Review by Choice Review
This book includes an introduction, 18 chapters, and notes. Flood and Martin, following the Bhagavad Gt~ in Sanskrit, translated the text verse by verse, resulting in 700 stanzas, as in the original text. They selected excellent syllabic meters, trochaic tetrameter, and the hendecasyllabic meter of classical Greek and Latin poetry, similar to tristubh in Sanskrit, the latter appearing in a sustained manner in chapter 11. The language of the translation is simple but very elegant. The Bhagavad Gt~ is an integral part of the great epic Mahabharata. Under "Historical Context," the translators, though granting that the Mahabharata war was possible and even probable, say, "there is no evidence external to the Mahabharata itself that could bear witness to it." However, many calculations based on astronomical references in the Mahabharata clearly indicate that the war took place in 3067 BCE. An error for future correction is that Subhadra is described as Krishna's sister on page 150 and as Krishna's daughter on page 152. The chapter-by-chapter notes are very helpful. This is an excellent verse translation of the Bhagavad Gt~, which many Hindus read as scripture and which profoundly influenced Mohandas Gandhi, Robert Oppenheimer, and Aldous Huxley, among others. Summing Up: Essential. Lower-level undergraduates through researchers/faculty; general readers. R. Puligandla emeritus, University of Toledo
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
