Author(s): Mahatma Gandhi

Philosophy and Religion

"The Bhagavad Gita According to Gandhi" is based upon talks given by Gandhi between February 24 and November 27, 1926 at the Satyagraha Ashram in Ahmedabad, India. During this time - a period when Gandhi had withdrawn from mass political activity - he devoted much of his time and energy to translating the Gita from Sanskrit into his native Gujarati. As a result, he met with his followers almost daily, after morning prayer sessions, to discuss the Gita's contents and meaning as it unfolded before him. This book is the transcription of those daily sessions. From the Foreword by Michael Nagler: 'It is important to grasp the relationship between this man and this book, this love-match between person and scripture. For Gandhi, the Gita's was a voice that changes forever the way one understands things, the source of a profound shift in behaviour and vision. He describes, for example, how he was once almost undone by worldly concerns when a verse of the Gita-chapter two, verse 15-came to him, 'and the very next moment I was almost dancing with relief."