contains eschatology of the Bhagavad Gita. Importance of the last thought before death, dif ferences between
[web 12]
material and spiritual worlds, and light and dark paths that a soul takes after death are described.
9. Raja–Vidya–Raja–Guhya yoga(Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery [37] contains 34 verses):

Krishna explains how His eternal energy pervades, creates, preserves, and destroys the entire universe. [web 13]

According to theologian Christopher Southgate, verses of this chapter of the

Gita are panentheistic,[42] while
German physicist and philosopherMax Bernhard Weinstein deems the work pandeistic.[43]
10. Vibhuti–Vistara–yoga (Religion by the Heavenly Perfections[37] contains 42 verses): Krishna is described as the
ultimate cause of all material and spiritual existence. Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Supreme Being, quoting great
sages who have also done so.[web 14]
11. Visvarupa–Darsana yoga(The Manifesting of the One and Manifold[37] contains 55 verses): On Arjuna's request,
( iśvarūpa),[web 15] a theophany of a being facing every way and emitting the
Krishna displays his "universal form" V
radiance of a thousand suns, containing all other beings and material in existence.
12. Bhakti yoga (The Religion of Faith[37] contains 20 verses): In this chapter Krishna glorifies the path of devotion to
God. Krishna describes the process of devotional serviceBhakti
( yoga). He also explains different forms of spiritual
disciplines.[web 16]
13. Ksetra–Ksetrajna Vibhaga yoga (Religion by Separation of Matter and Spirit[37] contains 35 verses): The
difference between transient perishable physical body and the immutable eternal soul is described. The dif
ference
between individual consciousness and universal consciousness is also made clear .[web 17]
14. Gunatraya–Vibhaga yoga (Religion by Separation from the Qualities[37] contains 27 verses): Krishna explains the
three modes (gunas) of material nature pertaining to goodness, passion, and nescience. Their causes,
[web 18]
characteristics, and influence on a living entity are also described.
15. Purusottama yoga (Religion by Attaining the Supreme[37] contains 20 verses): Krishna identifies the transcendental
characteristics of God such as,omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.[web 19] Krishna also describes a
symbolic tree (representing material existence), which has its roots in the heavens and its foliage on earth. Krishna
explains that this tree should be felled with the "axe of detachment", after which one can go beyond to his
supreme
abode.
16. Daivasura–Sampad–Vibhaga yoga (The Separateness of the Divine and Undivine[37] contains 24 verses): Krishna
identifies the human traits of the divine and the demonic natures. He counsels that to attain the supreme destination
one must give up lust, anger, greed, and discern between right and wrong action by discernment through Buddhi and
evidence from the scriptures.[web 20]
17. Sraddhatraya-Vibhaga yoga (Religion by the Threefold Kinds of Faith[37] contains 28 verses): Krishna qualifies the
[web 21]
three divisions of faith, thoughts, deeds, and even eating habits corresponding to the three modes (gunas).
18. Moksha–Sanyasa yoga(Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation[37] contains 78 verses): In this chapter, the
conclusions of previous seventeen chapters are summed up. Krishna asks Arjuna to abandon all forms of dharma
[web 22]
and simply surrender unto him and describes this as the ultimate perfection of life.

Themes

Dharma
The term dharma has a number of meanings.[44] Fundamentally, it means "what is right".[44] Early in the text, responding to Arjuna's
despondency, Krishna asks him to follow his swadharma,[45][note 3] "the dharma that belongs to a particular man (Arjuna) as a
member of a particular varna, (i.e., the kshatriya)."[45] Many traditional followers accept and believe that every man is unique in
nature(svabhava) and hence svadharma for each and every individual is also unique and must be followed strictly with sole bhakthi
and shraddha.

According to Vivekananda:

If one reads this one Shloka, one gets all the merits of reading the
entire Gita; for in this one Shloka lies imbedded the whole Message
of the Gita."[46]

लै यं मा म गमः पाथ नैत व युपप ते । ु ं दयदौब यं य वो परंतप॥

 klaibhyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitattvayyupapadyate, kṣudraṁ
hṛdayadaurbalyaṁ tyaktvottiṣṭha paraṁtapa.

Do not yield to unmanliness, O son of Prithā. It does not become

you. Shake off this base faint-heartedness and arise, O scorcher of
enemies! (2.3)

Dharma and heroism

The Bhagavad Gita is set in the narrative frame of the Mahabharata, which values
heroism, "energy, dedication and self-sacrifice",[4] as the dharma, "holy duty"[47] of
the Kshatriya (Warrior).[47][4][48] Axel Michaels in his book Hinduism: Past and
Present writes that in the Bhagavad Gita, Arjuna is "exhorted by his charioteer,
Kṛiṣhṇa, among others, to stop hesitating and fulfil his Kṣatriya (warrior) duty as a
warrior and kill."[4]

According to Malinar, the dispute between the two parties in the Mahabharata
centres on the question how to define "the law of heroism".[49][note 4] Malinar gives
a description of the dharma of a Kshatriya (warrior) based on theUdyogaparvan, the
Bhagavad Gita, a 19th-century
fifth book of the Mahabharata: manuscript

This duty consists first of all in standing one's ground and fighting
for status. The main duty of a warrior is never to submit to anybody.
A warrior must resist any impulse to self-preservation that would
make him avoid a fight. In brief, he ought to be a man (puruso
bhava; cf. 5.157.6; 13;15). Some of the most vigorous formulations
of what called the "heart" or the "essence" of heroism (ksatrahrdaya)
come from the ladies of the family. They are shown most
unforgiving with regard to the humiliations they have gone through,
the loss of their status and honour, not to speak of the shame of
having a weak man in the house, whether husband, son or
brother.[5][note 5]

[50] According to Michaels:

Michaels defines heroism as "power assimilated with interest in salvation".

Even though the frame story of the Mahabharata is rather simple, the epic has an outstanding significance for Hindu
heroism. The heroism of the Pandavas, the ideals of honor and courage in battle, are constant sources of treatises in
which it is not sacrifice, renunciation of the world, or erudition that is valued, but energy, dedication and self-
sacrifice. The Bhagavad Gita, inserted in the sixth book (Bhishmaparvan), and probably completed in the second
century CE, is such a text, that is, a philosophical and theistic treatise, with which the Pandava is exhorted by his
ṣatriya (warrior) duty as a warrior and kill.[4]
charioteer, Krishna, among others, to stop hesitating and fulfill his K

According to Malinar, "Arjuna's crisis and some of the arguments put forward to call him to action are connected to the debates on
war and peace in the UdP [Udyoga Parva]".[51] According to Malinar, the UdP emphasises that one must put up with fate and, the
BhG personalises the surrender one's personal interests to the power of destiny by "propagating the view that accepting and enacting
[51]
the fatal course of events is an act of devotion to this god [Krsna] and his cause."

Modern interpretations ofdharma

Svadharma and svabhava
The eighteenth chapter of the Gita examines the relationship between svadharma and svabhava.[note 6][52] This chapter uses the
gunas of Shankya philosophy to present a series of typologies, and uses the same term to characterise the specific activities of the
[52]
four varnas, which are distinguished by the "gunas proceeding from their nature."

Aurobindo modernises the concept of dharma and svabhava by internalising it, away from the social order and its duties towards
one's personal capacities, which leads to a radical individualism,[53] "finding the fulfilment of the purpose of existence in the
individual alone."[53] He deduced from the Gita the doctrine that "the functions of a man ought to be determined by his natural turn,
gift, and capacities",[53] that the individual should "develop freely"[53] and thereby would be best able to serve society
.[53]

Gandhi's view differed from Aurobindo's view.[54] He recognised in the concept of swadharma his idea of swadeshi, the idea that
"man owes his service above all to those who are nearest to him by birth and situation."[54] To him, swadeshi was "swadharma
applied to one's immediate environment."[55]

The Field of Dharma

The first reference to dharma in the Bhagavad Gita occurs in its first verse, where Dhritarashtra refers to the Kurukshetra, the
location of the battlefield, as the Field of Dharma, "The Field of Righteousness or Truth".[44] According to Fowler, dharma in this
verse may refer to the sanatana dharma, "what Hindus understand as their religion, for it is a term that encompasses wide aspects of
religious and traditional thought and is more readily used for ""religion".[44] Therefore, 'Field of action' implies the field of
[44]
righteousness, where truth will eventually triumph.

"The Field of Dharma" is also called the "Field of action" by Sri Aurobindo, a freedom fighter and philosopher.[44] Sarvapalli
Radhakrishnan, a philosopher and the second president of India, saw "The Field of Dharma" as the world (Bhavsagar), which is a
"battleground for moral struggle".[56]

Allegory of war
Unlike any other religious scripture, theBhagavad Gita broadcasts its message in the centre of
the battlefield.[57] The choice of such an unholy ambience for the delivery of a philosophical
discourse has been an enigma to many commentators.[web 25] Several modern Indian writers
[58]
have interpreted the battlefield setting as an allegory of "the war within".

Eknath Easwaran writes that the Gita's subject is "the war within, the struggle for self-mastery
that every human being must wage if he or she is to emerge from life victorious",[59] and that
"The language of battle is often found in the scriptures, for it conveys the strenuous, long,
drawn-out campaign we must wage to free ourselves from the tyranny of the ego, the cause of
all our suffering and sorrow."[60]

Swami Nikhilananda, takes Arjuna as an allegory of Ātman, Krishna as an allegory of

Brahman, Arjuna's chariot as the body, and Dhritarashtra as the ignorance filled mind.[note 7]

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, in his commentary on the Gita,[61] interprets the battle as "an
allegory in which the battlefield is the soul and Arjuna, man's higher impulses struggling
against evil".[62] Illustration of the battle of
Kurukshetra, Arjuna (far
Swami Vivekananda also emphasised that the first discourse in the Gita related to the war right), with Krishna as the
could be taken allegorically.[63] Vivekananda further remarked, charioteer, is battling the
Kauravas as the gods look
down.
This Kurukshetra War is only an allegory. When we sum up its esoteric
significance, it means the war which is constantly going on within man
between the tendencies of good and evil.[64]
In Aurobindo's view, Krishna was a historical figure, but his significance in the Gita is as a "symbol of the divine dealings with
humanity",[65] while Arjuna typifies a "struggling human soul".[66] However, Aurobindo rejected the interpretation that the Gita, and
[66]
the Mahabharata by extension, is "an allegory of the inner life, and has nothing to do with our outward human life and actions":

... That is a view which the general character and the actual language of the epic does not justify and, if pressed,
would turn the straightforward philosophical language of the Gita into a constant, laborious and somewhat puerile
mystification ... the Gita is written in plain terms and professes to solve the great ethical and spiritual difficulties
which the life of man raises, and it will not do to go behind this plain language and thought and wrest them to the
service of our fancy. But there is this much of truth in the view, that the setting of the doctrine though not symbolical,
is certainly typical.[66]

Swami Chinmayanandawrites:

Here in the Bhagavad Gita, we find a practical handbook of instruction on how best we can re-organise our inner
ways of thinking, feeling, and acting in our everyday life and draw from ourselves a larger gush of productivity to
[67]
enrich the life around us, and to emblazon the subjective life within us.

Promotion of just war and duty

Other scholars such as Steven Rosen, Laurie L. Patton and Stephen Mitchell have seen in the Gita a religious defense of the warrior
class's (Kshatriya Varna) duty (svadharma), which is to conduct combat and war with courage and do not see this as only an
allegorical teaching, but also a real defense ofjust war.[68][69]

Indian independence leaders likeLala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw the Gita as a text which defended war when necessary
and used it to promote war against the British Empire. Lajpat Rai wrote an article on the "Message of the Bhagavad Gita". He saw the
main message as the bravery and courage of Arjuna to fight as a warrior.[70] Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw the Gita as defending killing
, such as, for example, the killing ofAfzal Khan.[70]
when necessary for the betterment of society

According to J. N. Farquhar:

"Even the Gita was used to teach murder. Lies, deceit, murder, everything, it was argued, may be rightly used. How
far the leaders really believed this teaching no man can say; but the younger men got filled with it, and many were
only too sincere."[71]

Moksha: Liberation
Liberation or moksha in Vedanta philosophy is not something that can be acquired or reached. Ātman (Soul), the goal of moksha, is
something that is always present as the essence of the self, and can be revealed by deep intuitive knowledge. While the Upanishads
largely uphold such a monistic viewpoint of liberation, the Bhagavad Gita also accommodates the dualistic and theistic aspects of
moksha. The Gita, while occasionally hinting at impersonal Brahman as the goal, revolves around the relationship between the Self
and a personal God or Saguna Brahman. A synthesis of knowledge, devotion, and desireless action is given as a prescription for
Arjuna's despondence; the same combination is suggested as a way to moksha.[72] Winthrop Sargeant further explains, "In the model
presented by the Bhagavad Gītā, every aspect of life is in fact a way of salvation."[73]

Yoga
Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita refers to the skill of union with the ultimate reality or the Absolute.[74] In his commentary, Zaehner says
that the root meaning of yoga is "yoking" or "preparation"; he proposes the basic meaning "spiritual exercise", which conveys the
various nuances in the best way.[75]
Sivananda's commentary regards the eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad Gita as having a progressive order, by which Krishna leads
"Arjuna up the ladder of Yoga from one rung to another."[76] The influential commentator Madhusudana Sarasvati divided the Gita's
eighteen chapters into three sections of six chapters each. Swami Gambhirananda characterises Madhusudana Sarasvati's system as a
[77][78]
successive approach in which Karma yoga leads to Bhakti yoga, which in turn leads to Gyaana yoga:

Chapters 1–6 = Karma yoga, the means to the final goal

Chapters 7–12 = Bhakti yoga or devotion
Chapters 13–18 = Gyaana yoga or knowledge, the goal itself

Karma yoga
As noted by various commentators, the Bhagavad Gita offers a practical approach to liberation in the form of Karma yoga. The path
of Karma yoga upholds the necessity of action. However, this action is to be undertaken without any attachment to the work or desire
for results. Bhagavad Gita terms this "inaction in action and action in inaction (4.18)". The concept of such detached action is also
called Nishkam Karma, a term not used in the Gita.[79] Lord Krishna, in the following verses, elaborates on the role actions,
performed without desire and attachment, play in attaining freedom from material bondage and transmigration:

To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there
be in thee any attachment to inaction

Fixed in yoga, do thy work, O Winner of wealth (Arjuna), abandoning attachment, with an even mind in success and
[80]
failure, for evenness of mind is called yoga. (2.47–8)

The yogīs, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence, and even with the senses, only for the purpose
of purification. (5.11)[web 26]

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi writes, "The object of the Gita appears to me to be that of showing the most excellent way to attain
self-realization", and this can be achieved by selfless action, "By desireless action; by renouncing fruits of action; by dedicating all
activities to God, i.e., by surrendering oneself to Him body and soul." Gandhi called the Gita "The Gospel of Selfless Action".[81] To
achieve true liberation, it is important to control all mental desires and tendencies to enjoy sense pleasures. The following verses
illustrate this:[82]

When a man dwells in his mind on the object of sense, attachment to them is produced. From attachment springs
desire and from desire comes anger.

From anger arises bewilderment, from bewilderment loss of memory; and from loss of memory, the destruction of
[82]
intelligence and from the destruction of intelligence he perishes. (2.62–3)

Bhakti yoga
The introduction to chapter seven of theBhagavad Gita explains bhakti as a mode of worship which consists of unceasing and loving
remembrance of God. Faith (Śraddhā) and total surrender to a chosen God (Ishta-deva) are considered to be important aspects of
bhakti.[83] Theologian Catherine Cornille writes, "The text [of the Gita] offers a survey of the different possible disciplines for
attaining liberation through knowledge (Gyaana), action (karma), and loving devotion to God (bhakti), focusing on the latter as both
the easiest and the highest path to salvation."[84] M. R. Sampatkumaran, a Bhagavad Gita scholar, explains in his overview of
Ramanuja's commentary on the Gita, "The point is that mere knowledge of the scriptures cannot lead to final release. Devotion,
meditation, and worship are essential."[85] Ramakrishna believed that the essential message of the Gita could be obtained by
repeating the word Gita several times,[86] "'Gita, Gita, Gita', you begin, but then find yourself saying 'ta-Gi, ta-Gi, ta-Gi'. Tagi means
one who has renounced everything for God." In the following verses, Krishna elucidates the importance of bhakti:
 And of all yogins, he who full of faith worships Me, with his inner self abiding in Me, him, I hold to be the most
attuned (to me in Yoga). (6.47)[87]

For one who worships Me, giving up all his activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in
devotional service and always meditating upon Me, who has fixed his mind upon Me, O son of Pṛthā, for him I am
[web 27]
the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death. (12.6–7)

Radhakrishnan writes that the verse 1 .55 is "the essence of bhakti" and the "substance of the whole teaching of theGita":[88]

Those who make me the supreme goal of all their work and act without selfish attachment, who devote themselves to
1.55)[89]
me completely and are free from ill will for any creature, enter into me.(1

Jnana yoga
Jnana yoga is the path of wisdom, knowledge, and direct experience of Brahman as the
ultimate reality. The path renounces both desires and actions, and is therefore depicted as
being steep and very difficult in the Bhagavad Gita. This path is often associated with the
non-dualistic Vedantic belief of the identity of the Ātman with the Brahman. For the followers
of this path, the realisation of the identity of Ātman and Brahman is held as the key to
liberation.[90]

When a sensible man ceases to see different identities, which are due to
different material bodies, he attains to the Brahman conception. Thus he sees
that beings are expanded everywhere. (13.31)[web 28]

One who knowingly sees this difference between the body and the owner of Adi Shankara with Disciples,
by Raja Ravi Varma (1904),
the body and can understand the process of liberation from this bondage, also
propounding knowledge of
attains to the supreme goal. (13.35)[web 29]
absolute as of primary
importance

Commentaries and translations

The Bhagavad Gita was first translated into English in the year 1785, by Charles Wilkins on the orders of the Court of Directors of
the East India Company, with special interest shown by Warren Hastings, the then Governor General of India. This edition had an
introduction to the Gita by Warren Hastings. Soon the work was translated into other European languages such as German, French
and Russian.

In 1849, the Weleyan Mission Press, Bangalore published The Bhagavat-Geeta, Or, Dialogues of Krishna and Arjoon in Eighteen
Lectures, with Sanskrit, Canarese and English in parallel columns, edited by Rev. John Garrett, and the efforts being supported by Sir.
Mark Cubbon[91]

Bhagavad Gita integrates various schools of thought, notably Vedanta, Samkhya and Yoga, and other theistic ideas. It remains a
popular text for commentators belonging to various philosophical schools. However, its composite nature also leads to varying
interpretations of the text. In the words ofMysore Hiriyanna,

[The Gita] is one of the hardest books to interpret, which accounts for the numerous commentaries on it–each
differing from the rest in one essential point or theother.[92]
Richard H. Davis cites Callewaert & Hemraj's 1982 count of 1891 BG translations
in 75 languages, including 273 in English.[93]

Classical commentaries

Śaṅkara
The oldest and most influential medieval commentary was that of Adi Shankara
(788–820 CE),[94] also known as Shankaracharya (Sanskrit: Śaṅkarācārya).[95][96]
Shankara's commentary was based on a recension of the Gita containing 700 verses,
[97]
and that recension has been widely adopted by others.

Rāmānuja
Ramanujacharya's commentary chiefly seeks to show that the discipline of devotion Bhagvat-Geeta, Wesleyan Mission
to God (Bhakti yoga) is the way of salvation.[98] Press, Bangalore, 1849[91]

Madhva
Madhva, a commentator of the Dvaita Vedanta school,[99] whose dates are given either as (1199–1276 CE)[100] or as (1238–1317
CE),[73] also known as Madhvacharya (Sanskrit: Madhvācārya), wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, which exemplifies the
thinking of the "dualist" school.[95] Winthrop Sargeant quotes a dualistic assertion ofthe Madhva's school that there is "an eternal and
complete distinction between the Supreme, the many souls, and matter and its divisions".[73] His commentary on the Gita is called
Gita Bhāshya. It has been annotated on by many ancient pontiffs of Dvaita Vedanta school like Padmanabha Tirtha, Jayatirtha, and
Raghavendra Tirtha.[101]

Abhinavagupta
In the Shaiva tradition,[102] the renowned philosopher Abhinavagupta (10–11th century CE) has written a commentary on a slightly
variant recension calledGitartha-Samgraha.

Others
Other classical commentators include

Bhāskara
Nimbarka (1162 CE)
Vidyadhiraja Tirtha, Vallabha (1479 CE)
Madhusudana Saraswati,
Raghavendra Tirtha,
Vanamali Mishra,
Chaitanya Mahaprabhu(1486 CE),[103]
Dnyaneshwar (1275–1296 CE) translated and commented on theGita in Marathi, in his book Dnyaneshwari.[104]

Independence movement
At a time when Indian nationalists were seeking an indigenous basis for social and political action, Bhagavad Gita provided them
with a rationale for their activism and fight against injustice.[105] Among nationalists, notable commentaries were written by Bal
Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi, who used the text to help inspire the Indian independence movement.[note 8][note 9] Tilak
wrote his commentary Shrimadh Bhagvad Gita Rahasya while in jail during the period 1910–1911 serving a six-year sentence
imposed by the British colonial government in India for sedition.[106] While noting that the Gita teaches possible paths to liberation,
his commentary places most emphasis on Karma yoga.[107] No book was more central to Gandhi's life and thought than the
Bhagavad Gita, which he referred to as his "spiritual dictionary".[108] During his stay in Yeravda jail in 1929,[108] Gandhi wrote a
commentary on the Bhagavad Gita in Gujarati. The Gujarati manuscript was translated into English by Mahadev Desai, who
provided an additional introduction and commentary. It was published with a foreword by Gandhi in 1946. [109][110][note 10]

Mahatma Gandhi expressed his love for theGita in these words:

I find a solace in the Bhagavadgītā that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares me in
the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavadgītā. I find a verse here and a verse there
and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies – and my life has been full of external
tragedies – and if they have left no visible, no indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of
Bhagavadgītā.[111][112]

Hindu revivalism
Although Vivekananda did not write any commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, his works contained numerous references to the Gita,
[113] Through the message of theGita, Vivekananda sought
such as his lectures on the four yogas – Bhakti, Gyaana, Karma, and Raja.
to energise the people of India to claim their own dormant but strong identity.[114] Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay thought that the
answer to the problems that beset Hindu society was a revival of Hinduism in its purity, which lay in the reinterpretation of Bhagavad
Gita for a new India.[115] Aurobindo saw Bhagavad Gita as a "scripture of the future religion" and suggested that Hinduism had
acquired a much wider relevance through the Gita.[116] Sivananda called Bhagavad Gita "the most precious jewel of Hindu
literature" and suggested its introduction into the curriculum of Indian schools and colleges.[117] In the lectures Chinmayananda
gave, on tours undertaken to revive the moral and spiritual values of the Hindus, he borrowed the concept of Gyaana yajna, or the
worship to invoke divine wisdom, from the Gita.[118] He viewed the Gita as an universal scripture to turn a person from a state of
agitation and confusion to a state of complete vision, inner contentment, and dynamic action. Teachings of International Society for
Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organisation which spread rapidly in North America in the 1970s
and 1980s, are based on a translation of the Gita called Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.[119]
These teachings are also illustrated in thedioramas of Bhagavad-gita Museumin Los Angeles, California.[120]

Other modern commentaries

Among notable modern commentators of the Bhagavad Gita are Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vinoba Bhave, Mohandas Karamchand
Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Chinmayananda, etc. Chinmayananda took a syncretistic approach to interpret the
text of the Gita.[121][122]

Paramahansa Yogananda's two volume commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, called God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita, was
released 1995.[123]

Eknath Easwaran has also written a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. It examines the applicability of the principles of Gita to the
problems of modern life.[124]

The version by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, entitled Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, is "by far the most widely distributed of all
English Gita translations" due to ISKCON efforts.[125] For each verse, he gives the verse in the Sanskrit Devanagari script, followed
by a roman transliteration, a gloss for each word, and then a translation and commentary.[125] Its publisher, the Bhaktivedanta Book
Trust, estimates sales at twenty-three million copies, a figure which includes the original English edition and secondary translations
into fifty-six other languages.[125]

Bhagavad Gita – The song of God[126] written by Swami Mukundananda.

Other notable commentators include Jeaneane Fowler, Ithamar Theodor, Swami Parthasarathy, and Sadhu Vasvani.[127][128] In 1966,
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi published a partial translation.[129]
Scholarly translations
The first English translation of the Bhagavad Gita was done by Charles Wilkins in
1785.[130][131] In 1981, Larson listed more than 40 English translations of the Gita,
stating that "A complete listing of Gita translations and a related secondary
bibliography would be nearly endless".[132]:514 He stated that "Overall ... there is a
massive translational tradition in English, pioneered by the British, solidly grounded
philologically by the French and Germans, provided with its indigenous roots by a
rich heritage of modern Indian comment and reflection, extended into various
disciplinary areas by Americans, and having generated in our time a broadly based
Ramanandacharya delivering a
cross-cultural awareness of the importance of the Bhagavad Gita both as an discourse. He has delivered many
expression of a specifically Indian spirituality and as one of the great religious discourses on Gita and released the
"classics" of all time."[132]:518 Sanskrit scholar Barbara Stoler Miller produced a first Braille version of the scripture.
translation in 1986 intended to emphasise the poem's influence and current context
within English Literature, especially the works of T.S. Eliot, Henry David Thoreau
and Ralph Waldo Emerson.[133] The translation was praised by scholars as well as literary critics[134] and became one of the most
continually popular translations to date.[135]

The Gita in other languages

The Gita has also been translated into European languages other than English. In 1808, passages from the Gita were part of the first
direct translation of Sanskrit into German, appearing in a book through which Friedrich Schlegel became known as the founder of
Indian philology in Germany.[136] Swami Rambhadracharya released the first Braille version of the scripture, with the original
Sanskrit text and a Hindi commentary, on 30 November 2007.[web 30] The former Turkish Scholar-Politician, Bulent Ecevit
translated several Sanskrit scriptures, including theGita, into Turkish. Mahavidwan

Gita Press has published the Gita in multiple Indian languages.[137] R. Raghava Iyengar translated the Gita into Tamil in sandam
metre poetic form.[138] The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust publishes the Gita in more than forty languages, including French, German,
Spanish, Italian, Polish, Hungarian, Russian, Kazakh, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Hebrew, Arabic, Swahili, and sixteen Indian
languages.[139]

Philological research
The textual development of the Bhagavad Gita has been researched, but the methods of this research have developed since its onset in
the late 18th century. According to Adluri and Bagchee, 19th century German indologists had an anti-Brahmanic stance,[140] due to
their "Protestant suspicion of the Brahmans."[141] They conceived of the Mahabharata as an Indo-Germanic war-epic in origin, to
which layers of text were added by the later Brahmins, including the Bhagavad Gita.[142] This interpretation was fueled by the search
for Germanic origins and identity, in which the Brahmins were anti-thetical to the pure Aryans.[143] According to Adluri and
Bagchee, 20th century Indology professionalized, but remained anti-Brahmanic, though the anti-Brahmanism disappeared from sight
and went "underground."[144][note 11]

Contemporary popularity
Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi has strongly pitched the Bhagavad Gita as "India's biggest gift to the world".[147] Shri
Modi gifted The Bhagavad Gita to the then President of the United States of America, Mr Barack Obama in 2014 during his US
visit.[148]

With the translation and study of the Bhagavad Gita by Western scholars beginning in the early 18th century, the Bhagavad Gita
gained a growing appreciation and popularity.[web 1] According to the Indian historian and writer Khushwant Singh, Rudyard
Kipling's famous poem "If—" is "the essence of the message ofThe Gita in English."[149]
Appraisal
The Bhagavad Gita has been highly praised, not only by prominent Indians including Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Sarvepalli
Radhakrishnan,[150] but also by Aldous Huxley, Henry David Thoreau, J. Robert Oppenheimer,[151] Ralph Waldo Emerson, Carl
Jung, Herman Hesse,[152][153] Bülent Ecevit[154] and others.

Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India, commented on theGita:

The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the
[155]
obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe.

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, 11th President of India, despite being a Muslim, used to read Bhagavad Gita and recite
mantras.[156][157][158][159][160]

J. Robert Oppenheimer, American physicist and director of the Manhattan Project, learned Sanskrit in 1933 and read the Bhagavad
Gita in the original form, citing it later as one of the most influential books to shape his philosophy of life. Upon witnessing the
world's first nuclear test in 1945, he later said he had thought of the quotation "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds",
verse 32 from chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita.[151][161]

Adaptations
Philip Glass retold the story of Gandhi's early development as an activist in South Africa through the text of the Gita in the opera
Satyagraha (1979). The entire libretto of the opera consists of sayings from the Gita sung in the original Sanskrit.[web 31] In Douglas
Cuomo's Arjuna's dilemma, the philosophical dilemma faced by Arjuna is dramatised in operatic form with a blend of Indian and
Western music styles.[web 32] The 1993 Sanskrit film, Bhagavad Gita, directed by G. V. Iyer won the 1993 National Film Award for
Best Film.[web 33] [web 34]

The 1995 novel and 2000 golf movieThe Legend of Bagger Vance are roughly based on theBhagavad Gita.[162]

President of India inaugurates International Gita Mahotsava-2017 in Haryana On November 25, 2017, President Ram Nath Kovind
inaugurated the International Gita Mahotsava-2017 in Kurukshetra, Haryana. Mauritius is the partner country and Uttar Pradesh is the
partner state for this event. About 20 lakh people participated in Gita Mahotsav last year, which also included people from 35
countries. About 25–30 lakh people are expected to participate in this event till December 3, 2017.

See also
Ashtavakra Gita Self-consciousness (Vedanta)
Avadhuta Gita Uddhava Gita
Bhagavata Purana Vedas
The Ganesha Gita Prasthanatrayi
Puranas Vyadha Gita

Notes
1. The Bhagavad Gita also integratestheism and transcendentalism[web 1] or spiritualmonism,[9] and identifies a God of
personal characteristics with theBrahman of the Vedic tradition.[web 1]
2. Śruti texts, such as the Upanishads, are believed to be revelations of divine origin, whereas Smritis are authored
recollections of tradition and are therefore fallible.
3. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: "Swadharma is that action which is in accordance with your nature. It is acting in accordance
[web 23]
with your skills and talents, your own nature (svabhava), and that which you are responsible for (karma)."
4. Malinar: "[W]hat law must a warrior follow
, on what authority, and how does the definition ofkṣatriyadharma affect
[49]
the position of the king, who is supposed to protect and represent it?"
 5. Compare Chivalric code of western knights, and Zen at War for a Japanese fusion of Buddhism with warfare-ethics.
[web 24]
6. "Character", "inherent nature", "natural state or constitution."
7. Nikhilananda & Hocking 2006, p. 2 "Arjuna represents the individual soul, and Sri Krishna the Supreme Soul
dwelling in every heart. Arjuna's chariot is the body
. The blind king Dhritarashtra is the mind under the spell of
ignorance, and his hundred sons are man's numerous evil tendencies. The battle, a perennial one, is between the
power of good and the power of evil. The warrior who listens to the advice of the Lord speaking from within will
triumph in this battle and attain the Highest Good."
8. For B. G. Tilak and Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi as notable commentators see:Gambhirananda 1997, p. xix
9. For notability of the commentaries by B. G. T
ilak and Gandhi and their use to inspire the independence movement
see: Sargeant 2009, p. xix
10. In 2014 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi presented the book Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi to the president
of the United States, Mr Barack Obama.A uniquely guilded edition of Bhagavad Gita as translated by Mahatma
Gandhi was presented as a commemoration of India's Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi's gift to the then President
of the United States of America, Mr Barack Obama in 2014 during his US visit called:
Bhagavad Gita according to
Gandhi. The author is listed as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; Mahadev Desai, translator . (Quignog, New Delhi,
2017) ISBN 9788193369647.
11. According to Adluri and Bagchee, this anti-Brahmanism had its counterpart in European anti-Semitism, which saw
the Jews as anti-thetical to Christianity, which was regarded as "the logical, historical culmination of the Jewish
faith,"[145] and a manifestation of the development ofSpirit into its own self-consciousness.[146]

References
1. Davis 2014, p. 2.
2. http://www.yogananda-srf.org/Hidden_Truths/The_Hidden_Truths_in_the_Bhagavad_Gita.aspx#.WYDnwtKGOUk(ht
tp://www.yogananda-srf.org/Hidden_Truths/The_Hidden_Truths_in_the_Bhagavad_Gita.aspx#.WYDnwtKGOUk)
.
Missing or empty |title= (help)
3. http://www.gitaaonline.com/chapter-verses/(http://www.gitaaonline.com/chapter-verses/). Missing or empty
|title= (help)
4. Michaels 2004, p. 59.
5. Malinar 2007, p. 39.
6. Deutsch 2004, p. 60.
7. Deutsch 2004, p. 61.
8. Scheepers 2000.
9. Raju 1992, p. 211.
10. Deutsch 2004, pp. 61–62.
11. Hudson 2002, pp. 155–63.
12. Deutsch & Dalvi 2004, p. 97
13. "Mahatma Gandhi | Biography, Accomplishments, & Facts" (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Mahatma-Gandhi/
Resistance-and-results#toc22635). Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-05-16.
14. Fowler 2012, p. xxvi
15. Fowler 2012, p. xxiv
16. Upadhyaya 1998, p. 16
17. Hiltebeitel 2002.
18. Raju 1992, pp. 211–12.
19. Deutsch 2004, p. 62.
20. Nicholson 2010.
21. Nicholson 2014.
22. Nicholson 2010, p. 7.
23. Singh 2005, p. 37.
24. Schouler 2009.
25. "Hare Krishna in the Modern World". p. 59, by Graham Dwyer, Richard J. Cole
26. Coburn, Thomas B. (1984), "'Scripture' in India: Towards a Typology of the Word in Hindu Life", Journal of the
American Academy of Religion, 52 (3): 435–59, doi:10.1093/jaarel/52.3.435(https://doi.org/10.1093%2Fjaarel%2F5
2.3.435), JSTOR 1464202 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1464202)
27. Tapasyananda 1990, p. 1
28. Pandit 2005, p. 27.
29. Hudson 2002, pp. 145–46, 155–63.
30. Fowler 2012, p. xxii
31. Deutsch 2004, pp. 59–61.
32. Bose 1986, p. 71
33. Coburn 1991, p. 27
34. Gambhirananda 1997, p. xvii
35. Egenes 2003, p. 4
36. Chidbhavananda 1997, p. 33
37. translated by Sir Edwin Arnold (1993), Bhagavadgita (https://books.google.com/books?id=KOd6N2_t6XoC)
(Unabridged ed.), New York, NY: Dover Publications, ISBN 0-486-27782-8
38. Chinmayananda 1998, p. 3
39. Ranganathananda 2000, pp. 15–25
40. Bannanje, Govindacharya."Bhagavad Gita pravachana"(http://www.taraprakashana.org/downloads/prakaashaatma/
00-Bhagavad_Gita-V04.pdf)(PDF). Tara Prakashana.
41. Miller 1986, p. 59
42. Southgate 2005, p. 246
43. Max Bernhard Weinsten, Welt- und Lebensanschauungen, Hervorgegangen aus Religion, Philosophie und
Naturerkenntnis ("World and Life Views, Emerging From Religion, Philosophy and Nature") (1910), p. 213
: "Wir
werden später sehen, daß die Indier auch den Pandeismus gelehrt haben. Der letzte Zustand besteht in dieser
Lehre im Eingehen in die betreffende Gottheit, Brahma oder Wischnu. So sagt in der Bhagavad-Gîtâ Krishna-
Wischnu, nach vielen Lehren über ein vollkommenes Dasein."
44. Fowler 2012, p. 2.
45. Hacker & Halbfass 1995, p. 261.
46. Vivekananda & year unknown.
47. Miller 2004, p. 3.
48. Malinar 2007, pp. 36–39.
49. Malinar 2007, p. 38.
50. Michaels 2004, p. 278.
51. Malinar 2007, p. 36.
52. Hacker & Halbfass 1995, p. 264.
53. Hacker & Halbfass 1995, p. 266.
54. Hacker & Halbfass 1995, p. 267.
55. Hacker & Halbfass 1995, p. 268
56. Fowler 2012, p. 2
57. Krishnananda 1980, pp. 12–13
58. Easwaran 2007, p. 15.
59. Easwaran 2007, p. 15
60. Easwaran 2007, p. 24
61. see Gandhi 2009
62. Fischer 2010, pp. 15–16
63. Vivekananda, Swami, "Sayings and Utterances"(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complete_W
orks_of_Swami_Viv
ekananda/Volume_9/Sayings_and_Utterances), The Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, 5
 64. Vivekananda, Swami, "Lectures and Discourses ~ Thoughts on the Gita"(http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Complet
e_Works_of_Swami_Vivekananda/Volume_4/Lectures_and_Discourses/Thoughts_on_the_Gita) , The Complete
works of Swami Vivekananda, 4
65. Aurobindo 2000, pp. 15–16
66. Aurobindo 2000, pp. 20–21
67. Chinmayananda 2007, pp. 10–13
68. Rosen, Steven; Krishna's Song: A New Look at the Bhagavad Gita, p. 22.
69. Patton, Laurie L.; The Failure of Allegory inFighting Words
70. Nadkarni, M. V. ; The Bhagavad-Gita for theModern Reader: History, interpretations and philosophy, Chapter 4.
71. J.N. Farquhar. Modern Religious Movements in India,
https://archive.org/stream/modernreligiousm00farqiala/modernreligiousm00farqiala_djvu.txt
72. Fowler 2012, pp. xlv–vii
73. Sargeant 2009, p. xix
74. Krishnananda 1980, p. 10
75. Zaehner 1969, p. 148
76. Sivananda 1995, p. xvii
77. Gambhirananda 1997, p. xx
78. Gambhirananda 1998, p. 16
79. Fowler 2012, pp. xliii–iv
80. Radhakrishnan 1993, p. 120
81. Gandhi 2009, pp. xv–xxiv
82. Radhakrishnan 1993, pp. 125–26
83. Fowler 2012, p. xlii
84. Cornille 2006, p. 2
85. For quotation and summarizing bhakti as "a mode of worship which consists of unceasing and loving remembrance
of God" see: Sampatkumaran 1985, p. xxiii
86. Isherwood 1965, p. 2
87. Radhakrishnan 1993, p. 211, verse 6.47
88. Radhakrishnan 1993, p. 289
89. Easwaran, Eknath (2008).The Bhagavad Gita (Second ed.). Nilgiri. p. 202.ISBN 978-1-58638-019-9.
90. Fowler 2012, p. xli
91. Garrett, John; Wilhelm, Humboldt, eds. (1849).The Bhagavat-Geeta, Or, Dialogues of Krishna and Arjoon in
Eighteen Lectures (https://archive.org/details/bhagavatgeetaor00humbgoog). Bangalore: Wesleyan Mission Press.
Retrieved 18 January 2017.
92. Singh 2006, pp. 54–55
93. Davis 2014.
94. Dating for Shankara as 788–820 CE is from:Sargeant 2009, p. xix
95. Zaehner 1969, p. 3
96. For Shankara's commentary falling within the V
edanta school of tradition, see:Flood 1996, p. 124
97. Gambhirananda 1997, p. xviii
98. Sampatkumaran 1985, p. xx
99. For classification of Madhva's commentary as within the e
Vdanta school see: Flood 1996, p. 124
100. Dating of 1199–1276 CE for Madhva is from:Gambhirananda 1997, p. xix
101. Rao 2002, p. 86
102. For classification of Abhinavagupta's commentary on theGita as within the Shaiva tradition see:Flood 1996, p. 124
103. Singh 2006, p. 55
104. see Gyaānadeva & Pradhan 1987
105. Robinson 2006, p. 70
106. Stevenson, Robert W., "Tilak and the Bhagavadgita's Doctrine of Karmayoga", in:Minor 1986, p. 44
107. Stevenson, Robert W., "Tilak and the Bhagavadgita's Doctrine of Karmayoga", in:Minor 1986, p. 49
108. Jordens, J. T. F., "Gandhi and the Bhagavadgita", in:Minor 1986, p. 88
109. Gandhi 2009, First Edition 1946. Other editions: 1948, 1951, 1956.
110. A shorter edition, omitting the bulk of Desai's additional commentary , has been published as:Anasaktiyoga: The
Gospel of Selfless Action. Jim Rankin, editor. The author is listed as M.K. Gandhi; Mahadev Desai, translator. (Dry
Bones Press, San Francisco, 1998)ISBN 1-883938-47-3.
111. Quotation from M. K. Gandhi.Young India. (1925), pp. 1078–79, is cited fromRadhakrishnan 1993 Front matter.
112. Sahadeo 2011, p. 129
113. Minor 1986, p. 131
114. Minor 1986, p. 144
115. Minor 1986, p. 36
116. Robinson 2006, p. 69
117. Robinson 2006, p. 102
118. Patchen 1994, pp. 185–89
119. Jones & Ryan 2007, p. 199
120. "F.A.T.E. – the First American Theistic Exibition – Back o
T Godhead" (http://www.backtogodhead.in/f-a-t-e-the-first-a
merican-theistic-exibition/). Back to Godhead. 12 (7): 16–23. July 1, 1977. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
121. For Aurobindo, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, and Chinmayananda as notable commentators see:
Sargeant 2009, p. xix
122. For Aurobindo as notable commentators, see:Gambhirananda 1997, p. xix
123. Yogananda 1993
124. Easwaran 1993
125. Davis 2014, p. 168
126. "Bhagavad Gita The Song of God, Commentary by Swami Mukundananda"
(http://www.holy-bhagavad-gita.org).
127. see Fowler 2012 and Theodor 2010
128. Tilak 1924
129. {harvnb|Davis|2014|page=168}
130. Clarke 1997, pp. 58–59
131. Winternitz 1972, p. 11
132. Gerald James Larson (1981), "The Song Celestial: wT o centuries of the Bhagavad Gita in English",Philosophy East
and West: A Quarterly of Comparative Philosophy, University of Hawai'i Press,31 (4): 513–40, doi:10.2307/1398797
(https://doi.org/10.2307%2F1398797), JSTOR 1398797 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/1398797).
133. Miller 1986, pp. 14–17
134. Bloom 1995, p. 531
135. Doniger, Wendy (August 1993), "Obituary: Barbara Stoler Miller",Journal of Asian Studies, 52 (3): 813–15,
doi:10.1017/S002191180003789X(https://doi.org/10.1017%2FS002191180003789X) , JSTOR 2058944 (https://ww
w.jstor.org/stable/2058944)
136. What had previously been known of Indian literature in Germany had been translated from the English.
Winternitz
1972, p. 15
137. [url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/after-selling-580-mn-books-gita-press-facing-existential-
crisis-115090700780_1.html|title=After selling 580 mn books, Gita Press faces labour crisis |work=Business
Standard]
138. Bhagavadgita, Chennai, India: Bharati Publications, 1997
139. Template:Url=http://files.krishna.com/2016/01-Jan/BBT Books Printed SEP15.pdf
140. Adluri & Bagchee 2014, p. 75-79, 279, 433.
141. Adluri & Bagchee 2015, p. 2.
142. Adluri & Bagchee 2014, p. 75-79, 289.
143. Adluri & Bagchee 2014, p. 79.
144. Adluri & Bagchee 2014, p. 279-280.
145. Adluri & Bagchee 2014, p. 319.
146. Adluri & Bagchee 2014, p. 320.
147. "Gita is India's biggest gift to the world: Modi"(https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Gita-is-Indias-biggest-gift-to-t
he-world-Modi/articleshow/41530350.cms).
148. "Narendra Modi gifts Bhagavad Gita to Obama"(http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/narendra-modi-gif
ts-bhagavad-gita-to-obama/).
149. Khushwant Singh, Review of The Book of Prayer by Renuka Narayanan(http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?2
11656), 2001
150. Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavad Gita
, by Robert Neil Minor, 1986, p. 161
151. Hijiya, James A. The Gita of Robert Oppenheimer"Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society , 144, no. 2 (h
ttp://www.amphilsoc.org/sites/default/files/proceedings/Hijiya.pdf) (PDF). Retrieved 23 December 2013.
152. Pandit 2005, p. 27
153. Hume 1959, p. 29
154. "The Telegraph – Calcutta : Opinion"(http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021114/asp/opinion/story_1363040.asp).
telegraphindia.com.
155. Londhe 2008, p. 191
156. "Dr Kalam, India's Most Non-Traditional President" (http://www.ndtv.com/opinion/dr-kalam-indias-most-non-traditional
-president-1201311?site=full).
157. "Kalam a puppet of votebank politics"(http://archive.mid-day.com/news/2002/jun/25726.htm).
158. "Kalam And Islam" (http://www.outlookindia.com/article/kalam-and-islam/216493).
159. "Kalam, Islam and Dr Rafiq Zakaria"(http://www.rediff.com/news/2002/jun/22sai.htm).
160. "India was his Gurukul and its people, his shishyas"(http://www.rediff.com/news/special/tarun-vijay-india-was-his-gur
ukul-and-its-people-his-shishyas/20150728.htm?sc_cid=twshare) .
161. See Robert Oppenheimer#Trinity for other refs
162. https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=3988

Sources

Printed sources
Adluri, Vishwa; Bagchee, Joydeep (2014),The Nay Science: A History of German Indology
, Oxford University Press
Adluri, Vishwa; Bagchee, Joydeep (2015),The Real Threat to the Humanities Today: Andrew Nicholson, The Nay
Science, and the Future of Philology(PDF)
Aurobindo, Sri (2000),Essays on the Gita, SriAurobindoAshram Publication Dept,ISBN 978-81-7058-612-8
Bansal, J. L. (2013), Srimad Bhagavadgita (The Vedanta Text)|, JPH, Jaipur, India, ISBN 978-1-4923-0465-4
Bloom, Harold (1995),The Western canon : the books and school of the ages (1st Riverhead ed.), New York:
Riverhead Books, ISBN 978-1-57322-514-4
Bose, Buddhadeva (1986),The Book of Yudhisthir: A Study of the Mahabharat of Vyas, Orient Blackswan,
ISBN 978-0-86131-460-7
Chidbhavananda, Swami (1997),The Bhagavad Gita, Tirupparaitturai: Sri Ramakrishna Tapovanam, ISBN 978-81-
8085-147-6
Chinmayananda, Swami(1998), Shreemad Bhagawad Geeta chapter I & II: original Sanskrit text with Roman
transliteration, word-for-word meaning, translation and commentary (revised ed.), Mumbai, India: Central Chinmaya
Mission Trust, ISBN 81-7597-084-7
Chinmayananda, Swami (2007),Art of Manmaking, Chinmaya Publications,ISBN 978-81-7597-060-1
Clarke, John James (1997),Oriental enlightenment, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-13375-3
Coburn, Thomas B. (1991),Encountering the Goddess: A Translation of the Devī-Māhātmya and a Study of Its
Interpretation, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-0446-1
Cornille, Catherine (2006),Song Divine: Christian Commentaries on the Bhagavad Gītā
, Peeters Publishers,
ISBN 978-90-429-1769-9
Davis, Richard H. (2014),The "Bhagavad Gita": A Biography, Princeton University Press
Deutsch, Eliot; Dalvi, Rohit (2004),The Essential Vedānta: A New Source Bookof Advaita Vedānta, World Wisdom,
Inc, ISBN 978-0-941532-52-5
Easwaran, Eknath (2007),The Bhagavad Gita, Nilgiri Press, ISBN 978-1-58638-019-9
Easwaran, Eknath (1975),The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living Volume 1, Berkeley, California: The Blue Mountain
Center of Meditation, ISBN 978-0-915132-17-1
Easwaran, Eknath (1979),The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living Volume 2, Berkeley, California: The Blue Mountain
Center of Meditation, ISBN 978-0-915132-18-8
Easwaran, Eknath (1984),The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living Volume 3, Berkeley, California: The Blue Mountain
Center of Meditation, ISBN 978-0-915132-19-5
Easwaran, Eknath (1993),The End of Sorrow: The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living (vol 1)
, Berkeley, California: Nilgiri
Press, ISBN 978-0-915132-17-1
Egenes, Thomas (2003),Introduction To Sanskrit, Motilal Banarsidass Publ.,ISBN 978-81-208-1693-0
Feuerstein, George; Feuerstein, Brenda (2011),The Bhagavad-Gita, Shambhala
Fischer, Louis (2010), Gandhi: His Life and Message for the World, Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated,ISBN 978-0-
451-53170-4
Flood, Gavin (1996), An Introduction to Hinduism, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,ISBN 0-521-43878-0
Fowler, Jeaneane D (2012), The Bhagavad Gita: A Text and Commentary for Students, Eastbourne: Sussex
Academy Press, ISBN 978-1-84519-520-5
Gambhirananda, Swami (1997),Bhagavadgītā: With the commentary of Śaṅkarācārya, Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama,
ISBN 81-7505-041-1
Gambhirananda, Swami (1998),Madhusudana Sarasvati Bhagavad Gita: With the annotation Gūḍhārtha Dīpikā,
Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama,ISBN 81-7505-194-9
Gandhi, Mahatma (2009),The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi, North Atlantic Books,ISBN 978-1-55643-800-4
Gyaānadeva; Pradhan, Vitthal Ganesh (1987), Lambert, Hester Marjorie, ed., Jnāneshvari: Bhāvārthadipikā,
UNESCO Collection of Representative Works: Indian Series, Albany, NY, USA: SUNY Press, p. ix,ISBN 978-0-
88706-487-6
Hacker, Paul; Halbfass, Wilhelm (1995),Philology and Confrontation: Paul Hacker on T
raditional and Modern
Vedānta, SUNY Press, ISBN 978-0-7914-2581-7
Hiltebeitel, Alf (2002), Hinduism. In: Joseph Kitagawa, "The Religious T
raditions of Asia: Religion, History, and
Culture", Routledge, ISBN 978-1-136-87597-7
Hudson, Dennis (2002),Early Evidence of the Pancaratra Agama as Chapter 8 in The Roots ofantra,
T SUNY Press
Hume, Robert E. (1959),The World's Living Religions, ISBN 978-1-56390-160-7
Isherwood, Christopher (1965),Ramakrishna and His Disciples, Vedanta Press, ISBN 978-0-87481-037-0
Johnston, Charles (2014) [1908],The Bhagavad Gita: The Songs of the Master, Kshetra Books, ISBN 978-1-4904-
5140-4
Jones, Constance; Ryan, James D. (2007),Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Infobase Publishing, ISBN 978-0-8160-7564-
5
Keay, John (2000), India: A History, Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-3797-0
King, Richard (2002), Orientalism and Religion: Post-Colonial Theory
, India and "The Mystic East", Taylor & Francis
e-Library
Krishnananda, (Swami.) (1980),The Philosophy of the Bhagavadgita, The Divine Life Society, ISBN 978-81-7052-
077-1
Londhe, Sushama (2008),A tribute to Hinduism: thoughts and wisdom spanning continents and time about India and
her culture, Pragun Publication, ISBN 978-81-89920-66-1
Mahesh Yogi, Maharishi (1990), Maharishi Mahesh Yogi on the Bhagavad-Gita : A New Translation and
Commentary, Chapters 1–6, Penguin Books; Reprint edition,ISBN 0-14-019247-6
Malinar, Angelika (2007), The Bhagavadgita, Cambridge University Press,ISBN 978-1-139-46905-0
Michaels, Axel (2004),Hinduism: Past and present, Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University Press
Miller, Barbara Stoler (1986),The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War, Columbia University Press,
ISBN 0-231-06468-3
Miller, Barbara (2004), The Bhagavad-Gita, Random House LLC,ISBN 978-0-553-90039-2
Minor, Robert N. (1986), Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavadgita
, Albany, New York: State University of New
York, ISBN 0-88706-297-0
Nicholson, Andrew J. (2010),Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History
, New York:
Columbia University Press,ISBN 978-0-231-14986-0
Nicholson, Andrew J. (2014),Lord Siva's Song: The Isvara Gita, Albany, New York: State University of New York,
ISBN 978-1-4384-5101-5
Nikhilananda, Swami; Hocking, William E. (2006),The Bhagavad Gita, Kessinger Publishing,ISBN 978-1-4254-
8607-5
Pandit, Bansi (2005), Explore Hinduism, Heart of Albion, ISBN 978-1-872883-81-6
Patchen, Nancy Freeman (1994),Journey of a Master, Chinmaya Mission, ISBN 978-81-7597-305-3
Radhakrishnan, S. (1993),The Bhagavadgītā, Harper Collins, ISBN 81-7223-087-7
Ramsukhdas, Swami (1994).Srimad Bhagavadgita (in Sanskrit and Hindi).Gorakhpur, India: Gita Press []. ISBN 81-
293-0001-X. Archived from the original on 13 July 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2014.
Raju, P.T. (1992), The Philosophical Traditions of India, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited
Ranganathananda, (Swami)(2000), Universal message of the Bhagavad Gita: An exposition of the Gita in the light
of modern thought and modern needs (Vol. 1), 1, Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama,ISBN 81-7505-213-9
Rao, Vasudeva (2002), Living Traditions in Contemporary Contexts: The Madhva Matha of Udupi, Orient Blackswan,
ISBN 978-81-250-2297-8
Robinson, Catherine A. (2006),Interpretations of the Bhagavad-Gītā and Images of the Hindu radition:
T The Song of
the Lord, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-34671-9
Sahadeo, Ramnarine (2011),Mohandas K. Gandhi: Thoughts, Words, Deeds
, Xlibris Corporation, ISBN 978-1-4653-
4282-9
Sampatkumaran, M. R. (1985),The Gītābhāṣya of Rāmānuja, Bombay: Ananthacharya Indological Research
Institute
Sargeant, Winthrop (2009),The Bhagavad Gītā: Twenty-fifth AnniversaryEdition, Albany: State University of New
York Press, ISBN 978-1-4384-2841-3
Schouler, Kenneth; Anthony, Susai (2009), The Everything Hinduism Book: Learn the traditions and rituals of the
"religion of peace", Adams Media
Scheepers, Alfred (2000),De Wortels van het Indiase Denken, Olive Press
Schweig, Graham M. (2007),Bhagavad-Gītā: The Beloved Lord's Secret Love Song
, HarperOne/Harper Collins
Publishers, ISBN 978-0-06-199730-3
Sharma, Namrata (2008),Makiguchi and Gandhi: Their Education Relevance for the 21st Century
, University Press
of America, ISBN 978-0-7618-4068-8
Singh, Karan (2005), Hinduism, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd
Singh, R. Raj (2006), Bhakti and philosophy, Lexington Books, ISBN 0-7391-1424-7
Sivananda, Swami (1995),The Bhagavad Gita, The Divine Life Society, ISBN 81-7052-000-2
Southgate, Christopher (2005),God, Humanity and the Cosmos – 2nd edition: A Companion to the Science-Religion
Debate, Continuum International Publishing Group,ISBN 978-0-567-03016-0
Tambyah, Tambi-Piḷḷai Isaac (1925), A Comparative Study of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity
, Indian Book
Gallery, ISBN 978-81-7755-915-6
Tapasyananda, Swami (1990),Śrīmad Bhagavad Gītā, Sri Ramakrishna Math,ISBN 81-7120-449-X
Theodor, Ithamar (2010), Exploring the Bhagavad Gitā: Philosophy
, Structure, and Meaning, Ashgate Publishing,
Ltd., ISBN 978-0-7546-6658-5
Tilak, Bal Gangadhar (1924),Srimad Bhagavad Gita Rahasya, Creative Commons license: CC0 1.0 Universal
Upadhyaya, Kashi Nath (1998),Early Buddhism and the Bhagavadgītā, Motilal Banarsidass Publ,ISBN 978-81-208-
0880-5
Vivekananda, Swami, "Thoughts on the Gita", The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda, 4, Advaita Ashrama
Vivekananda, Swami (1998),Thoughts on the Gita, Delhi: Advaita Ashrama,ISBN 81-7505-033-0
 Winternitz, Maurice (1972),History of Indian Literature, New Delhi: Oriental Books
Wood, Ernest (1954), The Bhagavad Gīta Explained. With a New and Literal Translation, Los Angeles: New Century
Foundation Press
Yogananda, Paramahansa (1993),God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita, Self Realization Fellowship Publ.,
ISBN 978-0-87612-031-6
Zaehner, R. C. (1969), The Bhagavad Gītā, Oxford University Press,ISBN 0-19-501666-1
Yogananda, Paramahansa (2007),The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita, Compression from the two volumes "The
Bhagavad Gītā" of Yogananda, Self Realization Fellowship, ISBN 978-0876120330

Online sources
1. "Hinduism" (http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266312/Hinduism/59830/The-Bhagavadgita). Encyclopædia
Britannica.
2. "Gita Introduction" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/intro.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved
2 October 2011.
3. see "The Mahabharata (Electronic text)"(http://bombay.indology.info/mahabharata/statement.html). Bhandarkar
Oriental Research Institute, Pune. 1999.
4. "Gita Dhyana Slokas" (https://web.archive.org/web/20061001234237/http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/sanskrit/gita/dhyana.ph
p). SDL, IIT Madras. Archived fromthe original (http://acharya.iitm.ac.in/sanskrit/gita/dhyana.php)on 1 October
2006. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
5. "Chapter 1, Visada Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-01.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–2009
U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
6. "Chapter 2, Sankhya Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-02.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–2009
U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
7. "Chapter 3, Karma Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-03.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–2009
U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
8. "Chapter 4, Gyaana Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-04.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–2009
U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
9. "Chapter 5, Karma Vairagya Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-05.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–
2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
10. "Chapter 6, Abhyasa Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-06.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–2009
U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
11. "Chapter 7, Paramahamsa ViGyaana yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-07.html). Bhagavad-Gita
Trust 1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
12. "Chapter 8, Aksara-Parabrahman yoga"(http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-08.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust
1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
13. "Chapter 9, Raja-Vidya-Guhya Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-09.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust
1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
14. "Chapter 10, Vibhuti-Vistara Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-10.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–
2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
15. "Chapter 11, Visvarupa-Darsana Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-11.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust
1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
16. "Chapter 12, Bhakti Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-12.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–2009
U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
17. "Chapter 13, Ksetra-Ksetrajna Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-13.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust
1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
18. "Chapter 14, Gunatraya-Vibhaga Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-14.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust
1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
19. "Chapter 15, Purusottama Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-15.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust 1998–
2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
20. "Chapter 16, Daivasura-Sampad-Vibhaga Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-16.html). Bhagavad-
Gita Trust 1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
21. "Chapter 17, Sraddhatraya-Vibhaga Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-17.html). Bhagavad-Gita
Trust 1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
22. "Chapter 18, Moksha-Opdesa Yoga" (http://www.bhagavad-gita.org/Gita/chapter-18.html). Bhagavad-Gita Trust
1998–2009 U.S.A. Retrieved 17 July 2012.
23. "What Is Swadharma?"(http://www.artofliving.org/what-swadharma). artofliving.org.
24. Klaus Glashoff. "Sanskrit Dictionary for Spoken Sanskrit"(http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?script=HK&beginning=
0+&tinput=+svabhava&trans=Translate&direction=AU). spokensanskrit.de.
25. "Reading the Bhagavad Gita today"(https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/on-faith/wp/2013/07/24/reading-the-bha
gavad-gita-today/). OnFaith.
26. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda."Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Verse 5.11" (http://www.iskconpress.com/books/bg/
5/11).
27. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda."Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Verse 12.6–7" (http://www.iskconpress.com/books/
bg/12/6-7).
28. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda."Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Verse 13.31" (http://www.iskconpress.com/books/b
g/13/31).
29. A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda."Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, Verse 13.35" (http://www.iskconpress.com/books/b
g/13/35).
30. "Bhagavad Gita in Braille Language"(http://zeenews.india.com/news/lifestyle/bhagwad-gita-in-braille-language_4110
03.html). Zee News. 3 December 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
31. Tommasini, Anthony (14 April 2008)."Fanciful Visions on the Mahatma's Road to Truth and Simplicity" (https://www.n
ytimes.com/2008/04/14/arts/music/14saty.html). The New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
32. Tommasini, Anthony (7 November 2008)."Warrior Prince From India Wrestles With Destiny" (https://www.nytimes.co
m/2008/11/07/arts/music/07arju.html). The New York Times. Retrieved 16 October 2009.
33. "40th National Film Awards" (http://iffi.nic.in/Dff2011/Frm40thNFAAward.aspx). India International Film Festival.
Retrieved 2 March 2012.
34. "40th National Film Awards (PDF)" (http://dff.nic.in/2011/40th_nff_1993.pdf) (PDF). Directorate of Film Festivals.
Retrieved 2 March 2012.

Further reading
Davis, Richard H. (2014),The "Bhagavad Gita": A Biography, Princeton University Press
Palshikar, Sanjay. Evil and the Philosophy of Retribution: Modern Commentaries on the Bhagavad-Gita
(Routledge,
2015).
Bhagavad Gita Shloka in Sanskrit, mp3

Swami Mukundananda commentary on Bhagavad Gita

Online commentary by Swami Mukundananda

External links
Sanskrit Wikisource has original text related to this article:भगव गीता
Works related to The Bhagavad Gita (Arnold translation)at Wikisource
Bhagavad Gita at Curlie (based on DMOZ)
Project Gutenberg: The Song Celestial; Or, Bhagavad-Gîtâ (from the Mahâbhârata) by Sir Edwin Arnold
Sanskrit English translation[1]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bhagavad_Gita&oldid=831249689

"

This page was last edited on 19 March 2018, at 16:12.

Text is available under theCreative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this
site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of theWikimedia
Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.