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by Shukavak N. Dasa (Translator)
Three classical interpreters of Bhagavad Gītā Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja and Madhva ācāryas, have so influenced the course of Hindu thought, that a modern student who reads the Gītā with an eye to these three commentators will have obtained a balanced exposure to the theological expanse of the work. It is the nature and beauty of the Sanskrit language that it invites multiple interpretations. Dr. Shukavak's solution to this problem has been to utilize a system of annotation in the form of footnotes, which allows him to make a particular translation and then to show an alternative translation or interpretation when it is appropriate. This system of annotation utilizes the commentaries of Śaṅkara, Rāmānuja and Madhva ācāryas. If you only read one book of Hindu scripture, let that be Bhagavad Gītā. Even though it can be read in just a few sessions, it captures the very essence of Hindu thought. In the last two centuries, hundreds of editions of Bhagavad Gītā have been published in various Western languages. Dr. Shukavak has translated the Bhagavad Gītā in a scholarly way, but not so scholarly that the general reader will find it obscure. Moreover, it is written from a perspective in which the Gītā appears as much more than a work of world-class literature, but as a living religious text meant to inspire faith in the Divine.
In reading a religious work like Bhagavad Gītā it is all too easy to approach it with foreign concepts of religion in mind. If we live in the West we may unknowingly approach the Gītā with Christian, Jewish, or Islamic notions of God, soul, heaven, hell, and sin. We translate brahman as God, ātman as soul, pāpam as sin, dharma as religion or duty. However, brahman is not the same as God; ātman is not equivalent to the soul, pāpam is not sin and dharma is much more than mere duty or religion. A work like the Gītā, therefore, has to be translated and read on its own terms and not those of another religious tradition. Because the Hinduism now developing in the West is often reflected through the lenses of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, the theological uniqueness of Vedic religion is slowly being eroded. For these reasons, there are certain Sanskrit terms in the Gītā that the translator has chosen not to translate into English. For example, such terms as brahman, dharma, and yoga are left untranslated. The reader is thus urged to become comfortable with a lexicon that is essential to an understanding of the Gītā, and Hinduism in general.
