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)

Content and narration reduced me to tears

I attempted to listen to classics of Indian spirituality but returned two audiobooks because I couldn't tolerate the narrators. One had a vaguely Texas accent and a mouthful of mush--which couldn't have been a more ridiculous match up of reader and material--and the other narrator read so slowly, I could hear him breathe and swallow . . . when he or I wasn't nodding off. Okay, I probably should have transcended my irritation, but I'm still only human.

This particular audiobook, however, could not be more wonderful. The translation itself is magnificent, and the introduction is educational, well-organized, and intimate--a perfect preparation for reading the Gita. It is more than an hour long, and I listened to it several times, entranced.

The narrator, an accomplished British actor, could not have been better. The publishers of the books I returned should take a lesson from him. He is articulate and easy to listen to. He nails the Indian accent when he occasionally switches to that as appropriate for the content.

I resonate with the teaching of Hinduism, and after visiting the country twice, I couldn't get a handle on it. That there are many gods and the form they take struck me as whimsical and imaginative. Now, understanding so much more about the philosophy, I have an entirely different and more serious perspective.

This can be a life-transforming book. You must read it if "only" as great world literature.

To find peace in this word and the next

A well narrated book of knowledge , takes us to a ride of unparalleled universe ,enjoy te ride of being a Yogi , good for people in any religion and believes. Had some references to Mahatma Gandhi and how he followed Gita all his life . For some it may seems to be the inspiration of many Sci-fi story of space and time .

Amazing and practical

I enjoyed this book so much. Easily the best book I've listened to. The lessons can be applied to everyday life.

semper servantes.

If you have read any other theological work and not this, you are doing yourself a disservice. monotheism has been apart of the human experience since humanity, no matter what form we have taken.

Simple Amazing

I loved everything about this book. An eye opener to to viewing life in a different perspective. It’s a must listen. I only had a technical issue with the book .The chapter and the dialogue did not sync and the entire book was repeated all over again. Basically the total hours on the book is not correct as the book is narrated twice. I got confused as to what was happening but realized later that it was being repeated. The total chapters are really not 37 as shown.