Customer Reviews
biblified gita with omissions, additions and errors - By: Mr. Carl S. Vagg, 04 Nov 2007 
from the first word of the gita;'dharmakshetra' mistranslated as 'truth'
to the last words spoken by arjuna mistranslated as 'Thy Will Be Done'
for 'i shalll act on your words', the last words of krishna tarted up with added 'soul' & 'Light', & plain simple errors such as having duryodhana tell bhishma that the enemies army is unlimited, instead of
our army being unlimited,this gita is replete with additions, omissions,
interpretations [from a judeo-christian view] instead of translation.
real meanings have been omitted. bible-speak, souls, harmony, purity,
have been added thruout, which sounds good, with thou shalts, thy this & that etc, especiallly if the bible is important to you . .
side by side comparison with the acknowledged excellent translation of lars martin fosse - with sanskrit text, eight pages of translation and
explanations of the names & 'nicknames' & a good intro & index,
shows this translation/interpretation to have not only errors, but changes
of meaning which alter the discourse & understanding of it . .
why have reviewers given it stars? aside from novices & jaded christians
looking for something to [?] this gitaholic cant work it out.. perhaps if
there were no other english translations available, one might understand
some wishing to get 'any' gita onto the market, but since 1962 when this
trnsltn was first published, there have been other, good, translations !
recommendations; if you are 'intelligent' & wishing to discover
what the bhagavad gita is, & what krishnas discourse to arjuna is, including specific instructions & descriptions of meditation &
meditative states, try the good translation of lars martin fosse,
2007 edition available on the net.
if you simply want a more or less gita with lots of bible-speak,souls,
harmony, purity, Light repeated over & over, to make you feel good,
maybe this is the gita for you..
if you are one of the reviewers seeing the good in mascaros translation
including the scholars, have another, closer, read.. & why not also
get the readily available fosse translation, & do a comparo..
for the first six chapters only, with sanskrit text, excellent commentary & info on vedic philosophy & mechanics of meditation, the maharshi mahesh yogi translation, tho hard to get, has it alll..
my only concern here is that you, will buy this translation read it and
think 'well thats the ghagavad gita' & not read another translation..
thinking 'i've read it now, i know what it says, very nice'..
for those who have not read the gita, lucky you.. its alll ahead of you..
there's masses of material on the net, but for a first book, based on availability, accuracy, readability, i still recommend the 2007 fosse translation, & the mmy 6 chapters only..
prabhupadas hare krishna version has merits altho the repetitious translation of 'krishna consciousness' isnt much help to a beginner..
[unless you want to join the hare krishnas & become a bhakti]
much of individual words are correct or arguable, the two stars is for
the errors, biblification & alteration of the discourse & meanings..
namaste
Lost in Translation - By: , 11 Sep 2005 As a speaker of Gujarati, & someone who is able to read & partiallly understand Sanskrit, I was rather disappointed by this translation.
While the translation itself is good, I couldn't help feeling that the poetic nature of the original Sanskrit version had been lost, along with some of the underlying meaning.
It seems as if there are certain words which do not exist in the English language to alllow for a deeper understanding of what is told within the Srimad Bhagavat Gita, & that through translation of it, only a literal understanding can be appreciated.
On the field of truth... - By: Mantra Bloke, 26 Aug 2004 
This is a beautiful translation. Juan Mascaro spent over twenty years on this work, & says that at times he translated a verse 20 times before he was satisfied. There is an enormous amount of symbolism in The Bhagavad Gita, & if you want to understand that you may want a version that includes an extensive commentary. Some run to two large volumes! But it wasn't the intention of this work to provide a detailed commentary.
Chapter 1 ends with the verse:
"Thus spoke Arjuna in the field of battle, & letting falll his bow & arrows he sank down in his chariot, his soul overcome by despair & grief."
By the time I'd read that far I was overwhelmed with the same emotions.
A good translation - By: , 18 Jun 2000 This book should be of interest to you, if you want to study ancient Indian text, that forms part of the foundation for Hinduism. Wether or not, you consider this subject worthwhile of study is your own descision. If you couldn't care less about ancient Indian texts, then I doubt that this book will arouse an interest in you. If you do care about ancient Indian text, then this is the definitive translation. Dr. Paul R. Fleischmann dedicates an entire chapter of his brilliant book "Cultivating Inner Peace" to Juan Mascaros abilities as a translator. If you have previously given up on understanding, what's the big deal about the texts that founds the foundation of Hinduism, then this translation might change your mind. Juan Mascaro is a man, who has lived a simple life, & has experiental understanding of the values of this life. That shines through in this translation, & that is why it is worth reading.
Best version I have read. - By: , 19 Mar 2000 And I have read quite a few! Juan Mascaro has managed to make the text a joy to read, which is exactly as it should be. The language that he translates into is, clear, unclutterd & very easy to read, yet at the same time he expresses the profundity of thought that is the Gita. Anyone the least interested in the Gita (and this should include anyone who practices yoga of any sort) would be well advised to read this wonderful book.
