A New Translation of the Bhagavad Gita

[FRITS STAAL]

Thanks TP - have written to George also and already referred to his
translation in the Oxford paper. sasn fr fr
> Congratulations, George.
> TP
>
> ________________________________________
> From: Indology [INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk] On Behalf Of Dipak Bhattacharya
> [dbhattacharya2004 at YAHOO.CO.IN]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2008 12:29 AM
> To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
> Subject: Re: A New Translation of the Bhagavad Gita
>
> Noted the information on your transl. of the Bhagavadgiita. Thanks! Didn't
>  we meet Leiden in 2002?Wish you the best.Sincerely
>   D.Bhattacharya
>
> George Thompson <gthomgt at COMCAST.NET> wrote:
>   Dear List,
>
> Even though the Spring semester is only a month behind us, and Summer is
> still not quite yet upon us [at least officially] here in the USA, many
> of us are already being asked to submit book orders for next Fall's
> classes. I'd like to call the List's attention to my new translation of
> the Gita, to be published by Farrar Straus & Giroux, a distinguished
> literary publisher, this summer [ apparently in August]. It will be
> published in an inexpensive paperback edition aimed at students in
> courses that many of us teach. I have translated it with our students
> very much in mind. I have used my translation with my own students for
> the past year and a half and I think that it has been more effective
> than any of the previous translations that I have used.
>
> The galleys of this edition have been circulated among Sanskritists,
> Indologists, Historians of Religion, Classicists, poets, and Comparative
> Literature specialists. The feedback from them has been very encouraging.
>
> Let me call your attention to the June 12, 2008 issue of the New York
> Review of Books. In that issue, on page 4, facing the Contents page, is
> a full page advertisement from Farrar Straus & Giroux celebrating their
> forthcoming summer reading list. It culminates with a photo of my book's
> cover [with a lovely image of Krishna that the art historian Anna
> Dallapiccola generously recommended to us], and this blurb from
> Stephanie Jamison:
>
> "George Thompson brings his fine-tuned sense of poetic language and his
> deep knowledge of the Indian -- especially Vedic -- religious tradition
> to this fresh and vigorous new translation of a foundational text."
>
> On the back cover of the book will be this comment from Victor Mair
> [whose popular translation of the Tao Te Ching makes very interesting
> connections between the Gita (and yoga) and Taoist thought]:
>
> “With this elegant, new rendering of The Bhagavad Gita, George Thompson
> has achieved the seemingly impossible: his translation is accurate, yet
> readable; written in crisp, straightforward prose, but filled with
> poetic brilliance; accompanied by a learned introduction and valuable
> commentary, both of which are informed by profound Indological
> scholarship that illuminates rather than intimidates. In short, this is
> a gem that will be appreciated by anyone who wishes to familiarize
> himself or herself with one of the world's greatest religious and
> philosophical classics.”
>
> - Victor H. Mair, Professor of Chinese Language and Literature,
> Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of
> Pennsylvania
>
> I have just learned that the right to publish this translation in India
> has been proposed by the publisher Macmillan India, although the date
> for publication in India is still to be determined.
>
> Anyone who is interested in looking at a sample of this translation, or
> its introduction, in order to determine its usefulness in the classroom
> should feel free to contact me. I can send pdf files of any sections of
> the text that may interest you.
>
> This message has been sent to a handful of email lists. I apologize to
> anyone who may receive it more than once. I trust that this book notice
> does not offend any list ethics regarding book notices. If it does
> offend, then please accept my apologies and delete it.
>
> George Thompson
>
>
>
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Frits Staal

http://philosophy.berkeley.edu/staal