There are many very good Bhagavad Gita's available in the english lanugage. It has undoubtably been the most populary translated Hindu scripture. What sets this translation of the Gita apart has much to do with the translator himself. Swami Satyandna is not a dry academic who has not experienced the truth of the Bhagavad Gita directly. Nor is he an Indian pundit trying to bridge the communication gap between the east and the West.
Before Swami Satyanada became a Swami, he lived in California for the first twenty years of his life. After completing his studies to became a lawyer, he set off for a trip around the world. When he reached India he was so attracted to the depth of India's wisdom that he couldn't leave. He ended up living in India, as a sadhu and swami, for the next twenty years. In India, he studied with many enlightened masters who taught him the esoteric meaning of all the Hindu scriptures. Then he spent many years studying and relating each scripture to his own life experience.
In 1985, Swami Satyananda returned to India with his guru, Shree Maa. Since then he has been teaching westerners how to apply these scriptures to their hectic, daily lives. It is this experience that makes his translation of the Bhagavad Gita particularly important and relevant for westerners. As the Swami says in his introduction, "every sadhu in every generation should rewrite the Gita, retranslate it into contemporary language and symbols, which are meaningful to the present time, place and circumstances."
I found Swami Satyananda's Gita lucid, impactful and filled with spiritual emotion. He did an excellent job of making this ancient text relevant and meaningful to my daily life. This remarkable translation of the Bhagavad Gita is a treasure.
Steven Newmark, Ph.D.
