In this class (Class 13), we will focus primarily on verse 2.16 of the Gita.
PDF of Sri Aurobindo’s Essays on the Gita with Swami Medhananda’s marginal annotations of references to the Bhagavad Gita: download here
Study questions:
1. Summarize, in your own words, Śaṅkara’s interpretation of Gita 2.16. Do you find his interpretation plausible? Why or why not?
2. Summarize, in your own words, Rāmānuja’s interpretation of the Gita 2.16. Do you find his interpretation plausible? Why or why not?
3. Summarize, in your own words, Sri Aurobindo’s interpretation of Gita 2.16. Do you find his interpretation plausible? Why or why not?
4. Summarize, in your own words, Swami Tapasyananda’s interpretation of Gita 2.16. Do you find his interpretation plausible? Why or why not?
5. Which of these four interpretations—if any of them—do you find most plausible, and why? Do you have an alternative interpretation of Gita 2.16 that differs from all these other interpretations? If so, what is your own interpretation?
6. Do you have any questions about the reading? Did you have difficulty understanding anything? Do you have any doubts or confusions?