PENGUIN The Bhagavad Gita

この翻訳は、現在のインドの人々の中でBhagavad Gitaがどのように生きているかをよく知っている人によるもので、過剰な思い入れはなく、ストレートにその内容を伝えようとしています。短く改行する翻訳スタイルは、読者に負荷なくほどよい緊張感を与える見事なものです。解説や注釈も簡潔ですが、これからBhagavad Gitaを読もうと思っている人には十分な内容です。これまで英訳を漁ってきた人にもBhagavad Gitaを味わううえで十分おすすめできる翻訳です。

Helpful to have a non-sectarian edition of the Bhagavad-Gita.

Book as a gift for a friend.

English translations of the Bhagavad Gita are frankly a dime a dozen, and many are mediocre and listless. Not this one! Laurie Patton’s translation is a treasure. Her translation is a moving reading experience the Gita is intended to be. The drawback of many English translations is that they attempt to sound lofty and righteous. Therefore, many of these translations, even those recently translated, employ archaic Victorian English flourishes. You know, you’ve seen them. These translations use manners of speech such as “O, Arjuna,” “O King of Bharatas,” and use “thee,” “thou.” These literary devices ruin the reading experience because this is just not how people speak, and it gets in the way of appreciating the beauty of this poem. Ms. Patton, on the other hand, uses none of these anachronisms in her translation. The Bhagavad Gita is poetry, and Patton is a published poet, and thus she knows how to craft a simple phrase in simple, elegant language for maximum effect. Old School translations also display a lack of understanding on the message of the Gita. Reading the Gita is such a compelling experience because the message is so simple. Patton’s translation here is remarkable because it so accurately reflects the divine simplicity of the language used in its message. Ms Patton has provided an excellent introduction, with bibliography and her translation sparingly provide footnotes. “Bhagavad Gita” means “Song of God.” Ms. Patton’s translation is indeed the “Song of God.”

Easy to read