The Bhagavad Gita (English Pocket Edition)

According to Paramahansa Yogananda – Edited by his disciple, Swami Kriyananda

Paramhansa Yogananda’s revelation of India’s best-loved scripture brought an entirely fresh perspective. This pocket edition—a Gita junior—highlights the verses themselves, being limited to them almost entirely. They appear in fluent, correct, and contemporary English, making this book a “must-have” for the modern spiritual aspirant.

This is the first opportunity to have Swami Kriyananda’s complete Bhagavad Gita, itself.

Most of the verses (slokas) in this edition of the Bhagavad Gita have already appeared in Swamiji’s much larger book The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita Explained by Paramhansa Yogananda. However, some of the Gita verses were intentionally left out of the earlier publication. Swamiji’s omitted slokas include most of Chapter One, which he merely summarized, and the first ten verses of Chapter Two. The reason he left out these slokas was, as he describes in the preface to this pocket Gita, that the omitted verses “form, in themselves, an almost complete dissertation”.

Swamiji explains that although the Gita is historical, it is not literal. Rather it is a deep spiritual allegory, woven upon a framework of history. The characters symbolize various psychological traits and latent states of consciousness that serve as essential reference points to develop the story. Each trait or aspect of consciousness plays an important role in the devotee’s struggle to rise above worldly delusion and reclaim his true state of union with God.

One of Swamiji’s most important elaborations regards Arjuna, whose role in the Gita may seem confusing due to the contrast between his depiction in Chapter One as but a spiritual beginner and his true spiritual stature to which Krishna points later.

Though small in size, this edition of the Gita is pierced through with shafts of light from a towering spiritual figure—Yogananda. With this volume, India’s sacred scripture is at your fingertips for inspiration on your own daily battleground of life.