• Mohua Dutta

  Author

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the major sacred texts of Hindu mythology, and is one of the perennial sources of spiritual knowledge. However, during the time of Indian national struggle for freedom, this sacred text was interpreted and re-interpreted numerous times by each prominent nationalist leader, sometimes to justify violence,
sometimes to ensure mass participation in the Satyagraha movement. In his interpretation, Tilak found that The Gita teaches the philosophy of activism and energism (Karma yoga). Karma yoga means purging the soul of desires, so that the action performed is free from any materialistic attachments and desireless of its outcome. Gandhi on the other hand, interpreted it as an allegorical representation of
the spiritual war going on between the forces of Good and the forces of Evil. Gandhi thus converted the greatest Indian war epic into an elaborate set-up to preach the importance of truth and non-violence. However, to Ambedkar, it was neither a sacred text nor a treatise on philosophy, but a politically motivated “counter-revolution” by the Brahmins to establish their supremacy by defending Chaturvarna, and securing its observance in practice. In my paper, I propose to underline such politics of interpretation of The Gita and understand how each stand has sought justification from the text. 

• Pdf