10/23/2024
Well, I began this translation in Florida at the beginning of 2024, and now I’m living here with my little family on the Big Island of Hawaii, about to release it towards the end of the year. It’s definitely been a journey and a process and a labor of love. If nothing else, I have learned much from more deeply engaging with this remarkable scripture, and as it has been rightly said, God is in the details. Which is to say that, as with anything, the more you delve into it, the more its secrets will be revealed. Perhaps this is even more true of sacred scripture, and the Gita is one of the world’s pre-eminent and most dearly beloved scriptures.
Originally, my intention was not so much to do a translation of the Gita as a commentary on it, partly as a way to share reflections with my yoga students and other students of the Gita. I still might do that, and I feel that I’ve made a good start of it with this translation. The other idea I had was to really look into the connection between Krishna and Christ, which many have already noted. Indeed, there does appear to be some deep connection between what we might term gnostic Christian teachings and the Gita, and some have even gone so far as to say that Christ and Krishna are truly one and the same. That book of mine, too, will have to wait. But like I said, I feel this translation before you is a step in the right direction.
So what have I learned? It’s maybe more correct to ask: what have I confirmed? Because I already knew that every translation is an interpretation. And I also knew that not all translations are created equal – yes, some interpretations are more reasonable and honest and accurate than others. By now, there are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of English translations of the Gita, only a minority of which are readily available in the marketplace. And only a minority of that minority appear to be precisely accurate and faithful to the text. If I sound right now like I’m paraphrasing a famous line in the Gita (the one about how relatively few people go all the way to God – verse 7.3), I am. And here I would like to acknowledge that one of the finest translations is that of Winthrop Sargeant, and I primarily referred to his work in creating my own translation (though I did look at others, too). Sargeant really did his “Om-work,” and he deserves some special praise for his efforts.
That said, we stand upon the shoulders of giants – if I can see a bit farther now, it is because of that. Yes, I do feel that this translation is an improvement on Sargeant’s in some respects, and even while I say this, another “confirmation” is that no translation is ever perfect, and it’s always a case of “win some-lose some.” Meaning that with whatever I might have added by presenting the text in just this way, I lost something else in the process. Which is why it’s good to have more than one translation, and each person will no doubt find the translation that works best for them -- just as everyone will find the yogic or spiritual path that works best for them, as well as interpretation of the Gita that best suits them.
Which brings me to the final and foremost thing I wanted to share with you here, and that is the primary question which has consumed me in my deep engagement with the Gita: Is God a person or personality that is somehow separate and distinct, or is God ultimately beyond name and form entirely – more of an abstract essence or Spirit? And what does the Gita really say about this? And can one trust any of the interpretations in this regard, or are they all somewhat biased one way or the other? For example, let’s take a key word in this debate: purusha. When God is spoken of as purusha in the Gita, is this to be translated as “Person” (or “Personality”), or better as “Being” or “Spirit”? And even if we speak of a “Supreme Being,” are we then referring to a distinct and separate entity, or are we talking more about a non-dualistic “Supreme Beingness,” if you will?
There are no easy answers here, and perhaps that’s just as it needs to be. Indeed, some have said that Krishna (or the author of the Gita) purposefully intended for the Gita to be able to be read on different levels and in different ways. So that if you tend toward the “personalist” point of view, that is what you will see here; and if toward the “impersonalist” camp, you will also have ample reason to feel that the Gita is pointing to the ultimate truth of nonduality. Which is not to say that one of them is correct and that the other is not – perhaps they are both true somehow. Who really can say beyond any shadow of a doubt?
That said, I would like to take this opportunity to weigh in on this weighty and hotly debated issue. It seems to me, upon deeply engaging with this text and looking at its “subtext” in light of its own fuller context, as well as the context of the greater Hindu (Sanatana Dharma) literature, that that there is a fundamental Unity that is being pointed to in the Gita. If God is spoken of here in personal terms, it is only because the abstract and formless nature of reality is so difficult to grasp for us who are in form, in human bodies. And I would further maintain that the ultimate truth of nonduality solves many of the core theological dilemmas of humanity. It can also help stop the war – both the wars between us, and more to the point: the war within ourselves.
And so, I humbly present my own small offering toward loka samgraha, the betterment of the world, which must always start with y/our own heart and mind.
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