Bhagavad-Gita

The Gita offers a succinct summary of ancient Indian philosophy, with particular emphasis on the supreme Spirit as both immanent and transcendent. It has been translated into practically every modern tongue, and widely read and discussed of all Eastern scriptures. William Quan Judge, recognizing the need for a non-academic exposition of its doctrines, began a series of studies in his monthly magazine The Path – not as a formal commentary in the scripture, but as a means of pursuing, with his readers, an inquiry into its philosophy. Now, for the first time, these articles are included with Judge’s own redension of the Gita, both of which are here faithfully reproduced and have made the present work unique. It is the result of a careful comparison of all the English editions and of a complete retranslation from the original wherever any obscurity or omission was evident in the various renderings consulted. As James A. Long writes in the Forword. “The value of these studies lies in Judge’s exceptional ability to interpret by the light of the ‘perennial philoophy’ the many obscure passages that had defied most 19th century scholars…The author’s sound practical advice to students in each of a broader spiritual perspective is perhaps of even greater value today than it was during his lifetime”, thus making the essays a bridge between the Gita’s oriental approach and modern occidental thought.