The Holy Geeta

The best interpretation of geeta out there. Has perfect English translations of shlokas and the interpretation is also amazing.

One of the best commentaries on the Bhagwat Geeta written in lucid English. Explanations are aptly in modern parlance. It’s bound to appeal to educated modern generation. Sheer beauty of the language and convincing arguments win over the reader.

Swamiji's narration of The Holy Gita is excellent, exhaustive, and to the point. There is the slokas in Sanskrit and English (for those who can't read Devanagari script), then the meaning of sloka in English, followed by Swamiji's commentary also in English. Now I am reading chapter 17 and these are my views about the book. 1. The Holy Gita (for me) is much more than a mere religious book. It is a textbook of human psychology. It teaches you the working of the human mind and steps you can take to bring it under your control. 2. Reading & understanding The Holy Gita will give you the strength to come to terms with the problems you face in your life - which is what makes it holy. 3. Swamiji's commentary after each sloka is exhaustive and worth reading 4. I have this book in both hard bound and Kindle edition. I found the Kindle edition of the book having some errors. And atleast in one or two places missed portions of text when I cross referenced with hard bound book. But the Kindle version is more convinient to read. I have read The Gita by different authors. But Swamiji's translation of the Gita I found the most touching.

The philosophy of Geeta is abstract in parts and therefore it is not easy to comprehend. This is particularly true for anyone who does not have a sound understanding of the Vedanta principles. After having read the entire composition by Swamiji, my observations on his Geeta commentary are provided below: (i) There's much flourish in the written language, which feels like reading a book on English literature. Considering this is a lengthy book, it became tedious to keep up with the florid style. (ii) There's heavy analysis and use of analogies throughout the book. I struggled to understand the gist of the shlokas amidst all the detailing. (iii) There are aspects of psychology and science that are leveraged to explain very abstract concepts. It does not make it any easier to understand.

Salutations to the feet of Krishna! Salutations to the feet of Vyaasa! Salutations to the feet of Swami Chinmayananda! I am unqualified to review the guru, and I dare not review the divine song (or any other religious texts for that matter; in my short exposure to Hindu spiritual texts, I have come to believe that ALL spiritual texts are saying something deep, that only the sincere seeker can grasp). That said, take this holy nectar translated by Shri guruji if you are inclined to see similarity over differences, unity over diversity and universality over individuality- because this is an advaitic interpretation of her, that, to the very core, accepts the statement: ekam sat vipraah bahudha vadanti (the truth is one, the wise speak of it in many ways). If you want to explore her, do explore her with the sincere mind of a seeker. Please exercise all rationality- Do question what is said, and think deeply about it, but do not approach with an intent of blindly critiquing her- because if you do so, you have simply wasted your money! Remember that she is a moksha shastra who can gently hold your hand and lead you to your fulfillment. Though you can use her for inspirational messages, she's not really meant for that, and she's certainly not meant to help you in planning and strategizing your war with the outside world! (your spiritual quest is yours, and yours alone- and she will be of incalculable help in this lonely quest of yours!) Guruji gives a flow to her in his translation, where each verse leads to another, and subtle differences in apparent similarity of verses are spread out to give a broader perspective. All Upanishads are a cow, the cowherd is the lord himself, the calf is Arjuna (and all the spiritual seekers), and the milk- she is holy Gita!

Awesome

The Bhagwad Geeta as it is version from His Grace Srila Prabhupad is best, as it is given to the world by a true Krishna devotee himself. After reading 5th and 6th chapters from the "the holy Geeta" version I had to switch to Prabhupad's version. In some shlokas where Krishna directly mentions "Me" as himself , the translation has no importance of that instead uses a general notion as "Me" meaning divine present in an individual which makes the translation very different from what Krishna says in the shloka. However if you wish to improve your English then go for this.

a must read

Book arrived in perfect condition, well packaged. Beautiful book. Thank you

This is a fantastic publications and I think myself fortunate to have a copy. One of the wonderful things about the Gita is that it contains the entire teaching: the yogas, purifications, meditations as well as the final steps to self-realisation. Swami Chinmayananda elucidates the verses using straightforward and easy to understand language but ensures that the depth of the meaning is accurately conveyed. We are lucky to have these words from a man who not only had read and studied all the great vedantic texts but is also self-realised. While no book can compare to a living teacher, this book comes very close. On the negative, it is quite a lengthy book, and some of his commentaries are quite verbose and can be repetitive. However I found the repetition to be a useful aid to understanding, I never found it difficult to read and there is a sense of trust in the commentaries accuracy and authoritativeness. The binding of the book is also good, especially by Indian standards, and so this book takes up less space on my bookshelf that I expected it to. If you are serious about understanding one of the most important spiritual texts, or are a seeker of liberation, I would highly recommend this.

This is the third translation of the Gita that I have purchased. It is easy to read and is understandable.

Quality book not only for the content but also for the material from which it is made.

I enjoyed reading this for self-help purposes. It has a high re-read factor and definitely gives a lot of food for thought.