Krishna states that the Bhagavad Gita can be translated by the following individuals, Bhakto smi Sakha Ceti by those who are Bhakta, devotees of Krishna and , Sakha by those who are friends of Krishna. Krishna further states that one must be anasuyave, non envious, Not that one misinterprets Krishna's verse wherein he suggests surrender unto Him. Many translators will tell you that not to surrender to Krishna, but to the unborn within yourself or something in that regard. The Gita is a wonderful text that needs only to be translated directly.


Furthermore, Krishna, the speaker of Bhagavad Gita, exclaims in the 4th chapter, evam parampara pratam imam rajarsho vidhahu, that the Bhagavad Gita MUST be translated in parampara, disciplic succession, for it is a great science. For example, if you were to get surgery, would you get it done by a plumber who read a book on surgery, or even a great mathematician who read a book on surgery. Or would you rather have someone who was trained by a surgeon himself and thus deemed qualified. Krishna states that the same principle applies in the Bhagavad Gita.

I therefore recommend the translation of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, who is not only a great scholar, and not only part of an historical lineage of teacher/disciples who go back to the time of Krishna he is also a renowned saint who taught Bhagavad Gita by his very one example. Hare Krishna
Your humble servant
Nityananda Chandra Das


p.s. I give a lecture on Gita every Wednesday that can be heard on our online radio at www.radhakalachandji.com

Bhagavad Gita translations basically fall into 2 camps. The personalist and the impersonalist. Some people think that Krsna's form and activities are material and it is "the unborn within Krsna" that we need to aspire to. These are the impersonalists. Then there are the personalists, the devotees of Krsna. If you look at the first five verses of Chapter 12 you can see what the orientation of the person translating is.

If want a basis for comparison that also includes word for word translations of each verse there is one here:

vedabase.net/bg/en1

If you have any questions please ask. I can at least give you the personalist version.