Bhagavad Gita: Annotated & Explained

by Kendra Crossen Burroughs (Commentary), Purohit Swami (Translation), Andrew Harvey (Foreword)

An ancient classic that can become a companion for your own spiritual journey. Millions of people turn daily to India's most beloved holy book, the Bhagavad Gita ("Song of the Lord"), to instruct their spiritual practice. A Hindu classic, it has universal appeal for people of all faith traditions who turn to its inspirational support in the struggles of life, its consolation in times of grief and its deeply moving promise of God's love and guidance. Composed in Sanskrit verse thousands of years ago, this timeless text tells the story of a distraught warrior on the verge of battle and the compassionate counsel he receives from Krishna―God in human form. In just seven hundred lines, the Gita presents concise teachings on such topics as the immortality of the soul, meditation and yoga, worship and sacrifice, the ideal of selfless action and the oneness of all life in the Divine. Now you can read and understand the Gita with no previous knowledge of Hinduism required. This SkyLight Illuminations edition offers insightful yet unobtrusive commentary that explains references and philosophical terms, shares the inspiring interpretations of famous spiritual teachers and addresses questions such as the inner meaning of India's caste system and why this sublime discourse on inner peace is set against the background of a violent civil war.

Genres: Nonfiction, Philosophy, Spirituality

192 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2001

Reviews

[Jordi Polo Carres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gita es bastante repetitivo pero al menos las anotaciones dan informacion extra que era bastante interestante.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful interpretive guide for the Bhagavad Gita. Much of the text reads like poetry and yet it's easy to follow on its own most time. This translation with sidebar text helps fill in the blanks on his ancient and yet powerful text.

[kerrigan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book under the impression that the teachings of the Gita and Krishna were similar to those of Buddha - I should’ve read the description before purchasing but this is not a Buddhist teaching.

I’m not particularly interested in mythical stories as ‘read between the lines’ teachings, I would rather teachings be straight forward.

Also, I can see how the translations and annotations may be of help to those wishing to study the Gita further, however as a first time reader they were very distracting.

[Elisha Turek · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best spiritual books I've ever read!

[David Zuo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The annotations are great for helping a newcomer to eastern religion and more specially to Hinduism. As to the Bhagavad Gita itself, I truly believe it is a life changing book.

[Rosun Rajkumar]

The Gita is an Upanishad which forms a small part of the great epic- Mahabharata. I see this book as more of self-help than religious; the beauty of it lies in practicing the preachings I suppose. It has an overdose of 'righteous' doings and 'dos and don'ts'. I was intrigued as to how even Wikipedia acknowledges that caste system in India was started by the Lord Krishna himself. I couldn't agree to the idea of a human being born with an 'inherent quality' and hence classified as per the caste system altogether. Nontheless, it gave me immense happiness to have read the Gita. Highly recommended!

[Matt Colvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Gita itself is a great story and I would really love to hear it read alound in its original Sanskrit form. I'm the Gita itself 5 stars, not exactly this particular book. I think that it would almost be better to read the story itself, then a summation or explanation of certain parts afterward. I found myself cutting away in the middle of a stanza to read the footnotes on the opposite page. I can see where some people would find this beneficial (I did initially), but eventually as you get further into the story I think they act more as a distraction.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

God descends into form. God is in our own self. This is a devotional rather than scholarly, practical rather than theoretical, symbolic rather than literal and not a conventionally religious presentation of the false and real ego, Path of Wisdom, Eternal Unmanifest, liberation, already one with God, realization-God, Creator/ Destroyer, "numinous" (Randolf Otto), "The hidden truth behind these terrifying forms is a reassuring, heartening and delightful truth" (Sri Aurobindo).

[Deepak]

nice