Our translation of the Bhagavad Gita uses the beauty of verse to express the highest truths of Vedanta. The critics have singled out this translation:

"The book is self-contained. A complete stranger to the Hindu gospel can pick it up and in one or two evenings follow the poem from its terrific beginnings to its sublime end." -- New York Times

 "A distinguished literary work." - Time Magazine, "A highly readable interpretive translation."- American Library Association, "The best from a literary point of view." -- Aldous Huxley.

How Swami Prabhavananda's translation came about:
"Once I was away for a rest in Palm Springs I had a Gita translation with me. When I read the twelfth chapter, I felt that the meaning had not been brought out; I saw deeper meaning in it. So I started to translate, and then Chris helped me.

"I translated and Chris edited. When Peggy Kiskadden came, she read what we had done and could not understand it. Then we went to Aldous (Huxley) . Chris read aloud, and Aldous listened. Aldous said, 'No, that is not right yet. Forget that Krishna is speaking to the Hindus in Sanskrit. Forget that this is a translation. Think that Krishna is speaking to an American audience in English.'

"Then Aldous told Chris which style  to use for verse. Chris rewrote the whole eleventh chapter of the Gita following Tennyson, I think. He produced the book in a week He was inspired."

 

Excerpts from The Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God

Let him who would climb
In meditation
To heights of the highest
Union with Brahman
Take for his path
The yoga of action.

Then when he nears that path of oneness,
His acts will fall from him,
His path will be tranquil.
...
When goodness grows weak
When evil increases
I make myself a body.

In every age I come back
To deliver the holy,
To destroy the sin of the sinner,
To establish righteousness.
....

Whatever wish men bring me in worship
That wish I grant them.
Whatever path men travel
It is my path:
No matter where they walk
It leads to me.
It is my path:

For the complete set of all the Vedanta Spiritual Classics in hardback, please click here.

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