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Rating: 
Summary: Best Gita Translation
Review: Gandhi called the Gita the most important religious influence on his life after his mother. I highly recommend Sargeant's copy because it is simple, clear, and nuanced. I learned Sanskrit just to read the Gita; in the process, I've looked at twenty or so translations of this work and Sargeant's is the best. For a deeper reading of the text you need to have the Sanskrit, the translation, and the word-lists side by side. This is the one to own.
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Summary: Great for Students
Review: I am Hindu, and my mother is very religious. That being said, we have many copies of The Gita at home. However, I bought this one because I needed a copy to study with. The English translation and the sanksrit word for word translation are great. I find this extremely helpful. A lot of my friends who take religious study classes find this book extremely helpful as well, for the same reasons. Although there isn't any one true translation out there, this version of The Gita, in my opinion, is wonderful for those who are not versed in Sanskrit, and seek a better understanding of the Slokhas.
Rating:
Summary: Great for Students
Review: I am Hindu, and my mother is very religious. That being said, we have many copies of The Gita at home. However, I bought this one because I needed a copy to study with. The English translation and the sanksrit word for word translation are great. I find this extremely helpful. A lot of my friends who take religious study classes find this book extremely helpful as well, for the same reasons. Although there isn't any one true translation out there, this version of The Gita, in my opinion, is wonderful for those who are not versed in Sanskrit, and seek a better understanding of the Slokhas.
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Summary: Perfect translation sans interpretation
Review: I have enjoyed this book, 1979 publication by Doubleday & Co, Inc., every time I read it. I am very proud now, to possess this 1994 edition by SUNY Series. Unfortunately, some errors seem to have crept in. For example, p. 290, the Sanskrit word "upama" is not found, in the mening section. This can be very discouraging. I hope there are not too many errors. The get-up of this edition is excellent. This book, as always, makes wonderful reading; it is a source of inspiration and guidance for ever.
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Summary: A unique and indispensable bilingual edition.
Review: I long ago lost count of the different editions of the Bhagavad Gita that I have, but it must certainly be over twenty. Of them I keep two constantly by my side, one of which is that by Winthrop Sargeant. For lovers of the Gita who, even though they may be innocent of Sanskrit, would like to approach the text in its original language, a language of great force and beauty, there could be no finer edition. Each page is devoted to a single verse of the Gita and gives, in the left column, line by line - the Sanskrit text in Devanagari letters, its transliteration, and a word by word literal translation. Then follows a prose translation of the entire verse with, at the bottom of the page, occasional light annotations. In the right column we are given Sargeant's incredibly useful grammatical analysis of every single word. This analysis, which also gives relevant English synonyms, is evidently a labor of love which involved Sargeant in an enormous amount of work. In the many bilingual editions I have examined, I've never seen anything that even approached it, and we should all be intensely grateful to Mr Sargeant for having, out of the goodness of his heart, provided us with such an invaluable tool. If this book has a weakness, it is perhaps that the Devanagari script is printed in far too tiny a font; but, since it is immediately followed by transliteration into the Roman alphabet, no great harm is done. Also, since Sargeant's edition has a linguistic orientation, one will have to look elsewhere for a 'philosophic' commentary. Readers who may be new to Sanskrit, and who would like to get a bit of grounding in the language before approaching the Bhagavad Gita, might take a look at Thomas Egenes, 'Introduction to Sanskrit' (1989). There are many primers of Sanskrit on the market, but this is undoubtedly the best as not (like that, for example, of Michael Coulson) overloading the beginner with too much detail. It also has the additional merit of printing the Devanagari letters in a large clear font, something that will be appreciated by anyone who has ever attempted to learn this difficult script. Those who may already be comfortable with Devanagari, and who are looking for a bilingual edition of the Bhagavad Gita which, besides giving a word by word transliteration and translation, also gives a prose translation and full commentary, might look at the edition by Swami Gambhirananda with the commentary of Sankaracarya (1995). This is the second edition that I keep constantly by my side, since the two serve to complement each other beautifully.
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Summary: lovely
Review: it's nice to have the original sacred scripture in it's original language, complete with translation and explanation of word roots etc. i highly reccomend it.
Rating:
Summary: lovely
Review: it's nice to have the original sacred scripture in it's original language, complete with translation and explanation of word roots etc. i highly reccomend it.
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Summary: Eminently fulfills its aim
Review: Simple Layout and really a fantastic effort. Only feedback is Fonts could have been little bigger. Cross referencing Ramanuja's interpretation where applicable was really unexpectedly handy and fabulous. This book is a must for any begining student of bagavat gita.
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Summary: The best and most useful Bhagavad Gita translation available
Review: This Bhagavad Gita translation is probably the best currently available for a number of reasons. Four texts are given: The original Sanskrit Devanagari Script; a Romanized transliteration which allows the reader to hear the sound of the Sanskrit text; an interlinear word-for-word translation and finally Sargeant's rendering in English prose. A vocabulary is also provided which gives alternate meanings of the Sanskirt words, as well as their grammatical charactersitcs. Thus the reader can get a feeling for the Sanskrit Text, its metrical formation as well as grammatical structure. This is invaluable for Sanskrit Students and also for those seeking to get closer to the original text. I also like the fact that this is a one verse per page transalation, so there is ample room for all the features described. In addition there is a good introduction to the Mahabharata and the place of the Bhagavad Gita in the Epic. Some may argue that Sargeant's prose rendering is not as "poetic" as some other translations. To this I answer that those translations are probably farther removed from the original than Sargaeant's, and he provides the other renderings as well, so the critical reader can check up on him. I have compared this translation to those of M.N. Dutt, Edgerton, K.M. Ganguli, Miller, Zimmer, A.C. Bhaktivedanta Prabhupada, Paramahansa Yogananda, and others, and Sargeant certainly holds his own. It is the apparatus he provides which sets his translation apart. Finally I would like to stress that there is no one "correct" translation and much less interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita. Indeed no interpretation in the form of purports or commentaries is provided here. The universality and flexibility is the beauty of this text that seems to defy translation and specific categorization and interpretation. I am sure that many other translations will follow of this timless text, but in the meantime, Sargeant's translation will prove to be most useful to readers and scholars alike. I recommend it most highly.
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