Adi Shankara

From a clear knowledge of the Bhagavad-Gita all the goals of human existence become fulfilled. Bhagavad-Gita is the manifest quintessence of all the teachings of the Vedic scriptures

Ramanuja

The Bhagavad-Gita was spoken by Lord Krishna to reveal the science of devotion to God which is the essence of all spiritual knowledge. The Supreme Lord Krishna’s primary purpose for descending and incarnating is to relieve the world of any demoniac and negative, undesirable influences that are opposed to spiritual development, yet simultaneously it is His incomparable intention to be perpetually within reach of all humanity.

Madhvacarya

The Mahabharata has all the essential ingredients necessary to evolve and protect humanity and that within it the Bhagavad-Gita is the epitome of the Mahabharata just as ghee is the essence of milk and pollen is the essence of flowers.

Bhaktisiddhanta Saraswati

The Bhagavad-Gita is not separate from the Vaishnava philosophy and the Srimad Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrine which is transmigration of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare. When the second chapter has been read it can be clearly understood that knowledge and the soul is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studying the third chapter it is apparent that acts of righteousness are also of high priority. If we continue and patiently take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and try to ascertain the truth of its closing chapter, we can see that the ultimate conclusion is to relinquish all the conceptualized ideas of religion which we possess and fully surrender directly unto the Supreme Lord.

Sri Ramakrishna

Seek that Divine Knowledge by knowing which nothing remains to be known!' For such a person knowledge and ignorance has only one meaning: Have you knowledge of God? If yes, you a Jnani! If not, you are ignorant. As said in the Gita, chapter XIII/11, knowledge of Self, observing everywhere the object of true Knowledge i.e. God, all this is declared to be true Knowledge (wisdom); what is contrary to this is ignorance.

Sriranga Sadguru

The Bhagavadgita is not only a song of life but also is the music of the universe and it stands like a great lamp-

Swami Chinmayanand

Science describes the structures and processes; philosophy attempts at their explanation. When such a perfect combination of both science and philosophy is sung to perfection that Krishna was, we have in this piece of work an appeal both to the head and heart.-

Sri Swami Prabhupada

The Bhagavad-Gita is not separate from the Vaishnava philosophy and the Shrimad Bhagavatam fully reveals the true import of this doctrine which is transmigration of the soul. On perusal of the first chapter of Bhagavad-Gita one may think that they are advised to engage in warfare. When the second chapter has been read it can be clearly understood that knowledge and the soul is the ultimate goal to be attained. On studying the third chapter it is apparent that acts of righteousness are also of high priority. If we continue and patiently take the time to complete the Bhagavad-Gita and try to ascertain the truth of its closing chapter, we can see that the ultimate conclusion is to relinquish all the conceptualized ideas of religion which we possess and fully surrender directly unto the Supreme Lord. -

Swami Nirmalananda Giri

Nothing has ever arisen in my life, internal or external, that the Gita has not made clear and enabled me to deal with or understand.

Scholars, Writers and Intellectuals

Jayaram V

The Bhagavad-Gita reveals how anyone can perform ordinary duties in the world and yet remain free from the consequences of one’s actions. It is not by inaction, not even by doing only the so called good deeds, one attains liberation, but by doing deeds without the sense of doer-ship as a sacrificial offering to God in the true spirit of renunciation and without shunning the responsibility, which comes with birth.

The Bhagavadgita teaches us how to live in this world, do our duties and yet remain like the lotus leaves in the water of life.

The first lesson of the Bhagavadgita is about knowing who we truly are and what we represent because most of our problems arise from our mistaken notions of who we are. We tend to identify ourselves with our physical personalities since it is the most visible aspect of ours. Thereby, we fail to know our spiritual nature and our deeper connection with God and eternal life. The scripture makes it clear we are not mere physical beings but spiritual entities. Hence, we should not fear death, decay and transience.

Annie Besant

That the spiritual man need not be a recluse, that union with the divine Life may be achieved and maintained in the midst of worldly affairs, that the obstacles to that union lie not outside us but within us- such is the central lesson of the Bhagavadgita.

Dr. Albert Schweitzer

“The Bhagavadgita has a profound influence on the spirit of mankind by its devotion to God which is manifested by actions.”

Aldous Huxley

“The Bhagavad-Gita is the most systematic statement of spiritual evolution of endowing value to mankind. It is one of the most clear and comprehensive summaries of perennial philosophy ever revealed; hence its enduring value is subject not only to India but to all of humanity.”

Carl Jung

“The idea that man is like unto an inverted tree seems to have been current in by gone ages. The link with Vedic conceptions is provided by Plato in his Timaeus in which it states…” behold we are not an earthly but a heavenly plant.” This correlation can be discerned by what Krishna expresses in chapter 15 of Bhagavad-Gita.”

Hermann Hesse

“The marvel of the Bhagavadgita is its truly beautiful revelation of life’s wisdom which enables philosophy to blossom into religion.”

Karl Ferdinand von Humboldt

“I read the Indian poem for the first time when I was in my country estate in Silesia and, while doing so, I felt a sense of overwhelming gratitude to God for having let me live to be acquainted with this work. It must be the most profound and sublime thing to be found in the world.”

Mahatma Gandhi

"When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavadgita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day."

Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavadgita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.”

Rudolph Steiner

“In order to approach a creation as sublime as the Bhagavadgita with full understanding it is necessary to attune our soul to it.”

Henry David Thoreau

“In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavadgita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.”

Jawaharlal Nehru

“The Bhagavad Gita deals essentially with the spiritual foundation of human existence. It is a call of action to meet the obligations and duties of life; yet keeping in view the spiritual nature and grander purpose of the universe.”

Mata Amritanandamayi

“Yoga has two different meanings - a general meaning and a technical meaning. The general meaning is the joining together or union of any two or more things. The technical meaning is "a state of stability and peace and the means or practices which lead to that state." The Bhagavad Gita uses the word with both meanings. Lord Krishna is real Yogi who can maintain a peaceful mind in the midst of any crisis.”

Swami Vivekananda:

“The Gita is a bouquet composed of the beautiful flowers of spiritual truths collected from the Vedas and the Upanishads.”

Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan

“Though everything else is taken away from him, though he has to walk the streets, cold, hungry and alone, though he may know no human being into whose eyes he can look and find understanding, he shall yet be able to go his way with a smile on his lips, for he has gained inward freedom”

Lokmanya Tilak

“The Gita was preached as a preparatory lesson for living worldly life with an eye to Release, Nirvana. My last prayer to everyone, therefore, is that one should not fail to thoroughly understand this ancient science of worldly life as early as possible in one’s life.”

Sri Aurobindo:

“The Bhagavad-Gita is a true scripture of the human race a living creation rather than a book, with a new message for every age and a new meaning for every civilization.”

M. M. Malaviya

“I believe that in all the living languages of the world, there is no book so full of true knowledge, and yet so handy. It teaches self-control, austerity, non-violence, compassion, obedience to the call of duty for the sake of duty, and putting up a fight against unrighteousness (Adharma). To my knowledge, there is no book in the whole range of the world’s literature so high above as the Bhagavad-Gita, which is the treasure-house of Dharma nor only for the Hindus but foe all mankind.”

Harry Bhatia

The aim of the Gita doctrine is to lead one to tranquility, happiness and equanimity. No rituals are prescribed. The Gita says that the world needs different religions, cults and deities to meet the vastly different needs of individuals.

American/International Gita Society

The Gita is a doctrine of universal truth. Its message is universal, sublime, and non-sectarian although it is a part of the scriptural trinity of Sanaatana Dharma, commonly known as Hinduism. The Gita is very easy to understand in any language for a mature mind. A repeated reading with faith will reveal all the sublime ideas contained in it.

Famous Quotations From the Bhagavadgita

But (truly) knowledgeable people do not grieve for life that is gone or yet to be gone

There was not a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings. Also, we will not cease to exist in future after we depart from here.

O best among men, whom these (dualities) do not trouble, (who is) equal to pleasure and pain (and) stable, he is fit for liberation.

“Know that to be indestructible by which all this is pervaded. None can do the destruction of that unchangeable One.

"(This Self is) neither born nor dies. At no time it did not nonexist in the past; will not non-exist in future; or will not become existence again. Unborn, eternal, permanent, and the most ancient, this is not killed when the body is killed.

"Just as a person discards worn out clothes and wears several different (ones), in the same manner the embodied (Self) discards aged and worn out bodies and obtains new (ones).

"For those who are born, indeed, death is certain and for those who die, birth is certain. Therefore, regarding that which is unavoidable, you should not grieve.

"The indweller of the body is eternal. This (who is) in the bodies of all can never be slaughtered, O Bharata. Therefore, you should not grieve for living beings (when they die).