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4.5
This book is called “A Biography,” as it examines historically the various ways the Bhagavad Gita has stimulated a large variety of responses and interpretations among its readers. The Gita has been considered the most sacred book in modern Hinduism and some scholars consider it as the best “compendium of the prevalent philosophical theories of the [Indian classical] time” (W. Doniger’s review in The New York Review of Books, December 4, 2014, page 47). Professor Davis offers us a good introduction to this masterpiece and traces the various ways it has been interpreted to deal with the perennial struggle for self-control regarding our duties. He presents the context of the composition of the Gita, its historical and present relevance, and the central place that it has had, not only in India but also in Europe and the United States. The author is a professor of religion at Bard College, and writes about Indian religion. This volume is part of a series of “Biographies” of great religious books from Princeton University Press.The Gita is the best known piece of the Mahabharata, the longest poem ever written, which literally means ''the great story of the Bharatas,'' the legendary first kings of India, although the poem also deals with the nature and forces that govern the universe, the way humans are organized, as well as about the duties and rituals to be performed. Probably, this epic poem was composed by several different authors. In the Indian culture it is usually stated that “everything in the Mahabharata is elsewhere [and] what is not there is nowhere;” and a prominent scholar affirms that “it was like an ancient Wikipedia, to which anyone who knew Sanskrit, could add a bit here, a bit there” (W. Doniger, The Hindus. An Alternative History, 2009, page 264). The Gita was composed in the Indian classical period and although it has many references to historical facts, it is not an historical account, it is rather an epic poem; in his recent book, Why Homer Matters ( 2014, page 3), Adam Nicholson says that an epic is neither an act of memory, nor an historical account; its purpose is “to make the distant past as immediate to us as our own lives, to make the great stories of long ago beautiful and painful now.”.The book covers a large variety of subjects related to the Gita, and it provides a summary of the varied interpretations and influences. As an example of this wide variation, he shows how the Gita inspired both Gandhi and his message of non-violence, as well as his assassin, Nathuram Godse, who claimed that he was following Krishna and his teachings. Professor Davis develops the idea that the Gita forms part of what Aldous Huxley used to call “perennial philosophy,” providing universal guidance to all humans; and this is the way this masterpiece has been received in Europe and America. Professor Davis also mentions how the Gita has been presented as a Hindu religious book, thus fostering nationalistic and far-right fanatical political views. He includes an interesting chapter about performances in our time, where he mentions poetic and operatic renditions, as well as “visual performances,” and movies which found their inspiration in the Gita. In another chapter, he discusses the translations of the Gita; he mentions that it has been translated over 300 times into English as well as into more than 75 languages. From a select list of 20 English versions, he picks and analyses four “exemplary” translations from a scholar, a poet, a devotee, and a philosopher; unfortunately, the well-known versions from E. Easwaran, G. and B. Feuerstein, J. Mascaro, and W. Sargeant are not part of his list of 20. Wendy Doniger in her review of the book concludes that this is “masterful new biography of the Gita,” but considers the book “more than adequately respectful: he leans over backward to avoid offending Hindus who revere the Gita.”
