Book Review

Bhagavad Gita Saram

Part 2 (Chapters 7-12): Original Tamil commentary by Tirukkallam Narasimharaghavachariar, N. Jagannathan - Tr. in English; TCN Trust, 124, 4th Street, Abhiramapuram, Chennai 600 018. Rs.100.

The Bhagavad Gita, one of the three most important sacred texts of Hindu philosophy (the other two being the Upanishads and the Brahmasutras) has been extensively and exhaustively commented upon.

Prominent among these commentaries are the ones by Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhva with further glosses by their followers like Anandagiri, Vedanta Desika and Jayatirtha.

The Gita comprising 18 chapters is generally divided into three sections of six chapters each. The first section deals with Karma yoga and Jnana yoga; the middle one with Bhakti yoga and the third and last elaborates on the finer points of the earlier portions, culminating in the theory of Saranagati (Self-surrender). The earliest Vaishnavite scholar to comment on the Gita was Yamuna or Alavandar (10th Century AD) who wrote a terse commentary in just 32 verses in Sanskrit, known as the Gitarthasangraha followed by Ramanuja and Vedanta Desika.

V N Gopala Desikachariar

© "The Hindu" (dated July 26, 2005). Website: www.thehindu.com.

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