If you did happen to read this sacred text, that has been around for centuries longer than some acknowledge as even a possible thing, then may I suggest the Rig Vedas. The Rig Veda Awesome reading. Such perfection.

Also, many people are familiar with Autobiography of a Yogi But the book by Paramanhansa Yogananda that I always found inspiring, both awe and heart wise was:
Where There is Light: Insight and Inspiration for Meeting Life's Challenges. Along with the The Tao of Physics by Fritjov Capra More...

I love the Bhagavad Gita. It offers something for everyone, no matter what your religous/spritual persuasion might be.

However, I had mixed feelings about this version which made me debate between three and four stars for this book.

This is Prabhupada's translation. He is best known as the Founder and/or person who brought the Hare Krishna form of Vasinavism to the United States. The only issue I take with it is that at times he can be rather controversial in his interpretive purports of the vers More...

It's our expectations that make us unhappy. As Gandhi explained, the Gita is built around the idea that we are not entitled to the fruits of our actions. It's the expectations we form from our actions that lead us astray. It's enough to act according to your yoga. Simply act, without having expectations of what our action will get us.

We have two yogas we can practice: the yoga of action or the yoga of contemplation. Once you understand what your yoga is, then you can act accordingly within your More...

The Bhagavad is one of the greatest works of literature. Here it is tenderly and lovingly mangled from its original by a sectarian and abusive translator who, while offering the "original" sanskrit, still departs wildly from it in his purports. What the book gains from is an immense popularity due it's publishers fervent marketing of the book, free copies, etc.

Let me explain, I hate writing in books. I think it sullies the text, I think it mires the next reader's experience and I think it aesthetically just doesn't look good. But never have I written more in a book then in this one. Written notes, underline, bracketed, I went off the rails on this one and why? Because I had to just to keep up? Partially but more than that; I think it was because I wanted to grow along with Arjuna in the book as Krishna dropped his wisdom on the both of us and to disti More...

The Gita, a part of the much larger Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, was no doubt based on ancient oral tradition, much recent scholarship concluding that the approximate date of written composition was the first century CE. The immediate story involves an extended philosophical conversation between the Pandava general, Arjuna, and his charioteer Krishna, who is in actuality the Supreme Being Himself, immediately before a monumental battle, a battle that Arjuna is hesitant to wage because it involve More...

I was gifted this this book by Hare Krishnas in London as a teen back in the late 70's. As far as religious books go I would rate it higher than most; the Torah is a real snoozer with its infinite shopping lists of do's and don'ts. The Bible is like one of those hyper violent graphic novels (with a peace, love & understanding segment during the first part of the New Testament, then the body count, hate and intolerance picks up again for the Revelations and the prophecies. The Quran is really More...

This book is a way to live life..hence will be reading it forever...

the actual scriptures have some very helpful spiritual philosophy to them, if you're into that kind of thing. the words of Krsna are indeed wise if understood in context and given some thought; but what I don't like about this edition is the interpretations that go along with each passage. This Prabhupada guy who writes the "purports" for each verse, he is supposedly the authority on what this stuff means, but I almost always disagree with his interpretations, and he seems to extrapolate much th More...

Hey, how pretentious am I? I just gave a four-star review to a fucking holy text. And now I'm going to review it. And I will swear in my review. I'm just asking for it, aren't I?

When comparing this one to the other holy books I've read and/or skimmed, I found this one quite insightful. As a professed athiest, this one probably speaks to me the most. The Bhagavad Gita is actually a section of the Mahabharata, which is, to simplify (because that's all I have researched enough to do), the story of More...

Being raised an atheist and being prejudiced against Christianity owing to the conservative face it presented in my hometown, I was first drawn to "religion" by the experience of altered states of consciousness and by arguments with friends who pointed me towards Eastern traditions. Being already an admirer of Gandhi and given his recommendation of the Bhagavad Gita, I read it as probably my first primary text in the Hindu tradition.

I was not impressed. The story is basically about a prince bein More...

This is the most famous portion of the long Hindu epic the Mahabharata. In this tale, Krishna, the incarnate god, is charioteer of Arjuna. Arjuna is a great warrior, but he is torn because it is his own kinsmen and teachers who have become his enemies in battle. He hesitates, and so Krishna must goad him to action. The work takes the form of a philosophical dialogue.

When we learn about epics in American schools, we usually read The Iliad, The Odyssey, and Paradise Lost. We are the lesser, I bel More...

Led to this book when reading the introduction to Leaves of Grass by Whitman.

Personal Summary:
Very easy to read - and relatively short (200 short pages) for a sacred text (though my current only comparison is the Bible which is incredibly long).

Basic themes are:
- Renounce the fruit of your actions. To me this means you should still plan for positive outcomes in what you attempt to do but whatever the outcome you should continue as if it never happened. If you do something and things go well a More...

I spent ten years like most Americans who do yoga, using the practice as an antidote to city stress, as calisthenic goldenseal after a party weekend, and to keep my tummy flat. Since I've recently become aware of the profound tradition that informs our misguided versions of yoga practice (tell ya right now, the 1000-degree-room-thing isn't in the scripture), I'm 1) kind of embarrassed for being so ignorant, 2) on a mission to get smarter, and 3) hoping that I can convince other people of how muc More...

This was a rushing wind of world religion fresh air after having suffered through The Koran for the past 4 years. This book took me a week to read and I loved every minute of it. This is a book that actually has the potential to help me in my life, and I will probably read it again just as I’ve read the Dhamapada and the Book of Mormon multiple times. I think the descriptions of God are very accurate: ageless, subtler far than mind’s inmost subtlety. I also liked this very interesting passage: “ More...

I initially read this because of the frequent references to it from other books, such as those by Joseph Campbell. It was not as good as I wanted it to be — not sure if it is the translation, or ...? On my to-be-read-again list.


Addendum; Re-read in 2009.
Well, I've gotten round to reading this again, and it is far FAR better than my first perusal. In large part this is because I have acquired enough knowledge to understand better the arguments presented in the book, and to weigh them against othe More...

As arrogant as it seems to review an ancient text, I gave this book 2 stars because I'm being honest about how much I did or did not enjoy reading it. If I were a religious person and believed in a Man-God, I may have enjoyed it more...but I think my main issue was my awareness that so much of the poetry that must have been there in the original language is 'lost in translation' and my Western brain is wired to be tone-deaf to the ideas that can, at best, only be guessed at or mimicked by modern More...

Classic book interpreted by a guru from the old tradition of swamis in India. I did enjoy the book at the time, although my current world view interprets this book quite differently than when I first read it many years ago. Still, it's a great story about courage and commitment. It does have lots of superstitious and metaphysical aspects to it. I would not necessarily recommend this particular version of the book though. If you wanted to read classic version, do a search and it's easy to find. R More...

I enjoyed this teaching in one long, lovely sitting...after having practiced the Ashtanga Yoga Primary series, sitting in a cafe with my jasmine tea while a thunderstorm pounded outside. A powerful read/lesson. I've tried to read other translations before, but Mitchell's really resonated with me.

"...The undisciplined have no wisdom,
no one-pointed concentration;
with no concentration, no peace;
with no peace, where can joy be?

When the mind constantly runs
after the wandering senses,
it drives away w More...

This one of the best Bhagavad Gita version I ever read, the commentary by Sankaracarya was very useful, he really one of the greatest saint of India, and his commentary in this book is the proof!

But for you that never read the Gita before, this book will hard for you for the first time, first, the language of Sankaracarya was not easy, second, this version doesn't have a glossary at the end of the book.

But overall I think this book worth a five star rating.

AWESOME!!!!!!!!

The BEST scripture I have EVER read! It is philosophy and poetry in one. It's straightforward and enlightening. It's easy to understand and flows beautifully. It offers something for everyone, no matter what religion or spiritual path you follow.

I bought the Bhagavad Gita in search of God. I wanted to start out on a spiritual path, but didn't want to turn directly to religion. I feel like religion in it's literal definition (an organized collection of belief systems) clouds us from the goal we a More...

This book has a lot of wonderful qualities to it. For one, it is one of the few books you will find with original sanskrit and easy-to-read English transliteration, and a guide on how to read the sanskrit! It is also formatted wonderfully and comes with beautifully painted illustrations.

The Bhagavad Gita is perhaps one of the greatest jewels of spiritual writing. This version, however, does its best to take the original text "As It Is" and smear it with page upon page of biased agenda. If you ha More...

A review from my old blog...

This book intrigued me. I've never read any holy book of other religions of the world which is why I put this book on my list. I intend to read others if for no other reason than to learn what the people of these religions believe so that I am better able to minister to them.

This book is in the form of an epic poem which actually finds a home in the much larger Mahabharata, India's national epic and an epic poem larger than the more well-known Iliad or Odyssey.

I won't More...

De Bhagavad Gita is een poëtisch onderdeel van de Mahabharata dat zich afspeelt aan de vooravond van een grote strijd. De dappere krijger Arjuna, vervuld van compassie, weigert zijn broers, leermeesters, vrienden en verwanten, die zich ook onder zijn vijanden bevinden, in het verderf te storten, en weigert te vechten.

In een achttiental verzen legt zijn wagenmenner en neef Krishna waarom Arjuna tóch de wapens moet opnemen. Krishna's argumenten komen er op neer dat Arjuna niet daadwerkelijk kan do More...

It's honestly a little hard to fully explain this book. I'm probably going to re-read a few parts to fully grasp the concepts. The Bhagavad-Gita is a sacred religious text, a brilliant collection of life philosophy, and an enthralling story. I actually purchased this book from a group of transcendentalist poets that I met at an art show. After reading the back cover and seeing quotes from Thoreau, Emerson, and Gandhi, this book highly intrigued me.

Being a Buddhist, I wasn't completely sold on al More...

For an epic poem (technically part of an epic poem) this was a very quick read and l liked it well enough. The issue Arjuna brings up to Lord Krishna is, for me atleast, an incredibly valid one. How can l kill if life is sacred, even if it's for God? krishna then proceeds to lay it out for the archer, explaining over and over that he, Krishna, is all and nothing. I found this to be repetitive and slightly boring. I found Krishna's point of view very similar to the Judeo-Christian God of the Old More...

PREFACE

I was born a Christian, raised a Christian, and I'll die a Christian. Nevertheless, I enjoy learning about many different religions, and one of my favorite courses in college was “World Religions.” I read portions of many sacred texts, and have since wanted to read them more extensively - starting with the Bhagavad Gita.

I am not Hindu. I have never been to a Hindu place of worship, and I have had very few conversations with practicing Hindus about their religion. Hence my understanding of More...

In the spirit of Krishna, I plan to devote the best part of this review to speaking of many particulars about myself and myself simply.

That I read this at all is owed less to some "spiritual quest" I'm on than an error in shipping out a book of Alice Munro's short stories that found me with this in my hands instead. After the initial confusion and a refund I got to keep the Gita, so read a little of its history prior to sitting down with it and then finally engaged.

I expected poetry and nirvana, More...

This book is something more than just a simple technically correct translation of the Bhagavad Gita. The translator, being a Sanscrit scholar, mystic and a poet at the same time, managed to catch the spirit of this ancient text, giving it as much beauty of language as possible. When I read it, I see the images and feelings arising, which give me the explanation of what is being read better than any technically detailed translation could ever do.

There are no comments in this book, just the Gita More...