The Bhagavad Gita is the best known and best loved of all non-Judeo-Christian scriptures. More than 50 editions are available in the United States alone, and the Gita continues to gain new adherents. Yet there is little agreement about the Gita's message. Sharpe shows how the Bhagavad Gita has made an enormous impression upon Western thought during the past two centuries, and how reciprocal Western interpretations have had a tremendous impact upon Indian politics and society.