The Bhagavad Gita

'In death thy glory in heaven, in
victory thy glory on earth.  Arise therefore, Arjuna,
with thy soul ready to fight'

The Bhagavad Gita is an intensely spiritual work that forms the cornerstone of the Hindu faith, and is also one of the masterpieces of Sanskrit poetry.  It describes how, at the beginning of a mighty battle between the Pandava and Kaurava armies, the god Drishna gives spiritual enlightenment to the warrior Arjuna, who realizes that the true battle is for his own soul.

Juan Mascaro's translation of the Bhagavad Gita captures the extra-ordinary aural qualities of the original Sanskrit.  This edition features a new introduction by Simon Brodback, which discusses concepts such as dahin, prakrita and karma.

'The task of truly translating such a work is indeed formidable.  The translator must at least possess three qualities.  He must be an artist in words as well as a Sanskrit scholar, and above all, perhaps, he must be deeply sumpathetic with the spirit of the original.  Mascaro has succeeded so well because he possesses all these' THE TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT