Bhagavad Gita

by Stanley Lombardo (Translator), Richard H. Davis (Introduction)

Stanley Lombardo's new verse translation of the most famous free-standing sequence from the great Indian epic  The Mahabharata  hews closely to the meaning, verse structure, and performative quality of the original and is invigorated by its judicious incorporation of key Sanskrit terms in transliteration, for which a glossary is also provided.

The translation is accompanied by Richard H. Davis' brilliant Introduction and Afterword. The latter, "Krishna on Modern Fields of Battle," offers a fascinating look at the illuminating role the poem has played in the lives and struggles of a few of the most accomplished figures in recent world history.

Genres: Poetry

168 pages, Paperback

Published March 15, 2019

About the author

Stanley F. "Stan" Lombardo (alias Hae Kwang) is an American Classicist, and former professor of Classics at the University of Kansas.
He is best known for his translations of the Iliad, the Odyssey, and the Aeneid (published by the Hackett Publishing Company). The style of his translations is a more vernacular one, emphasizing conversational English rather than the formal tone of some older American English translations of classical verse. Lombardo designs his translations to be performed orally, as they were in ancient Greece. He also performs the poems, and has recorded them as audio books. In performance he also likes to play the drums, much like Ezra Pound.

Reviews

[Doom Slayer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. Massive overlap with The Republic, although not influenced by it. Truly universal, massively psychedelic. 10/10.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Lombardo's translations of Homer and think this is also good. I found it preferable to the Stephen Mitchell translation as I feel that one takes too many liberties with certain words and passages from the original Sanskrit.

[Meggy Chocolate'n'Waffles]

First reading over

[~zfs · Rating 5 out of 5]

pretty rad