Bhagavad Gita: A New TranslationStephen Mitchell is widely known for his ability to make ancient masterpieces thrillingly new, to step in where many have tried before and create versions that are definitive for our time. His celebrated version of the Tao Te Ching is the most popular edition in print, and his translations of Jesus, Rilke, Genesis, and Job have won the hearts of readers and critics alike. Stephen Mitchell now brings to the Bhagavad Gita his gift for breathing new life into sacred texts. The Bhagavad Gita is universally acknowledged as one of the world's literary and spiritual masterpieces. It is the core text of the Hindu tradition and has been treasured by American writers from Emerson and Thoreau to T. S. Eliot, who called it the greatest philosophical poem after the Divine Comedy. There have been more than two hundred English translations of the Gita, including many competent literal versions, but not one of them is a superlative literary text in its own right. Now all that has changed. Stephen Mitchell's Bhagavad Gita sings with the clarity, the vigor, and the intensity of the original Sanskrit. It will, as William Arrowsmith said of Mitchell's translation of The Sonnets to Orpheus, "instantly make every other rendering obsolete." |
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ahimsa anger Arjuna attachment attain the ultimate battle Bhagavad Gita Bhishma birth BLESSED LORD body born brilliance Byron Katie called tamasic Chapter craving death deathless deluded delusion demonic desire desireless devotion Dhritarashtra's divine Drona Drupada dwells essence eternal evil faith fire firm wisdom freedom Frog Prince fruits of action Gita's gods greed heart I-sense imperishable indifferent infinite kill King Knower knowledge Krishna let go Mahabharata Master means meditation mind never Pandavas path pleasure poem poet primal pure Rainer Maria Rilke rajas Rajasic Ramana Maharshi relinquish renounce renunciation of fruit sacred sage sannyasa sattva sattvic scriptures seen the truth sense-objects senses serene sorrow spiritual practice splendor stand STEPHEN MITCHELL supreme surrender tamas Tao Te Ching teaching things three gunas three kinds traits tristubh true truly unattached understanding unmanifest warriors whole universe wise womb wondrous words worship yoga of action