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Essays on the Gita
First published in 1922, ‘Essays on the Gita,’ which is one of the most sacred Scriptures in the world written by Sri Aurobindo, an Indian philosopher, yoga guru, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as Vande Mataram.
This philosophical poem focuses on a conversation between the Pandava prince Arjuna and the Beloved Lord Krishna, an Avatar of the god Vishnu. They converse about a variety of theological and philosophical issues regarding wisdom, devotion, self-knowledge, self-realization, ego, inner power, karma, and dharma.
In this proficient study of the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Aurobindo defined the spiritual realization that not only liberated but transformed human nature, promoting a divine life on earth. The main purpose of his teachings was to boost the level of consciousness of people and to make people mindful of their true selves.
This philosophical poem focuses on a conversation between the Pandava prince Arjuna and the Beloved Lord Krishna, an Avatar of the god Vishnu. They converse about a variety of theological and philosophical issues regarding wisdom, devotion, self-knowledge, self-realization, ego, inner power, karma, and dharma.
In this proficient study of the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Aurobindo defined the spiritual realization that not only liberated but transformed human nature, promoting a divine life on earth. The main purpose of his teachings was to boost the level of consciousness of people and to make people mindful of their true selves.
698 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 1922
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519 people want to read
About the author
Sri Aurobindo
1,174 books424 followersSri Aurobindo (Bengali: শ্রী অরবিন্দ Sri Ôrobindo) was an Indian nationalist and freedom fighter, major Indian English poet, philosopher, and yogi. He joined the movement for India's freedom from British rule and for a duration (1905–10), became one of its most important leaders, before turning to developing his own vision and philosophy of human progress and spiritual evolution.
The central theme of Sri Aurobindo's vision is the evolution of life into a "life divine". In his own words: "Man is a transitional being. He is not final. The step from man to superman is the next approaching achievement in the earth evolution. It is inevitable because it is at once the intention of the inner spirit and the logic of Nature's process."
The principal writings of Sri Aurobindo include, in prose, The Life Divine, considered his single great work of metaphysics,The Synthesis of Yoga, Secrets of the Vedas, Essays on the Gita, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, Renaissance in India and other essays, Supramental Manifestation upon Earth, The Future Poetry, Thoughts and Aphorisms and several volumes of letters. In poetry, his principal work is Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol in blank verse.
The central theme of Sri Aurobindo's vision is the evolution of life into a "life divine". In his own words: "Man is a transitional being. He is not final. The step from man to superman is the next approaching achievement in the earth evolution. It is inevitable because it is at once the intention of the inner spirit and the logic of Nature's process."
The principal writings of Sri Aurobindo include, in prose, The Life Divine, considered his single great work of metaphysics,The Synthesis of Yoga, Secrets of the Vedas, Essays on the Gita, The Human Cycle, The Ideal of Human Unity, Renaissance in India and other essays, Supramental Manifestation upon Earth, The Future Poetry, Thoughts and Aphorisms and several volumes of letters. In poetry, his principal work is Savitri: a Legend and a Symbol in blank verse.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 11, 2022
Some months ago, I wrote in a review (or less sacrilegiously, in a collection of humble thoughts) on the Bhagavad Gita that the only valid response to such a subtle scripture, profound not only in mere philosophical depth but rather in conversion into spiritual practice, which really is the true goal of all scripture, would be a lifetime of learning and attempts towards embodying the values it promotes for the aspirant following the Call of the Divine. Sri Aurobindo’s Essays significantly lessen this burden off my shoulders. In this most profound of scriptural commentaries, which while deviating from tradition in not following a verse-by-verse exposition and substituting Panini’s Sanskrit for Victorian English, results in a commentary vastly superior to the scholastic authors of yore in its wide many-sided embrace of various, traditionally conflicting truths, embodying the scripture’s own reconciliation of Samkhya, Yoga, and Vedanta. The reason for this is perhaps that Sri Aurobindo was “never, never, never” a philosopher, but a poet supreme, and it is a poetic soul that finds in the sublime beauty of scripture an integral celebration of life, an uplifting and fundamentally optimistic view of God in Everything, and the upward ascent of the self-realisation of our true, everlasting divine nature. The rishis of the Veda were also poet-seers, recorders of spiritual experience devoid of an intellectually-induced poetic technique. Sri Aurobindo can be viewed as a rare, modern recurrence of this most ancient of traditions. The medieval scholastics, on the other hand, were intellectual or rational philosophers with a one-sided spiritual realisation, if any – as such, they could find either an ascetic life-denial, or a life spent in service to one exclusive form of the Divine which is everywhere as the gospel of the scripture. This is not to take away from the necessary character of their works in the historical development of spiritual thought: it was Shankara, Ramanuja, Nimbarka et al who first brought an intellectual rigour into Hindu philosophy, an essential characteristic of a post-Buddhistic age. Yet may we not simultaneously say that today, in an age where no religion can maintain a claim to exclusivity without offending both our newfound rational instinct for questioning faith, as well as our (perhaps rarer) spiritual instinct for a realisation of the Infinite through revelling with equal devotion in His Infinite forms, we must leave behind the scholastics and attach to a more expansive interpretation of scripture? Nor is this interpretation eisegetical – instead, we find that Sri Aurobindo’s Essays continue the findings of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda in the very text of the Gita, its true meaning having been lost for ages: on jnana and vijnana, the harmony of all yogas through the triune path of love, knowledge, and works, and indeed also all religions; for the Divine Teacher here is no longer confined to Vishnu-Narayan in his eighth avatar, but the supreme Self that is both the immutable self, found, through nirvikalpa samadhi, away from the world, as well as the Jiva that acts in nature – it is the supreme panentheistic Purushottama that is both everything in this world as well as beyond it, both immanent and transcendent, here and there, with all Avataras of all religions being His valid face. In this most magnificent of works on the Gita, we find that the eternal Divine Song has finally been explained in the most expansive detail, leaving behind no doubt on the meaning of the Divine Teacher’s words.
December 28, 2019
Why would one read this book? Anyone who tries to read Bhagavad-Gita would realize that it is a poem very difficult to understand by itself. A lot of information is packed within a handful of verses and without knowing the context and background of the poem, the value of the lesson gets lost in ignorance of the reader. Without guided assistance, any attempt to read Bhagavad-Gita is a futile effort that either leads to oversimplification of its philosophical depth or surrender to its unfathomable complexity.
Leaving aside the quality of Sanskrit translation, the texts available in the market can broadly be classified into three groups. There are books sold as religious treatise, there are books that are sold as a primer to understanding the struggle between inner self and the world and there are books that are a philosophical summary emphasizing disinterested effort. The common theme in these books is that they take a single aspect of Gita’s message and convey it as the one and only meaning of the text. Wherever Gita’s verses diverge from the one-sized interpretation of these books, these books go out of their way to fit Gita’s message into their interpretation. It often leaves the reader with incomplete or inaccurate understanding of the text.
To avoid any such misinterpretation, the best way then to read Bhagavad-Gita is to read the verses and interpret it in the context of one’s life. However, that is too much to ask from a reader, primarily because it is not a new theory but a revivification of a collection of theories that already existed prior to Bhagavad-Gita. The philosophical background of Bhagavad-Gita is taken from Upanishads and some understanding of theory from Vedas, Buddhism, Patanjali’s Yoga and Samkhya philosophical system is necessary to interpret Gita’s verses. The reader trying to understand Gita then either then falls into a trap of reading someone’s interpretation of it or is left with with an ominous task of reading all the background texts prior to understanding the Gita itself.
It is here that Essays in Gita bridges the gap. Essays in Gita is not a translation of verses - in fact it does not contain any verses from Gita. Instead, it is a collection of essays taking the reader through the essence of the text. Like all other books on Gita, this is an interpretation of the theory of Gita but perhaps one of the most expansive and unbiased one. This book is for anyone who is planning to understand the message of Gita. It takes the readers through the need and message of Gita. It talks about the similarities and differences between Gita and other philosophical texts such as Upanishads. The book emphasizes the importance of adapting the meaning of any philosophical text to the needs of the time and also the importance of understanding the context of the time the text was written in. It ensures that no single interpretation is forced on the reader and yet walks the reader through the meaning of the text. The author makes a painstaking effort to ensure that the message is presented in the right context and logical flaws are proactively handled. Part-1 of the book is entirely philosophical with emphasis on explaining the symbolic aspects of Gita such as avatarhood. Part-2 is further divided into two series - series-1 is a spiritual interpretation of the philosophical explanations in part-1 and series-2 is essentially a summary that further strengthens the message of Gita by repeating what’s been already said and filling the remaining logical gaps left in previous chapters. Each part or series is self-contained although reading the whole book only strengthens one’s understanding. The book in essence mimics the flow of Gita itself that starts with a philosophical message, traverses into spiritual realm and ends with a condensed summary of what’s already been said.
Leaving aside the quality of Sanskrit translation, the texts available in the market can broadly be classified into three groups. There are books sold as religious treatise, there are books that are sold as a primer to understanding the struggle between inner self and the world and there are books that are a philosophical summary emphasizing disinterested effort. The common theme in these books is that they take a single aspect of Gita’s message and convey it as the one and only meaning of the text. Wherever Gita’s verses diverge from the one-sized interpretation of these books, these books go out of their way to fit Gita’s message into their interpretation. It often leaves the reader with incomplete or inaccurate understanding of the text.
To avoid any such misinterpretation, the best way then to read Bhagavad-Gita is to read the verses and interpret it in the context of one’s life. However, that is too much to ask from a reader, primarily because it is not a new theory but a revivification of a collection of theories that already existed prior to Bhagavad-Gita. The philosophical background of Bhagavad-Gita is taken from Upanishads and some understanding of theory from Vedas, Buddhism, Patanjali’s Yoga and Samkhya philosophical system is necessary to interpret Gita’s verses. The reader trying to understand Gita then either then falls into a trap of reading someone’s interpretation of it or is left with with an ominous task of reading all the background texts prior to understanding the Gita itself.
It is here that Essays in Gita bridges the gap. Essays in Gita is not a translation of verses - in fact it does not contain any verses from Gita. Instead, it is a collection of essays taking the reader through the essence of the text. Like all other books on Gita, this is an interpretation of the theory of Gita but perhaps one of the most expansive and unbiased one. This book is for anyone who is planning to understand the message of Gita. It takes the readers through the need and message of Gita. It talks about the similarities and differences between Gita and other philosophical texts such as Upanishads. The book emphasizes the importance of adapting the meaning of any philosophical text to the needs of the time and also the importance of understanding the context of the time the text was written in. It ensures that no single interpretation is forced on the reader and yet walks the reader through the meaning of the text. The author makes a painstaking effort to ensure that the message is presented in the right context and logical flaws are proactively handled. Part-1 of the book is entirely philosophical with emphasis on explaining the symbolic aspects of Gita such as avatarhood. Part-2 is further divided into two series - series-1 is a spiritual interpretation of the philosophical explanations in part-1 and series-2 is essentially a summary that further strengthens the message of Gita by repeating what’s been already said and filling the remaining logical gaps left in previous chapters. Each part or series is self-contained although reading the whole book only strengthens one’s understanding. The book in essence mimics the flow of Gita itself that starts with a philosophical message, traverses into spiritual realm and ends with a condensed summary of what’s already been said.
September 5, 2015
Reviewing a book like ‘Essays on Gita’ can, at best, be a common sense intervention in large philosophical discussions for two specific reasons.
First, the text of Gita is of such vast ambition and scope that one cannot claim to fully grasp its subtlety; the questions asked in Gita are not mundane or trivial, they penetrate deep into the fundamentals of human existence; the laid out path to redemption is not an easy cop-out to breed a mental or intellectual self-righteousness, it makes exacting demands on will, intellect and faith of one’s character; it is a truth not to be grasped in mind but to be lived in spirit and life.
Second, the book itself is a commentary on the original text. Sri Aurobindo dissects the text with such brilliance that any subsequent comment appears redundant at best.
Gita has been fundamental text of ancient Indian culture. The sheer brilliance of the text can be gauged from the fact that even after thousands of years, the text continues to shape Indian mind; time has certainly changed the context, but it has not weathered the essence and vitality of the Gita.
The text is a discourse between Krishna and Arjuna, between two friends, between a warrior and his charioteer, between baffled lower self and guiding higher self of man, between human and latent divine in himself. The backdrop is set in the midst of a war.
Arjuna who is the chief hope of the Pandava-race in a battle against evil and injustice, finds himself intimidated; the extent of destruction and bloodshed that war will leave its wake breaks down every social and intellectual moral-scaffolding Arjuna has ever known. Grief and sentimentalism overcome him and induce a sense of easy self-righteousness; Victory, honour, glory and a chivalrous fight, which have been his Kshtriya-dharma so far in life, no longer seemed inspiring enough; a world with justice and righteousness is still desired but not to be acquired at the cost of bloodshed in an all-drawing war. So Arjuna casts aside his bow and arrow.
Arjuna is committing the most common human fallacy- being a judge in his own cause; Overcome by sentimentalism, he constructs a web of arguments for his own psychological comfort and finds himself trapped in this web of his own making. But guiding him in the field of battle is Krishna, the friend, the higher self, the divine himself. His gaze penetrates deep into the mind of Arjuna and dissects the web bit by bit. He takes Arjuna into the deepest recesses of human existence and lays out a doctrine which is immense in its scope, eternal in its nature and exacting in its demands.
Krishna tells Arjuna that the war that is about to ensue will happen anyway, with or without him. The people at war were only instruments of divine-working, serving divine purpose- progression of human life and existence. And thus he makes the declaration to Arjuna– “Slain and Thou shall achieve heaven, victorious and you will enjoy the earth, Therefore Arise and resolve upon battle.”
Krishna details out every subtle aspect of human existence to Arjuna- three gunas- sattwa, Rajas and Tamas- and the Maya of ego that they construct; doctrine of impersonality which breaks the limiting shackles of ego and unlocks latent universal potential in man; the idea of three Purushas which conceptualizes relationship between crude nature, mind and divine; and a unreserved and perfect consecration of action, knowledge and faith to divine, which brings redemption to every soul- good and evil alike.
The test of a philosophical text should not be how neat and clean moral instructions it can provide, but rather how much it can unsettle the set beliefs and stretch them higher and deeper. Gita scores full marks on that test. You may agree or disagree with what it says but you cannot be indifferent to it; even if it does not provide answers to all your questions, it will certainly enhance the quality of your doubts. And that is worth reading a text for. And perhaps you will find out that’s what Gita intended to do in the first place.
First, the text of Gita is of such vast ambition and scope that one cannot claim to fully grasp its subtlety; the questions asked in Gita are not mundane or trivial, they penetrate deep into the fundamentals of human existence; the laid out path to redemption is not an easy cop-out to breed a mental or intellectual self-righteousness, it makes exacting demands on will, intellect and faith of one’s character; it is a truth not to be grasped in mind but to be lived in spirit and life.
Second, the book itself is a commentary on the original text. Sri Aurobindo dissects the text with such brilliance that any subsequent comment appears redundant at best.
Gita has been fundamental text of ancient Indian culture. The sheer brilliance of the text can be gauged from the fact that even after thousands of years, the text continues to shape Indian mind; time has certainly changed the context, but it has not weathered the essence and vitality of the Gita.
The text is a discourse between Krishna and Arjuna, between two friends, between a warrior and his charioteer, between baffled lower self and guiding higher self of man, between human and latent divine in himself. The backdrop is set in the midst of a war.
Arjuna who is the chief hope of the Pandava-race in a battle against evil and injustice, finds himself intimidated; the extent of destruction and bloodshed that war will leave its wake breaks down every social and intellectual moral-scaffolding Arjuna has ever known. Grief and sentimentalism overcome him and induce a sense of easy self-righteousness; Victory, honour, glory and a chivalrous fight, which have been his Kshtriya-dharma so far in life, no longer seemed inspiring enough; a world with justice and righteousness is still desired but not to be acquired at the cost of bloodshed in an all-drawing war. So Arjuna casts aside his bow and arrow.
Arjuna is committing the most common human fallacy- being a judge in his own cause; Overcome by sentimentalism, he constructs a web of arguments for his own psychological comfort and finds himself trapped in this web of his own making. But guiding him in the field of battle is Krishna, the friend, the higher self, the divine himself. His gaze penetrates deep into the mind of Arjuna and dissects the web bit by bit. He takes Arjuna into the deepest recesses of human existence and lays out a doctrine which is immense in its scope, eternal in its nature and exacting in its demands.
Krishna tells Arjuna that the war that is about to ensue will happen anyway, with or without him. The people at war were only instruments of divine-working, serving divine purpose- progression of human life and existence. And thus he makes the declaration to Arjuna– “Slain and Thou shall achieve heaven, victorious and you will enjoy the earth, Therefore Arise and resolve upon battle.”
Krishna details out every subtle aspect of human existence to Arjuna- three gunas- sattwa, Rajas and Tamas- and the Maya of ego that they construct; doctrine of impersonality which breaks the limiting shackles of ego and unlocks latent universal potential in man; the idea of three Purushas which conceptualizes relationship between crude nature, mind and divine; and a unreserved and perfect consecration of action, knowledge and faith to divine, which brings redemption to every soul- good and evil alike.
The test of a philosophical text should not be how neat and clean moral instructions it can provide, but rather how much it can unsettle the set beliefs and stretch them higher and deeper. Gita scores full marks on that test. You may agree or disagree with what it says but you cannot be indifferent to it; even if it does not provide answers to all your questions, it will certainly enhance the quality of your doubts. And that is worth reading a text for. And perhaps you will find out that’s what Gita intended to do in the first place.
June 17, 2017
Most of us know at a high level the core message of Gita to some extent - "Just do your job focusing on the process without getting obsessed with results." "Don't try to take an ethical or philosophical high ground to shirk your unpleasant duties towards your family, society or profession." While they makes sense from a practical angle, the essays which are a commentary on Gita try to explain why it make sense from a spiritual angle. To do this a detailed theological construct around the nature of the universe, soul, God etc. are laid out and on that basis justification is provided. It is more like reconciling various things said in other theological texts that came before that and condensing everything to a central message. That way one gets an idea why The Gita is considered the most important book of the Hindu religion. It was not a very easy read as explanation of theological construct is more theoretical exposition. But yes. If one labors through it, the book does give a reasonable overview of the message of the Gita without over simplifications. And definitely gives some food for contemplation if read with open mind. I stress the open mind because the theological constructs such as the 3 aspects of God (incidentally Aurobindo links this to the Biblical construct of Father, Son and Holy Spirit), concept of Avatars, nature and God, three Gunas etc. do not have any basis in experimental data or mathematical rigor linking to other scientifically proven facts to support them as per the demands of modern science.
July 5, 2018
The main theme of the book is to show evolution of human being from ordinary, elemental plane of consciousness to God level consciousness. For this the process is first leave the fruit of your karma, then gradually sacrifice all of your karma to God. Your body, mind, intellect, ego everything are of nature, which is subordinate the Supreme Purusha. So, think all works of Him too. In this way one will be liberated for the cycle of death and life.
July 17, 2025
I cannot overstate my praise for this book. Of all the commentaries or lectures on the Gita I have ever come across, Sri Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita is the most profound and comprehensive in teasing out the full meaning of the Gita. Where most schools of Vedanta have derived their interpretations of the Gita by focusing on certain parts or aspects of the teaching at the expense of others, Sri Aurobindo has captured the partial truths each of these traditions were trying to grasp and synthesized them into a cohesive, holistic, and precise philosophy through which each verse of the Gita can be seen as a critical piece in the complete yoga Sri Krishna is presenting to us. In my personal life, reading this book has allowed me to engage much more deeply and meaningfully with the teachings and yoga of the Gita and has resolved many, many doubts or confusions I had about its message. I highly recommend this book to all, whether spiritual aspirants on the path of yoga or people from other traditions who are curious to understand the core philosophy and practice of Hinduism!
September 9, 2023
and you have perhaps caused as much destruction of life by your abstinence as others by resort to violence
It is only a few religions which have had the courage to say without any reserve, like the Indian, that this enigmatic World-Power is one Deity, one Trinity, to lift up the image of the Force that acts in the world in the figure not only of the beneficent Durga, but of the terrible Kali in her blood-stained dance of destruction and to say, “This too is the Mother; this also know to be God; this too, if thou hast the strength, adore.”
We have to see that Nature devouring her children, Time eating up the lives of creatures, Death universal and ineluctable and the violence of the Rudra forces in man and Nature are also the supreme Godhead in one of his cosmic figures. We have to see that God the bountiful and prodigal creator, God the helpful, strong and benignant preserver is also God the devourer and destroyer.
“Action will still be done in you because Nature is always at work; but you must learn and feel that your self is not the doer of the action. Observe simply, observe unmoved the working of Nature and the play of her qualities and the magic of the gunas. Observe unmoved this action in yourself; look on all that is being done around you and see that it is the same working in others. Observe that the result of your works and theirs is constantly other than you or they desired or intended, not theirs, not yours, but omnipotently fixed by a greater Power that wills and acts here in universal Nature. Observe too that even the will in your works is not yours but Nature’s. It is the will of the ego sense in you and is determined by the predominant quality in your composition which she has developed in the past or else brings forward at the moment. It depends on the play of your natural personality and that formation of Nature is not your true person. Draw back from this external formation to your inner silent self; you will see that you the Purusha are inactive, but Nature continues to do always her works according to her gunas. Fix yourself in this inner inactivity and stillness: no longer regard yourself as the doer. Remain seated in yourself above the play, free from the perturbed action of the gunas. Live secure in the purity of an impersonal spirit, live untroubled by the mortal waves that persist in your members.
It is only a few religions which have had the courage to say without any reserve, like the Indian, that this enigmatic World-Power is one Deity, one Trinity, to lift up the image of the Force that acts in the world in the figure not only of the beneficent Durga, but of the terrible Kali in her blood-stained dance of destruction and to say, “This too is the Mother; this also know to be God; this too, if thou hast the strength, adore.”
We have to see that Nature devouring her children, Time eating up the lives of creatures, Death universal and ineluctable and the violence of the Rudra forces in man and Nature are also the supreme Godhead in one of his cosmic figures. We have to see that God the bountiful and prodigal creator, God the helpful, strong and benignant preserver is also God the devourer and destroyer.
“Action will still be done in you because Nature is always at work; but you must learn and feel that your self is not the doer of the action. Observe simply, observe unmoved the working of Nature and the play of her qualities and the magic of the gunas. Observe unmoved this action in yourself; look on all that is being done around you and see that it is the same working in others. Observe that the result of your works and theirs is constantly other than you or they desired or intended, not theirs, not yours, but omnipotently fixed by a greater Power that wills and acts here in universal Nature. Observe too that even the will in your works is not yours but Nature’s. It is the will of the ego sense in you and is determined by the predominant quality in your composition which she has developed in the past or else brings forward at the moment. It depends on the play of your natural personality and that formation of Nature is not your true person. Draw back from this external formation to your inner silent self; you will see that you the Purusha are inactive, but Nature continues to do always her works according to her gunas. Fix yourself in this inner inactivity and stillness: no longer regard yourself as the doer. Remain seated in yourself above the play, free from the perturbed action of the gunas. Live secure in the purity of an impersonal spirit, live untroubled by the mortal waves that persist in your members.
December 31, 2020
These essays open up the deep teachings of the Bhagavad Gita, one of the most renowned spiritual scriptures of humanity, in a way that makes it a real and powerful aid to inner growth and development.
September 18, 2011
The Bhagavad Gita re-written for the modern mind, by one of India's greatest seers. To read the Essays on the Gita is to experience the message of Krishna and fall in love with Him and his Lila.
April 9, 2012
Wow ! What an amazing commentary on Bhagvad Gita ..... Must read this book to know the real message by Gita to whole mankind.
April 7, 2016
In my opinion - best book on metaphysics of spirituality ever written.
April 21, 2017
This book is outstanding. Can't say enough about it. Perfect to deepen one's understanding of the Gita.
September 29, 2021
The best commentary on the Gita I have read so far
February 26, 2024
This is the first time I am rating a book upon 50% completion. Coz, firstly, this book is just that good and secondly, coz the sheer depth, velocity and frequency of epiphanic ideas/thoughts has encouraged me to take my time with this book; to the point where I am not reading more than a couple of pages daily. It is that good. Wanna change your life? Take a couple of years to study, internalise and meditate this book.
October 30, 2023
God dwells in every human
God dwells in every human. Yet you are ignorant of his presence. To realise him you have overcome the veil of ignorance. You must set aside your ego as the doer of things and attribute every action to the Lord.
God dwells in every human. Yet you are ignorant of his presence. To realise him you have overcome the veil of ignorance. You must set aside your ego as the doer of things and attribute every action to the Lord.
October 25, 2020
not free-flowing like Swami Vivekananda, difficult to make sense of, maybe will revisit later..
September 19, 2025
Sometimes guidance of the Guru has mysterious ways of finding the adept. This book came to me and over a few months slowly it has changed the very core of my understanding of not just life but of reality and most importantly the Divine. One who has truly read this epic of a book will surely share the same experience of revelations of the highest ideals and the deepest secrets shared by the Purushottama to the Prince when he takes him on a journey of reality through lessons which are beyond the limitations of human mind. Vasudeva is the greatest teacher and Srimad Bhagavat Gita is the highest lesson of not just life in general but everything beyond. It reveals to the human mind the inner intricacies of the mysteries of reality and existence.
Whoever has taken up this book, may the Divine Will be with you.
December 19, 2025
Give up all your works to the eternal Godhead and let Him act through you, but do not renounce the world. Aurobindo is simply sublime as a thinker, a prose-stylist, and a guru.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews