6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful stuff!, August 2, 2010
This review is from: The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
This is a fabulous translation. It is lucid, poetic, and grounded in the scholarship in a helpful but not overpowering way.
Patton's introduction is a thoroughgoing history of the text, and at last there is a poetic sensibility which grounds the epic prose in a bardic voice. I also sensed that contemporary students will "see themselves" in the text, which is exactly what the translator's intent is. I am a copy writer for a large company and know what it takes to make such works accessible and inspiring at the same time. I bought this for my college-aged sons and they loved it.
We are reading it out loud when they are home on break. You will enjoy this book. it's fresh and traditional all at once.
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14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"I am become Death, Shatterer of worlds", July 5, 2009
This review is from: The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
The reason I read the Bhagavad Gita is, probably like many other people, because Robert Oppenheimer (the director of the Manhattan project at Los Alamos labs during World War 2) recites lines from it after he witnesses the Trinity explosion -- the first nuclear blast.
I was somewhat unsatisfied with the translation of Laurie Patton. I am unable to judge the academic quality of this translation, nor will I be able to put it into context with respect to many other earlier attempts. However, I somehow never got the sense that I was reading a great epic, a work that had shaped the lives of millions in a sense. Nevertheless, several philosophical themes such as "to let go of clinging to the fruits of action (the consequences of action)", "action vs non-action" come through clearly in the translation. Also, the introduction is written very well. In particularly the opening words "The Gita is about a decision. Above all, it is about a decision to go to war." would be the best way to summarize this epic in such a short form.
The Bhagavad Gita (literally meaning "Song of the Blessed One") is about the warrior Arjuna trying to find a reason for why he should be fighting against his relatives and friends. The god Krishna motivates Arjuna by encouraging/urging/forcing him to act because it is his duty to do so, but that he should not worry about the possible consequences of his action (such as him killing his friends) because he has no control over such consequences -- rather fate does. Action, consequences of action and fate ... these are the three major issues.
Going back to the Oppenheimer story, I would like to suggest the article: "The Gita of J. Robert Oppenheimer" by James A. Hijiya (Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol.144, No. 2, June 2000). Hijiya discusses the influence of the Gita on Oppenheimer's life. In doing so, he makes many references to various aspects of the Bhagavad Gita. Here we learn that the excerpt "I am become Death, shatterer of worlds" originally employed by Oppenheimer -- which does not appear at all in Patton's translation -- is translated by many researchers in the field as "I am time that has aged, who makes the world perish", which is the form that one finds it in Patton (11th Discourse, verse 32). Time, it is argued, implies death through aging. However, the duration of the explosion was not long enough to imply death through aging. Therefore the translation as "death" versus "time" of the original Sanskrit word apparently is a better choice (Oppenheimer new Sanskrit, so he could read the Gita in its original language).
The second citation Oppenheimer makes is: "If the radiance of a thousand suns / were to burst into the sky, / that would be like / the splendour of the Mighty One". Patton translates the same lines as "If a thousand suns had risen in the sky all at once, such brilliance would be the brilliance of that great self" (11th discourse, verse 12). I personally like the former translation better (I suppose it is Oppenheimer's own translation).
Overall, I would say that this is a very interesting epic to read. But perhaps you should consider other translations as well in addition to Patton's.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Bhagavad Gita, January 30, 2011
This review is from: The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)
This version of 'The Bhagavad-Gita' not only has the beautiful and inspiring spiritual poem encapsulating the dialogue between Arjuna and Krishna, but it also has an excellent, explanatory introduction. The introduction makes the themes and inner message of the poem more accessible and helps you to a deeper appreciation of this classic text. Easily re-read again and again the Bhagavad-Gita manages to mix deep spiritual insight with flowing and captivating verse. If you are looking for a version of this stunning work then this is as good a place to start as any, the scholarly introduction alone makes up the purchase price and you get this beautiful work to enhance your life on each reading.
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