Bhagavad-gita As It Is
By His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
THE LARGEST SELLING, MOST WIDELY USED EDITION OF THE GITA IN THE WESTERN WORLD.

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His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
Founder-Acharya: International Society for Krishna Consciousness

‘In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagavad-gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.’
— HENRY DAVID THOREAU

‘I owed a magnificent day to the Bhagavad-gita. It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.’
— RALPH WALDO EMERSON

‘When doubts haunt me, when disappointments stare me in the face, and I see not one ray of hope on the horizon, I turn to Bhagavad-gita and find a verse to comfort me; and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming sorrow. Those who meditate on the Gita will derive fresh joy and new meanings from it every day.’
— MOHONDAS K. GANDHI

"No work in all Indian literature is more quoted, because none is better loved in the West than Bhagavad-gita. Translation of such a work demands not only knowledge of Sanskrit but an inward sympathy with the theme and a verbal artistry. For the poem is a symphony in which God is seen in all things.
"His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is, of course, profoundly sympathetic to the theme. He brings to it, moreover, a special interpretive insight, a powerful and persuasive presentation in the bhakti [devotional] tradition... The Swami does a real service for students by investing the beloved Indian epic with fresh meaning. Whatever our outlook may be, we should all be grateful for the labor that has led to this illuminating work."

— Dr. Geddes MacGregor
Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy
University of Southern California

"Whether the reader be an adept of Indian spirituality or not, a reading of Bhagavad-gita As It Is will be extremely profitable, for it will allow him to understand the Gita as still today the majority of Hindus do. For many, this will be the first contact with the true India, the ancient India, the eternal India."

— Dr. Francois Chenique
Doctor of Religious Sciences
Institute of Political Studies, Paris

 Bhagavad-gita is universally renowned as the jewel of India's spiritual wisdom. Spoken by Lord Sri Krsna, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, to His intimate devotee Arjuna, the Gita's 700 concise verses provide a definitive guide to the science of self-realization. Indeed, there is no work even comparable in its revelations of man's essential nature, his environment and, ultimately, his relationship with God.

His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (left) is uniquely qualified to present this English translation and commentary on Bhagavad-gita. He is the world's foremost Vedic scholar and teacher, and he is also the current representative of an unbroken chain of fully self-realized spiritual masters beginning with Lord Krsna Himself. Thus, unlike other editions of the Gita, this one is presented as it is -- without the slightest taint of adulteration or personal motivation. Replete with sixteen color plates, this new edition is certain to stimulate and enlighten any reader with its ancient yet thoroughly timely message.

"There is very little question that this edition is one of the best books available on the Gita and on devotion. Prabhupada's translation is an ideal blend of literal accuracy and religious insight."

— Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins
Chairman, Dept. of Religious Studies
Franklin and Marshall College

"The Gita can be seen as the main literary support for the great religious civilization of India, the oldest surviving culture in the world.... The present translation and commentary is another manifestation of the permanent living importance of the Gita. Swami Bhaktivedanta brings to the West a salutary reminder that our highly activistic and one-sided culture is faced with a crisis that may end in self-destruction because it lacks the inner depth of an authentic metaphysical consciousness. Without such depth, our moral and political protestations are just so much verbiage."

— Thomas Merton
Late Catholic theologian, monk, author

"In this beautiful translation, Srila Prabhupada has caught the deep devotional spirit of the Gita and has supplied the text with an elaborate commentary in the truly authentic tradition of Sri Krsna Caitanya, one of India's most important and influential saints."

— Dr. J. Stillson Judah
Emeritus Professor of the History of Religions and Director of the Library
Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley

"If truth is what works, as Pierce and the pragmatists insist, there must be a kind of truth in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, since those who follow its teaching display a joyous serenity usually missing in the bleak and strident lives of contemporary people."

— Dr. Elwin H. Powell
Professor Sociology
State University of New York

"Bhagavad-gita As It Is is a deeply felt, powerfully conceived and beautifully explained work... I have never seen any other work on the Gita with such an important voice and style. It is a work of undoubted integrity... It will occupy a significant place in the intellectual and ethical life of modern man for a long time to come."

— Dr. S. Shukla
Assistant Professor of Linguistics
Georgetown University