'The Bhagavadgita' by S. Radhakrishnan: Book Review

05 September, 2012

The latest edition of 'The Bhagavadgita' authored by Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan has been published by Vedanta Press in 2009. The author being an eminent philosopher and interpreter of Vedic thought adds a new dimension to his commentary on the religious text.

THE BOOK is intended for the general readers in the West who wish to enlarge their spiritual insights without any religious tag. The author looks at the teaching of the Gita not as representing Hinduism but as a way of life with timeless universal appeal. He views the Gita from a world perspective with apt sprinkling of quotations from Greek, Roman and Christian thinkers and mystics.

Another good feature of the book is that it attempts to interpret the essence of the Gita without the limitations of the period of history and country it originated from. Despite this, the basic thought is consistent with this original intendment that the teaching of the Gita.

The India paperback of 388-page book is to be seen as a 'restatement of the truths of eternity in the accents of our time'. The book appears voluminous because of the verses of the Gita in the Roman script of transliteration of original Sanskrit Shlokas to make the 'great scripture a living value to mankind'.

According to the scripter the person has to fight the forces of darkness in the form of lust, ego, passion, anger, and greed which bar the way to the higher levels of awareness. According to the author the Gita affirms that we can spiritualize human nature to the level of divinity.

The author also finds the Gita as a comprehensive and multi-dimensional Yoga Sastra that shows various paths for the soul’s development and ascent into the divine. As he puts it, “The different Yogas are special applications of the inner discipline which lead to the liberation of the soul and a new understanding of the unity and meaning of mankind.” The Gita mandates action with the 'inner life anchored in the eternal spirit'.

Another good aspect of the book is introductory essay with transliterated Sanskrit text and explanatory notes on different pages. The book provides a good read for knowing phenomenal lessons of life and philosophy of living with a universal appeal.