Long out of print, here is a valuable commentary on the Gita by a theosophist who knew Sanskrit, met adepts and practiced yoga. The full title is The Bhagavad Gita Explained, by Ernest Wood.
Another profound exposition of key ideas in the Gita is Notes on the Bhagavad Gita, by T. Subba Row, a disciple of Master M.
A disciple of KH was Bhavani Shankar. His teachings on the Gita are in The Doctrine of the Bhagavad Gita.
Good suggestion, I will have to get on top of this.
Our friend Bessant quotes this source now and then, as did HPB. I am noticing that the Neo-Theosphists have taken it upon themselves to research further many of the sources that HPB cites, and is likey, in my opinion, to be why they offer an expanded view on subjects that go farther than Blavatsky herself offered. Since HPB never claims to be the direct source of her material, there seems to be common sense to researching the materials that contributed to her understanding of things. It is possible that thought and research might produce reasonable, logical and provable concepts beyond, perhaps well beyond the S.D. itself, and provides opportunities of Theosophists to continue their work on our many expansive subjects and make new contributions to the field.
Christian
WQ Judge, in his comments on chapter one, (which is often ignored by commentators) writes:
| QUOTE |
| The enumeration of generals and commanders gone into by the prime minister in reply to the king must be a catalogue of all the lower and higher faculties in man, containing also, in the names adopted, clues to powers of our being only at present dimly guessed at in the West or included in such vague terms as brain and mind. |
He gives no details or examples, but the Kriya yoga tradition of Lahiri Mahasay does. Paramahamsas Hariharananda and Yogananda and their guru Sri Yukteshwar all have commentaries on chapter one that give what each name stands for.
Here is an online Kriya yoga commentary on the Gita; note the names of characters and their esoteric meanings.
http://www.yoganiketan.net/yogirajgita/yogirajgita.pdf Another useful book that focuses on the deeper meanings of the names in the Gita. Barborka uses the
Mahabharata context in his definitions.
Gods and Heroes of the Bhagavad Gita