ॐ तत् सत् 

ॐ श्री गुरुभ्यो नम:

प्रश्न: What are we to expect in this translation of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता?

उत्तर: The format adopted in this translation is as follows:

1. The श्लोक comes first
2. A word-to-word meaning with translation in English follows
3. A commentary is provided where the श्लोक needs one to elaborate its meaning in a clearer manner.

प्रश्न: What are the sources used to provide the meaning and the translation/ commentary?

उत्तर: The following form the basis and I am indebted to all the sources listed below without whom this work would not have been possible:

1. The Bhagavad gita Sanskrit Key by AK Aruna
2. Lectures in Telugu on the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता by Sri Shanmukha Samaveda Sarma 
3. Lectures on the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता by Swami Paramarthananda
4. Translation & commentary by Swami Krishnananda and Swami Chinmayananda
5. Bhavartha Deepika by Sant Gyaneshwar
6. There are other influences too but they may be too numerous.

Readers will thus benefit from multiple perspectives brought together by all the above in giving their commentary on the श्लोक. Though now and then, there are a few squirrel-बुद्धि additions by me, by and large, the wisdom conveyed by the above have been put together for the benefit of all readers. This should be especially useful in complex श्लोक where one has to often look at multiple commentaries to understand the meaning – to the extent possible, I have attempted to bring together the most apt commentary that should be helpful to all. 

प्रश्न: Since there are innumerable translations already available, why should one refer to the translation given here? What is your पात्रता or capability to talk about a complex शास्त्र like the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता?

उत्तर: There is no need at all to refer to the commentary given here. This write-up is merely meant to complement the other sources that people may be referring to. As for my पात्रता, I see myself as a student of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता for the past few decades and have tried to both read the various commentaries to understand the text better as well as assimilate the teachings in the limited manner in which I may have comprehended them. One may therefore approach this text to understand how a fellow-student has understood this text and thereby benefit from such a perspective too before approaching a more serious commentary by more experienced गुरु’s.

प्रश्न: Why are you using Devanagari script for a few words?

उत्तर: There are some words in Sanskrit that are non-translatables. For such words, not only I am using the original Sanskrit word as-is but I am expressing them using Devanagari script.

प्रश्न: What do you mean by non-translatables?

उत्तर: This idea has been pointed out by Rajiv Malhotra in his book Sanskrit non-translatables where he has identified about 54 words that lose their meaning when translated in English. Most of us who approach the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता with an English translation come across books written in late 19^th century or early twentieth century where an attempt had been made to make the knowledge of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता relatable to an English audience. Unfortunately, this tendency continued even after the British left India where Indians seem to be writing their books for a world audience but not for a native हिन्दू person who may be still familiar with many of such words in native languages.

प्रश्न: Sorry – I am not clear. What exactly is the problem with translation of all words with an English equivalent?

उत्तर: When we read an English translation, often we come across quite a few number of oddities. धर्म is translated as duty by some, religion by others, tradition by some others. Similarly, ब्रह्म is translated as God/ Supreme, ईश्वर is translated as God/ Supreme, पुरुष and भगवान् are also translated as God/ Supreme and we often find देवता also translated as God. देवता is also sometimes translated as celestial, sometimes as demi-god and some other times as force/ energy, etc. Each and every word in हिन्दू शास्त्र has a certain मर्यादा and placed carefully within the शास्त्र in the appropriate context. यज्ञ is similarly translated as ritual sometimes or sacrifice at other times. गुरु is also a teacher, आचार्य is also a teacher and अध्यापक is also a teacher. प्रकृति is translated as matter sometimes and nature at other times and anyone with a basic idea of what this word represents will realize the sub-optimal meaning that one will draw with translations.

प्रश्न: Understand. So your point is that we end up imbibing धर्म in a sub-optimal or even in a wrong manner owing to these translations – is that correct?

उत्तर: Absolutely. I had to spend a lot of time having to unlearn what I had learnt earlier and study the same text again with Sanskrit equivalent to imbibe the meaning more appropriately. 

प्रश्न: Your point is valid. But I have one follow-up question – why use Devanagari script for these words? How about those people who do not know this script?

उत्तर: Many of the people following the traditions in India know this script. I will not mind making an option available replace Devanagari script with other local scripts like Bengali, Telugu, Marathi, etc. The idea is that over time, once we absorb these words using local expressions, we can expand our remit to include other Sanskrit words also into our lexicon and over time, be in a position to access the commentaries on the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता in Sanskrit by various great ancient commentators like Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, Sridhara, Abhinavagupta, etc – this should facilitate absorbing धर्म in a much more comprehensive manner. It is therefore my belief that the style adopted here may thus be seen as a starting point in the longer journey to access the wisdom of the श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता in our own format and manner. One more point to add is that when many of us listen to गुरुs who give their commentary in local languages, they use the same words as used in the Sanskrit ecosystem (सूक्ष्म for subtle, स्थूल for gross, चित्त शुद्धि for purifying the mind, etc) – learning श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता via usage of such words will therefore facilitate following our own गुरुs in an easier manner

प्रश्न: Is there any other feature of the commentary given here that you would like to convey?

उत्तर: There is always a certain lens or perspective or दृष्टि that is applied while providing commentary on any topic. If there is a person who is oriented towards Science (like Swami Ranganathananda), many analogies or examples given will include developments in modern Science. Similarly, there are others who apply political lens, historical lens, social-equality lens, feminist lens, psychology lens, etc – reading श्रीमद्भगवद्गीता via such multiple lens no doubt adds beauty to the topic. The lens that is attempted to be applied here is the lens of a साधक – this may be referred to as साधक दृष्टि. The idea is that one must read this शास्त्र to facilitate साधना (or practice) on the core message being conveyed here. Analogies are given throughout the blog here to explain the श्लोक better but any analogy has one sole purpose – to facilitate साधना and thereby practice the message of श्री कृष्ण in a deeper way in our lives. If the blog here helps the readers to undertake साधना or help understand the ज्ञान in a deeper and clearer manner, the objective with which this blog has been put together will be considered to have been met.

हरि ॐ