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The Bhagavad Gita (Classic of Indian Spirituality) Paperback – May 17, 2007


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Product Details

  • Series: Classic of Indian Spirituality
  • Paperback: 296 pages
  • Publisher: Nilgiri Press; 2nd edition (May 17, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1586380192
  • ISBN-13: 978-1586380199
  • Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (230 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"No one in modern times is more qualified - no, make that 'as qualified' - to translate the epochal Classics of Indian Spirituality than Eknath Easwaran."
--Huston Smith, author of The World's Religions

Language Notes

Text: English (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

A book I can read over and over again.
Blake
Eknath Easwaran's translation is poetic and beautiful making it readable and inspiring and managing at the same time to clearly state Krishna' spiritual message.
Damon Navas-Howard
Easwaran's translation itself is very easy to read.
EMAN NEP

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

197 of 206 people found the following review helpful By Dennis Littrell HALL OF FAMETOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on August 6, 2001
Format: Paperback
This an especially natural and graceful translation somewhere between poetry and prose by a man who really understands the message of the Gita. This can be seen from reading Eknath Easwaran's wise and penetrating Preface written especially for this, the Vintage Spiritual Classics Edition, edited by John F. Thornton and Susan B. Varenne for Vintage Books.

Easwaran shows that the differing paths to self-realization and liberation that the Gita presents are a comprehensive whole. "The thread through Krishna's teaching, the essence of the Gita, can be given in one word: renunciation. This is the common factor in the four yogas" (p. xxxviii). Easwaran goes on to explain that what is being renounced is not material, although on first blush it seems that way. What is renounced are the fruits of action. Renunciation is not only the essence of karma yoga, but the essence of the bhakti, jnana and raja yogas that Krishna presents as well. The key is an amazing spiritual and psychological insight into human nature: we are miserable when we are concerned with the results of what we do, but we are freed when we devote the fruits of our work to God. What is renounced is also the delusion of a material self that acts, the famous slayer and the slain. Unlike some other, rather foolish, translations that try to find some artificial substitute for the word "yoga," an endeavor entirely alien to the Gita, Easwaran embraces the understanding. He writes, "the Gita is Brahmavidyayam yogashastra, a textbook on the supreme science of yoga" (p. xxxvi)

It is also clear from what Easwaran writes in the Preface that he understands meditation and the path of moksha gained when one is beyond the pair of opposites that dominate our material existence.
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89 of 97 people found the following review helpful By Damon Navas-Howard on October 21, 2003
Format: Paperback
Eknath Easwaran's translation is poetic and beautiful making it readable and inspiring and managing at the same time to clearly state Krishna' spiritual message. Easwaran's translation manages to prove its merit for both spiritual and scholarly study. Many of the other translations are very dry coming from scholars who just know how to translate Sanskrit to English mechanically.Whereas Easwaran was a professor of English and now a spiritual guru; so he has a grasp on both worlds. They do not properly help explain the various yogas Krishna tells Arjuna; reading this translation has been the best explanation of yoga I have ever read before. Each chapter has an introduction to it and there is a glossary of terms in the back. The other translations I think fail also to understand and clearly explain the heart of Krishnia's message which is essentially that one's atman, soul, higher self etc. is one with brahman, the divine, the universe, the source of everything etc and that this liberation can be discovered through the path of yoga. There is not just one path of yoga but many like Karma Yoga(path of selfless service) and Raja Yoga(path of meditation.) The beauty of the Bhagavad Gita is that it explains a way to enter the path to liberation, no matter what stage of spiritual awareness you are it. The Bhagavad Gita manages to explain and apply esoteric and mystical practices to ones everyday life.This is why I think The Bhagavad Gita is the most popular text from India's spiritual texts. Also according to our karma and dharma, we will die and be born again and again until he are liberated. The Bhagavad Gita is a text that I believe should be read by anyone on the "spiritual" path. It is by far one of the greatest "spiritual" text ever written and we are fortunate to share this gift because of Easwaran's brilliant translation.
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99 of 110 people found the following review helpful By A Customer on May 13, 2001
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The Vintage edition is the same translation as the Niligri Press, except they don't give you the individual chapter introductions by Diana Morrison. These introductions--as well as Easwaran's general introduction--were the primary reason to buy Easwaran's translation. Buy the Niligri Press version, or for beautiful language with no chapter introductions find another version. A sad case of dumbing down/cost savings by Vintage.
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30 of 36 people found the following review helpful By A Customer on August 6, 1998
Format: Paperback
This is an excellent treatment of millenia-old Hindu religious thought for the modern day thinking man. Easwaran begins his discussion with explanations of several terms (such as Karma and Atman)from Vedic literature in easy to understand terms that capture the reader's attention.
The main body of the book is of course Lord Krishna's explanation to his life-long friend and champion archer Arjun of life's purpose i.e. Self-Realization (realization that the individual spirit is part of the Universal spirit). However unlike several other books on the same subject, Easwaran has employed an unimitable style and simplicity of presentation that make the book impossible to put down.
The book does not have any Sanskrit script nor any transliterations of the original poetry of the Bhagavad Gita (literally "The Lord's Song"). But I heartily recommend it to any reader interested in obtaining an overview of one of India's greatest philosophical works!
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25 of 30 people found the following review helpful By A Customer on January 23, 2003
Format: Paperback
The Bhagavad Gita must be the greatest spiritual book humanity possesses. Unlike other texts that purport to be the word of God, the Gita doesn't need to just be taken as authority because it's own merits are so strong. It completely condenses all of the important spiritual wisdom into a small, very readable book. No paragraph is wasted or repetitive.
I think that it is intended to be symbolic in setting. Whether there actually was a dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna (or even a historical Arjuna and Krishna) is neither provable, disprovable, nor important beyond historical curiosity. Arjuna represents man in his present state while Krishna is a representation of the Divine, or your True Self. It doesn't matter whether you literally accept Krishna or any other image of the Godhead, the knowledge still is real.
Though the authorship is unknown we cannot wonder much about the author's character. He must have been fully enlightened, if not an incarnation of Vishnu. He knew he was writing something eternal and transcendant. It is likely he realized that the Vedic scriptures were too copious and impenetrable to be popular, so he summarized them in a book for all mankind. He then placed it in the epic Mahabharata to ensure that it could be seen as a revelation in the midst of great struggle - whether that vast battle or every life.
Eknath Easwaran's translation is excellent. I have read quite a few versions and his is the best. There is an interesting introduction and chapter introductions, but no unnecessary Sanskrit or footnotes.
The Gita can always be read. Whatever your emotional condition it is amazing. This can be contemplated every day and still be inspiring. It is certainly the greatest sacred book. What Ben Jonson said of Shakespeare (the best of secular authors, an interesting comparison between East and West there) is true of this: "not of an age, but for all time".
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