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Sanskrit for 'Song of the Lord', the Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse Hindu epic that constitutes part of the faith's vast cornerstone work, the Mahabharata. The book provides timeless truths and indispensable advice for believers trying to overcome internal tensions, doubt and indecision. The teachings are conveyed in the form of a dialogue between the Pandava general Arjuna and the deity Krishna, who helps Arjuna understand his position in the Kurukshetra War, and guides him towards the right course of action. The Gita's treatment of duty and devotion has inspired many, including the peaceful activist Mahatma Gandhi, who referred to it as his 'spiritual dictionary'.… (more)
CONTENTS: Foreword Translator’s preface The language of the Bhagavad gītā The setting of the Bhagavad gītā List of abbreviations used in the Vocabularies Epithets (nicknames) used in the Bhagavad gītā
I read the folio society edition. A beautiful book. This is holy scripture, so there isn't a whole lot I can say about it, especially for a work that is this well known. I do find it reassuring that holy scripture from other cultures is also largely composed of platitudes and the obscure. Also, unless I'm mistaken, Arjuna asks Krishna a particular question in the beginning - why should he go to war and slay his kinsmen, "Shall we not, who see the evil of destruction, shall we not refrain from this terrible deed?". But Krishna's best answers are only that it is Arjuna's duty to do so, that it doesn't matter if he kills or is killed since the soul is eternal, and that ultimately Arjuna should just give himself up to Krishna - much as Job is advised to quit complaining doesn't he realize who he is talking to. Anyway, many great people have found much in the Bhagavad Gita, and just as some do with Western holy scripture, some have claimed that it is allegorical (e.g. Ghandi). ( )
This came as a recommended translation of The Bhagavad Gita. This is a book that requires multiple readings and a serious study as there are so many nuggets of wisdom. I found the author’s explanation of each chapter, before the translated Gita chapter very helpful for my comprehension. Now that I have completed my first read, I intend to revisit each chapter more slowly and deliberate. ( )
I've seen many translations of the Gita that lose themselves in minutiae... they try to accurately translate and explain every single subtle concept of Hindu philosophy, and, in doing so, make the actual main message hard to follow. I've started so many translations of the Gita and given up part-way through because I couldn't really connect it all together.
This is the first time I've read a translation all the way through and could confidently tell you what the core message was, and how that core message continues, emphasizes and repeats across the text.
I'm giving it 5 stars for being the only translation I've ever read that has left a full, easy to understand, coherent, straightforward theme in my mind. ( )
To the memory of Swami Turiyananda who was regarded by his master Sri Ramakrishna as a perfect embodiment of that renunciation which is taught in the Bhagavad Gita
For Gwenn for her sense of the ways we are
First words
Nowadays, it is becoming fashionable to translate the world's great books into some form of Basic English, or everyday speech. (Translators' Preface, 4th edition, 1987)
O Sanjaya, tell me what happened at Kurukshetra, the field of dharma, where my family and the Pandavas gathered to fight.
PREFACE to the Nabar/Tumkur edition: Several translations and commentaries on the Bhagavadgītā exit, many of them comprehensive and thorough.
INTRODUCTION to the Nabar/Tumkur edition:
The Bhagavadgītā in Indian Life:
The first thing about the Bhagavadgītā that any non-Hindu or non-Indian needs to understand is that it incorporates what my broadly be termed the Hindu view of life more than any other extant Hindu text.
FIRST WORDS of the Nabar/Tumkur edition:
Chapter I
Yoga of the Hesitation and Dejection of Arjuna
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said:
O Sañjaya, what did my sons and the sons of Pāṇḍu do when, desiring war, they gathered together on the sacred field of Kurukṣetra?
First Words of Chapter 1 of the 1952 translation by Swami Nikhilananda: Dhritardshtra said: O Sanjaya, what did Pandu's sons and mine do when, desirous to fight, they assembled on the sacred plain of Kurukshetra?
More than twenty-five centuries have passed since that which has been called the Perennial Philosophy was first committed to writing; and in the course of those centuries it has found expression, now partial, now complete, now in this form, now in that, again and again. --Introduction, 4th edition, 1987
Tell me, Sanjaya, what my sons and the sons of Pandu did, when they gathered on the sacred field of Kurukshetra, eager for battle? --Vedanta Press, 4th edition, 1987
Sanskrit for 'Song of the Lord', the Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse Hindu epic that constitutes part of the faith's vast cornerstone work, the Mahabharata. The book provides timeless truths and indispensable advice for believers trying to overcome internal tensions, doubt and indecision. The teachings are conveyed in the form of a dialogue between the Pandava general Arjuna and the deity Krishna, who helps Arjuna understand his position in the Kurukshetra War, and guides him towards the right course of action. The Gita's treatment of duty and devotion has inspired many, including the peaceful activist Mahatma Gandhi, who referred to it as his 'spiritual dictionary'.
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De Bhagavad Gita ('s Heren Lied) is een van de oudste en mooiste boeken uit de wereldliteratuur. Het is de bij bel voor de oosterling. De oorsprong van dit boek gaat terug tot voorboeddhistische tijden. De Gita en de belangrijkste Mahayana-geschriften hebben elkaar wederzijds beïnvloed, maar de ons bekende op schrift gestelde Gita-teksten dateren uit de tweede eeuw na Christus. De Bhagavad Gita is een deel van het beroemde Indische epos, Mahabharata. Het geeft het gesprek weer tussen Arjuna, de boogschutter, en zijn wagenmenner Krishna, de Heer. Arjuna staat vlak voor de grote veldslag tegen zijn bloedverwanten, leraren en vrienden. Bij het aanschouwen van de vijandelijke legerscharen, waaronder zich zo vele vrienden bevinden, raakt hij vertwijfeld. Hij wil de oorlog niet meer. Dan ontwikkelt zich het gesprek met Krishna. Arjuna ontvangt nu lering over het wezen van leven en dood. Door het inzicht wordt de strijder getransformeerd tot de wetende, de kenner, geheel toegewijd aan de Allerhoogste.
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Wikipedia in English (31)
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Foreword
Translator’s preface
The language of the Bhagavad gītā
The setting of the Bhagavad gītā
List of abbreviations used in the Vocabularies
Epithets (nicknames) used in the Bhagavad gītā