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| Bhagavad Gita: A New Translation | 
 enlarge | Author: Stephen Mitchell
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95 (32.84 RON)
Buy New: $11.16 (26.27 RON)
You Save: $2.79 (6.57 RON) (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  35 reviews
Sales Rank: 9545
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 5.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0609810340
Dewey Decimal Number: 294.592404521
EAN: 9780609810347
ASIN: 0609810340
Publication Date: August 27, 2002
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
On the list of the greatest spiritual books of all time, the Bhagavad Gita resides permanently in the top echelon. This poem of patently Indian genius sprouted an immense tree of devotional, artistic, and philosophical elaboration in the subcontinent. The scene is a battlefield with the prince Arjuna pitted against his own family, but no sooner does the poem begin than the action reverts inward. Krishna, Arjuna's avatar and spiritual guide, points the way to the supreme wisdom and perfect freedom that lie within everyone's reach. Worship and be faithful, meditate and know reality--these make up the secret of life and lead eventually to the realization that the self is the root of the world. In this titular translation, Stephen Mitchell's rhythms are faultless, making music of this ancient "Song of the Blessed One." Savor his rendition, but nibble around the edges of his introduction. In a bizarre mixture of praise and condescension, Mitchell disregards two millennia of Indian commentary, seeking illumination on the text from Daoism and Zen, with the Gita coming up just shy of full spiritual merit. Perhaps we should take it from Gandhi, who used the Gita as a handbook for life, that it nourishes on many levels. --Brian Bruya
Product Description
Stephen Mitchell is widely known for his ability to make ancient masterpieces thrillingly new, to step in where many have tried before and create versions that are definitive for our time. His celebrated version of the Tao Te Ching is the most popular edition in print, and his translations of Jesus, Rilke, Genesis, and Job have won the hearts of readers and critics alike. Stephen Mitchell now brings to the Bhagavad Gita his gift for breathing new life into sacred texts.
The Bhagavad Gita is universally acknowledged as one of the world's literary and spiritual masterpieces. It is the core text of the Hindu tradition and has been treasured by American writers from Emerson and Thoreau to T. S. Eliot, who called it the greatest philosophical poem after the Divine Comedy. There have been more than two hundred English translations of the Gita, including many competent literal versions, but not one of them is a superlative literary text in its own right.
Now all that has changed. Stephen Mitchell's Bhagavad Gita sings with the clarity, the vigor, and the intensity of the original Sanskrit. It will, as William Arrowsmith said of Mitchell's translation of The Sonnets to Orpheus, "instantly make every other rendering obsolete."
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 30 more reviews...
 Meditation literature May 20, 2008
FANTASTIC!!!!! This is a great translation. It m akes the Gita accessible. This is great to read and explore. The translation is beautiful. It's a great reprensentation of the Gita's complex meaning while not getting lost in never ending sentences. Beautifull work.
***Excellent Book Finally*** May 17, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read many many translations of the Bhagvad Gita including the one written by Mahatma Gandhi. I found almost all of these books poorly explained, confusing and lacking in clarity.
How ever this translation is by far the best and most clearly and easily understandable version I have ever read. It is in one word a - beautiful - interpretation of the Bhagvad Gita and would highly recommend it to ALL, especially to folks with non-hindu back grounds.
Poetry makes a difference February 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
There is a lot to be said about the poetic approach in this translation. The spell-binding rhythms and "turns of phrase" in the original sanskrit may not be perfectly reproduced, but Mitchell made me realize that the repetition- slightly different each time, was like a flower opening, giving subtle meaning, flavor and beauty- the whole being greater than "a single petal".
You Gotta Get the Gita! December 22, 2007
3 out of 17 found this review helpful
Okay, I realize that my title for this review is a little flip. But I really do love this book. That said, is it the best translation of the Gita ever written? I don't know. But what I do know is this: This book turns an ancient poetic text into a practical guide for living life today in a more effective way. The Gita taught me what it truly means to let go of my attachment to results . . . and that single lesson alone has brought me immeasurable peace. I highly recommend that you include this book in your collection of helpful spiritual texts.
Steven Lane Taylor, author of Row, Row, Row Your Boat: A Guide For Living Life In The Divine Flow
 Not a very good translation. October 19, 2007
6 out of 8 found this review helpful
Mitchell's translation is not very good, more like a paraphrase than a literal translation. To cite the most jarring example, in 2:36 he has: "he slunk from the field like a dog". The original does not mention any dog. For example Sargeant translates this "deriding your capacity". Or Schweig translates it "deriding your ability". For those knowing Sanskrit, the original says "nindantas tava samarthyam". Nothing about dogs. The Bhagavad Gita is not anti-dog. The only mention of dogs is in 5:18.
There is also too much sexism in his translation. Mitchell defends this by saying that for the author of the Gita, "rebirth as a woman is a stroke of rotten karma, which can indeed be overcome, but only with wholehearted devotion". This is based only on 9:32, which is translated literally on page 35 (his poetic translation of the same verse on page 119 is absurd). That is not enough to conclude that for the author of the Gita only men can be wise etc.
There are no explanatory notes to any verses, unlike other translations. There is no index either, unlike the excellent Schweig's translation or the Easwaran's translation. But a good feature of Mitchell's book is the essay by Mohandas Gandhi on the Gita, from his pacifist view. The Gita is not pacifist, but it is interesting how it can be reinterpreted by this famous pacifist.
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