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1In the Gita there is very little that is merely local or temporal and its spirit is so large, profound and universal that even this little can easily be universalised without the sense of the teaching suffering any diminution or violation; rather by giving an ampler scope to it than belonged to the country and epoch, the teaching gains in depth, truth and power. Often indeed the Gita^itkilf suggests the wider scope that can in this way be given to an idea in itself local or limited. Thus it dwells on the ancient Indian system and id^ of ^crifice as_an interchange between gods and men, — sTsystem and idea which have long been practically obsolete in India itself and are no longer real to the general human mind; but w^find here a sense so entirely subtle, %iHative and sym boli c given to the word ^'sacrifice” and the con ception of the gods is so little local' or mythological, so e ntire ly cos^c anc^philosophical that we can easily accept both as expressive of a practical fact of psychology and
2general law of Nature and so ^gply them to the modem conceptions of interchange between life and life and of ethi^l sacrifice and self-giving as to widen and deepen these and cast over them a more spiritual aspect ar^d the light of a profounder and more far-reaching Truth. Equally the idea of a ctio n according to the Shastra, the fourfold order ^ society, the allusion to the relative position of the four orders or the comparative spiritual dis- abilities of Shudras and women seem at first sight local and temporal, and, if they are too much pressed in their literal sense, narrow so much at least of the teaching, deprive it of its universality and spiritual depth and Ijmit its validity for mankind at large. But if we Took behind to the spirit and sense and not at the local name and temporal institution, w see that here too the sense is deep and true and the spirit philosophical, spiritual and universal. By Shastra we perceive that the Gita means the la^w imposed on itself by^ humanity as a substitute for the purely egoistic action of the natural unregenerate man and a control on his tendency to seek in the satisfaction of his desire the standard and aim of his life. We see too that the i^t^d or der of society is merely the concrete form of a spiritual truth which is itself independent of the form; it rgsts on the cqnceptmn of right works ^ a rightly^jordered expression of the ^nature of the individual Jbeing through whom thie work is done, that namre assigning him his line and scope in life according to his inborn qua lity and^ms“seTf-
3OUR DEMAND AND NEED FROM THE GITA expressive function. Since this is the spirit in which the Gita advances its most local and particular instances, we are justified in pursuing always the same principle and looking always for the deeper general tnith which is sure to^underlie whatever seems at first sight inerely local and of the time. For we shall find always that the deeper truth and principle is implied in the grain of the thought even when it is not expressly stated in its language. Nor shall we deal in any other spirit with the element of philosophical dogma or religious creed which either enters into the Gita or hangs about it owing to its use of the philosophical terms and religious symbols current at the time. When the Gita speaks of Sar^hya and Yoga, we shall not discuss beyond the limits of what is jus t essentialJ oL our statement, the rflatioPF ^ the Sankhya of the 6ita ^ith its^ or^ P urusha and strong Ve danti c rTnmirfng to The noh^ei^i ^F^atheistic^^ n^
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
1In the Gita there is very little that is merely local or temporal and its spirit is so large, profound and universal that even this little can easily be universalised without the sense of the teaching suffering any diminution or violation; rather by giving an ampler scope to it than belonged to the country and epoch, the teaching gains in depth, truth and power. Often indeed the Gita^itkilf suggests the wider scope that can in this way be given to an idea in itself local or limited. Thus it dwells on the ancient Indian system and id^ of ^crifice as_an interchange between gods and men, — sTsystem and idea which have long been practically obsolete in India itself and are no longer real to the general human mind; but w^find here a sense so entirely subtle, %iHative and sym boli c given to the word ^'sacrifice” and the con ception of the gods is so little local' or mythological, so e ntire ly cos^c anc^philosophical that we can easily accept both as expressive of a practical fact of psychology and
2general law of Nature and so ^gply them to the modem conceptions of interchange between life and life and of ethi^l sacrifice and self-giving as to widen and deepen these and cast over them a more spiritual aspect ar^d the light of a profounder and more far-reaching Truth. Equally the idea of a ctio n according to the Shastra, the fourfold order ^ society, the allusion to the relative position of the four orders or the comparative spiritual dis- abilities of Shudras and women seem at first sight local and temporal, and, if they are too much pressed in their literal sense, narrow so much at least of the teaching, deprive it of its universality and spiritual depth and Ijmit its validity for mankind at large. But if we Took behind to the spirit and sense and not at the local name and temporal institution, w see that here too the sense is deep and true and the spirit philosophical, spiritual and universal. By Shastra we perceive that the Gita means the la^w imposed on itself by^ humanity as a substitute for the purely egoistic action of the natural unregenerate man and a control on his tendency to seek in the satisfaction of his desire the standard and aim of his life. We see too that the i^t^d or der of society is merely the concrete form of a spiritual truth which is itself independent of the form; it rgsts on the cqnceptmn of right works ^ a rightly^jordered expression of the ^nature of the individual Jbeing through whom thie work is done, that namre assigning him his line and scope in life according to his inborn qua lity and^ms“seTf-
3OUR DEMAND AND NEED FROM THE GITA expressive function. Since this is the spirit in which the Gita advances its most local and particular instances, we are justified in pursuing always the same principle and looking always for the deeper general tnith which is sure to^underlie whatever seems at first sight inerely local and of the time. For we shall find always that the deeper truth and principle is implied in the grain of the thought even when it is not expressly stated in its language. Nor shall we deal in any other spirit with the element of philosophical dogma or religious creed which either enters into the Gita or hangs about it owing to its use of the philosophical terms and religious symbols current at the time. When the Gita speaks of Sar^hya and Yoga, we shall not discuss beyond the limits of what is jus t essentialJ oL our statement, the rflatioPF ^ the Sankhya of the 6ita ^ith its^ or^ P urusha and strong Ve danti c rTnmirfng to The noh^ei^i ^F^atheistic^^ n^
The source text as printed, transcribed diplomatically. Where the source language uses a non-Latin script that reaches us only through a Victorian romanisation, this layer is labelled transliteration, because that is what we hold.
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