Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavadgita

Contents: Preface. Introduction. 1. A lesson in Allegory: theosophical interpretations of the Bhagavadgita/Ronald W. Neufeldt. 2. Bankim Chandra Chatterji’s New Hinduism and the Bhagavadgita/Ajit Ray. 3. Tilak and the Bhagavadgita’s doctrine of Karmayoga/Robert W. Stevenson. 4. Sri Aurobindo as a Gita-yogin/Robert N. Minor. 5. Gandhi and the Bhagavadgita/J. T. F. Jordens. 6. Vinoba Bhave’s Talks on the Gita/Boyd H. Wilson. 7. Swami Vivekananda’s use of the Bhagavadgita/Harold W. French. 8. The Bhagavadgita in Radhakrishnan’s Apologetics/Robert N. Minor. 9. Swami Sivananda and the Bhagavadgita/David M. Miller. 10. Swami Bhaktivedanta and the Bhagavadgita "As it is"/Robert D. Baird. Conclusion. Notes. Indices.

"This is a collection of careful, objective, historically sensitive studies of modern commentators on the Bhagavadgita, one of the basic scriptures of Hinduism and one which has been widely read in the modern west. Experts on modern Indian religious thought show how Gandhi, Vivekanand, Radhakrishnan, Bhaktivedanta, Aurobindo, Tilak, Bhave, Sivanand, the Theosophists, and Bankim read, used and interpreted the Gita. Collectively, essays display the different backgrounds and orientations of the major Indian thinkers of our time. An introduction and a conclusion provide a perspective on the thinkers and identify common themes which are part of modern embhases. The contributors to the volume are – Ronald W. Neufeldt, Ajit Ray, Robert W. Stevenson, Robert N. Minor, J. T. F. Jordens, Boyd H. Wilson, Harold W. French, David M. Miller, Robert D. Baird." (jacket)