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Rating: 
Summary: "The light of a lamp does not flicker in a windless place"
Review: "The enlightened, the Brahman-abiding,
Calm-hearted, unbewildered,
Is neither elated by the pleasant
Nor saddened by the unpleasant"Every few years I read this extraordinary book...I've read other translations, but seem mostly to be drawn back to this one. Partly prose and partly verse, more interpretive than literal, it's in a flowing style, easy to understand, and with great clarity in its spiritual instruction.
"Shutting off sense
From what is outward,
Fixing the gaze
At the root of the eyebrows,
Checking the breath-stream
In and outgoing
Within the nostrils,
Holding the senses,
Holding the intellect,
Holding the mind fast,
He who seeks freedom,
Thrusts fear aside,
Thrusts aside anger
And puts off desire:
Truly that man
Is made free forever". Written between the 5th and 2nd centuries B.C., this dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna is an inspiring sacred text, and a must read for anyone interested in the great religions of the world.
This edition comes with an introduction by Aldous Huxley, a background history of the Gita and Mahabharata, 2 appendices, and the text has footnotes to aid in the meaning of certain words and personages. "He who is free from delusion, and knows the supreme Reality, knows all that can be known. Therefore he adores me with his whole heart.
This is the most sacred of all the truths I have taught you. He who has realized it becomes truly wise. The purpose of his life is fulfilled".
Rating:
Summary: "The light of a lamp does not flicker in a windless place"
Review: "The enlightened, the Brahman-abiding,
Calm-hearted, unbewildered,
Is neither elated by the pleasant
Nor saddened by the unpleasant" Every few years I read this extraordinary book...I've read other translations, but seem mostly to be drawn back to this one. Partly prose and partly verse, more interpretive than literal, it's in a flowing style, easy to understand, and with great clarity in its spiritual instruction.
"Shutting off sense
From what is outward,
Fixing the gaze
At the root of the eyebrows,
Checking the breath-stream
In and outgoing
Within the nostrils,
Holding the senses,
Holding the intellect,
Holding the mind fast,
He who seeks freedom,
Thrusts fear aside,
Thrusts aside anger
And puts off desire:
Truly that man
Is made free forever". Written between the 5th and 2nd centuries B.C., this dialogue between Sri Krishna and Arjuna is an inspiring sacred text, and a must read for anyone interested in the great religions of the world.
This edition comes with an introduction by Aldous Huxley, a background history of the Gita and Mahabharata, 2 appendices, and the text has footnotes to aid in the meaning of certain words and personages. "He who is free from delusion, and knows the supreme Reality, knows all that can be known. Therefore he adores me with his whole heart.
This is the most sacred of all the truths I have taught you. He who has realized it becomes truly wise. The purpose of his life is fulfilled".
Rating:
Summary: Easy-to-read and accessible for the typical westerner
Review: I'd always wanted to read the Bhagavad Ghita, but had never got around to it, until I happened across this translation at the library.
In short, the Bhagavad Ghita is a battlefield conversation between Arjuna, a warrier and the Lord Krishna. The scripture is an important part of Hindu religious scriptures and in it Krishna essentially lays out for Arjuna the nature of the soul and the various types of Yoga or paths to God.
The conversation originally comes about because Arjuna is extremely distressed at the prospect of having to kill his own relatives in the battle before him. Krishna explains that souls can never die and that Arjuna must play his assigned role in the great scheme of things. Furthermore, Krishna explains to Arjuna how to balance the spiritual journey with worldly obligations, and how the intentions with which we fulfill our worldly duties differentiate the spiritual man.
This book contains an introduction by Aldous Huxley which discusses the Bhagavad Ghita's relationship to Huxley's concept of the Perennial Philosophy (a common meaning of things that all religious ultimately depict). Included at the end of the text are brief discussions on the "Cosmology of the Ghita" and the "Ghita and War".
If I could change anything about this translation, I would have liked to see more annotations throughout the text but that's a minor gripe becaus overall I found this quick and interesting and accessible for me as a first time reader of the Bhagavad Ghita.
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