Political Thought in Action: The Bhagavad Gita and Modern India

doi:10.1017/CBO9781139524018

The Bhagavad Gita's philosophical and political significance remains forever contemporary. In this volume a group of leading historians reflect on the significance of the Bhagavad Gita for political and ethical thinking in modern India and beyond. These essays contribute new perspectives to historical, contemporary and global political ideas. Violence and nonviolence, war, sacrifice, justice, fraternity and political community were constitutive of India's political modernity, and it was to these questions that Indian public figures turned their attention in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Oriented towards the future, these commentaries and interpretations of a text that locates war as the central problem of human life have detached the Gita from antiquity and made it foundational for India's modernity. The book would be of interest to academic researchers as well as general readers interested in South Asian history, Indian philosophy and religion.

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-ii
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Contents
pp iii-iv
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List of Contributors
pp v-vi
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Acknowledgements
pp vii-viii
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Introduction
pp ix-xv
- By Shruti Kapila, University of Cambridge, Faisal Devji, Oxford University
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1 - India, the Bhagavad Gita and the World
pp 1-24
- By C. A. Bayly, University of Cambridge
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2 - The Transnational Gita
pp 25-47
- By Mishka Sinha, University of Cambridge
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3 - The Transfiguration of Duty in Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita
pp 48-65
- By Andrew Sartori, New York University
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4 - Gandhi's Gita and Politics as Such
pp 66-87
- By Dipesh Chakrabarty, University of Chicago, Rochona Majumdar, University of Chicago
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5 - Gandhi on Democracy, Politics and the Ethics of Everyday Life
pp 88-106
- By Uday S. Mehta, New York
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6 - Morality in the Shadow of Politics
pp 107-126
- By Faisal Devji, Oxford University
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7 - Ambedkar's Inheritances
pp 127-154
- By Aishwary Kumar, Stanford University
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8 - Rethinking Knowledge with Action: V. D. Savarkar, the Bhagavad Gita and Histories of Warfare
pp 155-176
- By Vinayak Chaturvedi, University of California
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9 - A History of Violence
pp 177-199
- By Shruti Kapila, University of Cambridge
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Index
pp 200-205
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Political Thought in Action

The Bhagavad Gita and Modern India

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-ii

Contents
pp iii-iv

List of Contributors
pp v-vi

Acknowledgements
pp vii-viii

Introduction
pp ix-xv

1 - India, the Bhagavad Gita and the World
pp 1-24

2 - The Transnational Gita
pp 25-47

3 - The Transfiguration of Duty in Aurobindo's Essays on the Gita
pp 48-65

4 - Gandhi's Gita and Politics as Such
pp 66-87

5 - Gandhi on Democracy, Politics and the Ethics of Everyday Life
pp 88-106

6 - Morality in the Shadow of Politics
pp 107-126

7 - Ambedkar's Inheritances
pp 127-154

8 - Rethinking Knowledge with Action: V. D. Savarkar, the Bhagavad Gita and Histories of Warfare
pp 155-176

9 - A History of Violence
pp 177-199

Index
pp 200-205

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Political Thought in Action

The Bhagavad Gita and Modern India

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