What is the Bhagavad-Gita?

Bhagavad (buh-guh-vud) Gita (gee-tah).

The title is a Sanskrit phrase which means “Song of God.” If we can enjoy, grow, and learn from the songs of ordinary people, just imagine how much we can get out of the lyric sheet of the Original Artist and Musician, Krishna.       

Just like most songs start out with an intro, the Gita begins with a little background information. When the second part kicks in, Krishna starts singing. About what? Sincerity. Who is the real me? How can I do the right thing? What is the right thing to do?

This song is in Sanskrit (English didn’t even exist back then.). That could present a big problem. Fortunately the Gita’s lyrics have been translated.

I’ve always loved getting albums that come with lots of inserts and explanations on what the band is all about. The Gita is like that. When the song first came out, over 5000 years ago, the scene was a lot more introspective than what we’ve got today. What they easily understood then goes soaring right over our heads. So the extra info on the lyrics is especially important.

The Gita has been bootlegged up and down over the centuries. Most of the different versions have a pretty descent translation of the lyrics. But many don’t come with the inserts and juicy info.

Some explanation-inserts are better that others. Which ones are best? The ones that are most consistent with the song as a whole, and with Krishna’s other songs.

Since the Gita first came out, there have been a few good releases. But they’ve all been out of circulation for decades. The best pressing available today is, by far, the Bhagavad-Gita As It Is, by Srila Prabhupada. It comes with the English translations as well as Krishna’s original Sanskrit lyrics, a word for word breakdown, and a detailed explanation for most of the verses.

So check out the Gita. It is available on this web site.