The spiritual ethos and the philosophical outlook
that the Bhagvad - Gita postulates paves the way for the liberation of
man, who, as Rousseau said, ‘being born free, is everywhere in chains’.
But equally it is a mirror of human psychology, which enables man to
discern his debilities for appropriate redressal. All the same, the boon
of an oral tradition that kept it alive for over two millennia became
its bane with the proliferation of interpolations therein. Besides
muddying its pristine philosophy, these insertions affect the sequential
conformity and structural economy of the grand discourse. And ironically
these muddle the understanding of the Gita’s protagonists to their own
detriment. What is worse, to the chagrin of the majority of the Hindus,
some of these legitimize the inimical caste system while upholding the
priestly perks and prejudices. This fresh and insightful version seeks
to restore to the Gita, its original character by ridding it of hundred
and nine interpolations (in the accompanying updated text, s24, ch.3 too
would not find a place) which tend to keep the skeptics away from it.
This audio rendition is meant to suggest the way the verses in the
accompanying text are to be read as conceived by its author and but for
the omission of s24, ch.3 and the alteration of the fourth line in v.1,
ch.1, in the said text, the latter is faithful to the former. |