Coming-of-age rendition of a timeless text

Brigadier Krishna Gopal Behl's 'Bhagavad Geeta: Philosophy of Life' offers a rhythmic English translation of the religious text's 700 verses, making its philosophical teachings accessible to a wider reader base and enhancing intergenerational understanding of the scripture

- SANJEEV CHOPRA

With 700 verses in 18 chapters, the Bhagavad Geeta (BG) is much smaller than the Quran with 6,348 verses spread over 114 chapters and the 23,145 verses in the Old and 7,957 in the New Testament. All these texts, the Bhagavad Geeta, the Quran and the Bible are very widely quoted in all the important life events of believers. Written originally in Sanskrit, Arabic and Hebrew, they have been translated in almost every language, more so in English, which for all practical purposes has become a global lingua franca. With regard to the great Indian middle class, where many families have one or more members abroad, having the English translation of the BG comes in quite handy. More so, if it comes in a format which is easy to read, with rhymed stanzas, amenable for reading and reciting to younger children by their elders who may or may not be comfortable reading the text in Sanskrit.

Brigadier Krishna Gopal Behl, the nonagenarian author of Bhagavad Geeta: Philosophy of Life (the translation of Bhagavad Geeta from Sanskrit into English using rhythmic poetry), was born in 1935 on the Janmashtami Day at Rawalpindi (now in Pakistan). There were two reasons for the publication of this book. The first, a sense of responsibility to the next generation to ensure that they understood the finer points of the Song Celestial in an easily acceptable format. Secondly, he wanted the publication to coincide with India's G20 presidency as a souvenir for the visiting dignitaries. Both his missions have been accomplished in this wonderful rendition in which each of the seven hundred verses is set to meter.

To make it easier for the reader to understand the text, the original verse in Sanskrit, along with annotations in English, is available on the left-hand side.