pandacat42's review against another edition
4.0
The translation and summaries were well done. I do however have a lot of thoughts on the philosophy and theology. I understand the pain and suffering that come from “sense objects.” However, I have a very hard time with deities who want to be worshipped and blindly followed.
I believe there is a lot to gain in the terms of mental health from eastern philosophy. Much of it has to do with the way we treat others, meditation, and being careful of attachments.
This particular text had a lot of extra wisdom in living a life of action rather than a life of meditation. Although, the action here wasn’t simply using the life of a householder, but actually going to war with family members. I can’t imagine how hard that would be to do. Circumstances would have to be bleak indeed to consider such a thing. Given I am more of a pacifist. Not completely, but world peace would be spectacular. We do have to take stands and defend in certain cases, but if it can be avoided and worked out diplomatically, that would be best.
Anyway, the book was quite the rambling argument to worship and obey Krishna and go to war. It was interspersed with pieces of wisdom.
I believe there is a lot to gain in the terms of mental health from eastern philosophy. Much of it has to do with the way we treat others, meditation, and being careful of attachments.
This particular text had a lot of extra wisdom in living a life of action rather than a life of meditation. Although, the action here wasn’t simply using the life of a householder, but actually going to war with family members. I can’t imagine how hard that would be to do. Circumstances would have to be bleak indeed to consider such a thing. Given I am more of a pacifist. Not completely, but world peace would be spectacular. We do have to take stands and defend in certain cases, but if it can be avoided and worked out diplomatically, that would be best.
Anyway, the book was quite the rambling argument to worship and obey Krishna and go to war. It was interspersed with pieces of wisdom.
kurtwombat's review against another edition
2.0
This edition is a slim interpretation of the classic Hindu text that results in kind of a summary of a summary. The Gita posits a talk with God (via Krishna) about the fundamentals of Hinduism. It did inspire me to read further, and it is not without some grace, but in retrospect not a whole lot better than CliffsNotes.
bibliotequeish's review against another edition
4.0
Rating a holy text seems ... wrong.
Lets just say, I could read this a thousand times and still have questions.
Arjuna is going to war, but struggles with the violence and death of his kin.
Arjuna speaks to Krishna about many things including war, life and regrets before Krishna reminds Arjuna that it is his duty to fight the righteous war.
Lets just say, I could read this a thousand times and still have questions.
Arjuna is going to war, but struggles with the violence and death of his kin.
Arjuna speaks to Krishna about many things including war, life and regrets before Krishna reminds Arjuna that it is his duty to fight the righteous war.
emglange's review against another edition
3.0
While this was a required reading for a religion class, I enjoyed the text. The verse form made the pages go by quickly, and my translation had extremely helpful notes. Those notes did come in handy when framing the Bhagavad Gita within its larger epic. I enjoyed finding stylistic or character parallels to other pieces of literature such as the Iliad and the Odyssey and even the Wheel of Time.
ewoodrow23's review against another edition
challenging
informative
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
raoul_g's review against another edition
3.0
I found a german edition of the Bhagavad Gita in a second hand bookshop and thought I give it a shot. The Gita is one of the holy scriptures of Hinduism and as I knew next to nothing about Hinduism I thought it might be a good idea to read this one to expand my horizons a bit.
The specific edition of the Gita that I bought seemed to have some additional commentary in the footnotes which points out the similarities between the Gita and some stuff that Christian Mystics like Eckhart and Thomas a Kempis said. While this was sometimes interesting, I didn't pay much attention to it most of the time.
Now to the the Gita itself: It basically consists of a dialogue between Arjuna, a student of the teachings of God and Krishna, who is a sort of manifestation of God that can be seen and heard by Arjuna. In this regard Vishnu is similar to the idea of the Logos in Christianity: the incarnation of God/Brahma. Unlike Jesus who according to Christianity was born only once in history, Vishnu has chosen to be reborn many times in different ages to restore justice on earth.
According to the Gita, those who recognize Vishnu and his truth don't have to be reborn, but enter Nirvana (unity with Vishnu) and those who give themselves over to the search of the truth will find it in the right time. Forgiveness of sins is obtained through rest in and oneness with Brahma. This seeking of union with Brahma is called yoga. Peace is obtained by renouncing every claim on the fruits of one's work and by seeing oneself as merely a tool used by Brahma.
According to the teachings of Vishnu, desire is foolish as it means attachment to external things
Instead, detachment from externalities that could produce joy or sorrow is to be sought: true joy is found only on the inside.
My favorite verse from the Gita was the following:
BG 6.30 For those who see me everywhere and see all things in me, I am never lost, nor are they ever lost to me.
All in all, an interesting read to get a basic idea of Hinduism.
The specific edition of the Gita that I bought seemed to have some additional commentary in the footnotes which points out the similarities between the Gita and some stuff that Christian Mystics like Eckhart and Thomas a Kempis said. While this was sometimes interesting, I didn't pay much attention to it most of the time.
Now to the the Gita itself: It basically consists of a dialogue between Arjuna, a student of the teachings of God and Krishna, who is a sort of manifestation of God that can be seen and heard by Arjuna. In this regard Vishnu is similar to the idea of the Logos in Christianity: the incarnation of God/Brahma. Unlike Jesus who according to Christianity was born only once in history, Vishnu has chosen to be reborn many times in different ages to restore justice on earth.
According to the Gita, those who recognize Vishnu and his truth don't have to be reborn, but enter Nirvana (unity with Vishnu) and those who give themselves over to the search of the truth will find it in the right time. Forgiveness of sins is obtained through rest in and oneness with Brahma. This seeking of union with Brahma is called yoga. Peace is obtained by renouncing every claim on the fruits of one's work and by seeing oneself as merely a tool used by Brahma.
According to the teachings of Vishnu, desire is foolish as it means attachment to external things
Instead, detachment from externalities that could produce joy or sorrow is to be sought: true joy is found only on the inside.
My favorite verse from the Gita was the following:
BG 6.30 For those who see me everywhere and see all things in me, I am never lost, nor are they ever lost to me.
All in all, an interesting read to get a basic idea of Hinduism.