About this title: "The Bhagavad Gita" is an intensely spiritual work that forms the cornerstone of the Hindu faith, and is also one of the masterpieces of Sanskrit poetry. It describes how, at the beginning of a mighty battle between the Pandava and Kaurava armies, the god Krishna gives spiritual enlightenment to the warrior Arjuna, who realizes that the true ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1962
ISBN-13:9780140441215ISBN:0140441212
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Taped spine and scrape on back cover; pages appear unmarked, tanned. Penguin Classics. Translated by Juan Mascaro read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1982
Description: Good. Cover creases.; Translated from the Sanskrit and with an introduction by Juan Mascaro. Editor: Betty Radice. Clean text, book has some waviness. read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Penguin Books
Date Published: 1962
ISBN-13:9780140441215ISBN:0140441212
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 128 p. Penguin Classics. Audience: General/trade. acceptable copy-- read more
Description: Good. 1962-Paperback----Used-Good-Hall Street Books proudly ships from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours, M-F. 100% money back No-Worry guarantee with expedited delivery and delivery confirmation available. read more
"I feel silly trying to give this a rating. Much as I'd feel silly about giving the Bible a rating. It's about beliefs that I haven't been brought up in, so it's hard to understand it all in one reading -- it's not even a faith I've done much research into before now. I suppose one could read it in a purely literary way, but I didn't, really. It was hard to focus on how good the translation was or whatever when I was trying to focus on understanding exactly what was being suggested. There were things I recognised from studying Buddhism, but for the most part it was quite new to me.
The introduction (and translator's introduction) is reasonably helpful, giving some context. I should probably reread it now that I've actually read the main text, and see if it illuminates everything a bit more.
Maybe I'll do a better review when I've thought about it some more. It's interesting, though, reading something outside of my own experience. It's worth reading something like this, to try and get to some new ideas. In itself, this isn't hard to read, and there are some lovely passages about Krishna.
I might also try reading a different translation, at some stage."
...it would be kind of hard to say this is BAD, wouldn't it. I mean, let's be honest here. The Gita is, like, one of the pillars of human thought, and anything with that kind of pedigree must be respected on those merits alone. That said, it feels a bit like watching Halloween: you understand that its the first slasher movie, and so appreciate it for that credential, but everything within it you've seen done elsewhere more clearly, cleverly and movingly.
So yeah, a pillar of human accomplishment, but, y'know, I've heard the Dalai Lama speak and I've read Thoreau and so on."
"I so loved Mitchell's translation of the Tao te Ching that I looked forward to seeing what he would do with the beloved Gita. I am truly sad - I mean my heart aches a little - at his work. I had been so excited and so certain that I would love it. Moreover, I could only purchase one new translation, and I pinned all my hopes on Stephen Mitchell, feeling absolutely safe he was a sure bet.
But I do not like it at all. In fact, I sometimes have to force myself to do my nightly reading, whereas until now it has been something I looked forward to all day with pleasure. I think he simply does not understand it. He reads the words and the philosophy through Taoist eyes, and you can't do that. This isn't Taoism; it isn't meant to be Taoism. In fact, it is offering a message that comes to something much the same, but you can't get there through the same walk-ways.
Anyway, I'm very sorry because it also lessens my respect for Mr. Mitchell, whom I had held in such high esteem."
"The anonymously-written seminal Sanskrit treatise on the largest questions of the soul.
Words of Wisdom: "You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no rights to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness either... Work done with anxiety about results is far inferior to work done without such anxiety, in the calm of self-surrender... They who work selfishly for results are miserable.""
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