Chapter 1: Introduction

The Bhagavad-gītā is compositionally unique, logically coherent and meaningfully harmonized text. It is generally treated as a religious text, but it is more than that. It does not preach religion but is rather a philosophical discourse on action and metaphysics required for action. Bhagavad-gītā presents its doctrine in the form of a dialogue between Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna in the beginning of the Mahābhārata War. Arjuna along with his four brothers is expected to fight against his cousins (Kauravas), other relatives, and teachers in the war. When the war is about to begin he foresees the death of his friends, relatives and teacher and therefore refuses to fight. Here, Kṛṣṇa steps in to encourage him to fight and the ensuing dialogue between the two is the Bhagavad-gītā. In this dialogue Kṛṣṇa teaches Arjuna to do his duty, as a warrior, in the battlefield without considering its consequences.

The Bhagavad-gītā is one of the most popular texts in India. Globally, it is one of the most widely read Indian philosophical texts. The Bhagavadgītā answers many questions of human life, some of the questions are: what is the aim of life, how any action has to be performed or what is the right way of performing action; what is jñāna or knowledge.

There is a long tradition of composing commentaries on the Bhagavad-gītā. The Anugītā has been considered as the first gloss known to us on the Bhagavad-gītā.

Arvind Sharma writes,

“…if Anugītā is what it claims to be–the re-presentation of the Bhagavad-gītā–then it can be looked upon as the first comment, if not commentary, on the Bhagavad-gītā within the Hindu Tradition.”^[1]

The Anugītā is part of the Asvamedhikaparva of the Mahābhārata. Thirty-six chapters from 16 to 51 of Asvamedhikaparva are recognized as the Anugītā. The Anugītā together with rest of the chapters from the Asvamedhikaparva is also known as the Anugītāparva. The Anugītā is an expanded representation of some of the themes of the Bhagavad-gītā and hence can be considered as one of the earliest known gloss on it. After Anugītā the first extant commentary is that of Śaṃkarācārya. His commentary was evaluated by T G Mayankar and he found that Śaṃskarācārya is not a reliable interpreter of the Bhagavad-gītā. After Śaṃkarācārya there is a long list of commentators who composed commentaries on the Bhagavad-gītā, which includes such prominent names as that of Rāmānujācārya, Madhvācārya, Bhāskara and Abhinavagūpta.

Objectives of the Study:

The objectives of the proposed thesis are

a. To make a critical evaluation of Rāmānuja’s interpretation of the verses of Bhagavad-gītā in order to find out weakness and strength of his interpretation.

b. To find out whether he has succeeded in unification of the entire text through his interpretation.

Methodology:

The present study is mainly based on textual hermeneutics. The method adopted here is the study of the related text Bhagavad-gītā and Rāmānuja’s interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā. Both the texts in original and available secondary literature have been consulted. Different scholars’ and authors’ works such as books, articles and journals where comments on Rāmānuja’s interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā are available have been consulted besides the works mentioned in the literature review. Rāmānuja, like other classical commentators, interprets the words only in the context of the verse. Our attempt is to find out not the consistency of the philosophy of Rāmānuja, but how far he has been able to unify the text without deviating from the text itself.

Statement of the Problem:

Rāmānuja is undeniably a great scholar, philosopher and exponent of Viśīṣtādvaita philosophy. Being a successor Yamunāchārya, Rāmānuja has done several works. Some of the most important of these are Vedārthasaṃgraha, Vedāntasāra, Śrī Bhāṣya, Gītā Bhāṣya. Many scholars are of the view that Rāmānuja has borrowed ideas for his interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā from his preceptor Yamunāchārya’s Gītārthasaṃgraha. ^[2] But we are not concerned with discussing the validity or otherwise of that claim. What we are concerned about is the faithfulness of Rāmānuja’s interpretation to the text of the Bhagavad-gītā. Is Rāmānuja interpreting correctly the verses of the Bhagavad-gītā as available in the text? No attempt has yet been made to critically evaluate Rāmānuja’s interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā by comparing it with the text of the Bhagavad-gītā. The purpose of the research study is to make an attempt to critically evaluate Rāmānuja’s interpretation of the Bhagavad-gītā by comparing it with the text of the Bhagavad-gītā. Rāmānujācārya has commented on the vulgate recension of the Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore, his interpretation will be compared with this recension of the Bhagavad-gītā.

Review of the Literature:

Very little work has been done, which evaluate Rāmānuja’s interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā. The following are some of the works which deal with Rāmānuja’s interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā.

Madan Prasad, in his book Ethical Philosophy of the Gītā–A Comparative and Critical Study of the Interpretation of Tilak and Rāmānuja, explains the synthetic character of the metaphysics of Viśīṣtādvaita as a system of philosophy, religion and ethics. This is done in the light of the Rāmānuja’s interpretation of the Bhagavad-gītā. He has also tried to find out the difference of standpoints between Śaṃkara’s Advaita and Viśīṣtādvaita of Rāmānuja.^[3]

Raghavachar, S. S in his book Rāmānuja on the Gītā examined the interpretation of Bhagavad-gītā by Rāmānuja. In his view, the fundamental theme of Bhagavadgītā, according to Rāmānuja, is the doctrine of bhakti, which leads to the attainment of Highest Reality. He says Rāmānuja has divided eighteen discourses into three groups consisting of six chapters which alternatively identified as devotion to self-realization, the issues out of the realization and the intellectual classification of the Prakṛti, Purūṣa, Brahman the three metaphysical entities.^[4]

Cyril Veliath, S . J, in his article ‘Ramanuja's Concept of the Individual Soul and Human Freedom’ states the relationship of Prakṛti and Purūṣa. Prakṛti is the causal agent of the body and sense organs and Purūṣa, the self is the cause of experience of pleasure and pain and such other experiences. Regarding the relation between self and body, the author argues that self is the “great lord” because it rules over the body, supports and controls it totally. In the context of some particular passages of Śrī Bhāṣya (S. B. 2:3-38, 39, 40) of Rāmānuja, the author argues that Rāmānuja considers the self alone as the agent and responsible for karman and result. But in Gītā Bhāṣya (G. B. 5:14) according to the author, Rāmānuja makes the statement that the self is not in its essential nature subject to karman, does not initiate agency and not responsible for the result. But in 13:20 of Gītā Bhāṣya makes the statement that soul is the source and originator of all. Again in 18:1, 13 attributing all agencies to Brahman and no agency to self, Brahman alone is the cause of all action. This has been mentioned in Gītā Bhāṣya, 11:32 also. Therefore, the author says it is obvious to any reader that there exists a tension between the agency of Brahman and that of the individual soul. Rāmānuja has not provided us with a satisfactory answer to the question as to who is the real agent of actions, and whether the human person is really and truly free. Rāmānuja appears to be caught between his desire to preserve the purity of the Brahman, and the responsibility of the human person for his acts.^[5]

Eleni Boliaki’s article ‘Jnana, Bhakti, and Karma Yoga. Sankara and Ramanuja on the Bhagavad-Gita’, argues that, Rāmānuja employs a theistic interpretation of the Gītā in reconciliation with monism. According to Rāmānuja, the Gītā affirms the bhakti doctrine of the Upanishads. He suggests a combination of jñāna, karma and bhakti, practiced at the same time, because the path of knowledge, devotion and action all are mentioned in the Gītā. But he emphasizes on bhakti yoga i.e. devotion as sole means of liberation or salvation. The author writes, for Rāmānuja, Gītā seeks to reconcile monism and theism to stress the importance of ritual acts and the importance of emotional religion. The author tries to make differentiation between Śaṃkara and Rāmānuja’s view on liberation.^[6]

Nagarajan Venkataraman’s article‘Shankara and Ramanuja on the Bhagavad Gita, explains that both Śaṃkara and Rāmānuja in their commentaries on the Bhagavad-gītā offer alternative interpretations and insight. This interpretation is based mainly on liberation of the individual soul. For Śaṃkara it is possible when action is essential as a means for purification of the mind and wisdom is attained. Śaṃkara believes that the aspirants for salvation should renounce the performance of ritual works. The author underlines Rāmānuja’s emphasis on devotion. The author further observes that Rāmānuja develops in his commentary on the Gītā a type of personal mysticism. But what is personal mysticism is not explained by Rāmānuja.^[7]

J. A. B Van Beutenen’s book Rāmānuja on the Bhagavad Gītā–A Condensed Rendering of His Gītā Bhāṣya with Copious Notes and an Introduction is a concise interpretation of Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya with plenty of notes. The author summarizes verses of Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya with a very short note and also tries to find out whether or not Rāmānuja is influenced by Gītārthasaṃgraha of Yamunācārya. The author mentions that many ideas of Rāmānuja seem to be derived directly from Gītārthasaṃgraha.^[8]

Nancy Nayar’s article‘The Concept of Prapatti in Ramanuja's “Gītābhāsya” tried to investigate Prapatti as a means to the Supreme or human goal of liberation and whether or not the doctrine of Prapatti is contained in the Gītā Bhāṣya of Rāmānujacārya? Rāmānuja, following Yamunācārya’s teaching, says that the primary meaning of the Bhagavadgītā is to attain Lord through bhakti alone; therefore, the question regarding the place of Prapatti in his Gītā Bhāṣya is problematic. The author mentions that no very thorough study of the doctrine of Prapatti in Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya exists. But author also says that some have concentrated on 18:66 and some other in some particular passages of Chapter IX of his Gītā Bhāṣya. Therefore, she makes clear that there is no clear and explicit doctrine of Prapatti in his Gītā Bhāṣya. ^[9]

Robert C Lester’s article ‘Rāmānuja and Śrī Vaiṣṇavism: The Concept of Prapatti or Śaranāgati’, tries to explore and locate the concept of Prapatti or Śaranāgati of Rāmānuja and Śrī Vaiṣṇavism with reference to Gītā Bhāṣya and Śaranāgatigadya. Prapatti or Śaranāgati means it must involve a positive act on the part of one desirous of liberation before divine grace can effect such an end. This paper tries to establish that Rāmānuja employs the concept of Prapatti or Śaranāgati in his Gītā Bhāṣya and Śaranāgatigadya as a sole means to the attainment of mokṣa or liberation. But Rāmānuja in his Śrī Bhāṣya, Vedārthasaṃgraha and Gītā Bhāṣya emphasizes again and again that the sole means to Supreme felicity is bhakti yoga, a discipline of dhārmic action, knowledge and meditation. Rāmānuja employs Prapatti emphasizing that release is to be gained only by divine grace, but divine grace is not forthcoming unless one desirous of release expresses exclusive and constant devotion to the Supreme Person in the form of the yogic discipline.^[10]

Katherine K. Young’s, ‘Ramanuja on the “Bhagavad Gītā”- 4:11: The Issue of Arcavātāra’ discusses the concept of Arcavātāra particularly referring to the 4:11 of Gītā Bhāṣya of Rāmānuja. For the author mentions that most of the scholars have wondered that Rāmānuja is apparently silent on the concept of Arcavātāra, the image-worship of God. They argue that this silence reflects Rāmānuja’s ignorance of the hymns of Ālvars or the concept of God’s fullness as the arca. The author concludes that Rāmānuja is undeniably a sectarian in his commentary on Gītā Bhāṣya 4:11 that recognizes image-worship of God i.e. Arcavātāra. The author also tries to make a comparison of Rāmānuja and Śaṃkara’s commentaries on 4:11 of Gītā Bhāṣya which reflects that Rāmānuja is undeniably supporting emergent Śrī Vaiṣṇavas theology of arca. Therefore, he is not against image-worship.^[11]

S. M Srinivasa Chari’s book The Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gītā -A Study Based on the Evaluation of the Commentaries of Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhava is based on the commentary of Śaṃkara, Rāmānuja and Mādhava’s. The author makes an analytic and comparative study of the commentaries of these three commentators and assesses whether or not these are reflected in original text of the Gītā? The author also examines critically whether or not these conform to the teaching of the Gītā? ^[12]

Veeravalli Jagannathan and Jayashree Krishnan, in their book The Bhagavad Gītā -Based on Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣyam make an attempt to give the meaning of the verses of the Gītā and highlight the salient features of Rāmānuja. They also make the attempt to say that the Gītā Bhāṣya of Rāmānuja is not free from polemics.^[13]

Shirley Anne McMurtry in her doctoral thesis “Doctrines and Methods Used by Śaṃkara and Rāmānuja to Elucidate the Relation between Self Knowledge and Dharma with Special Reference to Their Commentaries on the Bhagavad Gītā” tried to investigate the understanding of the relation between Self knowledge and Dharma with reference to spiritual discipline as they have expounded in the Gītā Bhāṣya and also methods they have used in this relation.^[14]

From the above review of the literature it is observed that the few works on Rāmānuja which are available, deal with consistency of Rāmānuja’s philosophy or comparison of Rāmānuja’s interpretation with that of others, especially Śaṃkara, have been done. And none of the aforesaid books and articles on Rāmānuja’s works attempted critical evaluation of Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya as a faithful interpretation of the Bhagavad-gītā as a text . Therefore, there is a gap in the study of Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya. There is a gap as to whether it is interpreting the text of the Bhagavad-gītā faithfully taking into account the entire Bhagavad-gītā. Therefore, the present work is an attempt to bridge this gap. It is an attempt to study and evaluate critically on Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya to find how far it is a tenable interpretation of the verses of the Bhagavad-gītā.

Many people read the Bhagavad-gītā from Śaṃkara’s point of view and accept it as the superior interpretation of the Bhagagavdgītā. Rāmānuja’s interpretation is not as popular as that of Śaṃkara’s. Rāmānuja has interpreted Bhagavad-gītā from Viśīṣtādvaitic point of view; he has been able to find a distinctive meaning of the Bhagavad-gītā in his Gītā Bhāṣya, which is different from Śaṃkara’s interpretation. But at the same time it is to be noted that Rāmānuja in interpreting the text of the Bhagavad-gītā deviates from the accepted/canonical meaning of words in some of the important verses of the chapters. We have tried to find out in the following chapters how Rāmānuja has deviated from original meaning and how he has missed some important aspects in the chapters of the Bhagavad-gītā.

Bhagavad-gītā was composed by Veda Vyāsa around four hundred B.C. Bhagavad-gītā contains the essence of a major strand of India’s practical philosophy which comprises of 700 verses in vulgate recension and is divided into eighteen chapters. Each chapter (hereafter Chapter ) is given a title as ‘Yoga of____.’ Yoga means ‘path’. It also means union with the Supreme. Therefore, the word ‘yoga’ denotes both the method and the goal.^[15] Although the Bhagavad-gītā is being read widely, and has secured an eminent place in world literature the number of commentaries on it by major Indian philosophers and theologians shows that it presents interpretational challenges. Bhagavad-gītā as a ‘classic’ not only in a historical sense but also in a normative sense, affords perennial interpretations. Many verses are extremely difficult to grasp. Chapter X.21-38 of the Bhagavad-gītā can be taken as an example here.

In it the author of the Bhagavad-gītā makes Kṛṣṇa say in first person:

vedānāṃ sāmovedo’smi–devānāṃ asmi vāsavaḥ/
indriyāṇāṃ manaś cā’smi–bhūtānāṃ asmi cetanā//

Of the Vedas I am the Sāmaveda^[16]; of the divinities I am Indra; in respect of the senses I am the Mind and of life-expressions I am pure Intelligence.^[17] It appears that most of the commentators merely restrict themselves in giving only a literal reading in within the horizon of their own languages. This is a bind that all interpretations carry, and for that very reason the Bhagavad-gītā is more than any particular interpretation.

More than thirty commentaries^[18] in various languages have been written to explain its meaning. If we include translation of Bhagavad-gītā then the number will run into hundreds. Therefore, to attempt to find out what the Bhagavad-gītā says will be ambitious for a scholar like the present one. Therefore, the present scholar has a very modest proposal of investigating only one of the commentaries to find out whether it faithfully follows the text of the Bhagavad-gītā.

Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya is one of the notable commentaries on the Bhagavadgītā. But it is unfortunate that such a great philosopher’s work is relatively unknown compared to Śaṃkara’s commentary. Śaṃkara’s point of view has been the predominant view on the Bhagavadagītā. This compounds the very difficult task in studying Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya. As far we know that no attempt has yet been made to examine Rāmānuja’s interpretation on Bhagavad-gītā. Still the present scholar has made an attempt to critically examine Rāmānuja’s interpretation of the Bhagavad-gītā to find out whether the commentary by Rāmānuja is faithful to the text of the Bhagavad-gītā or not.

Rāmānuja is one of the three recognised Āchāryas in the Vedāntic tradition, the other two being Śaṃkara and Mādhva. Rāmānuja is a noted Āchārya of Viśīṣtādvaita. Rāmānuja interpreted Bhagavad-gītā from Viśīṣtādvaitic point of view^[19] according to which Supreme Reality is Personalistic with countless auspicious attributes and that it is qualified whole of which Īśvara is the soul and the jīva and the jagat (soul and material nature) from the body in inseparable relation with the whole. It is non-dual as whole, but there are internal divisions of the nature of modes in it. This is the reason calling of this doctrine Viśīṣtādvaita–non-dualism.^[20] It seems that Rāmānuja wanted to interpret the Bhagavad-gītā faithfully, but from the cursory reading of the Bhagavad-gītā it appears that Rāmānuja has deviated from the text while claiming to interpret faithfully.

Many scholars have interpreted Bhagavad-gītā as essentially a document emphasising on karma yoga, jñāna yoga, even the path of devotion. But Bhagavad-gītā is much more than this. It is a superb integration of several yogas. It is hardly possible to practice any one yoga in isolation. It is this synthesis that is unique in Gītā. Unfortunately; this point has been overlooked by many commentators who are content with literal interpretation, preferring to rely on word for word translation.^[21]

There are many commentators, translators, interpreters of Bhagavad-gītā and they convey diverse and contradictory meanings. There are differences among the interpreters also. Rāmānuja following Yamunācārya’s teaching says that the primary meaning of the Bhagavad-gītā is to attain Lord through Bhakti alone^[22] i.e., his main emphasis is on devotion.^[23] He attempted to give the Bhagavad-gītā its legitimate place among the authoritative texts of Vedānta. In his view, Bhagavad-gītā without attempting to pretend ‘monistic’ conception of earlier Upanishads or stressing the necessity of action for the popular function of the world and society, opens to all and sundry the way to release by emphasizing the character of the deity as person who can be attained, not magically or mystically through knowledge, but devoutly through bhakti. ^[24] As Rāmānuja interpreted the Bhagavad-gītā from Viśīṣtādvaitic point of view, some of the verses of the Bhagavad-gītā appear to be misunderstood by him. Though some say that his Gītā Bhāṣya is free from polemics, yet it appears to be controversial because of its occasional departure from the text of the Bhagavad-gītā and change of the meaning of words.

In Chapter II of the thesis, Rāmānuja’s understanding of Supreme Brahman, individual soul and the world has critically been discussed. It is also critically examined whether his understanding of the principles of the metaphysics such as sat, asat and bhāva and abhāva etc. are congruent with formulations of them in the Bhagavad-gītā. It is also examined how Rāmānuja has grasped the parā and aparā prakṛti i.e. lower and higher prakṛti which are presented in Chapter VII of the Bhagavad-gītā. Lower prakṛti is the body constituted of the five great elements, five organs of perception and action, five objects of senses and mind, buddhi and ahaṃkāra.

Apart from the subject mentioned above, it is also examined how Rāmānuja is interpreting the concept of kṣetra and kṣetrajña in his Gītā Bhāṣya. The idea of body and self as kṣetra and kṣetrajña in Chapter XIII has been evaluated comparing with Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya and it has been observed that Rāmānuja is unable to grasp the reason of presenting it again as kṣetra and kṣetrajña.

An attempt is made in Chapter III to discuss details of karma yoga of Bhagavadgītā as understood by Rāmānuja. The concepts of kartā, akartā and different kinds of kartā and karma are also discussed in the context of the philosopher. Rāmānuja in his Gītā Bhāṣya while interpreting kartā, akartā and different kinds of kartā and karma is unable to give actual meaning of the Bhagavad-gītā. Besides these themes, it is also critically examined how Rāmānuja interprets the idea of yoga, viyoga and saṃyoga and also akarma and vikarma in the Bhagavdgītā. Besides, one of the most important teachings of Bhagavad-gītā is svadharma. Rāmānuja’s understanding of svadharma in his Gītā Bhāṣya has been critically examined.

In Chapter IV an attempt is made to articulate clearly the jñāna yoga of Rāmānuja’s Gītā Bhāṣya. Rāmānuja in his Gītā Bhāṣya makes a distinction of knowledge and action and says that jñāna and karma are independent of each other. But that is actually a misunderstanding since jñāna and karma cannot be separated and they are not independent of each other. This point has been critically examined in the Chapter IV of the thesis.

In Chapter V after studying Rāmānuja’s interpretation of bhakti in his Gītā Bhāṣya, it has been observed that his concept of bhakti is not ṚgVedic bhakti, but is the Bhāgavatapurāna’s bhakti. But Bhagavadgītā’s bhakti is not Bhāgavatapurāna’s bhakti; it is the ṚgVedic bhakti which the author Vyāsa has composed. This understanding of Rāmānuja has been critically examined. Again Rāmānuja in his Gītā Bhāṣya also introduces the parā and aparā bhakti, i.e. for him parā bhakti is higher bhakti and aparā bhakti is lower bhakti. This idea of parā and aparāBhakti has been critically examined. Besides, Rāmānuja also introduces the concept of prāpatti as the means of attaining the Supreme which for him is the ultimate means of salvation. Since, the Bhagavad-gītā does not formulate any such kind of ultimate means of attaining the Supreme, it has been critically examined how far Rāmānuja is faithful to make consistent of this idea in his Gītā Bhāṣya.

In Chapter VI [Conclusion], we have summed up the findings of the preceding chapters. In this chapter, it is also mentioned some of the major findings of thesis such as his permanent presupposition of ‘law of karma’, reason for his bhakti interpretation of the Bhagavad-gītā and assent to animal sacrifices are re-iterated.

Footnotes and references:

[1]:

Arvind Sharma, “The Role of the Anugītā in the Understanding of the Bhagavadgītā,” Religious Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2 (Jun., 1978), p., Cf. Arvind Sharma, The Hindu Gītā: Ancient and Classical Interpretations of the Bhagavadgītā, Gerald Duckworth & Co. Ltd., London, 1986, p.2.

[2]:

Beutenen, Van (1974): Rāmānuja on the Bhagavad Gītā–A Condensed Rendering of His Gītā Bhāṣya with Copious Notes and an Introduction, M atilal Banarsidass, Banglow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-07, pp. 9,12.

[3]:

Prasad, M. (1996): Ethical Philosophy of the Gītā–A Critical and Comparative Study of the Interpretation of Tilak and Rāmānuja, Puthi-Pushtak, Culcutta.

[4]:

Raghavachar, S. S (2014): Rāmānuja on the Gītā, Advaita Ashrama, India.

[5]:

Cyril Veliath, S J (1991): “Ramanuja’s Concept of the Individual Soul and Human freedom”, ‘Sambhaasaa’ 12, 9-19, 1991-0425, Department of Indian Philosophy, University of Nagoya.

[6]:

Boliaki, E (2012): “Jnana, Bhakti, and Karma Yoga. Sankara and Ramanuja on the Bhagavad-Gita”, ‘Theologia Journal’ 83:1, Jan-Mar, 2012, pp-323-332.

[7]:

Venkataraman, N: “Shankara and Ramanuja on the Bhagavad Gita”, “Springtree.in”, a Spiritual Social Website, India, (source: http://www.springtree.in/blog/sankara-ramanuja-on-the-bhagavad-gita).

[8]:

Beutenen, Van (1974): Rāmānuja on the Bhagavad Gītā-A Condensed Rendering of His Gītā Bhāṣya with Copious Notes and an Introduction, M atilal Banarsidass, Banglow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-07.

[9]:

Nayar, N (1988): ‘The Concept of Prapatti in Ramanuja's “Gītābhāsya”, S outh Asian Literature, vol.23, no-2 (1988), pp.111132, Asian Study Centre, Michigan State University.

[10]:

Lester, R. C (1996): “Rāmānuja and Śri Vaiṣṇavism: The Concept of Prapatti or Śaranāgati”, ‘History of Religion’, vol.5 no.2 (winter, 1996) pp-266-28/2, University of Chicago Press, (web: http://
www.jstor.org/stable /1062115).

[11]:

Young, K. K (1988): “Ramanuja on the “Bhagavad Gita”- 4:11: The Issue of Arcavatara”, S outh Asian Literature, vol.23, no2 (1988), pp-90-110, Asian Study Centre, Michigan State University.

[12]:

Chari Srinivasa, S. M (2014): The Philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita–A Study Based on the Evaluation of the Commentaries of Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhava, Munshiram Manoharlal publishers Pvt. Ltd. India.

[13]:

Jagannathan, V and Krishnan, J (2014): The Bhagavad Gita-Based on Ramanuja’s Gita Bhasyam, Create Space Independent Publishing Platform, India.

[14]:

McMurtry, S. A. (1977): “Doctrines and Methods Used by Śaṃkara and Rāmānuja to Elucidate the Relation between Self Knowledge and Dharma with Special Reference to Their Commentaries on the Bhagavad Gītā”, S ubmitted to McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario.

[15]:

Srinivasan, N.K (2006): Essence of Srimād Bhagavad Gita, Pushtak Mahal, J-3/16, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002,page-16.

[16]:

Sama Veda is regarded as the chief of Vedas on account of its musical beauty.

[17]:

Yati, N. C (1993): The Bhagavad Gita, D. K Printworld Pvt. Ltd, Bali Nagar, New Delhi-110015, page-232

[18]:

Śaṃkara's Gītā Bhāṣya, Ānandagiri's Srimad Bhagavad Gītā, Rāmānuja's Gītā Bhāṣya,S ri Vedanta Deshika's Tatparya Chandrika, Mādhva's Dvaita Bhāṣya, Jayātirtha's Prameya Dipika, Hanumat Ācharya's Paishach Bhāṣya, Venkatanātha's BrahmanandaGiri Bhāṣya, Vallabha's Tattva-Dipika, Purushottama's Ananda-Tarangini, Nilakantha's Bhava-Deepa, Bhāskara’s Bhagavad Gītā Tika, Prabhupāda’s Gītā As It Is, Jñāneswar’s Bhavartha Deepika, Sridhara Swamis’s Bhagavad Gītā, Madhusudana Saraswati’s TheBhagavad Gītā, Tilak’s Gītā Rahasya, Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on Gītā, K T Telang’s The Bhagavad Gītā, Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan’s The Bhagavad Gītā, Vivekananda’s Bhagavad Gītā, Gandhi’s The Bhagavad Gītā, Paramhamsa Yogananda’ s God Talks with Arjuna The Bhagavad Gītā, Veeraswami Krishnaraj’s The Bhagavad Gītā, Swami V.P Tripurary’s The Bhagavada Gītā-its Feeling and Philosophy, Swami Swarupananda’s BhagavadGītā, C Rajagopalachary’s Bhagavad Gītā, R C Zaehner’s TheBhagavad Gītā, N C Yati’s Bhagavad Gītā etc.

[19]:

Beutenen, Van (1974): Rāmānuja on the Bhagavad Gītā–A Condensed Rendering of His Gītā Bhāṣya with Copious Notes and an Introduction, M atilal Banarsidass, Banglow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-07, page-7.

[20]:

Ādidevānanda, S (2001): Sri Ramanuja Gita Bhasya, trans., Sri Ramakrishna Math, Mylapore, Madras-004, Page-10.

[21]:

Srinivas, N.K (2006): Essence of Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Pushtak Mahal, J-3/16, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110002, page-12.

[22]:

Beutenen, Van (1974): Rāmānuja on the Bhagavad Gītā–A Condensed Rendering of His Gītā Bhāṣya with Copious Notes and an Introduction, M atilal Banarsidass, Banglow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-07,page-11.

[23]:

Venkataraman, N: “Shankara and Ramanuja on the Bhagavad Gita”, “Springtree.in”, a Spiritual Social Website, India, (source: http://www.springtree.in/blog/sankara-ramanuja-on-the-bhagavad-gita).

[24]:

Beutenen, Van (1974): Rāmānuja on the Bhagavad Gītā–A Condensed Rendering of His Gītā Bhāṣya with Copious Notes and an Introduction, M atilal Banarsidass, Banglow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi-07,page-4.