''Shrimad Bhagvad Gita Rahasya'', popularly also known as ''Gita Rahasya'' or ''Karmayog Shastra'', is a 1915

Marathi language Marathi (; ''Marāṭhī'', ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language predominantly spoken by Marathi people in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the official language of Maharashtra, and additional official language in the state o ...

book authored by Indian social reformer and independence activist

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokmānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence a ...

while he was in prison at

Mandalay Mandalay ( or ; ) is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. Located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631km (392 miles) (Road Distance) north of Yangon, the city has a population of 1,225,553 (2014 census). Mandalay was fo ...

, Burma. It is the analysis of ''

Karma yoga Karma yoga ( sa, कर्म योग), also called Karma marga, is one of the four classical spiritual paths in Hinduism, one based on the "yoga of action", the others being Jnana yoga (path of knowledge), Rāja yoga (path of meditatio ...

'' which finds its source in the

Bhagavad Gita The Bhagavad Gita (; sa, श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता, lit=The Song by God, translit=śrīmadbhagavadgītā;), often referred to as the Gita (), is a 700- verse Hindu scripture that is part of the epic ''Mahabharata'' (c ...

, a sacred book for

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s. According to him, the real message behind the Bhagavad Gita is ''Nishkam Karmayoga'' (selfless action), rather than ''Karma Sanyasa'' (renouncing of actions), which had become the popular message of Gita after

Adi Shankara Adi Shankara ("first Shankara," to distinguish him from other Shankaras)(8th cent. CE), also called Adi Shankaracharya ( sa, आदि शङ्कर, आदि शङ्कराचार्य, Ādi Śaṅkarācāryaḥ, lit=First Shanka ...

. He took the Mimamsa rule of interpretation as the basis of building up his thesis. This book consists of two parts. The first part is the philosophical exposition and the second part consists of the Gita, its translation and the commentary. The book was written by Tilak in pencil with his own handwriting while being imprisoned at the Mandalay jail from 1908 to 1914. The more-than-400 pages of script was written in less than four months and is hence in itself considered as "remarkable achievement". Although the writing was completed in the early years of his term, the book was only published in 1915, when he returned to

Poona Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

. He defended the ethical obligation to the active principle or action, as long the action was selfless and without personal interest or motive. In a speech on his, Gita Rahasya Tilak said "Various commentators have put as many interpretations on the book, and surely the writer or composer could not have written or composed the book for so many interpretations being put on it. He must have but one meaning and one purpose running through the book, and that I have tried to find out". He finds the message of the subservience of all yogas to Karmayoga or the yoga of action rather than the yoga of sole knowledge ( jnanayoga) or of devotion (

bhaktiyoga ''Bhakti'' ( sa, भक्ति) literally means "attachment, participation, fondness for, homage, faith, love, devotion, worship, purity".See Monier-Williams, ''Sanskrit Dictionary'', 1899. It was originally used in Hinduism, referring to d ...

Books on it

Various authors have written books based on Tilak's ''Gita Rahasya'' and have also translated it into other languages. * ''A Gist of Mr. Tilak's Gita-Rahasya Or Karma-Yoga-Shastra, Etc.'' * Introduction to ''The Gita-rahasya'': Or ''The Fundamentals of Life and Living''

Translations

* ''Gita Rahasya'' in

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Jyotirindranath Tagore Jyotirindranath Tagore ( bn, জ্যোতিরিন্দ্রনাথ ঠাকুর; 4 May 1849 – 4 March 1925) was a playwright, a musician, an editor and a painter. He played a major role in the flowering of the talents of his you ...

* ''Gita Rahasya'' in

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

Uttamlal Trivedi Uttamlal Keshavlal Trivedi () (16 December 1872 – 9 December 1923) was a Gujarati writer and translator from India. Biography Uttamlal Trivedi was born on 16 December 1872 at Ahmedabad in British India. After passing matriculation examination ...

* ''Gita Rahasya'' in

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

Aluru Venkata Rao Aluru Venkata Rao (also sometimes referred as Aluru Venkata Raya) (12 July 1880 – 25 February 1964) was an Indian historian, writer and journalist. He is revered as Karnataka Kulapurohita (''High priest of the Kannada family'') in the Karn ...

References

External links

''Srimad Bhagavad Gita Rahasya'' - BG Tilak - Volumes 1 and 2

श्रीमद्भवद्गीतारहस्य at Marathi Wikisource
{{Bal Gangadhar Tilak Hindu texts Bhagavad Gita Marathi-language literature 1915 non-fiction books Indian non-fiction books Philosophy books Prison writings Bal Gangadhar Tilak 20th-century Indian books