Scholar Reviews
Scholars Review on Srila Prabhupada’s Books
“No work in all Indian literature is more quoted, because none is better loved, in the West, than the Bhagavad-gita. Translation of such a work demands not only knowledge of Sanskrit, but an inward sympathy with the theme and a verbal artistry. For the poem is a symphony in which God is seen in all things. The Swami does a real service for students by investing the beloved Indian epic with fresh meaning. Whatever our outlook may be, we should all be grateful for the labor that has lead to this illuminating work.”
Dr. Geddes MacGregor
Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Philosophy, University of Southern California
“As a successor in direct line from Caitanya, the author of Bhagavad-gita As It Is is entitled, according to Indian custom, to the majestic title of His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. The great interest that his reading of theBhagavad-gita holds for us is that it offers us an authorized interpretation according to the principles of the Caitanya tradition.”
Olivier Lacombe
Professor of Sanskrit and Indology, Sorbonne University, Paris
“I have had the opportunity of examining several volumes published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust and have found them to be of excellent quality and of great value for use in college classes on Indian religions. This is particularly true of the BBT edition and translation of the Bhagavad-gita.”
Dr. Frederick B. Underwood
Professor of Religion, Columbia University
“There is little question that this edition is one of the best books available on the Gitaand devotion. Prabhupada’s translation is an ideal blend of literal accuracy and religious insight.”
Dr. Thomas J. Hopkins
Professor of Religion, Franklin and Marshall College
“The increasing numbers of Western readers interested in classical Vedic thought have been done a service by Swami Bhaktivedanta. By bringing us a new and living interpretation of a text already known to many, he has increased our understanding manyfold.”
Dr. Edward C Dimock Jr.
Department of South Asian Languages and Civilization, University of Chicago
“Whether the reader be an adept of Indian spiritualism or not, a reading of theBhagavad-gita As It Is will be extremely profitable. For many this will be the first contact with the true India, the ancient India, the eternal India.”
Francois Chenique
Professor of Religious Sciences, Institute of Political Studies, Paris, France
“The Gita can be seen as the main literary support for the great religious civilization of India, the oldest surviving culture in the world. The present translation and commentary is another manifestation of the permanent living importance of the Gita.”
Thomas Merton
Theologian
“I am most impressed with A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada’s scholarly and authoritative edition of Bhagavad-gita. It is a most valuable work for the scholar as well as the layman and is of great utility as a reference book as well as a textbook. I promptly recommend this edition to my students. It is a beautifully done book.”
Dr. Samuel D. Atkins
Professor of Sanskrit, Princeton University
“If truth is what works, as Pierce and the pragmatists insist, there must be a kind of truth in the Bhagavad-gita As It Is, since those who follow its teachings display a joyous serenity usually missing in the bleak and strident lives of contemporary people.”
Dr. Elwin H. Powell
Professor of Sociology, State University of New York, Buffalo
“The Bhagavad-gita, one of the great spiritual texts, is not as yet a common part of our cultural milieu. This is probably less because it is alien per se than because we have lacked just the kind of close interpretative commentary upon it that Swami Bhaktivedanta has here provided, a commentary written from not only a scholar’s but a practitioner’s, a dedicated lifelong devotee’s point of view.”
Denise Levertov
Poet
“The scholarly world is again indebted to A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Although Bhagavad-gita has been translated many times, Prabhupada adds a translation of singular importance with his commentary.”
Dr. J. Stillson Judah
Professor of the History of Religions and Director of Libraries, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California
“The scholarly world is again indebted to A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada. Although Bhagavad-gita has been translated many times, Prabhupada adds a translation of singular importance with his commentary.”
Dr. J. Stillson Judah
Professor of the History of Religions and Director of Libraries, Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, California