The Bhagavad Gita is Hinduism's core sacred text, a dialogue of and on dharma. It enshrines the essential values of the Vedic, Upanishadic and epic traditions -- shruti (the revealed) and smriti ( the remembered). Its structure is informal question and answer; its mode is enquiry and search; its goal is self discovery and spiritual illumination Puroshattam Lal poet, critic, transcreator of Sanskrit, Hindi, Bengali and Punjabi texts -- is Professor of English at St. Xavier's College, Calcutta. The recipient of the Padma Shri in 1970, he was also honoured with a D.Litt by Westminister College in 1977.