Bhagavad Gita

Description

Bhagavad Gita is a 700-verse long part of the Hindu epic Mahabharata, more precisely the poem takes up chapters 25-42 of the 6th book of the epic. The original Sanskrit version of the text was translated and rendered by Sir Edwin Arnold in 1885, one of the most well-known English poets of the first few decades of the 20th century.

The poem consists of 18 chapters and it is a story placed in the frame provided by a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna, in the evening preceding a decisive battle on the field of Kurukshetra. Arjuna addresses the deity to find counseling regarding his major moral problems – some members of his family, including his great grandfather are in the opposing army, therefore Arjuna is faced with eventually having to fight against his own kind – and his duties as warrior and leader. Krishna answers the Prince’s questions by describing his duties and explaining them based on the various concepts of Vedantic and Yogic principles. The explanations provide Arjuna not only with a guide to the duties of a warrior, but also with a very practical guide to Hindu philosophy and life as such. By the end, Krishna enlightens Arjuna to the nature of his duties.

Sir Edwin Arnold was among the most prolific writers of his times, a poet and scholar who spent a long time in India where he learned Sanskrit, worked in Poona as the Principal of the Government Sanskrit College and became familiar and fascinated with Hinduism, Hindu philosophy and literature. The translation provided by him is, indeed, wonderful and able to match the subtleties of the original Sanskrit version. The verses are also able to evoke the pure and powerful feelings in the original text, Arnold’s version being among the most appreciated translations of the Bhagavad Gita.
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