Swami Satchidananda - The Living Gita: The Complete Bhagavad Gita: a Commentary for Modern Readers

The Complete Bhagavad Gita

A Commentary for Modern Readers

By Sri Swami Satchidananda

Buckingham, Virginia, USA

Printed in the United States Of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Satchidananda, Swami

The Living Gita: The Complete Bhagavad Gita

Includes index.

1. Bhagavad Gita Criticism, interpretation, etc.

1. Title

BLII38.66.S28 1988 294.5924 84-27861

ISBN 978-0-932040-27-5

1st Printing - 1988

2nd printing (Henry Holt & Company), Inc. edition) - 1990

3rd printing - 1997

4th printing - 2000

5th printing - 2003

6th printing - 2005

7th printing - 2008

8th printing - 2013

Copyright 1988, 2013 by Satchidananda Ashram - Yogaville.

All Rights Reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher or the copyright holder.

Integral Yoga Publications

Satchidananda AshramYogaville, Inc., Buckingham, Virginia 23921 U.S.A.

www.Yogaville.org

Books by Sri Swami Satchidananda

Beyond Words

Enlightening Tales

The Golden Present

The Healthy Vegetarian

Heaven on Earth

Integral Yoga Hatha

Kailash Journal

The Living Gita

To Know Your Self

Yoga Sutras of Patanjali

Bound To Be Free: The Liberating Power of Prison Yoga

Integral YogaPocket Collection featuring the Art of Peter Max

Meditation

The Key to Peace

Overcoming Obstacles

Adversity and Awakening

Satchidananda Sutras

Gems of Wisdom

Pathways to Peace

How to Find Happiness

The Be-Attitudes

Everything Will Come to You

Thou Art That

How to Know Your Self

Free Yourself

The Guru Within

Golden Moments

Books about Sri Swami Satchidananda:

Sri Swami Satchidananda: Apostle of Peace

Sri Swami Satchidananda: Portrait of a Modern Sage

Boundless Giving: The Life and Service of Sri Swami Satchidananda

The Masters Touch

Films about Sri Swami Satchidananda (DVDs):

Living Yoga: The Life and Teachings of Swami Satchidananda

Many Paths, One Truth: The Interfaith Message of Swami Satchidananda

The Essence of Yoga: The Path of Integral Yoga with Swami Satchidananda

In the Footsteps of a Master: The 1970 World Peace Tour

Journey with a Master

For complete listing of books, CDs and DVDs: www.iydbooks.com

Contents

Scriptures ought to be read again and again. If any of the lines here catch your eye and your heart, read them often. Learn them by heart and apply them in your life. You dont even need a whole sentence, not even half a sentence. Just a quarter of one line is enough to lift you like a rocket, not just to the moon or Mars, but to the heavenly sun itself.

His Holiness Sri Swami Satchidananda

Foreword

There have been many commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, and there is room for many more. The Gita forms part of the epic poem of the Mahabharata and belongs to the culture of ancient India, but it has a message for all times and all places. Today, especially, the message of the Gita is coming with renewed meaning and value to Western Europe and America. Swami Satchidananda is one of the pioneers who have been able to interpret the Gita for the West with a power, which has changed peoples lives. This new commentary is therefore to be welcomed by all who treasure the wisdom of India and want to see it brought to bear on the problems of the West.

The Bhagavad Gita tells the story of how Arjuna, the great warrior, is seated in his chariot about to engage in battle, when he sees his own kinsmen and his revered teacher arrayed in battle against him, and he feels that he cannot fight. It is then that Krishna, the Cosmic Lord, comes to counsel him. The interrelation of this is that Arjuna represents the human soul seated in the chariot of the body and Krishna is the inner Spirit, the God within, who is there to counsel him. Today we see humanity divided against itself and threatened with nuclear war and mutual destruction. No political means are adequate to deal with this problem, and many are driven to despair. It is then that the message of the Gita comes to teach us that it is only when we rise above human schemes and calculations and awaken to the presence of the indwelling Spirit that we can hope to find an answer to our need.

Father Bede Griffiths, OSB Cam

Shantivanam

Tamil Nadu, India

Foreword

The Living Gita is the title of this book so beautifully written by Sri Swami Satchidananda. His life, with its ripeness in experience, gives a real commentary to the Gita. It is the calm and collected mind, far from the maddening materialism, that can enjoy the essence of the Gita to its fullest form. Sri Swamiji is one of the authorities or Adhikaris who can give us the commentary on the Gita. From Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sri Swami Sivananda and Sri Aurobindo up to the modern scholarslike Tilak, Gandhi, Vinoba, Swami Chinmayananda, Swami Chidbhavananda and Dr. Radhakrishnanall have enjoyed the nectar of the Gita which is known as Dugdham Gitammtam Mahat! The Gita has enchanted great Western scholars like Thoreau, who in ecstasy remarked: In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.

Such a great work has been taken on by Swami Satchidananda. There is a reason behind it. Whether he is aware of the great quality he possesses or not, all his listeners and readers are very much aware of that quality; that is the simplicity and clarity of his expression. The Bhagavad Gita, through his pen, finds a lucid expression and meaning very essential for a modern reader. His words reach the very depth of the heart of the reader. What else should the expression need? Rhetoric, rhythm and rhyme are not that essential as the simplicity and sincerity of thought. Sri Swamiji is the foremost in that art. His listeners would certainly agree with this remark of mine. I am honored to write these words in this book of great significance.