My favourite book is Bhagavad Gita. It is one of the greatest books in the world. One who understands the Gita understands much about this world and beyond. It sums up the whole philosophy of life and death.
The Bhagavad Gita was a favourite book with Mahatma Gandhi, Tilak, Aurobindo Ghose, and many other Indian saints and sages. It has been the favourite book of the sages of other countries too. Thoreau, the great American philosopher, said, “I bathe my intellect with Bhagavad Gita every morning.” No other book satisfies the soul as does the Gita.
The popularity of the Gita is based on its philosophical teachings. Lord Krishna’s message to the war-frightened Arjuna is as truer today as it was in the days of the Pandvas.
This book teaches us to do our duty conscientiously and be never disheartened in the face of great perils. When Arjuna was hesitating to fight his kinsmen, Lord Krishna advised him that by shirking the war, he was shirking his duty, which was a sin.
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Today the Gita has been translated in all languages of the world. The Germans have produced libraries on the Gita. Today the greatest scholars of the Gita are not Indians but Europeans.
In fact, most of our scholars learn to love the Gita through the European sources. It was Edwin Arnold’s Song Celestial (A translation of the Bhagavad Gita) that made Gandhiji take interest in this book which became his lifelong companion. No doubt this gave him spiritual power.