Comparative Study of the Bhagavad-Gita 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 Indian 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-Gita and the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola on the process of spiritual liberation. It 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 analyses of the relevant texts of the two sources.