Hermeneutics of the Bhagavad Gita as Interpreted by Sri Ramanuja as a Social Moral Analysis

Introduction India is proud of having innumerable saints, composers, poets, seers and philosophers, Ramanuja is one among them. An attempt is made to study one of the great works of Ramanuja, The Gita Bhaṣya. The Bhagavad Gita (The celestial song), one of the Prasthana Trayi (The triple text) along with the Brahma-Sutra and the Upaniṣad as a scripture has a universal appeal. The number of commentaries written, traditional and modern, by westerners and Indians is a proof of the same. The Gita which is a part of the Mahabhaarata epic is in the form of an advice given by Lord Kṛṣṇa to the warrior Arjuna facing a dilemma: whether to fight or not. Seeing his teachers, elders, cousins on the battlefield, he is confused about the futility of fighting a war against his own kith and kin, he thinks that even if he wins the war, the consequences are going to be devastating. This condition of Arjun is known as Viṣadaḥ Yoga. In this situation, Lord Kṛṣṇa in the form of Arjuna's charioteer (Sarathi), counsels him and motivates him to fight, which Kṛṣṇa calls a just war, a last resort for the Pandvas to claim a fair share of the land which is rightfully theirs.