punkdbass
I will be what I will be
Namaste,
So I was looking through my dad's bookshelf and found a Bhagavad Gita translation by Graham Schweig (see his wiki page here). Although I have barely read any of it, my initial impressions are very good. I already own 3 Gita translations by Paramahansa Yogananda, Eknath Easwaran, and Swami Prabhupada. I have several issues with these translations though. In particular, Yogananda and Prabhupada's translations are, IMO, very biased towards promoting the agendas of their particular organizations. Yogananda wants to promote his secretive Kriya Yoga, and Prabhupada wants to promote the supremacy of Chanting to all other spiritual disciplines, as well as promoting Krishna as being supreme to all other deities. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with either of these 2 author's approaches, but for a non-Hindu wanting a good reliable, unbiased Gita translation thats reflective of the heart of the Hindu tradition, I'd be hesitant to recommend their translations.
My main problem with Easwaran's translation is that in order to cater to as wide an audience as possible, he has de-emphasized the role of Bhakti Yoga - loving devotion to a Personal God in his translation, because many non-Christian Western spiritual seekers are uncomfortable with the concept of "God." And this is his primary audience. Although I am a huge fan of Easwaran, I find this rather bothersome because it is blatantly obvious that Bhakti Yoga - devotion to a Personal God plays such an important role in lives of the vast majority of Hindus. An honest inquiry into the history and traditions of Hinduism will show that loving devotion to a particular Deity plays a pivotal role in the lives of Hindus; but to be completely honest, I do not feel like his translation is reflective of this... the role of devotion to a particular Deity is not talked about much in his writings.
Anyhow, I haven't read much of Schweig's translation yet, but my initial impressions are sky high. The essays are very informative, and the translation has a huge emphasis on Bhakti Yoga - devotional service to a Personal God. The translation is very poetic as well. I really like his translation of chapter 15, which exemplifies the Personal aspect of God.
Lastly, feel free to disagree with anything I've said here... As a Westerner who has been delving into Hinduism for almost 2 years now, who's favorite book is the Bhagavad Gita, I thought it might be interesting to share with you guys some of the thoughts in my search thus far. Namaste
So I was looking through my dad's bookshelf and found a Bhagavad Gita translation by Graham Schweig (see his wiki page here). Although I have barely read any of it, my initial impressions are very good. I already own 3 Gita translations by Paramahansa Yogananda, Eknath Easwaran, and Swami Prabhupada. I have several issues with these translations though. In particular, Yogananda and Prabhupada's translations are, IMO, very biased towards promoting the agendas of their particular organizations. Yogananda wants to promote his secretive Kriya Yoga, and Prabhupada wants to promote the supremacy of Chanting to all other spiritual disciplines, as well as promoting Krishna as being supreme to all other deities. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with either of these 2 author's approaches, but for a non-Hindu wanting a good reliable, unbiased Gita translation thats reflective of the heart of the Hindu tradition, I'd be hesitant to recommend their translations.
My main problem with Easwaran's translation is that in order to cater to as wide an audience as possible, he has de-emphasized the role of Bhakti Yoga - loving devotion to a Personal God in his translation, because many non-Christian Western spiritual seekers are uncomfortable with the concept of "God." And this is his primary audience. Although I am a huge fan of Easwaran, I find this rather bothersome because it is blatantly obvious that Bhakti Yoga - devotion to a Personal God plays such an important role in lives of the vast majority of Hindus. An honest inquiry into the history and traditions of Hinduism will show that loving devotion to a particular Deity plays a pivotal role in the lives of Hindus; but to be completely honest, I do not feel like his translation is reflective of this... the role of devotion to a particular Deity is not talked about much in his writings.
Anyhow, I haven't read much of Schweig's translation yet, but my initial impressions are sky high. The essays are very informative, and the translation has a huge emphasis on Bhakti Yoga - devotional service to a Personal God. The translation is very poetic as well. I really like his translation of chapter 15, which exemplifies the Personal aspect of God.
Lastly, feel free to disagree with anything I've said here... As a Westerner who has been delving into Hinduism for almost 2 years now, who's favorite book is the Bhagavad Gita, I thought it might be interesting to share with you guys some of the thoughts in my search thus far. Namaste
