Friends Event: The Gita in the Thought and Life of Gandhi

A talk by Ramesh Pattni of the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies

It is well known that the Gandhi took the Bhagavad Gita as his major religious resource and constantly reflected on its message for inspiration and energy. Indeed his autobiography suggests the influence of the text in its very title: The Story of my Experiments with Truth. To what extent did the Gita form the basis of his personal and political life? What were the precepts of the Gita which influenced his decisions and direction? How was his public life shaped by one of the central ideas in the Gita: Selfless action and what about his inner struggles in attempting to live a life of discipline? We will explore some of these questions in the talk.