The Bhagavad-Gita

The seven hundred verses of the Bhagavad-Gita have, for more than two millennia, served as a guide to liberation through a life of knowledge, devotion, and action without attachment to results. The influence of this most renowned of all the Hindu scriptures has spread far beyond its religion of origin to inspire figures as diverse as Mohandas Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Aldous Huxley, and C. G. Jung. This fresh translation stands out from all the others first of all for its careful faithfulness to the original language, but also for the extensive tools for understanding it provides, which include: detailed explanatory notes, the entire Sanskrit text on facing pages—both in the original Devanagari alphabet as well as in a romanized version that allows the reader to approximate the sounds (a pronunciation guide is provided)—a word-for-word translation for comparison, an exhaustive glossary, and a wealth of essays on the Gita ’s background, symbolism and influence. This Gita is an excellent resource for serious students, but it’s also the perfect version for first-time readers who want to approach the text with understanding.