Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand 11

Yatharth Geeta -Swami Adgadanand Ji

PREFACE It appears that there is no need of any further exposition of the Geeta. Hundreds of commentaries, out of which more than fifty are in Sanskrit, have been attempted so far. But, although there are scores of interpretations, they have a common basis- the Geeta, which is only one. Why, then one may wonder, are there all these divergent opinions and controversies when Yogeshwar Krishn’s message must of necessity have been only one? The proclaimer verily speaks of truth that is only one, but if there are ten listeners they construe his meaning in ten different ways. Our grasp of what has been said is determined by the extent to which we are under the domination of one of the three properties of nature, namely, sattwa (moral virtue and goodness), rajas (passion and moral blindness), and tamas (ignorance and darkness). We cannot comprehend beyond the limitations imposed by these properties. So it is logical that there should be all these disputes about the import of the Geeta-”The Lord’s Song.” Men fall prey to doubts, not only because many different views are held on a given subject, but also because of the fact that the same principle is often enunciated in different ways and styles at different times. Quite a good many existing commentaries on the Geeta are touched by the current of truth, and yet if one of them-even a just and correct interpretation-is placed among a thousand other interpretations it is almost impossible to recognize it for what it is. Identification of truth is an onerous task, for even falsehood wears the “brows” of truth. The many expositions of the Geeta all profess that they represent truth even though they may not have any inkling of it. As against this, even when quite a good many interpreters did succeed in coming by this truth, for a number of reasons they were prevented from giving a public utterance to it.