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The Bhagavad Gita

A Norton Critical Edition
Series: Norton Critical Editions
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
The Bhagavad Gita, the "Song of the Lord," is an ancient Hindu scripture presenting a profound dialogue between Krishna, an incarnation of God, and the warrior Arjuna on the eve of a decisive battle. This new verse translation combines scholarly precision with poetic style, offering a living text that remains true to the original. The work explores timeless themes of life, death, war, peace, and sacrifice, enriched by commentaries and essays that trace its religious and cultural influence through the centuries.
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Format: Paperback / softback
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Ideal for students and scholars of religion and spirituality, readers interested in Hindu philosophy, and those exploring Eastern religious traditions and their continuing global significance.

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“A true translation whose literary qualities make it stand out from the rest.” –Daniel Gold, Cornell University

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

The Bhagavad Gita, the "Song of the Lord," is an ancient Hindu scripture about virtue presented as a dialogue between Krishna, an incarnation of God, and the warrior Arjuna on the eve of a great battle over succession to the throne.

This new verse translation of the classic Sanskrit text combines the skills of leading Hinduist Gavin Flood with the stylistic verve of award-winning poet and translator Charles Martin. The result is a living text that remains true to the extraordinarily influential original.

A devotional, literary, and philosophical work of unsurpassed beauty and relevance, The Bhagavad Gita has inspired, among others, Mahatma Gandhi, J. Robert Oppenheimer, T. S. Eliot, Christopher Isherwood, and Aldous Huxley. Its universal themes—life and death, war and peace, and sacrifice—resonate in a West increasingly interested in Eastern religious experiences and the Hindu diaspora.

The text is accompanied by a full introduction and by explanatory annotations.

The volume presents seminal analogues and commentaries on The Bhagavad Gita, including central passages from The Shvetashvatara Upanishad as well as commentary spanning eleven centuries by Shankara and Ramanuja (in new translations by Gavin Flood) in addition to the writings of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Sri Aurobindo.

Five essays by leading Hinduists discuss a wide range of issues related to The Bhagavad Gita from its roots as a religious text to its influence on the practices of yoga and transcendentalism through its ongoing global impact. Contributors include John L. Brockington, Arvind Sharma, Rudolf Otto, Eric J. Sharpe, and C. A. Bayly.

A selected bibliography is included.

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Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The Bookseller praises the book for its "well-balanced synergy" between scholarly expertise and literary sensitivity, resulting in a remarkable new verse translation of the ancient scripture.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780393912920

Publisher: WW Norton & Co

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 31 October 2014

Country: United States

Imprint: WW Norton & Co

Edition: Critical edition

Contributors:

  • Translated by Charles Martin
  • Translated by Gavin Flood
  • Edited by Gavin Flood
  • Edited by Gavin Flood

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 15.0mm

Width: 132.0mm

Height: 216.0mm

Weight: 193g

Pages: 224

Collections

Hinduism Non-Fiction Religion & Spirituality Series: Norton Critical Editions

About the Author

Gavin Flood is Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion and Academic Director of the Centre for Hindu Studies at Oxford University. He is the author of An Introduction to Hinduism; The Ascetic Self: Subjectivity, Memory, and Tradition; and The Tantric Body: The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion. Gavin Flood is Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion and Academic Director of the Centre for Hindu Studies at Oxford University. He is the author of An Introduction to Hinduism; The Ascetic Self: Subjectivity, Memory, and Tradition; and The Tantric Body: The Secret Tradition of Hindu Religion. Charles Martin was born in New York City in 1942. He earned a Ph.D. in English from the State University of New York at Buffalo. The recipient of numerous awards, Martin has received the Bess Hokin Prize, the Literature Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ingram Merrill Foundation. Three of his poetry collections—Steal the Bacon (1987), What the Darkness Proposes (1996), and Starting from Sleep: New and Selected Poems (2002)—have been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. His translation of Ovid’s Metamorphoses won the 2004 Harold Morton Landon Translation Award from the Academy of American Poets.

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