Veda recitation in Vārāṇasī . By Howard Wayne, pp. xi, 400. Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass, 1988. Rs. 225.

Abstract

He stresses Zaehner's admiration of Lamotte's Notes sur la Gltd; like Lamotte, whose view of the Gita was uninfluenced by Sarikara's advaitavdda, Zaehner held that the unification with Brahman was only the penultimate stage of deliverance, surpassed by union with the personal Godhead. McElvaney points to some of Zaehner's "innovative" translations and interpretations of crucial terms, like buddhi, nirvdna and yoga, in the service of his total view of the text. The influence of the Bhagavadgrta on contemporary religious thought is alive and well, as is shown in recent studies like Eric Sharpe's The Universal Gita (1985) and Robert Minor's Modern Interpretations of the Bhagavadgita (1988). It is in this context that both Aurobindo and Zaehner will continue to have a wide readership, though perhaps in different circles, while students of early Indian theology and philosophical history will continue to need other texts and editions. But the significance of the Gita is impossible to separate entirely from the commentarial traditions which it has generated; coming to grips with the ideas of influential interpreters, however they may vary, can deepen our appreciation of the text itself. Furthermore, we may find here some useful case-studies in hermeneutics. It is a pity that this book could not include also two other Newcastle papers on the Gita, one on Bankim Chandra Chatterji's use of it, and one on Simone Weil. This latter has been separately published in Theology 90, no. 733 (1988).