A handsome and expertly translated version of one of the world’s most important religious poems.
As Mitchell notes in his excellent introduction, the Gita is not just one of the core texts of Hindu religious philosophy; it has been a key work in the development of American literature as well. Emerson called it “the first of books.” Beside it, Thoreau said, “even our Shakespeare seems sometimes youthfully green and practical merely,” and it has influenced such unlikely bedfellows as T.S. Eliot and Allen Ginsberg. A didactic poem embedded in the massive Indian epic Mahabharata, the Gita takes the form of a discussion between the warrior Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna, “eternal Creator, infinite Lord,” in the moments before a great battle. Krishna teaches Arjuna his central creed: “Abandoning all desires, / acting without craving, free / from all thoughts of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, / that man finds utter peace.” Mitchell, whose popular translations run the gamut from Rilke and Neruda to Tao Te Ching and Genesis, has the good translator’s uncanny ability to usher originals into an English of beauty and resonance without making them all sound alike. His Gita, rendered simply and rhythmically in a loose trimeter line, is dazzling without ostentation. Mark for example Krishna’s description of his own eternal nature: “I am the taste in water, / the light in the moon and sun, / the sacred syllable Om / in the Vedas, the sound in air.” Mitchell admirably makes no attempt to smooth over the poem’s contradictions, such as the anticlimax of its dogmatic final chapters, or the fact that the poem’s exhortations to detachment are couched in the language of war. In fact, he even includes Gandhi’s famous meditation on the Gita, in which the work emerges from its pugnacious context as the quintessential lecture on nonviolence.
A handsome and expertly translated version of one of the world’s most important religious poems.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-609-60550-X
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Harmony
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2000
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.
A compendium of charts, time lines, lists and illustrations to accompany study of the Bible.
This visually appealing resource provides a wide array of illustrative and textually concise references, beginning with three sets of charts covering the Bible as a whole, the Old Testament and the New Testament. These charts cover such topics as biblical weights and measures, feasts and holidays and the 12 disciples. Most of the charts use a variety of illustrative techniques to convey lessons and provide visual interest. A worthwhile example is “How We Got the Bible,” which provides a time line of translation history, comparisons of canons among faiths and portraits of important figures in biblical translation, such as Jerome and John Wycliffe. The book then presents a section of maps, followed by diagrams to conceptualize such structures as Noah’s Ark and Solomon’s Temple. Finally, a section on Christianity, cults and other religions describes key aspects of history and doctrine for certain Christian sects and other faith traditions. Overall, the authors take a traditionalist, conservative approach. For instance, they list Moses as the author of the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) without making mention of claims to the contrary. When comparing various Christian sects and world religions, the emphasis is on doctrine and orthodox theology. Some chapters, however, may not completely align with the needs of Catholic and Orthodox churches. But the authors’ leanings are muted enough and do not detract from the work’s usefulness. As a resource, it’s well organized, inviting and visually stimulating. Even the most seasoned reader will learn something while browsing.
Worthwhile reference stuffed with facts and illustrations.Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2005
ISBN: 978-1-5963-6022-8
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.
A teacher and scholar of Buddhism offers a formally varied account of the available rewards of solitude.
“As Mother Ayahuasca takes me in her arms, I realize that last night I vomited up my attachment to Buddhism. In passing out, I died. In coming to, I was, so to speak, reborn. I no longer have to fight these battles, I repeat to myself. I am no longer a combatant in the dharma wars. It feels as if the course of my life has shifted onto another vector, like a train shunted off its familiar track onto a new trajectory.” Readers of Batchelor’s previous books (Secular Buddhism: Imagining the Dharma in an Uncertain World, 2017, etc.) will recognize in this passage the culmination of his decadeslong shift away from the religious commitments of Buddhism toward an ecumenical and homegrown philosophy of life. Writing in a variety of modes—memoir, history, collage, essay, biography, and meditation instruction—the author doesn’t argue for his approach to solitude as much as offer it for contemplation. Essentially, Batchelor implies that if you read what Buddha said here and what Montaigne said there, and if you consider something the author has noticed, and if you reflect on your own experience, you have the possibility to improve the quality of your life. For introspective readers, it’s easy to hear in this approach a direct response to Pascal’s claim that “all of humanity's problems stem from man's inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” Batchelor wants to relieve us of this inability by offering his example of how to do just that. “Solitude is an art. Mental training is needed to refine and stabilize it,” he writes. “When you practice solitude, you dedicate yourself to the care of the soul.” Whatever a soul is, the author goes a long way toward soothing it.
A very welcome instance of philosophy that can help readers live a good life.Pub Date: Feb. 18, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-300-25093-0
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Yale Univ.
Review Posted Online: Nov. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
