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The Bhagavad Gita (Penguin Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Anonymous
Creators: Simon Brodbeck, Juan Mascaro
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: $10.00
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Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 35916
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.7 x 5 x 0.6
ISBN: 0140449183
Dewey Decimal Number: 294
EAN: 9780140449181
ASIN: 0140449183
Publication Date: February 25, 2003
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Product Description
The eighteen chapters of The Bhagavad Gita (c. 500 b.c.), the glory of Sanskrit literature, encompass the whole spiritual struggle of a human soul. Its three central themes-love, light, and life-arise from the symphonic vision of God in all things and of all things in God.
Translated by Juan Mascaro
Introduction by Simon Brodbeck
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 Another Pointer Towards Ultmate Reality April 25, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
in writing this review, i realise that the Ghita is from the Mahabarata and is seen as a great classic of hinduism. however it does not have detailed advice on how to practice the life transforming yoga of hinduism. you would learn far more from a guru than from reading this. though i am sure there is much merit in reading the Ghita, which no doubt transcends concept and logic.
i have not read this book for about six months and so am going from memory. it is a jewel in the sense that it points towards mystical experience... the primary experience aimed for in hinduism would seem to be blissful union.
each element has corresponding experiences. bliss is beautiful and highly stable, as is gold. however at heart bliss is cold, or numb. it has its role, it plays its function.
water is matched with balance and peace... the water of life. water soothes and levels, like air it is empty. empty of taste, flavour or colour, it is clear.
air is matched with freedom and as is water is a state of clarity and empty.
water is penetrated by gold, air is penetrated by fire. fire is the highest of the spiritual elements representing the emotion of love... warmth and burning.
one should not focus too much on the emptiness of air and water to the exclusion of the passions of love and beauty of gold.
each of the elements has a gender... the penetrated and the penetrators, and yet each element depends on the others for its presence. the obviously penetrating sometimes penetrated by that which is penetrated.
though the receivers are penetrated on an obvious level, on a subtle level the receivers penetrate the penetrators.
every element is interconnected and interdependent and yet discrete, unique in its own way. in some states an obviously male element may become
or be female. take earth for example. earth is penetrated... a womb for the seed, though plain and 'common', earth is most important and the female side of the gold/earth element. fire produces light, which penetrates darkness. the seed again into the womb. darkness is humble and receding. light penetrating and joyful.
it is not certain what the fith element is... some say it is the common 'i', others that it is pure awareness, but i tend to see air as being awareness, clear like the sky... the i however is an elusive subject.
in a sense the i, is like a cloud that penetrates the clarity of skys awareness. it can come and go, can be created and destroyed. though i have heard it said that the 'i' is indestructible, i know this not to be true.
anyway, enough musing... bliss is not everything.
as an aside, i think that 'consciousness' is a big word in hinduism, and so it should be. i have been looking at consicousness today, it should not be confused with perception, which requires judgement and thought. so consciousness...
in simplest terms is understood as 'this', i present here four formulations for the reader to consider, formulations of consciousness:
1. time + function + being.
2. life + truth + goodness.
3. truth + speed + understanding. (understanding/perception).
my favourite and simplest expression of consciousness is found in 4.
4. this + truth + life.
the only item that is not totally necessary for consciousness is time, but in temporal reality time is an important factor. we as humans however will one day go beyond the time dimension as it is. i think it is clear that unlike perception, consciousness is wholly a good thing, pure; whilst perception may be tainted by unhealthy judgement or emotion. pure perception however represents 'truth'. consciousness is at the very root of our life/being. consciousness is in part direct truth and cannot exist without life/being. (my favourite definition of truth is 'this + that + love', my favourite definition of life is 'movement + function + attraction'). though i say that life is 'movement + function + attraction' this is on an obvious level, infact everything even the letters on this page are alive, even death is a form of life. you will notice however that the letters on this page are attracted towards each other, serve a function and encourage movement of the mind. therefore the letters are in symbiotic relationship with the mind of the reader!
i was just talking about consciousness (being) with a doctor last week and we both felt that is is amazingly mundane, taken for granted. the plainest thing and yet most remarkable. yet without truth perception we cannot say "'this' is it" (the life changing medium).
anyway, have a nice day.
love, snow-flake. xxx
 A delightful find December 21, 2007
This religious work from Hindu culture is translated with clarity and grace. It is poetic but simple. the introduction by the translator is a must read. He not only presents the Bhagavad Gita, but places it in context with other spiritual Hindu and Christian literature. The best part is you do not have to be a scholar or a genius to understand the introduction or the book.
 biblical gita October 17, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
full of mistranslations of key concepts..
there is just so much of this that it forms an underlying structural
orientation of the translation, starting with the [long] introduction
with bible quotes to justify translation choices..
the last words of krishna are changed to "thy will be done"
lifted straight from mathew, luke and the lords prayer..
a translation by an academic bible scholar, shows its origins..
and ruins the subtleties of this timeless discourse..
carl
namaste
Outstanding July 26, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book contains a very excellent introduction that helps a novice such as myself understand the historical and theological context of this great work. Perhaps an individual more well-acquainted with the subject would find the lengthy introduction unhelpful, but then such a person would probably not be in need of the material in this book at all. If one is just looking for a copy of the conversation between Arjuna and Krishna (that is, the Bhagavad Gita itself), this book contains far more than is necessary.
I found the entire work to be wonderful, and maybe even a learned student in the subject would find some of the comments in the introduction thought-provoking.
The most readable truest English rendition of the Gita March 11, 2006
17 out of 19 found this review helpful
The Bhagavad Gita is the world's most translated scripture. The task for a Gita translator is to effectively take the poetic multilayer Sanskrit original and translate it into English preserving it's flavor allowing it to stand alone without commentary. Few have succeeded. I have read multiple editions of the Gita and,in my Sanskrit studies, read the original in Sanskrit.
While I haven't read all the English translations, Mascaro's translation is the best I have read. It takes the reader to the heart of the Gita, to their own heart and to that of Lord Krishna with practical real instructions on how we should live to be aligned with God. It is a practical nitty gritty instruction manual on how we are to construct and conduct ourselves in our own "life battle".
Gandhi read the Gita as his daily practice; it sustained him. I have found the same experience when I have picked up this volume during my own times of crisis.
If one wants to plumb the depths of the Gita, then I would suggest getting Winthrop Sargent's Bhagavad Gita with the Sanskrit and Sanskrit translation. It is excellent, but a few of the translations are off, and it is dry compared to Mascaro.
There are many commentaries and at present I don't have a favorite one to recommend.
If one wants to explore both the flavor and the depth of the Gita, I would recommend undertaking Sanskrit studies with Vyaas Houston www.americansanskrit.com . He gives weekend trainings to begin to learn Sanskrit as well as immersions into the Gita.
I can assure you, you won't be disappointed.
If you don't have the time or money, Mascaro's translation is a gold mine.
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