The Song of God: Bhagavad-Gita

This would probably be five stars if I understood it, but it’s so deep and broad under its deceptively simple surface that I have to admit I got lost quite a few times. I think you really need to take time and unravel it, and I still have to digest it myself.

Regardless of how much I can wrap my head around the Gītā’s philosophy, I can definitely appreciate some of its glorious verses, and the theophany scene is just breathtaking. Here are some of my favourite quotes:

“As a man discards
worn-out clothes
to put on new
and different ones,
so the embodied self
discards
its worn-out bodies
to take on other new ones.” (32)

“No effort in this world
is lost or wasted.” (35)

“I am the source of all the universe,
just as I am its show more dissolution.
Nothing is higher than I am;
Arjuna, all that exists
is woven on me,
like a web of pearls on thread.” (72)

“I am indestructible time,
the creator facing everywhere at once.” (93)

“I see no beginning
or middle or end to you;
only boundless strength
in your endless arms,
the moon and sun in your eyes,
your mouths of consuming flames,
your own brilliance
scorching this universe.” (100) show less

this was assigned reading in my philosophy 10 class in college. my personal motivation for reading it was my interest in cataclysmic death. that is to say, the atomic bomb. oppenheimer, was said to have remarked upon seeing the devastating power of the bomb, 'i am become death, destroyer of worlds.' now there are also those that say what the quote should have been was 'i am become Time, destroyer of worlds.' but anyway, reading the Bhagavad Gita, is one of those experiences that every human being should experience. it is one of the more important spiritual treasures of mankind.

My guess is that this is like the Christian Bible. People have it in on their shelves, but they don't read it.

This can turn your head in several directions. Like any good religious text, it is not simple, and you can read it over and over again, and still find something new.

great read! life changing!