Translation Notes

Implied names are translated to explicit names, without honorifics.

Throughout the Gita, shri bhagavan (which literally translates to "the Blessed Lord") refers to Krishna, as does madhusudhana ("slayer of the demon Madhu") and hrishikesh (Lord of the senses).

It is common for Sanskrit translations to make frequent reference to the divinity and mythology of their characters. In this translation, we uniformly use the term "Krishna" to refer to the divine protagonist, whereas most other translations use "Shri Krishna", "The Blessed Lord", etc. This is not intended to be disrespectful toward the Hindu pantheon, but rather to make the story appealing to the widest possible audience.

Why are some translations different from a majority of other translations?

We conduct extensive research on every word, and engage in a vigorous editorial process for each verse's translation.

The original Sanskrit mostly uses the masculine tone.

In this translation, there is uniform usage of pronouns like "one", "oneself", "themself", even when a more accurate translation would be to "him" or "himself". The reason for doing this is not to rewrite religious literature to fit a political or social ideology - rather, it is to make Krishna's advice resonate with the widest possible audience. It is the same reason Krishna is written without honorifics - if he is honorable to you, as he is to me, your mind can place a decoration upon his name which is far more beautiful than the word "Shri".

It is important to note that the Bhagavad Gita was written for priests and leaders of Indian society, who were predominantly men. Today, Indian scriptures are available to everyone, and should therefore be relatable to everyone.