Sankara Bhagavad Gita Mahadeva Sastri

THE BHAGAVAD GITA WITH THE COMMENTARY OF SRI SANKARACHARYA Translated from the original Sanskrit into English By ALLADI MAHADEVA SASTRY wm sffar 4-eHti SAMATA BOOKS MADRAS First Published 1897. Successive editions 1901, 1918, 1947, 1961, 1972. 7th edition 1977 with the kind cooperation of Sri S. T. Ramalingam, Official Trustee administering the Vavilla Venkateswara Sastrulu Trust. © V. Sadanand Published by V. Sadanand The Personal Bookshop 10, Kamaraj Bhavan, ll1, Mount Road^ Madras 600006 India Printed at AH India Press Pondicherry India PUBLISHER'S NOTE Sri Sankaracharya's is the earliest extant commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. He explained the need for his commentary thus:- "This famous Gita-Sastra is an epitome of the essentials of the whole Vedic teaching; and its meaning is very difficult to understand. Though, to afford a clear view of its teaching, it has been explained word by word and sentence by sentence, and its import critically examined by several commentators, still I have found that to the laity it appears to teach diverse and quite contradictory doctrines. I propose, therefore, to write a brief commentary with a view to determine its precise meaning." The text of the Gita as cited by Sankara has come down the centuries as the authentic text and this commentary of his has proved to be of seminal value ever since. Its translation into English b…