- I love how the book is presented! I checked out the copy from the Bizzell library and it is gorgeous! It comes in a cute red box and it has very pretty illustrations in it! It also has Sanskrit next to the English, which is cool to look at even though I don't understand a word.
- The style of this is so different from Narayan's version. Obviously, Narayan's was a narrative so he didn't really have a lot of room for the preaching (for lack of a better term) that is in Arnold's version, but besides that the poetry of this version is so nice. It's a really good translation! I don't know what it sounded like in the original Sanskrit, but if it's anything like the translation, it must have been beautiful.
- This style of back-and-forth conversation helping to demonstrate the principles of the religion really reminds me of the Bible. Some of the Bible verses are similar to this with the apostles questioning Jesus, so it's really interesting to see how the same idea holds in Hinduism.
- I was really intrigued by Krishna's argument that life is life and cannot be destroyed. It is kind of an interesting view, but it makes some sense, I guess, since even with the death of one person, there is still life in general.
- I keep waiting for the infamous line quoted by J. Robert Oppenheimer about "I am become death, destroyer of worlds" but it looks like I'll be waiting a little longer! Either that or it's not in this translation.
Arjuna questioning Krishna. Web Source.
Bibliography: Bhagavad Gita: The Song Celestial translated by Edwin Arnold. Reading Guide.
I am so glad you are reading this! About the famous Oppenheimer quote, here it is in Arnold (very different; Arnold is quite the poet) - this will be right in the first chapter of section B:
ReplyDeleteKrishna. Thou seest Me as Time who kills,
Time who brings all to doom,
The Slayer Time, Ancient of Days, come hither to consume;
Excepting thee, of all these hosts of hostile chiefs arrayed,
There stands not one shall leave alive the battlefield! Dismayed
No longer be! Arise! obtain renown! destroy thy foes!
A more traditional translation (link)
The Supreme Lord said: I am death, the mighty destroyer of the world, out to destroy. Even without your participation all the warriors standing arrayed in the opposing armies shall cease to exist. (11.32)
Therefore, you get up and attain glory. Conquer your enemies and enjoy a prosperous kingdom. All these (warriors) have already been destroyed by Me. You are only an instrument, O Arjuna. (11.33)
Wow, I like how simple the traditional translation is but Arnold's is great too! I really like how poetic everything is in this book as compared to Narayan's Mahabharata.
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