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Bhagavad-Gita: A New Translation and Commentary
In 1964, the Maharishi attended the All-India Yogic Conference held in Calcutta, India, where he said that the teachings contained in the Bhagavad Gita were misunderstood in the current age, and "the practice of yoga was misunderstood, misinterpreted, and misapplied", resulting in "weakness in the fields of thought and action". The Maharishi said that the source of his commentary was his master: "We are just an innocent means for the spontaneous flow of that knowledge&mdash;that's all." A list of the masters of the "Holy Tradition" is printed in the appendix of the Maharishi's translation and commentary of the Bhagavad-Gita. The Appendix of the Maharishi's Gita also contains a detailed discussion of the "Six Systems of Indian Philosophy", namely, Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Karma Mimansa, and Vedanta. The Maharishi teaches that any knowledge is "true" only when it is acceptable in the light of all these six systems, and that the truth of the Bhagavad-Gita can be proven this way. He then illustrates this principal by showing how Chapter 1, Verse 2 gives "expression to each of the six systems in detail."

In the "Introduction", the Maharishi states that his commentary is "supplementary to the unique vision and profound wisdom of the great Shankara, as set forth in his Gita-Bhashya." He invites every man to use the "practical wisdom" in Chapter 2, Verse 45 to "gain eternal freedom in divine consciousness;" which reads: The vedas' concern is with the three gunas. Be without the three gunas, O Arjuna, free from duality, ever firm in purity, independent of possessions, possessed of the Self.

The Maharishi comments that in this verse Lord Krishna gives Arjuna the technique for "instant realization" - be without activity, be your Self. Also in his commentary on this verse, the Maharishi adds that the Self is within and that Krishna has revealed the "secret of arriving at the state of pure consciousness." A footnote directs the reader to see the section in the Appendix on Transcendental Meditation.