In 700 concise verses, the Bhagavad-gītā distills India’s timeless yoga philosophy and presents universal truths as relevant today as when the Gītā was first spoken over five thousand years ago.The Bhagavad-gītā is a divine dialogue between God in the form of Śrī Kṛṣṇa and His warrior friend Arjuna, who stands torn between duty and compassion as he faces the prospect of fighting his own cousins to reclaim a lost kingdom. Seeing Arjuna’s despair, Kṛṣṇa transforms his moral crisis into a path of yoga, guiding him from material perplexity to spiritual enlightenment.A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda’s straightforward approach and fidelity to Kṛṣṇa’s intended meaning have made Bhagavad-gītā As It Is the most widely read edition of the Gītā in the world, with over 28 million copies in print and translations into more than sixty languages.Each verse is presented with:

• Devanāgarī script
• Latin transliteration
• Word-for-word Sanskrit–English meanings
• English translation

An extensive commentary by Śrīla Prabhupāda accompanies each verse, drawing from revered Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava works, including Rāmānuja Bhāṣya, Sārārtha-varṣiṇī-ṭīkā by Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura, Gītā-bhūṣaṇa-ṭīkā by Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa, and Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s Bengali commentaries.

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Scholarly Reviews

“No work in all Indian literature is more quoted, because none is better loved in the West than the Bhagavad-gītā. 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.His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda is, of course, profoundly sympathetic to the theme. He brings to it, moreover, a special interpretive insight, a powerful and persuasive presentation in the bhakti (devotional) tradition. 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 led to this illuminating work.”

“Whether the reader be an adept of Indian spirituality or not, a reading of Bhagavad-gītā As It Is will be extremely profitable, for it will allow him to understand the Gītā as still today the majority of Hindus do. For many, this will be the first contact with the true India — the ancient India, the eternal India.”

“There is very little question that this edition is one of the best books available on the Gītā and on devotion. Prabhupāda’s translation is an ideal blend of literal accuracy and religious insight.”

“The Gītā 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 Gītā.Swami Bhaktivedanta brings to the West a salutary reminder that our highly activistic and one-sided culture is faced with a crisis that may end in self-destruction because it lacks the inner depth of an authentic metaphysical consciousness. Without such depth, our moral and political protestations are just so much verbiage.”

“In this beautiful translation, Śrīla Prabhupāda has captured the deep devotional spirit of the Gītā and supplied the text with an elaborate commentary in the truly authentic tradition of Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya, one of India’s most important and influential saints.”