Explanations of Essays on the Gita : Volume One

Description

In these talks delivered in 2006 and 2007, the author examines the first four chapters of Essays on the Gita. “Our Demand and Need from the Gita” clarifies that our true approach to the Gita is not an academic one but rather a search for its essential and living message: to help mankind seize its highest spiritual welfare. “The Divine Teacher” stresses the circumstances in which Sri Krishna delivers this essential message to Arjuna. He is the God in man towards whom all human life moves, the secret Master of works and sacrifice. In “The Human Disciple” Sri Aurobindo gives a psychological analysis of Arjuna, the human disciple who represents all of us. “The Core of the Teaching” considers various interpretations of the Gita before following the interaction between teacher and disciple, in which Arjuna is allowed the full freedom to question and argue with Sri Krishna until he finally receives the glorious, revelatory core of the Gita’s teaching.

In Sanskrit literature, there are various types of commentaries of which two are ṭīkā and bhāṣya. The first is a word-to-word exposition of the original text where the ṭīkākāra, or commentator unpacks every word without providing any extra subjective interpretation of the work. The bhāṣya, on the other hand, is a more elaborate commentary of the text whereby the author takes the liberty to develop the ideas presented therein in order to make the work more accessible and contextualised.

Dr V. Ananda Reddy’s two-volume set titled Explanations of Essays on the Gita are the transcriptions of his summary talks on the first seven chapters of Essays on the Gita that he delivered during classes held at the Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research (SACAR), Pondicherry, in 2006 and 2007. These two volumes based on Reddy’s talks serve as bhāṣyas on Sri Aurobindo’s work by providing enriching and practical perspectives not just about the content of the original text but also by relating them to the lives and teachings of The Mother and Sri Aurobindo, to their Integral Yoga and their philosophy of education with easily relatable examples and analogies from historical and contemporary scenarios to help us appreciate the relevance of the Gita in the modern context.

Pages: 270
Dimensions (en cms): 14×22

Publication : Sri Aurobindo Centre for Advanced Research Trust, Pondicherry
ISBN: 978-93-85391-24-8