A Comparative Study of the Bhagavad-Gītā and the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on the Process of Spiritual Liberation

After the Second Vatican council, there has been within the lndian Church a growing interest in and concern for whatever is of perennial value in Hinduism. Keeping this in mind, the present study aims at comparing and contrasting the teachings of the  Bhagavad-Gītā and the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on the process of spiritual liberation.

According to the  Bhagavad-Gītā, which forms a part of the Mahabbarata, the great epic of Hinduism, spiritual liberation is the goal of the spiritual journey which culminates in the permanent union of man with God. The book of the Spiritual Exercises is meant to be an instrument to help the exercitant come to the experience of spiritual liberation which brings him into loving union with God.

lt is striking that in these two books under investigation the process of spiritual liberation is interwoven with the vision of service, the knowledge of God and His ways, and the experience of the love of God. 

The study makes use of the comparative method which incorporates historical, exegetical and critical analysis of the relevant texts of the two sources. Accordingly the study analyses the texts in thet context, interpretes their doctrine, examines the similarities and differences, and finally enters into a search for an integration which sheds further light on the relationship and distinctness of the teaching of the  Bhagavad-Gītā and the Spiritual Exercises as regards the process of spiritual liberation.