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1The thought of the Gita is not pure Monism although it sees in one unchanging, pure, eternal Self the foundation of alT cosmic existence, nor Mayavada although it speaks of the Maya jof the three modes of Prakriti omnipresent in the created wjQTid; nor is it qualified JMonisni although it places in the One^ his eternal supreme Prakriti manifested in the form of the Jiva and lays most stress on dwell- ing in God rather than dissolution as the supreme state of spiritual consciousness; nor is it Sai^yg. although it explains the created world by the double principle ot Purusha and Prakriti; nor is it Vaishimva Theism although it presents to us Krishna, who is the^ Avatara of Vishnu according to the Puranas, as the supreme .Deity and allows no essential difference nor any actual superiority of the status of the indefinable relationless Brahman over that of this Lord of beings who'is the Master of the universe and the Friend of all creatures. Like the earlie.r.,^iritual synthesis of the Upamsh^^ later synthesis at once spiritual and intellectual ^oi<^ naturally every such r||id determination as would i nju re its .universal comprehensiveness. Its aim is precisely the oppo- site to that of the polemist commentators who found this Scripture established as one of the three highest Vedantic authorities and attempted to turn it into a II
2weapon of offence and defence a^inst other schools and systems. “The Gita is not a weapon fOT (iialecti- cal warfare ; it is a gate opening on the whole world of spiritual truth and experience and the view it gives us embraces all the provinces of that supreme region. It maps out, but it does not cut up or build walls or hedges to confine our vision. There have been oth er sy ntheses in the long history of Indian thought. We start with the V cdic synthesis of the "psychological being of man in its highest flights and widest rangings of divine know- ledge, power, joy, life and glory with the cosmic existence of the gods, pursued behind the symbols of the material universe into those superior planes which are hidden fronT the physical ^nse and the material mentality. The crown of this synthesis was in the experience of the VecUc Rishi^s something divine, transcendent and blissful in whose uni^ the increasing soul of man and the eternal divine fullness o^the cosmic godheads meet perfectly and fulfil themselves. The Upanishads take up this crown- ing experience of ttee^e^ief seers and make it their startii^ for a h^h and profound synthesis of s^mual knowledge mey draw together into a great harmony all that had been seen and experienced by the inspired and liberated knowers of the Eternal throughout a great and fruitful period of spiritual seeking. The Gita starts from this Vedantic
3synthesis and upon the basis of its essential ideas builds another harmony ctf the Arce great means and pikers. Love, Knowledge and Mforl^ tl^ugh which OUR DEMAND AND NEED FROM THE GITA the soul of man can directly approach and cast itself into the E^nal. There is yet anot her, the Tantric,’* **' which though less subtle and spiritually profound,! is even more bold and forceful than the synthesis of the Gita, — ^for^^t seizes ever^i^ojg th^^ ol^t^les to the spiritual life and compels to become the means for a richer spiritual^onquest and enables us to enibrace the whole of Lif e in our divine scope as th e JLilaj;;^f the Dmne and in somrdifec- tions iTTs more immediately rich and fruitful, for it b rings f orw ard into the foreground along with divine knowledge, divine works and an enriched devotion of divine Love, the sec rets" a lso oL the Hatfaa. and Raja VqgaSi the use of thd body and of mentol askesisT^ the opening up of the diYine_life on all its planeCtq which the Gita gives only a passing and perfuhctoiy attention. Moreover it grasps at that idea of the di vine perfec tibility . o£. man^ possessed By tHe Vedic RishisTbut thrown into the background by the intermediate ages, which is destined to fill so large a place in any future synthesis of human thought, experience and aspiration.
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.
1The thought of the Gita is not pure Monism although it sees in one unchanging, pure, eternal Self the foundation of alT cosmic existence, nor Mayavada although it speaks of the Maya jof the three modes of Prakriti omnipresent in the created wjQTid; nor is it qualified JMonisni although it places in the One^ his eternal supreme Prakriti manifested in the form of the Jiva and lays most stress on dwell- ing in God rather than dissolution as the supreme state of spiritual consciousness; nor is it Sai^yg. although it explains the created world by the double principle ot Purusha and Prakriti; nor is it Vaishimva Theism although it presents to us Krishna, who is the^ Avatara of Vishnu according to the Puranas, as the supreme .Deity and allows no essential difference nor any actual superiority of the status of the indefinable relationless Brahman over that of this Lord of beings who'is the Master of the universe and the Friend of all creatures. Like the earlie.r.,^iritual synthesis of the Upamsh^^ later synthesis at once spiritual and intellectual ^oi<^ naturally every such r||id determination as would i nju re its .universal comprehensiveness. Its aim is precisely the oppo- site to that of the polemist commentators who found this Scripture established as one of the three highest Vedantic authorities and attempted to turn it into a II
2weapon of offence and defence a^inst other schools and systems. “The Gita is not a weapon fOT (iialecti- cal warfare ; it is a gate opening on the whole world of spiritual truth and experience and the view it gives us embraces all the provinces of that supreme region. It maps out, but it does not cut up or build walls or hedges to confine our vision. There have been oth er sy ntheses in the long history of Indian thought. We start with the V cdic synthesis of the "psychological being of man in its highest flights and widest rangings of divine know- ledge, power, joy, life and glory with the cosmic existence of the gods, pursued behind the symbols of the material universe into those superior planes which are hidden fronT the physical ^nse and the material mentality. The crown of this synthesis was in the experience of the VecUc Rishi^s something divine, transcendent and blissful in whose uni^ the increasing soul of man and the eternal divine fullness o^the cosmic godheads meet perfectly and fulfil themselves. The Upanishads take up this crown- ing experience of ttee^e^ief seers and make it their startii^ for a h^h and profound synthesis of s^mual knowledge mey draw together into a great harmony all that had been seen and experienced by the inspired and liberated knowers of the Eternal throughout a great and fruitful period of spiritual seeking. The Gita starts from this Vedantic
3synthesis and upon the basis of its essential ideas builds another harmony ctf the Arce great means and pikers. Love, Knowledge and Mforl^ tl^ugh which OUR DEMAND AND NEED FROM THE GITA the soul of man can directly approach and cast itself into the E^nal. There is yet anot her, the Tantric,’* **' which though less subtle and spiritually profound,! is even more bold and forceful than the synthesis of the Gita, — ^for^^t seizes ever^i^ojg th^^ ol^t^les to the spiritual life and compels to become the means for a richer spiritual^onquest and enables us to enibrace the whole of Lif e in our divine scope as th e JLilaj;;^f the Dmne and in somrdifec- tions iTTs more immediately rich and fruitful, for it b rings f orw ard into the foreground along with divine knowledge, divine works and an enriched devotion of divine Love, the sec rets" a lso oL the Hatfaa. and Raja VqgaSi the use of thd body and of mentol askesisT^ the opening up of the diYine_life on all its planeCtq which the Gita gives only a passing and perfuhctoiy attention. Moreover it grasps at that idea of the di vine perfec tibility . o£. man^ possessed By tHe Vedic RishisTbut thrown into the background by the intermediate ages, which is destined to fill so large a place in any future synthesis of human thought, experience and aspiration.
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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