The Bhagavad Gita

I feel silly trying to give this a rating. Much as I'd feel silly about giving the Bible a rating. It's about beliefs that I haven't been brought up in, so it's hard to understand it all in one reading -- it's not even a faith I've done much research into before now. I suppose one could read it in a purely literary way, but I didn't, really. It was hard to focus on how good the translation was or whatever when I was trying to focus on understanding exactly what was being suggested. There were things I recognised from studying Buddhism, but for the most part it was quite new to me.

The introduction (and translator's introduction) is reasonably helpful, giving some context. I should probably reread it now that I've actually read the main text, and see if it illuminates everything a bit more.

Maybe I'll do a better review when I've thought about it some more. It's interesting, though, reading something outside of my own experience. It's worth reading something like this, to try and get to some new ideas. In itself, this isn't hard to read, and there are some lovely passages about Krishna.

I might also try reading a different translation, at some stage. ( )

A philosophical treatise presented as a discourse between Arjuna, a reluctant archer or the brink of war, and his chariotman, who turns out to be Krishna. Krishna gets most of the air time. The Bhagavad Gita was probably a separate discourse that was interpolated into the Mahabharata.

On the positive side, the Bhagavad Gita provides some religious/philosophical context for the Buddha's teachings, and shows why they were such innovations. On the down side (and I'm not criticizing anybody's beliefs but speaking for myself), its emphatically stated and restated tropes include the impossibility of change and the futility of trying to do so, because your fate is sealed; that you should keep to your place in the social hierarchy and that doing your ordained job poorly is better than doing a job you weren't assigned well; shut up and kill those other guys already, Arjuna, because they're bad guys (so forget your scruples that they're your friends and relations) and anyway both you shooting them and their deaths are preordained so do as you're told. The main "action" of this discourse, such as it is, could be used as an illustration of Milgram's findings in his obedience studies: Do as you're told because I'm the Big Guy and I say it's the right thing to do. Your empathy is an impediment and based on false premises. Even though you think you know your compatriots, I gave them lots of chances to be good guys and they blew it, so shoot already, Arjuna.

All this fixity begs the question of why one should strive to be better--is it simply a matter of snagging a better reincarnation? It can't be enlightenment, because it's made clear that only really great men can get off the wheel, and you aren't one of them. ( )

If you are a seeker then you need to read this! ( )

Very much like the other "wisdom collections" of the time. I kind of enjoyed the frame concept of it being a conversations between two characters, rather than the author talking at the reader, such as with other collections of wisdom, but at the same time, I kind of just wanted it to get on with it. ( )

For me, this is the best Baghavad Gita translation. Van Buitenen does not seem to have as much of a philosophical agenda as many other translations. The Sanskrit is included (for those of you with a sanskrit dictionary) and the English on the facing page. ( )