Bhagwad Geeta, a much acclaimed scripture, has often been put at par with such epics as of Homer, Dante and Virgil. But traditionally Hindus consider it as a part of a historical document of a devastating war of a bygone age. The present work tries to trace the Geeta's historical background. The Geeta is an audio- visual narration of the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna at a war front far away from Hastinapur. How could Sanjay - the narrator- see and hear the same without the aid of modern electronic gadgets? Evidences from other religions have been discussed. The Vedanta, being the crest jewel of the Vedas, posits the Parabrahman and the Nad-Brahman. The book also discusses Vedanta, Newtonian concept of matter and force and Einstein's formulations of matter/energy, wave -particle duality, at some length. Shankara and Descartes have been compared and contrasted. The problem of religious records, being of paramount value, has been treated at length. The Vedas, considered the oldest, is treated first. Its transpersonal nature vis-à-vis the historical-linguistic approach of modern scholars-including the Aryan Invasion Theory has been discussed at some length. The Buddha's discourses are discussed next. The Old Testament, being a record of a very old religion, is discussed subsequently. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and its impact has been included. The birth of Jesus, the Lost Years, his possible visit to India, The Gnostic Gospels, is all included in the discussion. Islam - a religion with massive following - is our next topic. Though a comparatively new religion it traces its origin to Abraham or Ibrahim. Although, compared to Islam, Zoroastrianism is very old and has only a minuscule following but we have not neglected it. Finally we discuss another lesser known religion - Jainism. Jainism is contemporary to Buddhism but its logical system is very innovative and has relevance to several scientific concepts.
About the Author: Professor (retd.) Shailendra Kumar Roy is a well-known scholar and scientist. He was the Head of the Department of Botany, at Meerut College, University of Meerut, India for almost a decade and served as an eminent academician for over forty years. Very early in his career he realized that study of plant form is ultimately an offshoot of a much larger study called philosophy. He has extensively studied all the major religions and philosophies. Prof. Roy has presented his views on religion, philosophy and science at various national and international forums and has written several text books on plant sciences. He is also an outstanding social activist and a devoted follower of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa. Prof. Roy currently lives in Kolkata, India and has travelled widely in India, United States and Canada.