A new translation

Stephen Mitchell is widely known for his ability to make ancient masterpieces thrillingly new, to step in where many have tried before and create versions that are definitive for our time. His celebrated translations of the Tao Te Ching, Rilke, and the Book Og Job have won the hearts of readers and critics alike. The Bhagavad Gita is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s literary and spiritual masterpieces. It is the core text of the Hindu tradition and has been treasured by Amerivan writers from Emerson to T. S. Eliot. There have been more than two hundred English translations of the Gita, but non of them, until now, is a superlative literary text in its own right. This translation sings with the clarity, the vigor, and the intensity of the original Sanskrit. As Huston Smith said, «Of this world-beloved, timeless classic, this is the most poetic rendition.»