Eknath Easwaran Bhagavad Gita
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The Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita, “The Song of the Lord,” is the best known and most read of all the Indian scriptures, featured on college reading lists, quoted in yoga magazines, found in all good libraries and bookstores, and recognized as part of the wisdom literature of all time. Easwaran held the Gita to be India’s greatest gift to the world, and he found in it his most profound source of inspiration. He started teaching classes on the Gita in Berkeley in the sixties, and continued to bring his unfailing enthusiasm to a wide audience throughout his life. Readers have always appreciated the authenticity of his translation, which regularly tops the bestseller list of its genre and has consistently been the bestselling book for Nilgiri Press. The Gita opens, dramatically, on a battlefield. Prince Arjuna, a great warrior and a man of principle, is about to face the treacherous relatives who have deprived his elder brother of his crown. Just as the battle is about to begin, however, Arjuna collapses in his chariot, his bow falling to his side, unable to face the inevitable slaughter ahead of him. Arjuna’s struggle is profoundly modern. He has lost his way on the battlefield of life, and turns to a higher, spiritual power to find the path once again. About to go into the fight of his life, he asks direct, uncompromising questions of his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna. Acting as Arjuna’s friend and charioteer, Krishna is in reality the Lord himself. In seven hundred verses of sublime instruction, Krishna talks of living and dying, of loving and working, of the nature of the soul and the paths we can take to realize our true Self, our true stature. For, as Easwaran points out, the Gita is not what it seems – it’s not a dialogue between two mythical figures at the dawn of Indian time. “The battlefield is a perfect backdrop, but the Gita’s subject is the war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage” to live a life that is meaningful, fulfilling, worthwhile. Arjuna represents each of us, every person of action and principle today. Krishna is not an external deity “but the spark of divinity that lies at the core of the human personality.” And this is no external dialogue, but one that takes place within us as we struggle, like Arjuna, to do what is right. Easwaran’s genius is to show us that the Gita is not just a text that is interesting historically and culturally – it’s a practical manual, a book of choices, that offers guidance for whatever challenges we face. It places human destiny entirely in human hands. The range of paths the Gita describes for spiritual realization – of action, wisdom, devotion, and meditation – is broad enough to appeal to all our different personalities. Great figures like Gandhi turned to the Gita again and again, and so can we.
The Bhagavad Gita
In the Bhagavad Gita, Prince Arjuna asks direct, uncompromising questions of his spiritual guide on the eve of a great battle. In this expanded edition of the most famous —and popular — of Indian criptures, Eknath Easwaran contextualizes the book culturally and historically and explains the key concepts of Hindu religious thought and the technical vocabulary of yoga. Chapter introductions, notes, and a glossary help readers understand the book’s message. Most importantly, this translation uses simple, clear language to impart the poetry, universality, and timelessness of the Gita’s teachings.
Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita ("Song of the Lord") is considered the most influential of all the Hindu scriptures and is one of the greatest spiritual classics of the world. Comprised of eighteen chapters taken from the great Sanskrit epic Mahabharata, the Gita presents a conversation that takes place on a battlefield just as two groups of relatives are about to wage war against one another. Facing the forces of greed, anger, and hatred, the warrior-prince Arjuna loses heart and refuses to fight his own kin. His friend and charioteer, Lord Krishna, who represents the Divine within, tells him: "Your very nature will drive you to fight." In the ensuing dialogue, Krishna teaches Arjuna, and all of us, how we can face bravely the unavoidable challenges and conflicts of life--and win the greatest of all battles, against the tumultuous emotions within our own hearts. Eknath Easwaran's eloquent translation and Diana Morrison's chapter introductions, which summarize major religious concepts, make this edition especially accessible for modern readers of any religion.