{"id":32,"date":"2009-11-28T14:30:36","date_gmt":"2009-11-28T14:30:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/omsweetom\/2009\/11\/5-bhagavad-gitas.html"},"modified":"2009-11-28T14:30:36","modified_gmt":"2009-11-28T14:30:36","slug":"5-bhagavad-gitas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/2009\/11\/5-bhagavad-gitas.html","title":{"rendered":"Review: 5 Bhagavad Gitas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"gita_modern.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>Today, November 28, 2009, millions of Hindus around the world will celebrate Gita Jayanti<\/b>, the “birthday” of the sacred wisdom text, Bhagavad Gita. <\/p>\n

(It is actually the anniversary of the day the Gita is believed to have been spoken – according to the tradition, over five thousand years ago – by Lord Krishna to his friend and devotee Arjuna. In keeping with Hinduism’s idea that all of existence has a personal aspect to it, devotees consider the Gita to be a sort of divine personality, with a birthday of its own.)<\/p>\n

The Gita is among the world’s most beloved wisdom texts, both within and outside of the Hindu community. The masters of every major school of Hindu philosophy have written commentaries on the Gita, and in more recent times, some famous readers of the text include Aldous Huxley, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein, and even President Barack Obama (apparently, he read it in college). Gandhi claimed it as his favorite text and a source of inspiration; Robert Oppenheimer quoted from it when the first atom bomb was detonated.<\/p>\n

I’m often asked to recommend an edition of the Bhagavad Gita, especially for a non-Indian audience. This can be tricky…<\/p>\n


\nThere are hundreds of translations available in the West, and they each
\noffer a different experience of the same text. For instance, the Gita
\nthat I first fell in love with (and still consider my Gita) is A.C.
\nBhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s Bhagavad Gita As It Is<\/i>. Its strong
\nemphasis on living the philosophy through the practice of Bhakti (what
\nthe author calls “Krishna consciousness”) has been praised by many
\npeople, and criticized by others.  <\/p>\n

Still, in the spirit of sharing my own experiences with the Gita, here are five editions that I especially find interesting:<\/p>\n

Top 5 Gita<\/strike> The 5 Best<\/strike> 5 Gitas on My Bookshelf Right Now<\/b><\/div>\n

\"gita_prabhupada.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>1. Bhagavad Gita As It Is <\/b><\/a>
Author: <\/b>A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Summary:<\/b>
\nReported to be the most widely distributed edition of the Gita, this is
\nthe edition that sparked the worldwide Krishna movement. Prabhupada’s
\ntranslation (including elaborate Sanskrit to English transliterations)
\ntransports each verse from ancient India to the contemporary world. His
\ncommentary (“purports”), though sometimes longish, is celebrated as
\namong the most powerful presentations of the path of devotion to
\nKrishna – which many understand to be the Gita’s heart and soul – in
\nthe world.
What I Like About It:<\/b> Its bold and unapologetic in presenting Krishna, calling on the reader to live the Gita, not just read it.
What I Don’t: <\/b>The strong tone and insistence on a Bhakti interpretation may strike some as preachy or evangelical.

\n<\/a>\"gita_miller.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>2. The Bhagavad Gita: Krishna’s counsel in time of war <\/b><\/a>
Author: <\/b>Barbara Stoller Miller
Summary:<\/b>
\nA classic in its own right, Miller’s translation is clean and readable.
\nIn her capable hands, the Gita’s message flows.  Another plus: the
\npaperback is portable and includes an insightful appendix exploring why
\nHenry David Thoreau took the Gita to Walden pond.
What I Like About It:<\/b>
\nIt is accessible and non-intimidating to a first-time reader; short and
\nsweet without missing out on the essentials of the text.
What I Don’t: <\/b>The
\nlack of a commentary or textual illumination makes navigating difficult
\nor ambiguous passages a lonely and sometimes frustrating exercise.<\/p>\n

\"gita_mitchell.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>3. The Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation<\/b><\/a>
Author: <\/b>Stephen Mitchell
Summary: <\/b>Mitchell’s
\noffering is a relatively recent addition to the cornucopia of Gita
\ntranslations and has quickly become a favorite. Emphasizing that the
\nGita is, in fact, a song (like all Hindu wisdom texts composed in
\nmetered verses), Mitchell’s rendition attempts to preserve the poetry
\nand fluidity of Krishna’s timeless message, even while extrapolating
\nthat message to a contemporary context.
What I Like About It: <\/b>Mitchell
\nengages with seemingly problematic or contradictory aspects of the
\nGita, uplifting interesting questions and forcing readers to delve
\nwithin for answers.
What I Don’t: <\/b>Perhaps in an effort to
\nappeal to a broad audience, Mitchell’s translation tends towards the
\nbeautiful-but-vague–especially when discussing divinity or theology.  <\/p>\n

\"gita_schweig.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>4. Bhagavad Gita: The Beloved Lord’s Secret Love Song<\/b><\/a>
Author: <\/b>Graham M. Schweig
Summary:<\/b>
\nA wonderful blend between impeccable scholarship and heart-felt
\ndevotion, Schweig’s edition aims to use the art of translating the
\nGita’s poetry and precise word choice to uncover its more esoteric
\nlessons. Schweig paints – both through his poetic translations and in
\nhis textual illumination essays – a portrait of a Krishna who loves his
\ndevotees and yearns to connect with them.
What I Like About It: The
\ntranslations capture both accuracy and aesthetics – a rare combination,
\nindeed – and make the esoteric delightfully understandable.
What I
\nDon’t: At times the sheer heft of the book and occasionally
\noverly-academic tone of the essays make an edition that prides itself
\non being a love song seem more like a textbook <\/p>\n

\"gita_ramdass.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>5. Paths to God: Living the Bhagavad Gita<\/b><\/a>
Author:<\/b> Ram Dass (Richard Alpert)
Summary: <\/b>Technically,
\nPaths to God is not a translation of the Gita or even a summary study
\nof the text. Instead, Ram Dass  (the acclaimed author of cult classic
\nBe Here Now) essentially expanded upon the syllabus of a Gita course he
\ntaught in the 1970s. The result is a collection of anecdotes,
\nreflections, and meditative exercises that approaches the Gita as a
\nmanual for spiritual life.
What I Like About It: <\/b>Engaging and warm, the book uses the Gita as a springboard to help readers look deeper within.
What I Don’t:<\/b>
\nIt jumps around at times, pursuing charming but distracting tangents or
\nveering more towards Ram Dass’s personal musings than what the Gita
\nactually says.<\/p>\n

***
Happy reading! <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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He is a Hindu Chaplain and the Coordinator for Hindu Life at Princeton University, and serves as the North American Director of Communications for the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), a worldwide organization representing the Vaishnava Hindu tradition. In previous incarnations, Vineet has been a New York City prosecutor, a cable TV show host, and a hospital chaplain. In his free time, he enjoys relaxing with his wife and his new baby, attending classes at The Bhakti Center, and teaching himself photography. As a second-generation, Indian-American, Vaishnava-Hindu, Vineet ponders new ways of further hyphenating his identity.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/author\/vchander"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/207"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/omsweetom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}