Mahatma Gandhi The Bhagavadgita: A Book of Ethics for All Religions

by Mahendra Kulasrestha

I was induced to read the Gita by two Englishmen. I say 'induced' because I had no particular desire to read it. When these friends asked me to read it with them, I felt rather ashamed. That I know nothing about my holy books made me feel miserable.

I did not know Sanskrit well enough to be able to read the Gita without help, so they gave me Sir Edwin Arnold's excellent translation of the poem. I went through the whole of it immediately and was fascinated by it. From that time till now, the last nineteen stanzas of Ch.2 have ever remained engraved in my heart. They contain the essence of Dharma. I since then have read most of other translations and listened to many discourses and the impression made by that first reading, persists.