Opinion 

By: Anjana Modi Kashyap and Ravesh Kumar

New York (24/07/2025) - Most of you might wonder what the Bhagavad Gita, a purported Hindu religious text, has to do with the U.S. Constitution, and what situation might require comparing these two texts to ascertain whether they are complimentary texts or fundamentally incompatible opposites. To understand the answer to these questions, it’s important to first understand that the Bhagavad Gita is not a purely spiritual text - it is a deeply political one. And on that ground, a comparative critical analysis becomes not only valid but necessary.

When Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel took their oaths of public service on the Bhagavad Gita, it wasn't just a cultural gesture. It was a political statement. A political statement that should have raised resounding alarms, not applause. Because the Gita isn’t just a “spiritual” text as it’s marketed in the West. In the Indian political context, especially under the shadow of Hindutva, it’s a militarized, caste-affirming, absolutist text that justifies violence for religious and nationalistic ends. And when public servants in the West swear allegiance to that text, it’s not “diversity”, it’s an insidious red flag.

We must stop sugarcoating and ignoring signs of India’s most prevalent export to the West: the Hindutva ideology. The Bhagavad Gita teaches obedience to caste duty (varna dharma), glorifies war under the mask of "dharma", and demands unquestioned loyalty to a divine overlord. These are not liberal values. These are authoritarian ones. If you understand the Gita - it’s a tool for erasing dissent, justifying state violence, and upholding a hierarchical social order. In contrast, the U.S. Constitution is built on individual liberty, equal protection under the law, separation of church and state, and a democratic process grounded in consent, not divine command.

In the Gita, Arjun is told to kill his kin because Krishna says it’s his "duty." There’s no debate, no vote, no moral wrestling beyond the opening act. Once the divine speaks, the expectation is complete obedience. That’s not morality. That’s theocratic authoritarianism. In the West, we fought revolutions and wars to protect ourselves from that kind of thinking.

Now compare that to the American founding principles:

Free Speech: Gita logic suppresses dissent in the name of “duty.” U.S. Constitution protects it even when it’s uncomfortable.

Equal Rights: The Gita reinforces social roles based on caste (the varna system). The Constitution rejects hierarchy and guarantees equal protection under the law.

Secularism: The Gita is a religious scripture. The U.S. Constitution explicitly bars the state from endorsing or establishing any religion.

Due Process: In the Gita, morality is dictated by divine authority. In the U.S., justice flows from due process, rule of law, and rights of the accused.

So when someone like Tulsi Gabbard blatantly links her political identity to the Gita and its ideas of dharma and karma yoga while cozying up to the RSS and BJP, two organizations that openly promote Hindu supremacy, it’s not benign. It’s ideological infiltration.

Let’s talk about real-world consequences. India’s ruling BJP government, driven by the RSS, which worships the Gita as a political text, is enacting laws that marginalize Sikhs, Christians, Muslims, and Dalits. The Citizenship Amendment Act, abrogation of Article 370, bulldozing properties of political dissenters, and mass disinformation campaigns are all justified by a toxic blend of nationalism and Gita-inspired “righteous duty.”

And this isn’t staying within India’s borders. The same groups funding Hindutva politics in India are funding American political campaigns, Hindu student organizations, and community centers here.

Groups like HAF, HSS (RSS’s international wing), VHP-America, Bajrang Dal and many others are building influence in school boards, police trainings, and lobbying bodies while spreading ideas that are fundamentally anti-democratic.

This isn’t about banning a book. It’s about recognizing that swearing an oath on the Gita, especially without clarification- signals ideological alignment with a worldview that is incompatible with the U.S. Constitution. It’s not pluralism. It’s permission for India’s foreign inter.  

Would we allow someone to take their oath of office on “Mein Kampf” just because they say it’s part of their cultural identity? Of course not. But we’re letting Hindutva operatives use the Gita in precisely this way - hiding behind multiculturalism to inject supremacist ideology into Western democratic systems.

Let’s be clear: Not all Hindus think this way. Some secular, liberal Hindus reject Hindutva and its weaponization of the Gita. But the ones pushing the Gita into American political spaces aren’t those Hindus. They’re often aligned—directly or indirectly—with Hindutva networks.  

So no, it’s not just a book. And no, it’s not harmless. And yes, America should be concerned.

We are in a geopolitical moment where India is trying to position itself as a “democratic ally” while its agents conduct assassinations abroad, attack journalists, fund extremism in the diaspora, and undermine liberal norms. The same state actors that weaponize the Gita at home are now exporting it as a political litmus test in the West.  

Swearing an oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution should be a solemn commitment to democracy - not a backdoor for religious nationalism.

It’s time we call it what it is: Not diversity, but a dangerous ideological mismatch. And in a world teetering on authoritarian revival, we can’t afford to be naïve. 
The Constitution deserves better than to be shadowed by a text that preaches holy war in the name of religious duty.