Very accessible commentary, down to earth and simple language.

This edition (by Gavin Flood and Charles Martin) seems to be a very fine translation, including a great effort to retain and replicate the poetic meter of the original (as explained in the "Translators' Introduction"). I did appreciate the language. I have to say, this often reminded me of Red Pine's (fabulous) translation of [b:The Diamond Sutra|144254|The Diamond Sutra|Red Pine|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1388361143s/144254.jpg|139176], but it was not nearly as interesting or as satisfying to me.

Here we have Arjuna, the great hero of the Mahabharata (of which the Gita is a part), about to join the greatest battle of his life. But he doesn't want to. He looks at the opposing army and sees his friends and blood relations, and he does not want to kill them.

For the next 100+ pages, Krishna tells Arjuna why he should lead his army to slaughter the others. The parts in which Krishna preaches non-attachment are the most reminiscent of The Diamond Sutra, which tells us that when a bodhisattva gives a gift, there is no gift and there is no recipient of the gift. Arjuna should go forth and slay all the others, because we none of us exist in the way we imagine we exist, and that which is not born will never die.

Some verses are very beautiful, but throughout reading, I could never get out of my mind that essentially Krishna is urging Arjuna to kill everyone so that he can become the king and fulfill the purpose of his life.

One of my students who belonged to Hinduism gifted it to me. I really loved it. Krishna's advice to Arjun is full of wisdom. Importance of Karma, what you do defines you and sincerity with the job. It makes one rethink all ethical dimensions. A wonderful work.