The Bhagavad Gita

By: Eknath Easwaran

Narrated by: Paul Bazely

The Bhagavad Gita is the best known of all the Indian scriptures, and Eknath Easwaran’s best-selling translation is reliable, readable, and profound.

Easwaran's extensive introduction places the Bhagavad Gita in its historical setting, and brings out the universality and timelessness of its teachings. Chapter introductions clarify key concepts, and notes and a glossary explain Sanskrit terms.

Easwaran grew up in the Hindu tradition in India, and learned Sanskrit from a young age. He was a professor of English literature before coming to the West on a Fulbright scholarship. A gifted teacher, he is recognized as an authority on the Indian classics and world mysticism.

The Bhagavad Gita opens, dramatically, on a battlefield, as the warrior Arjuna turns in anguish to his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna, for answers to the fundamental questions of life. Yet, as Easwaran points out, the Gita is not what it seems – it’s not a dialogue between two mythical figures at the dawn of Indian history. “The battlefield is a perfect backdrop, but the Gita’s subject is the war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage if he or she is to emerge from life victorious.”

Arjuna’s struggle in the Bhagavad Gita is acutely modern. He has lost his way on the battlefield of life and turns to find the path again by asking direct, uncompromising questions of his spiritual guide, Sri Krishna, the Lord himself. Krishna replies in 700 verses of sublime instruction on living and dying, loving and working, and the nature of the soul.

Easwaran shows the Gita’s relevance to us today as we strive, like Arjuna, to do what is right.

Narrated by Paul Bazely, an actor of Indian heritage and a longtime student of Easwaran. Music by Yann Stoneman.

©2007 The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation (P)2015 The Blue Mountain Center of Meditation

Critic reviews

"No one in modern times is more qualified - no, make that 'as qualified' - to translate the epochal classics of Indian spirituality than Eknath Easwaran. And the reason is clear. It is impossible to get to the heart of those classics unless you live them, and he did live them. My admiration of the man and his works is boundless." (Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions)
"For all of its profundity, Eknath Easwaran manages to translate the Gita in easy prose that neither panders nor obscures. Coupled with his thorough introduction, Easwaran’s version comes off on all the levels it should: as a guide to action, devotional scripture, a philosophical text, and inspirational reading." (Amazon.com Eastern Religion editor)

Excellent commentary on the Gita

If you could sum up The Bhagavad Gita in three words, what would they be?

very clearly explained

Any additional comments?

I had listened to another rendition of the Gita and this one is much better. It explains the background and context so that you can understand the text much better. I have listened to it twice now, and will listen to it many more times.

Amazing

Beautifully written as a guideline for Buddhism and wonderfully narrated I found a calm inner peace listening to it.

Fantastic

My only regret is that I didn't listen to the sooner in my life. The performance and the story go hand-in-hand perfectly. I would recommend this to anyone who feels called to expand their spiritual wisdom...Whether I am mistaken or not, it seems to me that Christ and Krishna are one and the same, or at least represent the same principle. Replace the word Krishna with Christ and the passages from the Gita can be easily mistaken for a passage from any of the 4 main canons. It's an eye opener for sure.

Hare Krishna 🕉️

Know what you are getting here; this is a translation of the Gita with a lengthy intro explaining some of the basics of Indian spirituality. This is good for those who are completely new to schools of thought like Yoga & Sankhya.
Following the intro you will find the Gita followed by commentary & beyond that the Gita without commentary.
Eknath does his best to make this digestible for a western reader. If you are serious about studying the Gita get several translations & commentaries. Seeing a form translated AS IS from Sanskrit to English is helpful as you will see other translations are trimmed up to make the text more palatable for beginners. Eknath does a good job, in my opinion, of conveying the essence of the Gita. Although, if you are a Sanskrit purist you will note he takes liberties in the translation, i.e. Krishna & Arjuna call each other by many different epithets through out the dialogue and Eknath simply uses Krishna & Arjuna. Regardless, the message of the Gita can still be heard here along with some solid commentary. A great resource for aspiring Yogis

enlightening

a must listen more than once to absorb the lessons and bring them forth in your life.