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Customer Review
- Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2014I first heard about the Bhagavad Gita a few years ago on a podcast that the comedian Duncan Trussell was on. For those who may not know, Duncan, in addition to being hilarious, is incredibly smart, and has spent many years studying various religions and philosophy. I still remember the first verse he quoted- It is better to be an honest street sweeper than a dishonest king. This and many others, all spoke to me, and for the longest time, I couldn’t figure out which version of the Gita to get. Obviously, I went with this one, translated by Eknath Easwaran, mostly because of all the positive reviews. While I was slightly disappointed that several verses I’d become so familiar with through Duncan (the one I just mentioned, and the infamous “I am become death” one), I actually liked how they were translated here just as much as those I originally heard. I don’t know what it was, but I read through the Bhagavad Gita very quickly, which is rare for me because when I read a book, my eyes will eventually jumble the words together, causing me to take a long time just to get through one short chapter. Here, I felt driven to read through the book. Maybe it’s because so much of it clicked with me.
Easwaran’s translation is very easy to understand. It tells the story of Arjuna, a prince stuck between two armies, not wanting to fight because he doesn’t understand what the good of killing others would be. This is a very honest question, and over the 18 chapters, he gets his answer from Krishna, (one form of Vishnu, one of the holy trinity), who happens to be serving as his charioteer in the war. Krishna is loving and gives Arjuna all the information he needs about life and death, and about his responsibilities as a warrior.
To be completely honest, I don’t know how to write a review for The Bhagavad Gita. My best advice would be to simply do a search for ‘Bhagavad Gita quotes’ and see if you like what you read. For anyone wondering if this book is only for “religious people”, I don’t think so. It’s explained several times in the introduction that the Gita can be seen as a book to help people through life, a kind of guide book. It never tells you what you’re supposed to be doing, or how you’re supposed to act. It simply tells you, in the same way a good friend might give you advice while trying to be nice about it, how to improve.
This version also has introductions before each chapter. At first, I would read a chapter, then the introduction, but after the fifth or sixth, I started with the introductions. Some have mentioned that the introductions are a little intrusive, or reiterate things you’re already going to be reading about. Personally, I found them to be very helpful. Some terms that just plain couldn’t be translated into English, are broken down in these introductions, making it a lot easier to read the chapter without going “wait, what does that mean?” and having to look it up or keep skipping to the glossary. There is also a lengthy introduction at the beginning of the book, further explaining certain Hindu ideas and terms, and even going over some very interesting history. Even some things I though I fully understood, like renunciation, are explained more here than they are in the individual chapter intros, and I appreciated it. Basically, this is as complete as you could probably get if you wanted a copy of the Bhagavad Gita with a little more than the Gita itself.
Again, it was hard to sit here and type up anything for this book. If I could, I’d just type up a couple of my favorite verses…but that may be several pages of material that you can easily find elsewhere. You know what’s funny? I’ve memorized many Indian words while reading the Gita, and even after just reading it once, I’ve memorized what chapters some of my favorite verses come from. I’d sit there and ask myself, “what chapter was [x verse] in again?”, then I’d flip right to it, almost always on the exact page the verse was on.
The Bhagavad Gita is one of those books that I can honestly say I got something out of while, and after, reading it. Look up some quotes, and if anything sticks, get the book. It’s very inexpensive and full of good advice.
