Bhagavad Gītā
- Language:
- English
- Status:
- Complete work
- Authorship:
- Attributed (authorship debated)
- Condition of the text:
- No scanning noise detected (automatic measure over the whole text, not checked by hand)
- Extent:
- ~22,900 words · 109 passages
Cite this work
- APABhagavad Gita. (n.d.). Bhagavad Gita (The Song Celestial) [Bhagavad Gītā]. Digital reproduction: SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/bhagavad-gita/bhagavad-gita-the-song-celestial
- MLABhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita (The Song Celestial) [Bhagavad Gītā]. Digital reproduction, SigPhi, https://sigphiai.com/en/works/bhagavad-gita/bhagavad-gita-the-song-celestial.
- ChicagoBhagavad Gita. Bhagavad Gita (The Song Celestial) [Bhagavad Gītā]. Digital reproduction, SigPhi. https://sigphiai.com/en/works/bhagavad-gita/bhagavad-gita-the-song-celestial.
Reference to the edition that SigPhi reproduces: SigPhi is its digital reproduction, not its publisher. The edition's year is not in the metadata (hence "n.d."), and the translator appears only when recorded.
What it is about
The English verse rendering Edwin Arnold published in 1885, the one that made the Gita known in the West.
Context and history
The 'Bhagavad Gita' is seven hundred verses inside the 'Mahabharata': just before the battle, Arjuna sees kinsmen on both sides and lets his bow fall, and Krishna answers him with the dialogue that has become the most read text of Hinduism. The answer is that duty must be done without clinging to the fruit of the action, and out of this come the three ways — of knowledge, of works and of devotion — which have been commented on ever since. This translation is in English blank verse and is, like all of that moment, more beautiful than literal: it is the one Gandhi read as a young man — in English before Sanskrit, as he himself recounted — and the one that reached the transcendentalists. For the letter one should go to the original; for understanding how the Gita entered the English-speaking world, this is the text.
Editorial context, not a citable source: unlike the passages of the work itself, these statements cannot be checked against the corpus.
Then 'twas- Beholding Dhritirashtra's battle set, Weapons unsheathing, bows drawn forth, the war Instant to break-Arjun, whose ensign-badge Was Hanuman the monkey, spake this thing To Krishna the Divine, his charioteer: "Drive, Dauntless One! to yonder open ground Betwixt the armies; I would see more nigh These who will fight with us, those we must slay To-day, in war's arbitrament; for, sure, On bloodshed all are bent who throng this plain, Obeying Dhritirashtra's sinful son." Thus, by Arjuna prayed, (O Bharata!) Between the hosts that heavenly Charioteer Drove the bright car, reining its milk-white steeds Where Bhishma led,and Drona,and their Lords. "See!" spake he to Arjuna, "where they stand, Thy kindred of the Kurus:" and the Prince Marked on each hand the kinsmen of his house, Grandsires and sires, uncles and brothers and sons, Cousins and sons-in-law and nephews, mixed With friends and honoured elders; some this side, Some that side ranged: and, seeing those opposed, Such kith grown enemies-Arjuna's heart Melted with pity, while he uttered this: Arjuna. Krishna! as I behold, come here to shed Their common blood, yon concourse of our kin, My members fail, my tongue dries in my mouth, A shudder thrills my body, and my hair Bristles with horror; from my weak hand slips Gandiv, the goodly bow; a fever burns My skin to parching; hardly may I stand; The life within me seems to swim and faint; Nothing do I foresee save woe and wail! It is not good, O Keshav! nought of good Can spring from mutual slaughter! Lo, I hate Triumph and domination, wealth and ease, Thus sadly won! Aho! what victory Can bring delight, Govinda! what rich spoils Could profit; what rule recompense; what span Of life itself seem sweet, bought with such blood? Seeing that these stand here, ready to die, For whose sake life was fair, and pleasure pleased, And power grew precious:-grandsires, sires, and sons, Brothers, and fathers-in-law, and sons-in-law, Elders and friends!…