115 xviii श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता गीतार्थ संग्रहोपेता it is in the BG that the matter is discussed most vividly by Vyāsa.¹ 2 Since liberation is the chief aim of the BG, it is defined in the very beginning : Liberation is nothing but getting oneself dissolved (i.e. realising oneself to be identical with) in the All-inclusive Samvid i.e. the Supreme Consciousness. Ag. adds: To attain this end viz. liberation, the chief means is Jñana (wisdom). The Karman (action), if performed by a person firmly fixed in wisdom cannot bind him because they have finality in wisdom. Thus wisdom is the main means and action is its inevitable important adjunct. On that account wisdom and action cannot be bracketed as equals for attaining emancipation. This is the spirit of the BG.³ 51. Ibid., verse 4. Following the widely accepted tradition, at- least as old as the date of Sankara, Ag. uses the plural form Gitaḥ. Further, more than once Ag. affirms that what is taught in the BG is the idea of the Sage (Munih). See, eg. GS intro. and Ag's observation under ch. II, 19; IV, 25; VI, 17-18; VIII, 5-7, 12-14; etc. Cf. also the introductions of Sankara and Ramakantha to their respe- ctive commentaries. Bhaskara's commentary itself bears the name Bhagavadaśayānusaranam. 2. GS, intro. verse 3. This definition may be compared with मोक्षो हि नाम नैवान्य: स्वरूपप्रथनं हि तत् (Tantrāloka, I, 192). It is also to be noted that in the very first chapter of the Tanrtaloka also Ag. defines liberation according to the Pratyabhijña system and refutes the concepts of the same found in other schools. 3. GS, intro. Cf. the Jäänakarmasamuccayavada of the school represented by Bhaskara, Ramakantha etc., on one hand and the Kevalajñanan-mokṣavāda of the school repre- sented by Sankara etc., on the other. Cf. also the Brahmasutra (Contd. in p. aia
