The Bhagavad Gita is often regarded as the Bible of India. With a gripping story and deeply compelling message, it is unquestionably one of the most popular sacred texts of Asia and, along with the Bible and the Qur'an, one of the most important holy scriptures in the world.
Part of an ancient Hindu epic poem, the dialogue of the Bhagavad Gita takes place on a battlefield, where a war for the possession of a North Indian kingdom is about to ensue between two noble families related by blood. The epic's hero, young Prince Arjuna, is torn between his duty as a warrior and his revulsion at the thought of his brothers and cousins killing each other over control of the realm. Frozen by this ethical dilemma, he debates the big questions of life and death with the supreme Hindu deity Krishna, cleverly disguised as his charioteer. By the end of the story, Eastern beliefs about mortality and reincarnation, the vision and practice of yoga, the Indian social order and its responsibilities, family loyalty, spiritual knowledge, and the loftiest pursuits of the human heart are explored in depth. Explaining the very purpose of life and existence, this classic has stood the test of twenty-three centuries. It is presented here in a thoroughly accurate, illuminating, and beautiful translation that is sure to become the standard for our day.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent translation.October 19, 2007 7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is an excellent translation, giving us a good insight into Hinduism. There are helpful footnotes to some verses. Near the end of the book, the original Sanskrit text is given, in transliteration. After that, there is a very good index.
Schweig's new translationAugust 25, 2007 12 out of 13 found this review helpful
While completing a degree in psychology at Harvard from 2004 to 2006, I squeezed in religion courses whenever I could, running into the Bhagavad Gita from various angles: In one course as a counterpart to the Koran, Torah, and Bible; in another as a treatise on yoga centered around the Universal Form in chapter eleven.
Graham Schweig's very accessible new translation presents refreshing, even startling, approaches to the Gita, in particular as a song revealing the supreme divinity's own passionate yearning for our love.
If you are eager for perspectives that expand our access to the world's sacred texts there's a pleasing blend of tradition and adventure in this new Gita translation. Dr. Schweig has a scholar's objectivity and a practitioner's fluency, giving this reader the feeling of direct contact with a timeless and vital spiritual legacy.
One of the best ever!June 26, 2007 11 out of 12 found this review helpful
This is one of the best ever translations of the Bhagavad-gita. Scholarly, yet rich with deep understanding of this greatest of books on the spirituality of yoga.
The Way of Devotion Helpfully IlluminatedJune 17, 2007 13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Of the many translations of The Bhagavad Gita I have read this is certainly one of the best. Schweig's work with the text and in the commentaries (very inviting format and pleasant meter) is helping me to understand, for the first time, I think, the appeal of devotional (bhakti) yoga. In particular, Krishna's encouragement to be "absorbed in yoga" is continuing to intrigue me as I re-read this elegant translation.
