The Bhagavad Gita

Email

Whatsapp

Facebook

Pinterest

Twitter

Copy link

About the Book First published in 2017, this book is being republished on the Notion press platform, as a revised version in 2022. This is a rendering of the Gita in verse form. It had elicited good comments from Prof. Gavin Flood, Professor of Hindu Philosophy and Comparative religion, Oxford University, U.K. It is accompanied by an introduction, essays on the various aspects of the Gita, notes on Sanskrit terms, and a consolidation of Gita's teachings.

About the Author S.Jagathsimhan Nair is the author of nine books. Four of them are poetry collections, out of which one won an award in 2017.

Others include a prose translation, a poetic rendering of the Bhagavad Gita, two volumes of the ten major Upanishads, and a work on Relativity. A postgraduate in Physics, and retired from Telecom, he lives between Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, Kerala, now.

Foreword This is the result of an enquiry which was, initially, quite limited in its scope. I had only meant to examine if The Srimad Bhagavad Gita, the scripture par excellence of Hinduism, supported social/caste hierarchy. Charmed by its sonorous Sanskrit, I remember memorizing its first introductory verse along with a few more, before I was twelve and in silence intoning it to myself often. Years later, I have often watched, on TV, saffron-clad self- proclaimed heavyweights of spirituality holding forth on its versatility and grave import. But what prompted me on this mission this time round was the by-now-used-to and a certainly -not- one- off rant from a public figure, who, the other day, was debunking Gandhiji as one who held as dear to his heart the book that declared The four varnas (meaning colors literally but understood as castes generally) were created by me. The book by implication was the Gita and it was a subtle slur on this work. To dismiss the comment as half-literate in nature was not too convincing either. I, therefore, resolved to find out about it myself. That trigger turned out to be a blessing in fact, in that it led me on to make a thorough study of the scripture. The exercise resulted in this poetic rendering into English of The Bhagavad Gita. It carries my comments too, offered with due apologies, I being conscious of my inadequacies.

Preface In my late thirties, I quite fortuitously happened to meet a remarkable personality. I was in touch with him for three years running, through frequent visits, until he as suddenly left this world as he came into my life. He was just a mystic to me, back then, a mystic or a swamiji, who, unlike others of his tribe, possessed a considerably large feel-good factor about him. His name was Shri Neelakanta Pillai Swami. I call him my spiritual mentor, for want of another word, and not my guru, because, even to call him guru, one needed to possess certain qualities and I never thought I made the grade. He had no books, no lighted lamps, no mumbling of mantras, no beard, no saffron, no recognizable trade marks of a sage which usually drew in millions in terms of men and moneys; save a plain white cloth wrapped around the waist which we call mundu, an amazing ability to answer questions, asked and, more remarkably, unasked, weighty or silly, this-worldly or other-worldly, temporal or spiritual with a sure scholarship and calmness; and surprisingly for a man of his profound knowledge, meager finances and magical powers, a cool and respectful disregard for the written word, the prostrating devotee, the milling crowds and the filthy lucre. If at all he had dos and donts, they were not strict, only strictly optional. He did not prod us to go temple-visiting or observe austerities and had a healthy regard for other belief-systems especially a soft corner for Islam.

**Contents and Sample Pages**

**Contents and Sample Pages**