Myth and Reality in ‘Myth and Reality’1

This short piece is in response to Part I of the book Myth and Reality: Studies in the Formation of Indian Culture written by
D D Kosambi in 1962. The first part of the book, titled ‘Social and Economic Aspects of the Bhagavad-Gita’ deals with the
philosophical, ethical, and historical aspects of the Gita. My knowledge, though limited, is restricted to the philosophical
and ethical aspects of the Gita, which is my primary concern in this article. In some places, I have taken the liberty to make
some remarks about the historical aspects, but mostly on generic terms.

Hari Ravikumar
February 2011

“The Gita has attracted minds of bents entirely different from each other and from that of Arjuna. Each has interpreted
the supposedly divine words so differently from all the others that the original seems far more suited to raise doubts and
to split a personality than to heal an inner division. Any moral philosophy which managed to receive so many variant
interpretations from minds developed in widely different types of society must be highly equivocal. No question
remains of its basic validity if the meaning be so flexible.”2

Just because different people view the same thing in different ways, it doesn’t imply that the subject or
object under consideration is flawed. Considering the case of the Gita, the very fact that so many
people have interpreted it in different ways over time indicates that they have all found the text rather
interesting. They have found it worthwhile to spend their time and understand the text in their own
way. Also, expecting everyone to understand a given topic in the same, identical manner is impossible.
Even a topic in the physical sciences, such as the nature of light, is often understood and interpreted
differently by different people. The authors of the Rgveda have eloquently stated, ‘The truth is one; the
wise call it by different names’ (ekam sat vipraḥ bahudhā vadanti3).

Go a step further and look at the minds that the Gita has attracted: Emerson, Thoreau, Oppenheimer,
Eliot, Schweitzer, Huxley, Jung, Schopenhauer, Hesse among others in the west; Gandhi, Tilak,
Nehru, Bhave, Rajaji, Radhakrishnan, Bharathiar among other Indians. The choice is eclectic yet this
includes only ‘secular’ minds; keep aside the spiritual leaders who were, almost unequivocally,
influenced by the Gita. See Appendix I for a better picture of the range of the Gita’s influence in the
past millennium.

“If a Mahabharata war had actually been fought on the scale reported, nearly five million fighting men killed each other
in an 18-day battle between Delhi and Thanesar…”4

From the description in the Mahabharata, the number is four times the figure that Mr. Kosambi
provides.
“In the Mahabharata, the Kaurava and Pandava armies had 11 and 7 akshauhinis respectively; a total of 18. One
akshauhini equals 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 horses and 109,350 foot soldiers. This easily adds up to
about 20 million deaths. As we know, only the Pandavas, Krishna and Ashwatthama survived. We can look at it
different ways:
1. Number is false. The number was boosted to show the impact, or the number was wrongly estimated.
2. Number is true. After all, this was the foremost war of the ancient world. Also this was the end of the dwapara yuga
and there were many people living at that time. The population problem is solved if we consider time as cyclic rather
than linear. We should not extrapolate 6.2 billion backwards to 3136 BC and say there were probably only few million
people in the world.
3. Problem of space. Assuming 20 million are dead, there comes a question of space. However this is not as unrealistic
as one would imagine. According to the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects report (2009 revision), the fourth
largest urban agglomerations in the world is Mumbai with a population of about 20 million in an area of about 1100 sq.
km (which is smaller than the modern-day district of Kurukshetra).”5

1
Written for Naresh Keerthi.
2
Kosambi, D. D. Myth and Reality: Studies in the Formation of Indian Culture. 4 Jan. 2009 <http://vidyaonline.org/arvindgupta/mythandreality.pdf>
(Hereafter referred to as M&R), pp. 17
3
Rgveda 1.164.46
4
M&R, pp. 17
5
Sreekrishna, Koti. “Casualties in the Kurukshetra War” (unpublished)
It is quite possible, however, that a war of such magnitude was not fought, but that hardly proves that a
battle was never fought. Considering the methods of collecting information present in those days, one
can easily imagine how people might have over-estimated the size of the army. In fact, excavations
carried out in and around Kurukshetra yielded weapons from that age. This might give some evidence
for the war. However, whether or not the great battle between the cousins took place is immaterial for
the study of the Gita, as we shall see later.

“We know that the Gita exercised a profound influence upon Mahatma Gandhi, B. G. Tilak, the 13th century
Maharastrian reformer Jnanesvar, the earlier Vaisnava acarya Ramanuja. and the still earlier Samkara. Though both
fought hard in the cause of India's liberation from British rule, Tilak and the Mahatma certainly did not draw concordant
guidance for action from the Gita. Aurobindo Ghose renounced the struggle for India's freedom to concentrate upon
study of the Gita. Lokamanya Tilak knew the Jnaneswari comment, but his Gita-rahasya is far from being based upon
the earlier work. Jnanesvar himself did not paraphrase Samkara on the Gita, nor does his very free interpretation follow
Ramanuja; tradition ascribes to him membership of the rather fantastic natha sect. Ramanuja's Vahnavism laid a secure
foundation for the acrid controversy with the earlier followers of Siva who came into prominence with the great
Samkara. But then, why did samkara also turn to the Bhagavad-gita? What common need did these outstanding thinkers
have that was at the same time not felt by ordinary people, even of their own class? They all belonged to the leisure-
class of what, for lack of a batter term, may be called Hindus.”6

It is rather strange that Mr. Kosambi should refer to them as a ‘leisure’ class when each one of the
names he has quoted―Gandhi, Tilak, Jnaneswar, Ramanuja, Shankara, and Aurobindo―were active
members of the society pursuing a great ideal. On what basis does Mr. Kosambi conclude that the Gita
did not influence ordinary people (while it appealed to these ‘outstanding thinkers’)?

“The consequent bias must not be ignored, for the great comparable poet-teachers from the common people did very
well without the Gita. Kabir, the Banaras weaver, had both Muslim and Hindu followers for his plain yet profound
teaching. Tukaram knew the Gita through the Jnaneswari, but worshipped Visnu in his own way by meditation upon
God and contemporary society in the ancient caves (Buddhist and natural) near the junction of the Indrayam and Patina
rivers. Neither Jayadeva's Gita-govinda, so musical and supremely beautiful a literary effort, (charged with the love and
mystery of Krsna's cult) nor the Visnuite reforms of Caitanya that swept the peasantry of Bengal off its feet were
founded on the rock of the Gita.”7

Texts of universal wisdom like the Gita need not be formally read, just like one need not read
Newton’s findings to acknowledge or comprehend gravity. Also, just because it is possible to
understand the universal wisdom of the Gita without formally reading it does not make it a vestigial
text. As for Chaitanya, he was a strong proponent of the Gita.

“We know as little of the historic action taken or instigated by Samkara and Ramanuja as we should have known of
Tilak’s had only his Gita-rahasya survived. Yet, about the year 800, Samkara was active in some manner that resulted—
according to tradition—in the abolition of many Buddhist monasteries. That this was achieved by his penetrating logic
and sheer ability in disputation is now, the general Hindu belief. The mass of writing left in his name, and what is given
therein as the Buddhist doctrine which he refutes, make only one thing clear: that he had not the remotest idea of
Gotama Buddha's original teaching.”8

Shankara wrote a commentary on the Gita as we know it today. In another part of his argument, Mr.
Kosambi says that BG2:55-72 would not have been possible without the influence of Buddhism9 and
here he says that Shankara did not have any idea of Buddha’s original teaching. In any case, is it
possible that Mr. Kosambi, born many centuries later, should know more about Buddha’s ‘original’
teachings as compared to Shankara, born only a few centuries later (or perhaps lesser)?

6
M&R, pp. 18
7
Ibid., pp. 18
8
Ibid., pp. 18-19
9
Ibid., pp. 20
 “The main conclusion is surely the following: Practically anything can be read into the Gita by a determined person,
without denying the validity of a class system. THE GITA FURNISHED THE ONE SCRIPTURAL SOURCE WHICH
COULD BE USED WITHOUT VIOLENCE TO ACCEPTED BRAHMIN METHODOLOGY, TO DRAW
INSPIRATION AND JUSTIFICATION FOR SOCIAL ACTIONS IN SOME WAY DISAGREEABLE TO A
BRANCH OF THE RULING CLASS upon whose mercy the brahmins depended at the moment. That the action was
not mere personal opportunism is obvious in each of the cases cited above It remains to show how the document
achieved this unique position.”10

The message of the Gita is quite clear and unambiguous if studied end to end and reflected upon. Quite
simply, it advocates action without attachments, self-control, purity, and tolerance. The class system
has been misunderstood and this is not a problem of the Gita, but of the society in general. The Gita
only says ‘do what you are supposed to do and don’t try to do something that it not your job’. Quite
contrary to what Mr. Kosambi claims, the Gita is often opposed to brahminical orthodox ideas of
‘study of scriptures as the highest goal’; it denounces rituals as often as it can; varna plays a cameo
while guna and karma take centre-stage; personal development is consistently the focus while
society/social action is a mere footnote; it is a highly inclusive text. The Vedic rituals were the power
of the Brahmins. If the Gita was sung for upper classes, why are the rituals condemned?11

“That the song divine is sung for the upper classes by the brahmins, and only through them for otters, is clear. We hear
from the mouth of Krsna himself (G.9.32): "For those who take refuge in Me, be they even of the sinful brands such as
women, vaisyas, and sudras.." That is, all women and all men of the working and producing classes are defiled by their
very birth, though they may in after-life be freed by their faith in the god who degrades them so casually in this one.”12

At that point of time, society looked down upon certain sections of people (sadly, this is the case even
to this day). Women, vaishyas, and shudras did not have access to the scriptures as they were regarded
as ‘sinful births’.

I’m not doing to digress into how people totally misunderstood the caste system and how it was a
classification based on labour, etc. but the point here is that irrespective of social status or gender or
race or scholarship, those who take refuge in the supreme will attain liberation.

“Not only that, the god himself had created such differences (G.4.13): "The four-caste (class) division has been created
by Me"; this is proclaimed in the list of great achievements. The doctrines are certainly not timeless.”13

It is strange that Mr. Kosambi fails to quote the other half of the verse. The complete verse is: ‘I have
brought forth the four basic traits, a classification based on guna and karma. Although I did this, know
me as the eternal non-doer and non-owner.’ (cāturvarṇyaṃ mayā sṛṣṭaṃ guṇakarmavibhāgaśaḥ tasya
kartāram api māṃ viddhy akartāram avyayam14)

This classification is based on guna (inherent nature of a person) and on karma (occupation, work); not
on gender or race or social status. If human nature has remained more or less same over centuries and
if the work that humans have been important for centuries, why is this doctrine not timeless? Further,
in BG 18.42-45, Krishna explains the characteristics of the people from the four varnas. Division of a
society based on occupation can be seen through the ages and across cultures.

“...the Gita as it stands could not possibly help any ksatriya in an imminent struggle, if indeed he could take his mind off
the battle long enough to understand even a fraction thereof. The ostensible moral is: "Kill your brother, if duty calls,

10
Ibid., pp. 19
11
Bhagavad-Gita 2:42-44, 4:12, 6:44 and 6:46
12
M&R, pp. 19
13
M&R, pp. 19
14
Bhagavad-Gita 4.13
 without passion; as long as you have faith in Me, all sins are forgiven." Now the history of India always shows not only
brothers but even father and son fighting to the death over the throne, without the slightest hesitation or need for divine
guidance.”15

In a war, it is fair to kill the opponents. It wasn’t as if the Kauravas and Pandavas suddenly descended
on the battlefield. The Pandavas left no stone unturned to ensure peace in the land. But it was
Duryodhana’s obstinacy that resulted in the war. Yudhistira pleads:
“Even this will end the quarrel. O Suyodhana, give unto thy five brothers at least five villages,– O Sanjaya, O thou of
great wisdom, let there be peace between us and our cousins. Tell him also,–Let brothers follow brothers, let sires unite
with sons. Let the Panchalas mingle with the Kurus in merry laughter. That I may see the Kurus and the Panchalas
whole and sound, is what I desire. O bull of the Bharata race, with, cheerful hearts let us make peace.”16

and Duryodhana responds (to Bhishma):

“Duryodhana said, ‘I challenge the Pandavas to battle, without depending upon thyself, Drona, or Aswatthaman, or
Sanjaya, or Vikarna, or Kamvoja, or Kripa, or Vahlika, or Satyavrata, or Purumitra, or Bhurisravas, or others of thy
party. But, O bull among men, only myself and Karna, O sire, are prepared to celebrate the sacrifice of battle with all
the necessary rites, making Yudhishthira the victim. In that sacrifice, my car will be the altar; my sword will be the
smaller ladle, my mace, the large one, for pouring libations; my coat of mail will be assembly of spectators; my four
steeds will be the officiating priests; my arrows will be the blades of Kusa grass; and fame will be the clarified butter. O
king, performing, in honour of Yama, such a sacrifice in battle, the ingredients of which will all be furnished by
ourselves, we will return victoriously covered with glory, after having slain our foes. Three of us, O sire, viz., myself
and Karna and my brother Dussasana,--will slay the Pandavas in battle. Either I, slaying the Pandavas, will sway this
Earth, or the sons of Pandu, having slain me, will enjoy this Earth. O king, O thou of unfading glory, I would sacrifice
my life, kingdom, wealth, everything, but would not be able to live side by side with the Pandavas. O venerable one, I
will not surrender to the Pandavas even that much of land which may be covered by the sharp point of a needle.’”17

So, we are not dealing with ‘brothers’ here, as Mr. Kosambi declares but with hardcore enemies, who
have in the first place instigated the war. And understanding the message of the Gita would help
anyone, and not just kshatriyas. Just take Krishna’s exhortation in the second chapter about losing
grace, about the immortality of the soul, about the importance of doing duty without being motivated
by results – all these are inspiring for anyone, and specially a kshatriya.

“...Krsna as he appears in the Mbh is singularly ill-suited to propound any really moral doctrine. The most venerable
character of the epic, Bhisma, takes up the greatest of Mbh parvans (Santi) with preaching morality on three important
questions: King-craft (raja-dharma), conduct in distress (apad-dharma), and emancipation (moksha-dharma). As regent,
he had administered the kingdom to which he had freely surrendered his own right. He had shown irresistible prowess
and incomparable knightly honour throughout a long life of unquestioned integrity... Bhisma seems eminently fitted to
teach rectitude. But Krsna? At every single crisis of the war, his advice wins the day by the crookedest of means which
could never have occurred to the others. To kill Bhisma, Sikhandin was used as a living shield against whom that
perfect knight would not raise a weapon, because of doubtful sex. Drona was polished off while stunned by the
deliberate false report of his son's death. Karna was shot down against all rules of chivalry when dismounted and
unarmed; Duryodhana was bludgeoned to death after a foul mace blow that shattered his thigh... When taxed with these
transgressions, Krsna replies bluntly at the end of the Satya-parvan that the man could not have been killed in any other
way, that victory could never have been won otherwise.”18

Krishna followed the most practical credo: “Treat people the way they deserve to be treated.” If
Krishna employed several seemingly unscrupulous methods to win a war, the Kauravas have a huge
share of misdeeds that we done outside of a war environment, in daily civilized life – be it the ploy in
the house of wax or the game of dice and the fourteen years of exile.

15
M&R, pp. 22
16
Ganguli, Kisari Mohan. The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa. (1883-1896) <http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/maha/index.htm> Book 5
Udyoga Parva, Section XXXI
17
Ibid., Section LVIII
18
M&R, pp. 22-23
 “Modern life is founded upon science and freedom. That is, modern production rests in the final analysis upon accurate
cognition of material reality (science), and recognition of necessity (freedom). A myth may grip us by its imagery, and
may indeed have portrayed some natural phenomenon or process at a time when mankind had not learned to probe
nature's secrets or to discover the endless properties of matter. Religion clothes some myth in dogma. "Science needs
religion" is a poor way of saying that the scientists and those who utilize his discoveries must not dispense with social
ethics. There is no need to dig into the Gita or the Bible for an ethical system sandwiched with pure superstition. Such
books can still be enjoyed for their aesthetic value. Those who claim more usually try to shackle the minds of other
people, and to impede man's progress, under the most specious claims.”19

Life – be it ancient or modern – has always been founded on comprehending ourselves and the world
around us. Science is one mode of learning and understanding. Myth is another; it serves a social
function that science cannot. Intuition or direct consciousness is yet another mode of knowing about
the world. Paths are many, and perhaps even the goals are many.

There is no need to dig into the Gita or the Bible for an ethical system, because we all know it as part
of our true nature. If we dig deep within ourselves, we will find it. This is in fact the contention of the
ancient scriptures (see BG 2:46 for example). While saying this, we cannot disputed that the Gita or
the Bible have a very clearly defined ethical system, however remotely different it may be from our
own and however disagreeable.

And here we come to the point of whether such an event took place at all, if there is some history to all
this myth. Perhaps there isn’t. Perhaps this is all a story, woven by a master story-teller as a summer
pastime. Perhaps the Gita was later added to the text of the Mahabharata and perhaps it was written by
several authors, who were Brahmins. It makes no difference to the value of the text what we have in
our hands today. A good approach would be to read the text and understand it in the light of our own
experiences and perceptions. If we don’t understand something, let us keep it aside for future enquiry
and let us try to implement what we do understand.

“Individual human perfection on the spiritual plane becomes much easier when every individual's material needs are
first satisfied on a scale agreed upon as reasonable by the society of his day. That is, the main root of evil is social. The
fundamental causes of social evil are no longer concealed from human sight. Their cure does not lie in theology but in
socialism; the application of modern science, based upon logical deduction from planned experiment, to the structure of
society itself. Science is at the basis of modem production; and no other tools of production are in sight for the
satisfaction of man's needs. Moreover, the material needs could certainly be satisfied for all, if the relations of
production did not hinder it.”20

The correlation between physical and spiritual needs was brought forth much earlier (in 1943) by
Abraham Maslow in his theory of hierarchy of needs where he outlined that unless physical needs
were satisfied, man could not progress to the needs of security, friendships, self-esteem, and finally to
self-actualization. This theory of human motivation is dated and in their extensive review of research
based on Maslow's theory, Wahba and Bridgewell found little evidence for the ranking of needs
Maslow described, or even for the existence of a definite hierarchy at all.21

Mr. Kosambi greatest failing is in that he wants everyone to appreciate the text in the same way as he
does. And his way of looking at the text is a pallid and clinical one which sadly makes him miss the
forest for the trees. Rudolf Steiner, the Austrian literary scholar and philosopher’s remark on the Gita
though written years before Mr. Kosambi would be appropriate for the latter:
“In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding, it is necessary to attune our
soul to it.”22

19
M&R, pp. 44
20
Ibid., pp. 44
21
Wahba, A and Bridgewell, L. "Maslow reconsidered: A review of research on the need hierarchy theory". Organizational Behavior and Human
Performance (1976) pp. 212–240
22
Mookerji, Radha Kumud. Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist (1990). Motilal-Banarasidass.
Appendix I
The influence of the Bhagavad-Gita has not been limited to a single period in history or a single place in the world; it has not been bound to a single
school of philosophy or a single sect of people. It transcends all boundaries and distinctions.

“If all the Upanishads are cows, Krishna, the cowherd boy, milks them. Arjuna is the calf, and the pure ones the partakers of the milk, which is the
supreme Gita.”
TRADITIONAL

“Though engaged in the performance of worldly duties, one who is regular in the study of the Gita becomes free. He is the happy man in this world. He is
not bound by karma.”
VARAHA PURANA

“From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the
teachings of the Vedic scriptures.”
SHANKARACHARYA (788-820)
INDIAN SAINT, PHILOSOPHER, AND PERPETUATOR OF ADVAITA PHILOSOPHY

“The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge.”
RAMANUJACHARYA (1017-1137)
INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND PERPETUATOR OF VISHISHTADVAITA PHILOSOPHY

“The Mahabharata has all the essential ingredients necessary to evolve and protect
humanity and that within it. The Bhagavad-Gita is the epitome of the Mahabharata just as ghee is the essence of milk and pollen is the essence of
flowers.”
MADHAVACHARYA (1238-1317)
INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, THEOLOGIAN, AND PERPETUATOR OF DVAITA PHILOSOPHY

“I advise everyone to follow the instructions of the Bhagavad-Gita as spoken by Lord Krishna.”
CHAITANYA MAHAPRABHU (1486-1533)
INDIAN ASCETIC, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND CHIEF PROPONENT OF GAUDIYA VAISHNAVISM

“The Bhagavad Gita teaches us that one attains union with God through knowledge, love and action. These three must develop together… this is integral
yoga.”
SAMARTH RAMDAS (1608-1682)
INDIAN SAINT, POET, AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER

“I hesitate not to pronounce the Geeta a performance of great originality, of a sublimity of conception, reasoning, and diction almost unequalled; and a
single exception, amongst all the known religions of mankind.”
WARREN HASTINGS (1754-1826)
FIRST GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF BRITISH INDIA

“This episode of the Mahabharata was the most beautiful; perhaps the only true
philosophical song existing in any known tongue …the deepest and loftiest thing the world has to show.”
WILHELM VON HUMBOLDT (1767-1835)
PRUSSIAN MINISTER OF EDUCATION, PHILOSOPHER, AND LINGUIST

“In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna thus raises the mind of his young pupil Arjuna when, seized with compunction at the sight of the arrayed hosts... Krishna
leads him to this point of view [the world is the empty delusion of the web of Maya], and the death of thousands can no longer retrain him; he gives the
sign for battle.”
ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER (1788–1860)
GERMAN PHILOSOPHER AND WRITER

“I read more of the Bhagavat Geeta and felt how surpassingly fine were the sentiments; these, or selections from this book should be included in a Bible
for Mankind.”
AMOS BRONSON ALCOTT (1799-1888)
US-AMERICAN WRITER, TEACHER, AND PHILOSOPHER

“I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavat Geeta. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large,
serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise
us.”
RALPH WALDO EMERSON (1803-1882)
US-AMERICAN TRANSCENDENTALIST PHILOSOPHER AND POET

“It is a wonderful book and has greatly excited my curiosity to know more of the religious literature of the East.”
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER (1807-1892)
US-AMERICAN QUAKER POET AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST
“In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmological philosophy of the Bhagvat Geeta… in comparison with which our modern world
and its literature seem puny and trivial.”
HENRY DAVID THOREAU (1817-1862)
US-AMERICAN TRANSCENDENTALIST PHILOSOPHER AND WRITER

“…probably the most beautiful book which has ever come from the hand of man.”
ÉMILE-LOUIS BURNOUF (1821-1907)
FRENCH ORIENTALIST, WRITER, AND RACIALIST

“In plain but noble language it unfolds a philosophical system which remains to this day the prevailing Brahmanic belief blending as it does the doctrine
of Kapila, Patanjali, and the Vedas.”
EDWIN ARNOLD (1832-1904)
ENGLISH POET, JOURNALIST, AND TRANSLATOR

“What is the significance of the Gita? It is what you find by repeating the word ten times. It is then reversed into ‘tagi’, which means a person who has
renounced everything.”
RAMAKRISHNA PARAMAHAMSA (1836-1886)
INDIAN ASCETIC AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER

“Among the priceless teachings that may be found in the great Hindu poem of the Mahabharata, there is none so rare and priceless as this.”
ANNIE BESANT (1847-1933)
IRISH THEOSOPHIST AND WRITER

“Bhagavad Gita is one of the most brilliant and pure gems of our ancient sacred books. It would be difficult to find a simpler work in Sanskrit literature
or even in all the literature of the world than the Gita, which explains to us in an unambiguous and succinct manner the deep, and sacred principles of the
sacred science of the self (atman), after imparting to us the knowledge of the human body and the cosmos, and on the authority of those principles
acquaints every human being with the most perfect and complete condition of the self…”
BAL GANGADHAR TILAK (1856-1920)
INDIAN NATIONALIST, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND FREEDOM-FIGHTER

“I believe that in all the living languages of the world, there is no book so full of true knowledge and yet so handy. To my knowledge, there is no book in
the whole range of the world’s literature as high above as the Bhagavad-Gita, which is the treasure-house of dharma not only for the Hindus but for all
mankind.”
MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA (1861-1946)
INDIAN FREEDOM-FIGHTER, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND FOUNDER OF BENARAS HINDU UNIVERSITY

“In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavad-Gita with full understanding, it is necessary to attune our soul to it.”
RUDOLF STEINER (1861-1925)
AUSTRIAN PHILOSOPHER, ARTIST, LITERARY SCHOLAR, AND FOUNDER OF ANTHROPOSOPHY

“The Bhagavad Gita represents one of the highest flights of the conditioned spirit to its unconditioned Source ever achieved.”
ELIZABETH LOUISA MORESBY A.K.A LILY ADAMS BECK (1862-1931)
BRITISH NOVELIST AND FANTASY WRITER

“…a magnificent flower of Hindu mysticism.”

COUNT MAURICE MAETERLINCK (1862-1949)
BELGIAN ESSAYIST, POET, AND PLAYWRIGHT

“A great landmark in the history of religion is here… religions of fear and of temptations were gone forever, and in spite of the fear of hell and temptation
of enjoyment in heaven, came the grandest of ideals, love for love’s sake, duty for duty’s sake, work for work’s sake. The human race will never again see
such a brain as his who wrote the Gita.”
SWAMI VIVEKANANDA (1863-1902)
INDIAN SPIRITUAL LEADER, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND FOUNDER OF THE RAMAKRISHNA MISSION

“The Bhagavad-Gita and the Upanishads contain such godlike fullness of wisdom on all things that I feel the authors must have looked with calm
remembrance back through a thousand passionate lives, full of feverish strife for and with shadows, ere they could have written with such certainty of
things which the soul feels to be sure.”
Æ GEORGE RUSSELL (1867-1935)
ANGLO-IRISH POET, PAINTER, AND WRITER

“The Bhagavad Gita is one of the noblest scriptures of India, one of the deepest
scriptures of the world… with many meanings, containing many truths…”
CHARLES JOHNSTON (1867-1935)
ENGLISH CIVIL SERVANT AND SCHOLAR

“…one of the greatest of the religious phenomena of the world... the earliest and still the greatest monument of Hindu religion.”
EDWARD JOSEPH THOMAS (1869-1958)
BRITISH AUTHOR, LIBRARIAN AND PALI SCHOLAR
“I find a solace in the Bhagavad-Gita that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face,
and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-Gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of
overwhelming tragedies”
MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI (1869-1948)
INDIAN POLITICIAN, FREEDOM-FIGHTER, AND LEADER OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE MOVEMENT

“The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race, a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for
every civilization.”
SRI AUROBINDO (1872-1950)
INDIAN NATIONALIST, EVOLUTIONARY PHILOSOPHER, AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER

“The charm of the Bhagavad-Gītā is due to this idea of spiritualised activity which springs only from the highest motives... The Bhagavad-Gītā has a
sphinx-like character. It contains such marvellous phrases about inner detachment from the world, about the attitude of mind which knows no hatred and
is kind, and about loving self-devotion to God, that we are wont to overlook its non-ethical contents. It is not merely the most read but also the most
idealised book in world-literature.”
ALBERT SCHWEITZER (1875-1965)
GERMAN-FRENCH PHYSICIAN, PHILOSOPHER, AND MUSICIAN

“…probably the most important single work ever produced in India; this book of eighteen chapters is not, as it has been sometimes called, a ‘sectarian’
work, but one universally studied and often repeated daily from memory by millions of Indians of all persuasions.”
ANAND KENTISH COOMARASWAMY (1877-1947)
INDIAN HISTORIAN, ART PHILOSOPHER, AND METAPHYSICIAN

“The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current in bygone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his
Timaeus in which it states: ‘behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant’. This correlation can be discerned by what Krishna expresses in chapter
15 of Bhagavad-Gita.”
CARL GUSTAV JUNG (1875-1961)
SWISS PSYCHIATRIST AND FOUNDER OF ANALYTICAL PSYCHOLOGY

“Uncounted millions have drawn from it comfort and joy. In it they have found an end to perplexity, a clear, if difficult, road to salvation.”
ARTHUR WILLIAM RYDER (1877-1938)
US-AMERICAN PROFESSOR, TRANSLATOR, AND WRITER

“The marvel of the Bhagavad-Gita is its truly beautiful revelation of life’s wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion.”
HERMAN HESSE (1877-1962)
GERMAN-SWISS POET, PAINTER, AND WRITER

“…one of the most authoritative sources of Hindu doctrine and ethics… A study of even selections from it… will enable young men and women to
understand the religion of our fathers, which is the background of all the noble philosophy, art, literature and civilization that we have inherited.”
CHAKRAVARTHI RAJAGOPALACHARI (1878-1972)
INDIAN LAWYER, STATESMAN, WRITER, AND LAST GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF INDIA

“...the Bhagavad-Gita, perhaps the most beautiful work of the literature of the world.”
COUNT HERMANN KEYSERLING (1880-1946)
GERMAN ARISTROCRAT, PHILOSOPHER, WRITER, AND PHILANTHROPIST

“…a work of imperishable significance …gives us profound insights that are valid for all times and for all religious life.”
JAKOB WILHELM HAUER (1881-1961)
GERMAN INDOLOGIST, TEACHER, AND WRITER

“…the noblest of scriptures and the grandest of sagas.”

KANHAIYALAL MANEKLAL MUNSHI (1887-1971)
INDIAN FREEDOM FIGHTER, LAWYER, POLITICIAN, AND FOUNDER OF BHARATIYA VIDYA BHAVAN

“The Gita is a gospel for the whole world. It is meant for the generality of mankind.”
SWAMI SIVANANDA SARASWATI (1887-1963)
INDIAN PHYSICIAN, SPIRITUAL TEACHER, AND FOUNDER OF THE DIVINE LIFE SOCIETY

“The Gita appeals to us not only by its force of thought and majesty of vision, but also by its fervor of devotion and sweetness of spiritual emotion.”
SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN (1888-1975)
INDIAN PHILOSOPHER, TEACHER, AND STATESMAN

“...very thankful for having had the opportunity to study the Bhagavad Gita and the religious and philosophical beliefs, so different from my own.”
THOMAS STEARNS ELIOT (1888-1965)
AMERICAN-BRITISH POET AND DRAMATIST
“The Bhagavad-Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet
keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe.”
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (1889-1964)
INDIAN FREEDOM-FIGHTER AND FIRST PRIME MINISTER OF INDEPENDENT INDIA

“...no other didactic poem is in a position, like the Gita, to combine – absolutely free from the hard limitations of a narrow-minded dogmatism – such a
variety of views and to offer to the readers of the most different schools and directions poetical pleasure, ethical teaching and religious edification.”
HELMUTH VON GLASENAPP (1891-1963)
GERMAN INDOLOGIST, RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR, AND WRITER

“The Bhagavad-Gita… contains… words of spiritual guidance that are timeless in their applicability by all truth-seekers.”
PARAMAHANSA YOGANANDA (1893–1952)
INDIAN YOGI, SPIRITUAL TEACHER, AND WRITER

“The Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever
revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity.”
ALDOUS HUXLEY (1894-1963)
ENGLISH ESSAYIST, WRITER, AND PHILOSOPHER

“In the Bhagavad Gita, there is no long discussion, nothing elaborate …everything stated in the Gita is meant to be tested in the life of every man; it is
intended to be verified in practice.”
VINOBA BHAVE (1895-1982)
INDIAN SPIRITUAL TEACHER AND SOCIAL REFORMER

“For almost everyone the Bhagavad-Gita is the book par excellence.”

LOUIS RENOU (1896-1966)
FRENCH INDOLOGIST, PROFESSOR, AND WRITER

“The greatness of the Bhagavad Gita is the greatness of the universe, but even as the wonder of the stars in heaven only reveals itself in the silence of the
night, the wonder of this poem only reveals itself in the silence of the soul.”
JUAN MASCARÓ (1897-1987)
SPANISH WRITER, TRANSLATOR, AND PROFESSOR

“[The Bhagavad Gita contains] the mental quintessence and successful synthesis of the various systems of religion and philosophy, it offers a unique
epitome of the high culture of prehistoric India.”
PAUL BRUNTON (1898-1981)
BRITISH PHILOSOPHER, MYSTIC, TRAVELER, AND AUTHOR

“It is impossible to do justice to the profound insights and philosophical majesty of the Bhagavad Gita as a whole. The Gita shows the way to live a
complete and satisfying life.”
HORACE ALEXANDER (1899-1989)
ENGLISH QUAKER, DIPLOMAT, WRITER, AND ORNITHOLOGIST

“We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu
scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and
says, ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.’ I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”
J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER (1904-1967)
US-AMERICAN THEORETICAL PHYSICIST AND SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR OF THE MANHATTAN PROJECT

“Which other religion has its God say, as Krishna does in the Bhagavad Gita, ‘All paths lead to me’?”
ROBERT CHARLES ZAEHNER (1913-1974)
BRITISH RELIGIOUS HISTORIAN AND INTELLIGENCE OFFICER

“The Gita can be seen as the main literary support for the great religious civilization of India, the oldest surviving culture in the world. It brings to the
West a salutary reminder that our highly activistic and one-sided culture is faced with a crisis that may end in self-destruction because it lacks the inner
depth of an authentic metaphysical consciousness.”
THOMAS MERTON (1915-1968)
US-AMERICAN TRAPPIST MONK, POET, WRITER, AND SOCIAL CRITIC

“Science describes structures and processes; philosophy attempts at their explanation. When such a perfect combination of both science and philosophy is
sung to perfection that Krishna was, we have in this piece of work an appeal both to the head and heart.”
SWAMI CHINMAYANANDA (1916-1993)
INDIAN JOURNALIST, SOCIAL REFORMER, AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER

“The Bhagavad-Gita is …a complete guide to practical life. It provides all that is needed to raise the consciousness of man to the highest possible level.”
MAHARISHI MAHESH YOGI (1917-2008)
INDIAN SPIRITUAL TEACHER AND FOUNDER OF TRANSCENDENTAL MEDITATION
“I was fortified by the Bhagavad Gita which taught that if one were morally right, one need not hesitate to fight injustice.”
BÜLENT ECEVIT (1925-2006)
TURKISH POLITICIAN, JOURNALIST, POET, AND FORMER PRIME MINISTER

“…the Gita’s popularity and authority have been unrivalled.”

JOHANNES VAN BUITENEN (1928-1979)
AMERICAN INDOLOGIST, PROFESSOR, AND WRITER

“The first psychological scripture… long before Freud, Adler and Jung.”
OSHO RAJNEESH (1931-1990)
INDIAN MYSTIC, PHILOSOPHER, AND SPIRITUAL TEACHER

“…one of the most famous and moving poems, the Bhagavad Gita, whose soaring beauty makes it one of the monuments of world literature. The
Bhagavad Gita is both supremely realistic and extremely idealistic, certainly the most acute, penetrating depiction of human nature and true morality,
however remote it may seem from our own.”
AMAURY DE RIENCOURT (B. 1918)
FRENCH HISTORIAN AND AUTHOR

“It answers all moral concerns and needs of the world, be it man’s quest for inner peace, his need for belonging to the rest of the human and natural
community, his concern for the environment, or his attitude towards work and attitude towards death. The Gita provides comprehensive and internally
consistent answers to all these concerns.”
ATAL BEHARI VAJPAYEE (B. 1924)
INDIAN FREEDOM-FIGHTER, POET, AND FORMER PRIME MINISTER

“The Gita is the greatest harmonizer of all yogas …once the Gita is made the guiding star of your life, the way you act will be karma yoga, the way you
feel will be bhakti yoga, the way you reason will be jnana yoga. What you do will be in line with dharma; what you feel will foster prema; what you think
will reveal satya.”
SATYA SAI BABA (B. 1926)
INDIAN SPIRITUAL LEADER AND SOCIAL REFORMER

“…the quest for Truth is the quest for God. This is the core teaching of all religions. The scientist’s motivation is to seek the very kind of truth that
Krishna speaks about in the Bhagavad Gita.”
HARVEY COX (B. 1929)
US-AMERICAN THEOLOGIAN, AUTHOR, AND PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY

“The Bhagavad Gita is par excellence the book of democracy; that is what gives it its peculiar radiance. It unites all men in the same principle which
‘resides in all hearts’. If Krishna makes no distinction between races, castes, sects, he also shows us how men, nations, can sink in the typhoon of
unchained passions. The message of the Gita is a universal call to democracy, liberty for the peoples, liberty for each individual. The great affirmation of
the Bhagavad Gita is that every individual, whatever he may be, rich or poor, can and must raise himself on life’s path and that he has a right to his
emancipation, social, intellectual, and spiritual.”
LOUIS REVEL (?)
FRENCH AUTHOR

BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR QUOTES

Books
Alexander, Horace. Consider India: An essay in values
Arnold, Edwin. The Song Celestial or Bhagavad-Gita.
Aurobindo, Sri. Essays on the Gita.
Beck, L. Adams. The Story of Oriental Philosophy
Berry, Thomas. Religions of India
Besant, Annie. The Bhagavad Gītā: The Lord’s Song.
Bhave, Vinoba. Talks on the Gita
Brunton, Paul. Indian Philosophy and Modern Culture
Chinmayananda, Swami. Sreemad Bhagawad Geeta: Chapter 1-3
Chinmayananda, Swami. The Holy Geeta
Coomaraswamy, Ananda. Hinduism and Buddhism
de Riencourt, Amaury. The Soul of India
Durant, Will. The Case for India
Dutt, K. Guru. Hindu Culture
Dutta, Mahendranath. The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
Galav, T. C. Philosophy of Hinduism - An Introduction
Gandhi, M. K. Harijan 24-8-1934
Goswami, Satsvarupa dasa. Readings in Vedic Literature
Hubert, Paul. Histoire de la Bhagavad-Gîtâ
Huchzermeyer, Wilfried & Zimmermann, Jutta. The Bhagavad Gita as a Living Experience
Jackson, Carl T. The Oriental Religions and American Thought (Nineteenth-Century Explorations)
Johnston, Charles. Bhagavad Gita: “The Song of the Master”
Keay, John. India Discovered
Lin Yutang (ed.). Wisdom of India
Maeterlinck, Maurice. The Great Secret
Mascaró, Juan. The Bhagavad Gita
Merton, Thomas. Thoughts on the East
Mookerji, Radha Kumud. Ancient Indian Education: Brahmanical and Buddhist
Natarajan, S. Main Currents in India Culture
Nehru, Jawaharal. Discovery of India
Osho. Inner War and Peace: Timeless Solutions to Conflict from the Bhagavad Gita
Patri, Umesh. Hindu Scriptures and American Transcendentalists
Prabhavananda, Swami & Isherwood, Christopher. The Song of God: Bhagavad Gita
Radhakrishnan, S. Introductory Essay to The Bhagavad-Gita
Radhakrishnan, Sarvepalli. The Bhagavadgītā
Rajagopalachari, Chakravarthi. Bhagavad-Gita. 4th ed.
Rao, S. R. The Lost City of Dvaraka
Renou, Marie-Simone. The India I Love
Revel, Louis.The Fragrance of India: landmarks for the world of tomorrow
Ryder, Arthur W. The Bhagavad Gita
Sathya Sai Speaks II, pp. 53-4
Schweitzer, Albert. Indian thought and its development
Singh, H. L. The Treasury of Hinduism
Singhal, D. P. India and World Civilization
Thoreau, Henry David. Walden; or, Life in the Woods.
Tilak, Bal Gangadhar. Srimad Bhagavadgītā Rahasya or Karma Yoga Sastra. Trans. Sukthankar, B. S.
van Buitenen, J. A. B. The Mahabharata
Versluis, Arthur. American Transcendentalism and Asian Religions
Vivekananda, Swami. Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
Works of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
Works of Madhavacharya
Works of Shankaracharya
Yogananda, Paramahamsa. God Talks with Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita
Yogi, Maharishi Mahesh. Bhagavad Gita
"Zaehner, Robert Charles. The Bhagavad-Gītā: With a Commentary Based on the Original Sources"

Others
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Movies/Movie8.shtml
http://www.vnn.org/world/9804/07-1732/index.html
The Telegraph, Calcutta - Thursday, November 14, 2002