Bhagavad Gita

India's timeless and practical scripture presented as a manual for everyday use. This is the second of three volumes and contains: Introduction, Chapters 7-12 of the Bhagavad Gita with commentary, followed by a Glossary of Sanskrit terms. 456 pages.

The print book includes the verses in Sanskrit; the ebook does not.

India's timeless and practical scripture presented as a manual for everyday use. This is the third of three volumes and contains: Introduction, Chapters 13-18 of The Bhagavad Gita with commentary, followed by a Glossary of Sanskrit terms. 520 pages

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.

Prince Arjuna faced a dilemma that many face sooner or later--whether to take action that is necessary yet morally ambiguous. The difference is that Arjuna's action was to wage war against his own family. With the armies arrayed, Arjuna loses his nerve. Krishna, his charioteer and incarnation of divine consciousness, begins to teach him the nature of God and of himself, that Arjuna can attain liberation through union with God, and that there are several available paths. And so the most famous and revered of all Hindu Scriptures goes on to teach the paths of knowledge, devotion, action, and meditation, becoming the seed for all the Hindu systems of philosophy and religion that followed. For all of its profundity, Eknath Easwaran manages to translate the Gita in easy prose that neither panders nor obscures. Coupled with his thorough introduction, Easwaran's version comes off on all the levels it should: as a guide to action, devotional Scripture, a philosophical text, and inspirational reading. So what does Arjuna finally do? He follows his dharma, of course, as we all must. --Brian Bruya

The name Bhagavad Gita sounds exotic; but the truths it teaches are the essential truths of every great teaching, and of every great teacher. To understand the Gita is to understand truth, religion, and the depth of our very own divine nature.

"The Bhagavad-Gita" has been an essential text of Hindu culture in India since the time of its composition in the first century A.D. One of the great classics of world literature, it has inspired such diverse thinkers as Henry David Thoreau, Mahatma Gandhi, and T.S. Eliot; most recently, it formed the core of Peter Brook's celebrated production of the "Mahabharata."

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.