Bhagavad Gita

Author
Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, popularly known as "Rajaji" or "C.R" was a great patriot, astute politician, incisive thinker, great visionary and one of the greatest statesmen of all time. He was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi, hailed as conscious- keeper of the Mahatma. As an ardent freedom-fighter, as Chief Minister of Madras, as Governor of West Bengal, as Home Minister of India and as the first Indian Governor-General of India he rendered yeoman service to the nation and left an indelible impress on our contemporary life.

Rajaji was closely associated with Kulapati Munshiji and he was among the distinguished founder-members of the Bhavan. The Bhavan had the privilege of publishing 18 books (see page ii) by him so far, the copyright of which he gifted to the Bhavan.

All of Rajaji's works, especially of Marcus Aurelius, the Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads are popular. In Ramayana and Mahabharata, he has displayed his inimitable flair for story-telling and applying the moral of stories to the needs of modern times.

Rajaji wrote not only in English but also in chaste Tamil, his mother-tongue. He was at his best as a short-story writer.

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the greatest scriptures expounding the creed, discipline and ideals of Hinduism. And no better exponent of the ideas contained in it can be found than Rajaji who was indisputably one of the greatest of Indian and who has dared to live strictly according to the precepts of that manual of correct living in the face of the challenges of a rife-torn political and public life.

Rajaji passed away in 1972 at the age of 94.

PREFACE
IT is a matter for great regret that the young men and women of our Universities know very much less about the Gita and the principles of Hindu religion than the undergraduates of European Universities know about the Bible and the principles of the Christian faith. We inherit in Hindu religion a body of thought which, in the opinion of those best fitted to judge, is the product of the highest efforts of intellect and imagination that ever were turned in that direction. Young men and women of any Western nation, had they inherited our philosophy, would have been as proud of it as of an empire.

This book has been written mainly to serve as a handbook for students. Reading these pages, if they find any thought in the text or in the explanation not satisfying, or wanting in clarity, or such as evokes disagreement, they should pursue the matter discussing it with fellow-students or consulting scholars. No Indian can consider himself as having attained a liberal education if he has not a sound knowledge of the principles of the great religious philosophy for which India is famous throughout the civilized world.

This little book is an attempt like what the father in the old story did with his sons, who were told to dig for treasure in the family garden. The gold was indeed found; not as coined treasure hidden away in a pot but as the reward of toil, a plentiful crop which the garden yielded for the digging. There is nothing in what the writer has himself written, but if the readers are induced to dig, the Gita, our precious patrimony, will yield a rich harvest for the striving soul.

Many suggestions were made after the issue of the first edition, to make subsequent issues more useful, for example that parallel quotations and Upanishad sources may be given, and that a bibliography may be added. All these may be very useful, but I have not accepted these suggestions, as I intend that this book should continue to be a beginner’s handbook, and I do not wish to aim at making it anything like a book for scholars.