I was fed up of second-hand observations and wanted to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth, as it were. I decided that the Gita should be next, as a text which had formed part of my outlook on life.
The Manusmriti was the text I first attacked, for the reasons I have explained in my blog (here on these pages). Armed with my high school Sanskrit and a dictionary, I set forth on this quest. I was also guilty of this, until lately, when I got this bee in my bonnet about reading up on all of India’s ancient literature in the original. Most learned people know a few verses which are quoted time and again, and which are considered to be its heart.
The Bhagavad Gita –roughly meaning “the Lord’s discourse on the philosophy of the Brahman” – is largely an unread text. Though it is an exhortation to the warrior to carry out his duty and fight regardless of consequences, it is supposed to contain the kernel of the Indian philosophy of life, death, rebirth and the attainment of everlasting bliss. This short Sanskrit text is purportedly a discourse given by Lord Krishna to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, when he was assailed by self-doubt at the moment of going into battle against his kith and kin. If someone asks a devout Hindu what his most sacred religious text is, you more likely than not to get the answer: “The Bhagavad Gita”.
