I loved Mitchell's translation of Gilgamesh, so i decided to check out what he did with the Gita. I enjoyed it. The translation is readable and not intrusive. Mitchell has strong opinions about what he likes and dislikes in the text, but he keeps those in his commentary part. He also includes an essay by Ghandi, which is by itself worth the price of the book.
Quotes:
“Renunciation of the fruits of action,” Gandhi wrote, “is the center around which the Gita is woven. It is the central sun around which devotion, knowledge, and the rest revolve like planets.”
the essence of Hinduism is “Let go.”
“I form the light, and create darkness; I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord do all these things.” (Second Isaiah)
The healthiest way to begin reading and absorbing a text like the Bhagavad Gita is to understand that ultimately it has nothing to teach. Everything essential that it points to—what we call wisdom or radiance or peace—is already present inside us.
"Humility, patience, sincerity,
nonviolence, uprightness, purity,
devotion to one’s spiritual teacher,
constancy, self-control,
dispassion toward objects of the senses,
freedom from the I-sense,
insight into the evils of birth,
sickness, old age, and death,
detachment, absence of clinging
to son, wife, family, and home,
an unshakable equanimity
in good fortune or in bad,
an unwavering devotion to me
above all things, an intense
love of solitude, distaste
for involvement in worldly affairs,
persistence in knowing the Self
and awareness of the goal of knowing --
all this is called true knowledge;
what differs from it is called ignorance. (Krishna)
As unnecessary as a well is to a village on the banks of a river, so unnecessary are all scriptures to someone who has seen the truth.
You have a right to your actions, but never to your actions’ fruits. Act for the action’s sake. And do not be attached to inaction. Self-possessed, resolute, act without any thought of results, open to success or failure. This equanimity is yoga.
The wise man lets go of all results, whether good or bad, and is focused on the action alone. Yoga is skill in actions.
if you want to be truly free, perform all actions as worship
It is better to do your own duty badly, than to perfectly do another’s
You must realize what action is, what wrong action and inaction are as well. The true nature of action is profound, and difficult to fathom.
When a man has let go of attachments, when his mind is rooted in wisdom, everything he does is worship and his actions all melt away. God is the offering, God is the offered, poured out by God; God is attained by all those who see God in every action.
Find a wise teacher, honor him, ask him your questions, serve him; someone who has seen the truth will guide you on the path to wisdom.
The wise man, cleansed of his sins, who has cut off all separation, who delights in the welfare of all beings, vanishes into God’s bliss.
Of ten thousand men, perhaps one man strives for perfection; of ten thousand who strive, perhaps one man knows me in truth.
Meditate on the Guide, the Giver of all, the Primordial Poet, smaller than an atom, unthinkable, brilliant as the sun.
I am the beginning and the end, origin and dissolution, refuge, home, true lover, womb and imperishable seed.
Arjuna, all those who worship other gods, with deep faith, are really worshiping me, even if they don’t know it.
Whatever you do, Arjuna, do it as an offering to me — whatever you say or eat or pray or enjoy or suffer. In this way you will be freed from all the results of your actions, good or harmful; unfettered, untroubled, you will come to me.
Even the heartless criminal, if he loves me with all his heart, will certainly grow into sainthood as he moves toward me on this path. Quickly that man becomes pure, his heart finds eternal peace. Arjuna, no one who truly loves me will ever be lost.
I am death, shatterer of worlds, annihilating all.
Nature, for me, is a womb; in Nature I plant my seed, and from this seed of mine bursts forth the origin of all beings.
Every man’s faith conforms with his inborn nature, Arjuna. Faith is a person’s core; whatever his faith is, he is.
The thing that, in your delusion, you wish not to do, you will do, even against your will, since your own karma binds you. The Lord dwells deep in the heart of all beings, by his wondrous power making them all revolve like puppets on a carousel.
This devotion is not mere lip-worship, it is wrestling with death. (Ghandi)
But renunciation of fruit in no way means indifference to the result. In regard to every action one must know the result that is expected to follow, the means thereto, and the capacity for it. He who, being thus equipped, is without desire for the result, and is yet wholly engrossed in the due fulfillment of the task before him, is said to have renounced the fruits of his action. (Ghandi)
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