The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita
By Sri Krishna Prem


From the Foreword by Dr. Karan Singh: ‘Sri Krishna Prem’s book on the Bhagavat Gita is not a verse-by-verse translation. It is, rather, a running commentary on the verses, to which he brings to bear his remarkable intellect and devotion to Sri Krishna. A special dimension of his commentary is his reference to Western mystics, such as Plotinus, Hermes Trismegistus, Meister Eckhart and others, which show that many of the insights of the Gita r epresent numerous strains of world mysticism. In fact, Sri Krishna Prem fulfills the two essential requirements mentioned in the Upanishads for a spiritual guide: Shrotrium – well versed in the scriptures, and Brahma Nishtam – founded in the higher consciousness. It would be presumptuous of me to comment in detail about his interpretation of the Gita except to say that anyone studying the gr eat text would be well advised to read Sri Krishna Prem’s brilliant commentary. To quote Sri Krishna Prem himself: “The point of view from which this book has been written is that the Gita is a textbook of Yoga, a guide to the treading of the Path. By Yoga is here meant not any special system called by that name, not jnana yoga, nor karma yoga, nor bhakti yoga, nor the eightfold yoga of Patanjali, but just the Path by which man unites his finite s elf with Infinite Being. It is the inner Path of which all these separate yogas are so many one-sided aspects. It is not so much a synthesis of these separate teachings as that prior and undivided whole of which they represent partial formulations.”