Introduction
Let the scriptures tell you what you should and should not do, Arjuna. Know what the right choices are and live up to them. It is simpler than you think. When you, or anyone, is firmly on the road to enlightenment there is no conflict at all between what you do and what the scriptures advise.—Bhagavad Gita 16:241
The Bhagavad Gita takes place at the high point of a feud between two great families. For our purposes, let us say the feud revolves around an inheritance dispute that culminates in a war as the only way to resolve it. When the two great houses face off on the battlefield, the champion of one house, Prince Arjuna, instructs his chariot driver, Lord Krishna, to take them between the two armies before the battle begins so that he can observe what is going on. Prince Arjuna is overwhelmed by the sight of family and loved ones divided on both sides. Overcome with grief, he declares that he will not fight. Imagine, if you will, all action and activity freezing for the next moments as the chariot driver and the prince discuss life, death, duty, and Divinity.
That’s the Bhagavad Gita! And it’s called The Song of God because the chariot driver is the embodiment and personification of God in the form of Lord Krishna. At first, Prince Arjuna does not fully realize who he is talking to, but as he is drawn deeper into the conversation with his chariot driver, he begins to awaken to something wonderful: that he is communing with Divinity itself. The Bhagavad Gita is the account of that conversation as retold to the blind King Dhritarashtra by the sage Sanjaya. On one side of the battlefield are King Dhritarashtra’s sons and their army. On the other side, King Dhritarashtra’s nephews (his brother’s sons) and their army are gathered to claim what they believe is rightfully theirs.
The Bhagavad Gita assumes that its reader is familiar with Hindu culture, religious concepts, and mythological names. And so it uses terms and ideas from the Upanishads and other sacred texts that many Hindus today would instantly recognize. Not only that, multiple names are giving to a single character, and objects—such as chariots and weapons—are referred to by their mythological names. All this can make it somewhat difficult for a first-time reader to follow who is talking to whom about what. In The Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God Retold in Simplified English, I have stripped from the original text names and terms that may be too unfamiliar for the first-time readers. I have also purposefully omitted some of the more complex philosophical text. I intend to light a fire of inquiry in the reader, who, I hope, will then proceed to learn more by reading one of the many complete translations of the Bhagavad Gita available today. (See Resources at the back of this book for recommendations of translations and commentaries of the Bhagavad Gita.)
Why a Paraphrase?
My study of the Bible, as an adult, began in a small bookstore in Burbank, California. I discovered a series of booklets paraphrasing the books of the Bible, intended to give students a basic overview, a starting point for further biblical study. I took a few of the booklets home and consumed them voraciously. It was exciting because finally I could understand the previously onerous text. The booklets’ straightforward language cut through unnecessary bits and got directly to the storyline’s essential details. These paraphrased texts were precisely what I needed to open the door to studying the Bible.
Reading the Bible after devouring these paraphrased booklets was an eye-opening experience. I now had a basic framework within which I could more clearly understand the Bible. I became aware, too, of the challenges early translators had in accurately interpreting the poetic biblical language from ancient cultures into modern English. I was more inclined to view the Bible’s stories as metaphors offering insight into spiritual life, relationship conflicts, and resolutions. I read the simplified Bible stories about the courage and strength of ordinary people to face their trials, just like we do today, with excitement and understanding.
Without the introduction to the Bible through the paraphrases, I may never have gone on to read so many of the brilliant contemporary and liberal Bible scholars, such as Bishop John Shelby Spong and Marcus Borg. I may never have freed myself to read the stories of the Bible with openness to the life lessons they offered; I may never have had the liberty to abandon what doesn’t apply to contemporary life; I may never have accepted that there are parts of the Bible I don’t understand; and, more importantly, I may not have had the confidence to contradict that which is inhumane and goes against human rights and dignity.
I have subsequently enjoyed reading Bible scholars who are not hampered by the need to take the Bible as the literal word of God. I feel freed from the weight of all-or-nothing thinking and as such am more open to the profound life lessons of the Bible. Admittedly, I still don’t understand all the biblical cultural references, and occasionally I can’t make my way through large portions of the text; but I no longer see any reason not to enjoy and learn from what I can. More importantly, though, this new freedom to explore gave me the desire to begin the same journey of discovery with other spiritual texts.
Reading the Bhagavad Gita for the first time as an absolute beginner, I was met with an ocean-wide mystery of cultural references, unfamiliar traditions, and other difficulties that reminded me of my first reading of the Bible. I remembered that my progress with the Bible started with a paraphrase and decided to take steps toward making the Bhagavad Gita more accessible to me and to others, who have little or no knowledge of what it is, by creating a paraphrase of my own.
After a convocation of ministers for my spiritual movement, Centers for Spiritual Living, which took place in Mexico, I enjoyed some vacation days, unwinding on the beach. I used this time to give my attention to my new fascination: paraphrasing the Bhagavad Gita. I sat on a beach towel with four translations of the Bhagavad Gita. I pored through them verse by verse, asking myself, “As a first-time reader with no knowledge of the Hindu faith or the rich history leading up to the events surrounding the story of the Bhagavad Gita, what simplified version of this text would encourage others to read more without overwhelming them?” And so began my work on The Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God Retold in Simplified English.
How to Read This Book
This book starts with the least of what you should know about the Bhagavad Gita that will allow you to enjoy it, followed by a summary of the cast of characters. Then we go directly to the paraphrase. I’ve saved the backstory from the Mahabharata, the larger work in which the Bhagavad Gita is contained, for after the paraphrase. In that section, I’ll explain what the Mahabharata is and its relationship to the Bhagavad Gita. The last part of this book explores one of the important themes of the Bhagavad Gita a little more deeply: devotion as a way of life and the question of why a sacred text is presented in the format of what seems to be an instruction manual for war. Finally, there is a chapter on several basic terms from Hinduism to familiarize the reader further with the Hindu spiritual worldview. I have written each chapter to stand alone so that you can pick up reading anywhere in the book. For that reason, there is some duplication in definitions across sections.
Throughout the book, I make references to some of my favorite editions of the Bhagavad Gita. I have, where possible, footnoted the chapter, verse, and version being referred to unless I am paraphrasing. The appendix has a list of helpful resources, editions of the Bhagavad Gita, the Mahabharata, and the Ramayana (another primary text of Hinduism) that are suitable for first-time readers of these complete texts.
I hope that you will forgive the substantial oversimplification in this paraphrase and see it as intended: an invitation to step closer to, and eventually learn more about, one of the world’s most beautiful and life-affirming religious texts.
Enjoy your reading.
Making Its Way to the West
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that he owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad Gita, and that reading it was as if some large, serene ancient intelligence had pondered and answered the questions that trouble us. Henry David Thoreau, by way of Emerson, also came to read and love the Bhagavad Gita and called it a stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy that by comparison made our modern literature seem small and insignificant. Thoreau’s writing influenced Mohandas Gandhi who had discovered the Bhagavad Gita earlier in England in 1889 by way of an English translation by Sir Edwin Arnold. And then, in September 1893 in Chicago, a young Hindu addressed the World Parliament of Religions and brought the awareness of Hindu scripture, including the Bhagavad Gita, to some seven thousand people in attendance. In his address, Swami Vivekananda said:
Copyright © 2019 by Edward Viljoen
