In this book, the author has selected 90 verses of the Gita out of the total 700, which are purely subjective in nature.

He, however, has included all the important ones for the sake of coherency of presentation.

It is hoped that this small book will motivate the modern reader to study the full text with passion and devotion and pursue the spiritual goals towards eternal bliss.

This abridged edition will give the complete message, which has inspired generations of students of the Gita all over the world.


About the author:

Dr. N.K. Srinivasan was born in Chennai in 1943.

He studied engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore and later obtained doctorate in engineering from Columbia University, USA.

Thereafter, he served Barc, ISRO, PSG College of Technology and DRDO in various capacities. He has authored four technical books.

Brought up in a deeply religious home, he practiced Transcendental Meditation for four years.

After a traumatic experience in 1976, he was drawn to Paramahansa Yogananda and received initiatin in Kriya Yoga from a monk of YSS/SRF, Ranchi and practiced it for nearly 15 years.

Since 1983, he has been imperceptibly influenced by Shirdi Sai Baba. He is the founder-trustee of two charitable trusts – one for blind children and the other for Shirdi Sai Vedanta.

He devotes his time to Yoga, Reiki, Vedanta and Sai Prachar.


CONTENTS:

Introduction
1. JNANA YOGA
2. KARMA YOGA
3. BHAKTI YOGA
4. DHYANA YOGA
5. YOGA OF RENUNCIATION
6. SYNTHESIS OF YOGAS AND THE PATH OF SURRENDER
7. THE COSMIC FORM
Bibliography

AN EXCERPT FROM THE BOOK IS AS FOLLOWS:


Introduction
In this book, we discuss different yogas in separate chapters and string together the corresponding verses from the Gita. This obviates repetition of ideas while retaining the systematic progression (and depth) of ideas as given in the original. One separate chapter titled ‘Synthesis of yogas’ provides verses that explain different yogas together.The chapters are as follows:

* Jnana yoga (knowledge)
* Karma yoga (action)
* Dhyana yoga (meditation or raja yoga)
* Bhakti yoga (devotion)
* Sannyasa yoga (renunciation)
* Synthesis of yogas.

The last chapter summarises Chapter 11—the ‘vishva roop darshan’, where the Lord gives Arjun the divine power to see His Cosmic Form—the beatific vision showing the Glory of God.

The Yogas
The Gita is essentially a scripture explaining the different yogas or paths leading to spiritual liberation—Moksha or freedom from future births. This overriding spiritual goal is also stated in the Upanishads, as the goal of merging with the Brahman or the Supreme Being.

Lord Krishna takes pains to explain each type of yoga and also presents the integrated view of yogas. The Lord answers several specific questions raised by Arjun. Some are opening remarks or lead questions to get the dialogue started. Some questions relate to seeking clarifications or eliciting specific meanings from the Lord. Some questions are meant to fill the gaps in knowledge regarding soul, the world and the Supreme Being; they are mainly questions on Vedanta.
At one level of understanding, the Gita is essentially a summary of the Upanishads. It is said that Lord Krishna is the divine milkman, milking the cow of the Upanishads to yield milk for Arjun and thereby for humanity at large. Several verses, in fact, are taken directly from the Upanishads, as we shall see later.

The Gita is one of the three foundational texts or
scriptures, (prasthaana triya) the other two being the Upanishads and the Brahma Sutras. (While Upanishads are considered to pre-date the Gita chronologically, the Brahma Sutras are later texts).