BHAGAVAD GITA: A New Translation

'The Beloved Lord's Secret Love Song' is one of the most important sacred texts in the world. Here Schweig translates the classic text with a beautiful, poetic translation in free-verse form, an Introduction providing an overview of the story and its themes, Footnotes explaining foreign concepts and terms, and an extensive concluding essay for a deeper understanding of the text. A thorough verse index of religious terms and Sanskrit words, the book is completed with a transliterated Sanskrit text and pronunciation guide. This beloved Hindu set of verses of ancient wisdom on the mysteries of human existence speak to us today as if they had just been spoken. It presents a uniquely vivid portrait of the intimacy between humanity and divinity revealed in the form of a dialogue that takes the soul on an inward journey culminating in the ultimate state of yoga, in which souls unite with the heart of God. Often simply called the Gita it is essentially a book on yoga and refers to Krishna, whose voice is prominent throughout the work. At a deeper level however it is a song issuing force from the heart of God and the secret call of the divinity for all souls to love him and to be blissfully united with him. Krishna is best known for alluring the lowly cowherd maidens out of the paradisal village of Vraja who abandoned their families and household duties to join him in the moonlit forest upon hearing his irresistibly sweet flute music. With Krishna they dance the 'dance of divine love'. The opening words of this great poem are spoken by a King who was born blind and whose sons are prepared to lead his army into battle against the sons of his deceased younger brother Pandu who inherited the throne from King Bharata. A beautifully laid out text in 362 page large softback.