MODERN THEORY OF BHAGBAT GITA

Independence movement[edit]

At a time when Indian nationalists were seeking an indigenous basis for social and political action, Bhagavad Gita provided them with a rationale for their activism and fight against injustice.^[106] Among nationalists, notable commentaries were written by Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi, who used the text to help inspire the Indian independence movement.^{[note 8][note 9]} Tilak wrote his commentary Shrimadh Bhagvad Gita Rahasya while in jail during the period 1910–1911 serving a six-year sentence imposed by the British colonial government in India for sedition.^[107] While noting that the Gita teaches possible paths to liberation, his commentary places most emphasis on Karma yoga.^[108] No book was more central to Gandhi's life and thought than the Bhagavad Gita, which he referred to as his "spiritual dictionary".^[109] During his stay in Yeravda jail in 1929,^[109] Gandhi wrote a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita in Gujarati. The Gujarati manuscript was translated into English by Mahadev Desai, who provided an additional introduction and commentary. It was published with a foreword by Gandhi in 1946. ^{[110][111][note 10]} Mahatma Gandhi expressed his love for the Gita in these words:

I find a solace in the Bhagavadgītā that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount. When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavadgītā. I find a verse here and a verse there and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies – and my life has been full of external tragedies – and if they have left no visible, no indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavadgītā.^[112][113]

Hindu revivalism[edit]

Although Vivekananda did not write any commentaries on the Bhagavad Gita, his works contained numerous references to the Gita, such as his lectures on the four yogas – Bhakti, Gyaana, Karma, and Raja.^[114] Through the message of the Gita, Vivekananda sought to energise the people of India to claim their own dormant but strong identity.^[115] Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay thought that the answer to the problems that beset Hindu society was a revival of Hinduism in its purity, which lay in the reinterpretation of Bhagavad Gita for a new India.^[116] Aurobindo saw Bhagavad Gita as a "scripture of the future religion" and suggested that Hinduism had acquired a much wider relevance through the Gita.^[117]Sivananda called Bhagavad Gita "the most precious jewel of Hindu literature" and suggested its introduction into the curriculum of Indian schools and colleges.^[118] In the lectures Chinmayananda gave, on tours undertaken to revive the moral and spiritual values of the Hindus, he borrowed the concept of Gyaana yajna, or the worship to invoke divine wisdom, from the Gita.^[119] He viewed the Gita as an universal scripture to turn a person from a state of agitation and confusion to a state of complete vision, inner contentment, and dynamic action. Teachings of International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organisation which spread rapidly in North America in the 1970s and 1980s, are based on a translation of the Gita called Bhagavad-Gītā As It Is by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.^[120] These teachings are also illustrated in the dioramas of Bhagavad-gita Museum in Los Angeles, California.^[121]

Other modern commentaries[edit]

Among notable modern commentators of the Bhagavad Gita are Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vinoba Bhave, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, Chinmayananda, etc. Chinmayananda took a syncretistic approach to interpret the text of the Gita.^[122][123]

Paramahansa Yogananda's two volume commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, called God Talks With Arjuna: The Bhagavad Gita, was released 1995.^[124]

Eknath Easwaran has also written a commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. It examines the applicability of the principles of Gita to the problems of modern life.^[125]

The version by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, entitled Bhagavad-gītā As It Is, is "by far the most widely distributed of all English Gita translations" due to ISKCONefforts.^[126] For each verse, he gives the verse in the Sanskrit Devanagari script, followed by a roman transliteration, a gloss for each word, and then a translation and commentary.^[126] Its publisher, the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, estimates sales at twenty-three million copies, a figure which includes the original English edition and secondary translations into fifty-six other languages.^[126]

Bhagavad Gita – The song of God^[127] written by Swami Mukundananda.

Other notable commentators include Jeaneane Fowler, Ithamar Theodor, Swami Parthasarathy, and Sadhu Vasvani.^[128][129] In 1966, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi published a partial translation.^[130]

Promotion of just war and duty

Liberation or moksha in Vedanta philosophy is not something that can be acquired or reached. Ātman (Soul), the goal of moksha, is something that is always present as the essence of the self, and can be revealed by deep intuitive knowledge. While the Upanishads largely uphold such a monistic viewpoint of liberation, the Bhagavad Gita also accommodates the dualistic and theistic aspects of moksha. The Gita, while occasionally hinting at impersonal Brahman as the goal, revolves around the relationship between the Self and a personal God or Saguna Brahman. A synthesis of knowledge, devotion, and desireless action is given as a prescription for Arjuna's despondence; the same combination is suggested as a way to moksha.^[73] Winthrop Sargeant further explains, "In the model presented by the Bhagavad Gītā, every aspect of life is in fact a way of salvation."^[74]

Yoga[edit]

Yoga in the Bhagavad Gita refers to the skill of union with the ultimate reality or the Absolute.^[75] In his commentary, Zaehner says that the root meaning of yoga is "yoking" or "preparation"; he proposes the basic meaning "spiritual exercise", which conveys the various nuances in the best way.^[76]

Sivananda's commentary regards the eighteen chapters of the Bhagavad Gita as having a progressive order, by which Krishna leads "Arjuna up the ladder of Yoga from one rung to another."^[77] The influential commentator Madhusudana Sarasvati divided the Gita's eighteen chapters into three sections of six chapters each. Swami Gambhirananda characterises Madhusudana Sarasvati's system as a successive approach in which Karma yoga leads to Bhakti yoga, which in turn leads to Gyaana yoga:^[78][79]

• Chapters 1–6 = Karma yoga, the means to the final goal
• Chapters 7–12 = Bhakti yoga or devotion
• Chapters 13–18 = Gyaana yoga or knowledge, the goal itself

Karma yoga[edit]

Main article: Karma yoga

As noted by various commentators, the Bhagavad Gita offers a practical approach to liberation in the form of Karma yoga. The path of Karma yoga upholds the necessity of action. However, this action is to be undertaken without any attachment to the work or desire for results. Bhagavad Gita terms this "inaction in action and action in inaction (4.18)". The concept of such detached action is also called Nishkam Karma, a term not used in the Gita.^[80] Lord Krishna, in the following verses, elaborates on the role actions, performed without desire and attachment, play in attaining freedom from material bondage and transmigration:

To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction

Fixed in yoga, do thy work, O Winner of wealth (Arjuna), abandoning attachment, with an even mind in success and failure, for evenness of mind is called yoga. (2.47–8)^[81]

The yogīs, abandoning attachment, act with body, mind, intelligence, and even with the senses, only for the purpose of purification. (5.11)^{[web 26]}

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi writes, "The object of the Gita appears to me to be that of showing the most excellent way to attain self-realization", and this can be achieved by selfless action, "By desireless action; by renouncing fruits of action; by dedicating all activities to God, i.e., by surrendering oneself to Him body and soul." Gandhi called the Gita "The Gospel of Selfless Action".^[82] To achieve true liberation, it is important to control all mental desires and tendencies to enjoy sense pleasures. The following verses illustrate this:^[83]

When a man dwells in his mind on the object of sense, attachment to them is produced. From attachment springs desire and from desire comes anger.

From anger arises bewilderment, from bewilderment loss of memory; and from loss of memory, the destruction of intelligence and from the destruction of intelligence he perishes. (2.62–3)^[83]

Bhakti yoga[edit]

Main article: Bhakti yoga

The introduction to chapter seven of the Bhagavad Gita explains bhakti as a mode of worship which consists of unceasing and loving remembrance of God. Faith (Śraddhā) and total surrender to a chosen God (Ishta-deva) are considered to be important aspects of bhakti.^[84] Theologian Catherine Cornille writes, "The text [of the Gita] offers a survey of the different possible disciplines for attaining liberation through knowledge (Gyaana), action (karma), and loving devotion to God (bhakti), focusing on the latter as both the easiest and the highest path to salvation."^[85] M. R. Sampatkumaran, a Bhagavad Gita scholar, explains in his overview of Ramanuja's commentary on the Gita, "The point is that mere knowledge of the scriptures cannot lead to final release. Devotion, meditation, and worship are essential."^[86] Ramakrishna believed that the essential message of the Gita could be obtained by repeating the word Gita several times,^[87] "'Gita, Gita, Gita', you begin, but then find yourself saying 'ta-Gi, ta-Gi, ta-Gi'. Tagi means one who has renounced everything for God." In the following verses, Krishna elucidates the importance of bhakti:

And of all yogins, he who full of faith worships Me, with his inner self abiding in Me, him, I hold to be the most attuned (to me in Yoga). (6.47)^[88]

For one who worships Me, giving up all his activities unto Me and being devoted to Me without deviation, engaged in devotional service and always meditating upon Me, who has fixed his mind upon Me, O son of Pṛthā, for him I am the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death. (12.6–7)^{[web 27]}

Radhakrishnan writes that the verse 11.55 is "the essence of bhakti" and the "substance of the whole teaching of the Gita":^[89]

Those who make me the supreme goal of all their work and act without selfish attachment, who devote themselves to me completely and are free from ill will for any creature, enter into me.(11.55

Moksha: Liberation

Modern interpretations of dharma[edit]

Svadharma and svabhava[edit]

The eighteenth chapter of the Gita examines the relationship between svadharma and svabhava.^{[note 6][52]} This chapter uses the gunas of Shankya philosophy to present a series of typologies, and uses the same term to characterise the specific activities of the four varnas, which are distinguished by the "gunas proceeding from their nature."^[52]

Aurobindo modernises the concept of dharma and svabhava by internalising it, away from the social order and its duties towards one's personal capacities, which leads to a radical individualism,^[53] "finding the fulfilment of the purpose of existence in the individual alone."^[53] He deduced from the Gita the doctrine that "the functions of a man ought to be determined by his natural turn, gift, and capacities",^[53] that the individual should "develop freely"^[53] and thereby would be best able to serve society.^[53]

Gandhi's view differed from Aurobindo's view.^[54] He recognised in the concept of swadharma his idea of swadeshi, the idea that "man owes his service above all to those who are nearest to him by birth and situation."^[54] To him, swadeshi was "swadharma applied to one's immediate environment."^[55]

The Field of Dharma[edit]

The first reference to dharma in the Bhagavad Gita occurs in its first verse, where Dhritarashtra refers to the Kurukshetra, the location of the battlefield, as the Field of Dharma, "The Field of Righteousness or Truth".^[44] According to Fowler, dharma in this verse may refer to the sanatana dharma, "what Hindus understand as their religion, for it is a term that encompasses wide aspects of religious and traditional thought and is more readily used for ""religion".^[44] Therefore, 'Field of action' implies the field of righteousness, where truth will eventually triumph.^[44]

"The Field of Dharma" is also called the "Field of action" by Sri Aurobindo, a freedom fighter and philosopher.^[44] Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan, a philosopher and the second president of India, saw "The Field of Dharma" as the world (Bhavsagar), which is a "battleground for moral struggle.

Promotion of just war and duty[edit]

Other scholars such as Steven Rosen, Laurie L. Patton and Stephen Mitchell have seen in the Gita a religious defense of the warrior class's (Kshatriya Varna) duty (svadharma), which is to conduct combat and war with courage and do not see this as only an allegorical teaching, but also a real defense of just war.^[69][70]

Indian independence leaders like Lala Lajpat Rai and Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw the Gita as a text which defended war when necessary and used it to promote war against the British Empire. Lajpat Rai wrote an article on the "Message of the Bhagavad Gita". He saw the main message as the bravery and courage of Arjuna to fight as a warrior.^[71] Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw the Gita as defending killing when necessary for the betterment of society, such as, for example, the killing of Afzal Khan.^[71]

According to J. N. Farquhar:

"Even the Gita was used to teach murder. Lies, deceit, murder, everything, it was argued, may be rightly used. How far the leaders really believed this teaching no man can say; but the younger men got filled with it, and many were only too sincere."^[72]

The Bhagavad Gita

The Bhagavad Gita is part of the Prasthanatrayi, which also includes the Upanishads and Brahma sutras. These are the key texts for the Vedanta,^[22][23][24] which interprets these texts to give a unified meaning. Advaita Vedanta sees the non-dualism of Atman and Brahman as its essence,^[12] whereas Bhedabheda and Vishishtadvaita see Atman and Brahman as both different and non-different, and Dvaita sees them as different. In recent times the Advaita interpretation has gained worldwide popularity, due to the Neo-Vedanta of Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan, while the Achintya Bheda Abheda interpretation has gained worldwide popularity via the Hare Krishnas, a branch of Gaudiya Vaishnavism.^[25]

Although early Vedanta gives an interpretation of the sruti texts of the Upanishads, and its main commentary the Brahman Sutras, the popularity of the Bhagavad Gita was such that it could not be neglected.^[6] It is referred to in the Brahman Sutras, and Shankara, Bhaskara and Ramanuja all three wrote commentaries on it.^[6] The Bhagavad Gita is different from the Upanishads in format and content, and accessible to all, in contrast to the sruti, which are only to be read and heard by the higher castes.^[6]

Some branches of Hinduism give it the status of an Upanishad, and consider it to be a Śruti or "revealed text".^[26][27] According to Pandit, who gives a modern-orthodox interpretation of Hinduism, "since the Bhagavad Gita represents a summary of the Upanishadic teachings, it is sometimes called 'the Upanishad of the Upanishads

he Bhagavad Gita is a Bhagavata explanation of the Purusha Sukta and the Purushamedha Srauta yajna described in the Satapatha Brahmana.^[11] Chapters 7 and 8 of the Bhagavad Gita describe the relationship between teacher and disciple, where the teacher is viewed as the absolute person, Purusa Narayana.^[11] In Chapters 10 and 11 of the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna begins to instruct Arjuna about the directions of space-time within himself reflecting what is written in the Satapatha Brahmana and Purusa Sukta.^[11] The vision of Krishna in his universal form shows the self-devouring nature of the absolute person, as described in the Satapatha Brahmana and Purusa Sukta.^[11] Chapters 12 describes the two paths one chooses after one completes the Purushamedha yajna i.e. become a renunciate or remain as a householder.^[11] Chapter 14 is the highest teaching within the Bhagavad Gita, the knowledge to achieve the same state as Purusa Narayana, which is the goal of the Purushamedha.

In the epic Mahabharata, after Sanjaya—counsellor of the Kuru king Dhritarashtra—returns from the battlefield to announce the death of Bhishma, he begins recounting the details of the Mahabharata war. Bhagavad Gita forms the content of this recollection.^[30] The Gita begins before the start of the climactic Kurukshetra War, where the Pandava prince Arjuna is filled with doubt on the battlefield. Realising that his enemies are his own relatives, beloved friends, and revered teachers, he turns to his charioteer and guide, God Incarnate Lord Shri Krishna, for advice. Responding to Arjuna's confusion and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his duties as a warrior and prince, elaborating on a variety of philosophical concepts.

Bhagavad Gita comprises 18 chapters (section 25 to 42)^{[32][web 2]} in the Bhishma Parva of the epic Mahabharata and consists of 700 verses.^[33] Because of differences in recensions, the verses of the Gita may be numbered in the full text of the Mahabharata as chapters 6.25–42 or as chapters 6.23–40.^{[web 3]} According to the recension of the Gitacommented on by Adi Shankara, a prominent philosopher of the Vedanta school, the number of verses is 700, but there is evidence to show that old manuscripts had 745 verses.^[34]The verses themselves, composed with similes and metaphors, are poetic in nature. The verses mostly employ the range and style of the Sanskrit Anustubh metre (chhandas), and in a few expressive verses the Tristubh metre is used.^[35]

The Sanskrit editions of the Gita name each chapter as a particular form of yoga. However, these chapter titles do not appear in the Sanskrit text of the Mahabharata.^{[web 3]} Swami Chidbhavananda explains that each of the eighteen chapters is designated as a separate yoga because each chapter, like yoga, "trains the body and the mind". He labels the first chapter "Arjuna Vishada Yogam" or the "Yoga of Arjuna's Dejection".^[36] Sir Edwin Arnold translates this chapter as "The Distress of Arjuna"^[37]

Krishna displays his Vishvarupa (Universal Form) to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra (chapter 11).

Gita Dhyanam: (contains 9 verses) The Gita Dhyanam is not a part of the main Bhagavad Gita, but it is commonly published with the Gītā as a prefix. The verses of the Gita Dhyanam (also called Gītā Dhyāna or Dhyāna Ślokas) offer salutations to a variety of sacred scriptures, figures, and entities, characterise the relationship of the Gītā to the Upanishads, and affirm the power of divine assistance.^[38] It is a common practice to recite these before reading the Gita.^{[web 4][39]}

1. Prathama adhyaya^[40] (The Distress of Arjuna^[37] contains 46 verses): Arjuna has requested Krishna to move his chariot between the two armies. His growing dejection is described as he fears losing friends and relatives as a consequence of war.^{[web 5]}
2. Sankhya yoga (The Book of Doctrines^[37] contains 72 verses): After asking Krishna for help, Arjuna is instructed into various subjects such as, Karma yoga, Gyaana yoga, Sankhya yoga, Buddhi yoga and the immortal nature of the soul. Sankhya here refers to one of six orthodox schools of the Hindu Philosophy. This chapter is often considered the summary of the entire Bhagavad Gita.^{[web 6]}
3. Karma yoga (Virtue in Work^[37] or Virtue Of Actions contains 43 verses): Krishna explains how Karma yoga, i.e. performance of prescribed duties, but without attachment to results, is the appropriate course of action for Arjuna.^{[web 7]}
4. Gyaana–Karma-Sanyasa yoga (The Religion of Knowledge^[37] contains 42 verses): Krishna reveals that he has lived through many births, always teaching yoga for the protection of the pious and the destruction of the impious and stresses the importance of accepting a guru.^{[web 8]}
5. Karma–Sanyasa yoga (Religion by Renouncing Fruits of Works^[37] contains 29 verses): Arjuna asks Krishna if it is better to forgo action or to act ("renunciation or discipline of action").^[41] Krishna answers that both are ways to the same goal,^{[web 9]} but that acting in Karma yoga is superior.
6. Dhyan yoga or Atmasanyam yoga (Religion by Self-Restraint^[37] contains 47 verses): Krishna describes the Ashtanga yoga. He further elucidates the difficulties of the mind and the techniques by which mastery of the mind might be gained.^{[web 10]}
7. Gyaana–ViGyaana yoga (Religion by Discernment^[37] contains 30 verses): Krishna describes the absolute reality and its illusory energy Maya.^{[web 11]}
8. Aksara–Brahma yoga (Religion by Devotion to the One Supreme God^[37] contains 28 verses): This chapter contains eschatology of the Bhagavad Gita. Importance of the last thought before death, differences between material and spiritual worlds, and light and dark paths that a soul takes after death are described.^{[web 12]}
9. Raja–Vidya–Raja–Guhya yoga (Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery^[37] contains 34 verses): Krishna explains how His eternal energy pervades, creates, preserves, and destroys the entire universe.^{[web 13]} According to theologian Christopher Southgate, verses of this chapter of the Gita are panentheistic,^[42] while German physicist and philosopher Max Bernhard Weinstein deems the work pandeistic.^[43]
10. Vibhuti–Vistara–yoga (Religion by the Heavenly Perfections^[37] contains 42 verses): Krishna is described as the ultimate cause of all material and spiritual existence. Arjuna accepts Krishna as the Supreme Being, quoting great sages who have also done so.^{[web 14]}
11. Visvarupa–Darsana yoga (The Manifesting of the One and Manifold^[37] contains 55 verses): On Arjuna's request, Krishna displays his "universal form" (Viśvarūpa),^{[web 15]} a theophany of a being facing every way and emitting the radiance of a thousand suns, containing all other beings and material in existence.
12. Bhakti yoga (The Religion of Faith^[37] contains 20 verses): In this chapter Krishna glorifies the path of devotion to God. Krishna describes the process of devotional service (Bhakti yoga). He also explains different forms of spiritual disciplines.^{[web 16]}
13. Ksetra–Ksetrajna Vibhaga yoga (Religion by Separation of Matter and Spirit^[37] contains 35 verses): The difference between transient perishable physical body and the immutable eternal soul is described. The difference between individual consciousness and universal consciousness is also made clear.^{[web 17]}
14. Gunatraya–Vibhaga yoga (Religion by Separation from the Qualities^[37] contains 27 verses): Krishna explains the three modes (gunas) of material nature pertaining to goodness, passion, and nescience. Their causes, characteristics, and influence on a living entity are also described.^{[web 18]}
15. Purusottama yoga (Religion by Attaining the Supreme^[37] contains 20 verses): Krishna identifies the transcendental characteristics of God such as, omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence.^{[web 19]} Krishna also describes a symbolic tree (representing material existence), which has its roots in the heavens and its foliage on earth. Krishna explains that this tree should be felled with the "axe of detachment", after which one can go beyond to his supreme abode.
16. Daivasura–Sampad–Vibhaga yoga (The Separateness of the Divine and Undivine^[37] contains 24 verses): Krishna identifies the human traits of the divine and the demonic natures. He counsels that to attain the supreme destination one must give up lust, anger, greed, and discern between right and wrong action by discernment through Buddhi and evidence from the scriptures.^{[web 20]}
17. Sraddhatraya-Vibhaga yoga (Religion by the Threefold Kinds of Faith^[37] contains 28 verses): Krishna qualifies the three divisions of faith, thoughts, deeds, and even eating habits corresponding to the three modes (gunas).^{[web 21]}
18. Moksha–Sanyasa yoga (Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation^[37] contains 78 verses): In this chapter, the conclusions of previous seventeen chapters are summed up. Krishna asks Arjuna to abandon all forms of dharma and simply surrender unto him and describes this as the ultimate perfection of life.

THE ESSENCE OF BHAGBAT GITA ....

Due to its presence in the Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita is classified as a Smriti text or "that which is remembered".^{[note 2]} The smriti texts of the period between 200 BCE and 100 CE belong to the emerging "Hindu Synthesis", proclaiming the authority of the Vedas while integrating various Indian traditions and religions. Acceptance of the Vedas became a central criterion for defining Hinduism over and against the heterodoxies, which rejected the Vedas.^[17]

The so-called "Hindu Synthesis" emerged during the early Classical period (200 BCE – 300 CE) of Hinduism.^[17][8][18] According to Alf Hiltebeitel, a period of consolidation in the development of Hinduism took place between the time of the late Vedic Upanishad (ca. 500 BCE) and the period of the rise of the Guptas (ca. 320–467 CE) which he calls the "Hindu Synthesis", "Brahmanic Synthesis", or "Orthodox Synthesis".^[17] It developed in interaction with other religions and peoples:

The emerging self-definitions of Hinduism were forged in the context of continuous interaction with heterodox religions (Buddhists, Jains, Ajivikas) throughout this whole period, and with foreign people (Yavanas, or Greeks; Sakas, or Scythians; Pahlavas, or Parthians; and Kusanas, or Kushans) from the third phase on [between the Mauryan empire and the rise of the Guptas].^[17]

The Bhagavad Gita is the sealing achievement of this Hindu Synthesis, incorporating various religious traditions.^{[17][10][8][web 1][9]} According to Hiltebeitel, Bhakti forms an essential ingredient of this synthesis, which incorporates Bhakti into Vedanta.^[17] According to Deutsch and Dalvi, the Bhagavad Gita attempts "to forge a harmony"^[19] between different strands of Indian thought: jnana, dharma and bhakti.^[10] Deutsch and Dalvi note that the authors of the Bhagavad Gita "must have seen the appeal of the soteriologies both of the "heterodox" traditions of Buddhism and Jainism and of the more "orthodox" ones of Samkhya and Yoga",^[7] while the Brahmanic tradition emphasised "the significance of dharma as the instrument of goodness".^[7] Scheepers mentions the Bhagavat Gita as a Brahmanical text which uses the shramanic and Yogic terminology to spread the Brahmanic idea of living according to one's duty or dharma, in contrast to the yogic ideal of liberation from the workings of karma.^[8] According to Basham,

The Bhagavadgita combines many different elements from Samkhya and Vedanta philosophy. In matters of religion, its important contribution was the new emphasis placed on devotion, which has since remained a central path in Hinduism. In addition, the popular theism expressed elsewhere in the Mahabharata and the transcendentalism of the Upanishads converge, and a God of personal characteristics is identified with the brahman of the Vedic tradition. The Bhagavadgita thus gives a typology of the three dominant trends of Indian religion: dharma-based householder life, enlightenment-based renunciation, and devotion-based theism.