Bhagavad Geeta and Natyashastra now part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register

Bhagavad Geeta and Natyashastra now part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register 

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has now added the Srimad Bhagavad Geeta and the Natyashastra to its Memory of the World Register. These additions were made on April 17^th, 2025 as part of the observance of World Heritage Day which is observed annually on April 18.

UNESCO is an agency of the United Nations (UN) dedicated to the promotion and preservation of world peace through education, science, culture and communication. Part of its mission, UNESCO has an important role in identifying and preserving cultural and natural heritage sites and works of outstanding universal value and history. The organization currently has 194 Member States and 12 Associate Members with its headquarters located in Paris. It has 50 Field Offices worldwide.

The Bhagavad Geeta forms part of the Prasthaana Traya Grantha (Scriptural Trinity)—the authoritative texts in Hinduism—the other two being the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras. It is universal in scope and addresses the human challenges towards self-discovery, pointing out the impermanence of the material world and the final goal of human birth—attaining Mukti—One with the Supreme Self. The Geeta is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and the representative human disciple, Arjuna. It has 18 chapters and contains 701 verses written in Sanskrit. Bhagavad Geeta has been translated into over 80 languages.

The Natyashastra is a Sanskrit treatise on performing arts written by Muni Bharata between 500 BC and 500 CE.