Explain the philosophy of the Gita. Is it right to say that ancient Indian philosophy was based entirely on austere asceticism?

The Gita is a message of eternity, and it has a timeless significance for every one of us. The vicissitudes of life have no impact upon this message, because it arises from a source that transcends the transitions of life. It is a message which embodies the knowledge of what is ultimately real.

Asceticism in the form of yoga and meditation possibly goes back to the earliest period of Indian history. Seals depicting a figure sitting in what looks like a yogic pose have been found at sites of the Indus Valley Civilization dating to the second millennium B.C.E. In the texts of the early Vedas (c. 1500–c. 1000 B.C.E.), ascetic practices appear in a variety of contexts. References are made to long-haired silent sages (muni s), clad in soiled yellow garments or naked, who are depicted as having supernatural powers, acquired perhaps as a result of their ascetic practices. The early texts also tell of the shadowy wandering ascetics (vratya s), who seem to have also practiced physical austerities.

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