The Song of God Bhagavad Gita [Paperback]

Swami Prabhavananda (Translator), Christopher Isherwood (Translator), Aldous Huxley (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1978

Uses the beauty of verse to express the highest truths of Vedanta. Includes an introduction to the Gita, and a study of non-violence versus the need to fight a just war. <P>The critics have singled out this translation:"The book is self-contained. A complete stranger to the Hindu Gospel can pick it up and in one or two evenings follow the poem from its terrific beginnings to its sublime end." -- New York Times

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A distinguished literary work." --TIME Magazine

A highly readable interpretive translation. --American Library Association

The best from a literary point of view. --Aldous Huxley

From the Publisher

The story concerns the plight of Arjuna, the commander of an army who must fight a war. After seeing his friends and kinsmen on the opposing side, Arjuna tells his friend Krishna that he won't fight, even though it is his duty.

Krishna's reply deals not only with Arjuna's problem of whether or not to fight a just war but with questions that concern all of us:

How should we deal with our problems in a hostile world? Why is there misery? Why do we exist?

Krishna goes to the heard of these matters to help solve our most difficult problems. There is no one answer.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 179 pages
• Publisher: Vedanta Press & Bookshop; 4 edition (July 1, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874810434
• ISBN-13: 978-0874810431
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,323 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #8 in Books > Education & Reference > Foreign Language Nonfiction > More Languages > Sanskrit
  • #87 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Bible & Other Sacred Texts > Bhagavad Gita

More About the Author

Swami Prabhavananda was one of the pioneer swamis sent to America by the direct disciples of Ramakrishna to build on the work started by Swami Vivekananda at the turn of the century.

The swami was born in India on December 26, 1893. In 1914, after graduating from Calcutta University, he joined the Ramakrishna Order of India and was initiated by Swami Brahmananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna.

In 1923, Swami Prabhavananda came to the United States. After two years as assistant minister of the Vedanta Society of San Francisco, he established the Vedanta Society of Portland. In December 1929, he came to Los Angeles where he founded the Vedanta Society of Southern California the following year.

Under the able care of the swami, the Society grew into one of the largest Vedanta Societies in the West, with monasteries in Hollywood and Trabuco Canyon and convents in Hollywood and Santa Barbara.

Swami Prabhavananda was a man of letters as well as a man of God. He wrote and translated a number of books with the object of making the spiritual classics of India available and understandable to Western readers. He was assisted on several of the projects by Christopher Isherwood or Frederick Manchester. His comprehensive knowledge of philosophy and religion attracted such disciples as Aldous Huxley and Gerald Heard. His publications, which include the Bhagavad-Gita, The Upanishads, Breath of the Eternal, How to Know God: The Yoga Aphorisms of Pantanjali, The Eternal Companion, and The Sermon on the Mount According to Vedanta, continue to this day to capture interest and draw people to the Vedanta philosophy.

Swami Prabhavananda passed away on the bicentennial of America's independence, July 4th 1976, fitting for one who gave so much of his life to this country.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars aptly named, "the song of God.", February 17, 2002

By 

Orva Schrock "Author of "Worthless Boy"" (goshen, in United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God (Mentor) (Paperback)

Perhaps the greatest piece of truly inspired spiritual literature ever written. Considered by many to be the epitome of the vast collection of writings that is Vedanta. Its the story of Lord Krishna's holy teachings and advice to a warrior whose heart is in great distress on the eve of battle. And aren't we all warriors on the eve of the battle of daily life? Lord Krishna explains the various ways a person can seek and find and know God. He speaks directly to each one of us from that transcendent Eternal One point of view, "when goodness grows weak, when evil increases, i make myself a body. in every age i come back, to deliver the holy, to destroy the sin of the sinner and to establish righteousness". and, "though a man be soiled with the sins of a lifetime, let him but love me, rightly resolved, in utter devotion: i see no sinner, that man is holy". and, "give me your whole heart, love and adore me, worship me always, bow to me only, and you shall find me: this is my promise, who love you dearly." I love the book very much indeed and have read it many times over the past few decades. This particular translation is a thing of sheer beauty and power. This is by far my favorite translation of the several i've read. [Prabhavanana and Isherwood, translation] This book belongs on the reading table of every sincere spiritual seeker. Its simply sublime.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Most lyrical translation into English of this classic, September 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Song of God Bhagavad Gita (Paperback)

Isherwood took his love of the message of the Gita, and the knowledge he gained from his Teacher to bring the wonderful meaning of the Bhagavad Gita into beautiful English.

This work of faith and philosophy gains so much from the beautiful use of words! Other translations may be more accurate of more satisfying to scholars, but this is the one for the reader who wants to understand this message.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Core of Hinduism in pure form., February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bhagavad-Gita: The Song of God (Mentor) (Paperback)

"All religious texts are subject to interpertation". That's a popular belief most people like to cling to. The way "The Bhagavad Gita" has been translated in this book, it is absolutely clear. This book delivers the message of this religious text in most lucid form.

A must reading for those people of the West, who want a quick and correct glimse of Hinduism.

And also for those Hindus, who are taking their first steps in the quest for thier spiritual indentity.