Talks on the Gita

by Acharya Vinoba Bhave

Vinoba’s ‘Talks on the Gita’ is a unique work and wonderful in many respects. It is not only interprets the Gita in a novel and refreshingly different way and brings out the quintessential message of that great spiritual classic in a language that is simple, lucid and intelligible eve to ordinary readers, but also lays bare the essence of true spirituality that includes whatever is the best and the most enduring in the religious traditions of the world and still transcends all of them. Needless to say, its power to purify the hearts and the lives of the readers has few parallels.

Several footnotes on important philosophical terms as well as individuals and incidents from the Indian mythology and epics have also been added.

About the Author:

Vinoba Bhave was one of the great spiritual leaders and social reformers of modern India, whose work and personal example moved the heart of all Indians, from Prime Ministers to the poor. Born in 1895, at the age of ten he took a vow of lifelong celibacy and service to others. Searching for a way of life that would embody both spiritual truth and practical action, he discovered Gandhi and joined in his work for the regeneration of India.

Vinoba participated in Gandhi’s non-violent resistance (satyagraha) to the British Raj. Later, after independence had been achieved, Vinoba started out on his extraordinary bhoodan (Land Gift) movement. Over a period of twenty years, Vinoba walked the length and breath of India, persuading landlords to give to their poor neighbors a total of over four million aces of land.

Vinoba’s social activism was founded on a lifetime’s study of the spiritual traditions of India, and also of the other major world religions. These memories reveal both the inner and outer life of a great man who has an unwavering commitment to the practice of non-violence, to an engaged spirituality, and to the power of love.