Bhagavad Gita

Prince Arjuna faced a dilemma that many face sooner or later--whether or not 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, of devotion, of action, and of 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, as devotional scripture, as a philosophical text, and as inspirational reading. So what does Arjuna finally do? He follows his dharma, of course, as we all must. --Brian Bruya

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One of the most important books I am going to read in my lifetime. - Rated
This version is very readable, short and simple yet packed with concepts. You have to read this! There is a reason why this version is the most popular one especially for someone like me who doesn't know much on Hinduism.

I am looking to buy other versions now to understand this great work.

A must read - Rated
I'm buying this as I'll soon have to give the library copy back! The library copy is ISBN 0-14-019008-2 which I hope is an older edition of the same text.

Arjuna asks questions that I think a lot of us do end up asking. The responses and Arjuna's followup questions are quite inspirational. Having Arjuna as a soldier makes things even more interesting. The soldier must deal with the moral questions of a job which involves killing.

I don't know whether I found this easier to read because I'd already learned a lot about the philosophy of yoga before I read it. A lot of yoga texts refer back to this, and for a yogi I think it is great to go back to the beginning and the original meanings of why we're doing all this. Eknath's text does introduce the concepts incredibly well, so the book should be able to stand out on its own without previous knowledge.

It also puts the different paths into perspective. Eknath's discussion covers other philosophies including Christianity in relation to this and allows you to see how much they all have in common.

Readable and made relevant for today - Rated
No wonder this is the best-selling translation of this Indian classic work! Easwaran gives a full introduction, putting the Gita into the context of the literature and traditions of the time, and showing how it relates to modern philosophy. Sanskrit concepts that are quite difficult to translate into English are explained carefully, as is the relationship with Yoga. The translation itself is vivid and convincing, and the book is cleverly divided, with each chapter preceded by a clear explanation of the difficult concepts to come in that chapter.