Greatness of Bhagavad Gita.

[Believer]

Namaste,

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know of a good ebook that contains the Bhagavad Gita, but with a good commentary? Not really sure where to look on this and I've been wanting to read it for awhile.

Look under the Scriptures sub forum and you will find threads to many different commentaries of BG. Here is one to get you started.

http://hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=4866

Regarding reading bare translation, if all of us were smart enough to understand the meaning contained in each verse, there would be no need for Gurus; and we as elevated souls, would not be wasting our lives in this forum. Only a practicing/dedicated/true Guru comprehends the spiritual content of what is being said and translates that into simple concepts for us fools. For that reason, I prefer to read stuff by swamis and not by scholars. A simple literal translation is just words, whereas swamis bring those words to life.

Pranam.

[shiv.somashekhar]

The Gita (as is the case with all scriptures) can be interpreted in various different and contradictory ways. Hence, it is necessary to read it along with a commentary where the commentator interprets the text in line with his own set of beliefs - or the school he is affiliated with.

For instance, the Advaitin will read an advatin commentary of the Gita (by Shankara, Madhusudhana Saraswati, etc) and will see the Gita as an Advaita text.

Traditionally, there was no concept of an "independent" reading of the Gita .

[devotee]

Namaste Gaurapriya,

Is it really that possible though to have a translation without a bias? As far as natural linguistics goes, all translations of any source text will always have a bias according to the translator, and even moreso with ancient languages such as Classical Sanskrit, Avestan, Pali, Ancient Hebrew, Ancient Greek, etc.

That being said, I think that commentaries can be useful in any given translation to elucidate the inner meaning of the verses. Having several commentaries always seemed like a good thing to me! Unless one is bound to a translation or bhashya because of the sect or guru, one should be able to study the Sanskrit shloka, the meanings of each Sanskrit word, different translations, and different commentary.

The commentaries usually are too much biased. So, much so, that one starts wondering if God really said so. So, for beginners, it is ok to have commentaries but whenever there is a doubt on correct message of a verse, it is batter to go by the bare translation.

But anyway, many may not agree to it. It works for me but may not work for others.

OM

[philosoraptor]

Is it really that possible though to have a translation without a bias?

Not if you think that Lord Krishna's view represents one of many possible biases. :-)

[Viraja]

It would be appropriate to learn the story of Sant Joga Paramananda, who used to recite the entire 700 verses of Gita and prostrate 700 times before the lord each day!