Born in an Age of
Spiritual Crisis

Gita Press was established on Vaishakh Shukla 13, Ravi-var, Samvat 1980 (Sunday 29 April 1923), in a small rented house in Gorakhpur's Hindi Bazar, at approximately Rs 10 per month rental.

The social landscape of colonial India was bleak. Centuries of Mughal rule and then British colonialism had placed India's ancient civilisation under sustained pressure: temples broken, scriptures burned, religious practices mocked, and the cultural confidence of ordinary Hindus systematically undermined. By the early 20th century, the Bhagavad Gita had commentaries available only in Sanskrit, out of reach for common people. Even worse, a widespread misconception held that the Gita was only for sannyasis, not for householders.

Sethji, Param Shraddheya Shri Jaydayal Ji Goyandka, saw this clearly. He understood that if India was to reclaim its spiritual identity, ordinary people needed access to their own scriptures in their own language, at a price they could afford. This was the founding vision of Gita Press.

The first Gita was printed in Kolkata (11,000 copies), but technical difficulties with that press led Sethji to resolve: "A pure text of the Gita can only emerge from our own press." Two devoted associates in Gorakhpur, Shri Ghanshyamdas Ji Jalan and Shri Mahaveer Prasad Ji Poddar, offered to manage the press. Sethji gave permission, the small house was rented, and on 24 September 1923 (Bhadrapada Shukla 15), the first hand-press printing machine was purchased for Rs 600.