/lit/ - Literature

>translation
I'm interested too

would like to get stoned and read the gita for the first time later tonight.

>>11070307
Just read the shiva purana... Bhagavad Gita is demiurge propaganda

>>11070307

The one accompanied by Adi Shankara's commentary

https://archive.org/details/Bhagavad-Gita.with.the.Commentary.of.Sri.Shankaracharya

>>11070953
>get stoned and read the gita
Just don’t bother, you degenerate

>>11072078
This

>>11070398
>>11070307
when it comes to the Gita, because Sanskrit is so unique compared to other Western languages, I highly recommend you read a couple of translations so that you can get as big of a picture as you can of the Gita without it being clouded by one interpretation.

best translations that I've read for the average person are by Eknath Easwaran's, Swami Chinmayananda's, and Georg Feuerstein's.

Easwaran's translation is one of the most widely read. It is very clear, focused, and accessible while still retaining the original meaning of the text. The commentary and forewords are thorough while still being to the point.

Chinmayananda's translation, on the other hand, is epic in every way. It is absolutely massive and gorgeous. There is a shitload of commentary in this edition that is a work of art in itself. The translation intentionally veers towards KJV style pseudo medieval English. In leaning towards this style it is not as precise as Easwaran's or even Satchidananda's, but it still retains the core concepts of the text in an unbiased manner and with heaps of explanation.

If Chinmayananda's translation reaches for peak aesthetic beauty and Easwaran's tries to bridge the gap between beautiful and academic, Georg Feuerstein's translation is nothing but scholarly interpretation. If you are someone who simply wants to know what the fuck the Gita is without any philosophical bias whatsoever (not that any of the translations I've given were particularly biased, but still) then Feuerstein is the translation to pick. It is dry as all fuck, but it is by far the most accurate English translation available.

Bonus translations: Sri Aurobindo's translation aims to be as unbiased as possible and tends to be quite a bit esoteric and fruity, but his commentary is breathtaking. I only recommend reading this one once you have a thorough understanding of the Vedic tradition not just of the Gita but of the rest of the Mahabharata and Upanishads.

Sir Edwin Arnold transforms the Gita into a rhyming verse. See it more as entertainment than a reference book and it's a great read.

Stay the fuck away from The Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Prabhupada as the man that translated that was a fucking cult leader and the commentary is riddled with bias. I was also not a fan of the Living Gita because it seemed some of the meaning was lost in modernizing it and the commentary is clearly biased like it was marketed towards new-age westerners getting into yoga more than anything. so uh, if you fit that demographic, maybe it's the translation for you?

>>11070953
if you think the gita is just some shit to peruse while baked off your mind, i have a better evening planned out for you. go get high then watch a 25 minute video of alan watts talking about it set to some faggot music and footage of grass growing and the ocean and all that shit. then after you finish that vid, buttchug some jenkem, jack off into the toilet, and don't bother reading eastern philosophy

>>11070398
>>11070307 (OP)
when it comes to the Gita, because Sanskrit is so unique compared to other Western languages, I highly recommend you read a couple of translations so that you can get as big of a picture as you can of the Gita without it being clouded by one interpretation.

best translations that I've read for the average person are by Eknath Easwaran's, Swami Chinmayananda's, and Georg Feuerstein's.

Easwaran's translation is one of the most widely read. It is very clear, focused, and accessible while still retaining the original meaning of the text. The commentary and forewords are thorough while still being to the point.

Chinmayananda's translation, on the other hand, is epic in every way. It is absolutely massive and gorgeous. There is a shitload of commentary in this edition that is a work of art in itself. The translation intentionally veers towards KJV style pseudo medieval English. It can seem a bit superfluous in many ways but if you want an absolute work of art, this is the translation to get.

If Chinmayananda's translation reaches for peak beauty and Easwaran's tries to bridge the gap between beautiful and academic, Georg Feuerstein's translation is nothing but scholarly interpretation. If you are someone who simply wants to know what the fuck the Gita is without any philosophical bias whatsoever (not that any of the translations I've given were particularly biased, but still) then Feuerstein is the translation to pick. It is dry as all fuck, but it is by far the most accurate English translation available.

Bonus translations: Sri Aurobindo's translation aims to be as unbiased as possible and tends to be quite a bit esoteric and fruity, but his commentary is breathtaking. I only recommend reading this one once you have a thorough understanding of the Vedic tradition not just of the Gita but of the rest of the Mahabharata and Upanishads.

Sir Edwin Arnold transforms the Gita into a rhyming verse. See it more as entertainment than a reference book and it's a great read.

Stay the fuck away from The Bhagavad Gita As It Is by Prabhupada as the man that translated that was a fucking cult leader and the commentary is riddled with bias. I was also not a fan of the Living Gita because it seemed some of the meaning was lost in modernizing it and the commentary is clearly biased like it was marketed towards new-age westerners getting into yoga more than anything. so uh, if you fit that demographic, maybe it's the translation for you?

>>11070953
if you think the gita is just some shit to peruse while baked off your mind, i have a better evening planned out for you. go get high then watch a 15 minute video of alan watts talking about it set to some faggot music and footage of grass growing and the ocean and all that shit. then after you finish that vid, buttchug some jenkem, jack off into the toilet, and don't bother reading eastern philosophy until you're ready to use your goddamn brain

You're a large armed guy. Just read one and then maybe another, it's such a short text.

>>11072240
Thank you friend anon.

>>11072240
As an Indian, I can confirm that this guy knows his shit.

>>11071727
Seriously though.
>>11072078
Can we be mature and not put people down for indulging in earthly pleasures.

>>11072240
Is Easwaran's stuff generally recommended? I always assumed it was all New-Age crap nicely packaged. Apologies on my part if it isn't and he's legit. Would you suggest his version of the Upanishads too?

>>11070307
This one.

>>11073840
Easwaran is pretty legit. He puts his translations into excellent context without being biased at all. Some say he's too universal and incorporates too much of all Eastern thought into the Hindu texts, but from my studies he really respects the Vedas and only tries to make terms easier to understand rather than intentionally muddy them and distort them to fit a certain viewpoint.

To be honest I only know a smidgeon of Vedic philosophy and most of my knowledge of it concentrated in the Gita, so the translations of Upanishads is kind of over my head, but I also picked out Easwaran's translation and found it to also be splendid, alongside Prabhavanada's translation and Radhakrishnan's.

General rule of thumb is correct in your case though, stay away from new-age nicely packaged crap deliberately targeted towards people with a "busy lifestyle" or "modern man". 100% of the time this waters the text down immensely and the commentary is focused solely on one message. The Vedic texts are not light little stories, they are dense, intellectually challenging, and studied for life.

>>11072240
Is the Gita even the right one to start with if I haven't read any of it yet? What's the best order to read them in?

>>11072240
Anything to say about the translators I see in the penguin/oxford editions? Johnson, Patton, Brodbeck, Mascaro?

>>11072078
>>11072135
Are the hindus degenerate for drinking soma you dumb motherfuckers

>>11075187
There is no real order. However, of the three authoritative primary sources of Vedanta philosophy, being the Upanishads, Brahma Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita, I'd argue Gita is the best one to start with because above all it's a summation of Vedic thought and philosophy, whereas the other stories dive more indepth into philosophy and less so the rules of living a good life like the Gita does.

>>11075208
Not much to say other than Johnson's and Mascaro's translations seem pretty good from what little I've read of them. The more translations you read, the less the translations matter, because you would have seen the real messages of the Gita and are better able to pick out what the translator thinks from what the text actually is.

>>11073160
What does the Bhagavad GIta say about earthly pleasures?

>>11075654
Gluttonous and lustful activity fall under tamas, which is very bad.

>>11075711
Exactly. What if I spark up a doob as a way to get a deeper understanding of reality through an altered state of consciousness?

>>11075726
Were you born into Hinduism?

>>11075726
stolen wisdom isn't free

t. ex-stoner

>>11075746
>Experience is stolen wisdom
This is why you are still in the cycle

>>11075737
Nope

Daily reminder that eastern philosophy isn't philosophy

>>11075770
Then, it's degenerate.

>>11072078
>thinks he's a non degenerate
>browses 4chan

>>11075775
It's all about minimising your levels of degeneracy

>>11075726
I think it's a unanimous belief among most serious students Eastern religions and philosophies, including Hinduism, that you're already hallucinating just by existing as a biased creature of external senses. smoking weed would just cause you to hallucinate even more and would distort your view of the world more. this whole "altered state of consciousness" bullshit is nothing more than the product of the counter-culture revolution of the 1960's intertwined with the government's experimentation with psychedelics and the eastern religions that also came into relevance.

and before you throw that whole "soma" shit, if you knew what you were talking about you would know there is no reference whatsoever of the soma plant having any psychoactive or hallucinogenic properties and all of the essays i've read supporting this theory assume it on absolutely no evidence. it could've been any fuckin herb and is otherwise irrelevant to the rest of Hindu philosophy.

>>11075772
you're half-right. want to elaborate?

>>11072078
Bhagavad Gita
Kinchita Dhita
Ganga Jalalava
Kanika Pita

>>11076008
>you're half-right. want to elaborate?
Platonic-Aristotelic philosophy, Plato's creation, has the characteristics of being logical-argumentative (someone would say dialectical), which eastern philosophy lacks. Nowadays we use the word philosophy as a catch all term for otherwise uncategorized knowledge or thought, but originally philosophy meant a very specific thing (infact, the so called presocratics philosophers weren't actual philosophers in this strict sense). I don't mean this as a disparaging of eastern thought, just a specification that I make every time I see a eastern philosophy thread because I'm autistic.

>>11070307
you should read the fucking vedas first and then the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras YOU MASSIVE FUCKING BRAINLET PLEB DILETTANTE PSEUD FAGGOT
>>11072240
>>11072078
the Indo-Scythians and Indo-Aryans smoked weed and drank weed and ate weed you retarded faggots, this includes the Shatriyas and Brahmans it wasn't degenerate it was an integral part of their culture and still is to this day

>>11076008
> before you throw that whole "soma" shit, if you knew what you were talking about you would know there is no reference whatsoever of the soma plant having any psychoactive or hallucinogenic properties and all of the essays i've read supporting this theory assume it on absolutely no evidence. it could've been any fuckin herb and is otherwise irrelevant to the rest of Hindu philosophy
you're right because it was a stimulant, its a psychoactive drug and the Eleusinian cult, the egyptian priesthood, the Shamanic tribes of the Siberian-Steppe, the Mayans, the Incas, the Navajo, the Ancient Hebrews, the Indo-Scythians and the Indo-Aryans all go high EAT SHIT AND DIE FAGGOT LARPER

>>11076059
oh yeah weed was a huge part of most indian culture. that's like, the birthplace of weed. but nobody fooled themselves and called it a god drug that made you see the universe better, it was treated like tea or light alcohol, something to relax with and enjoy on your downtime. more serious students and followers wouldn't partake in it but the average person absolutely did.

>>11070307
Just skip the BG and read the Principal Upanishads and then Yoga Yajnavalkya, avoid all this larpy 'muh vishnu' shit.

buddhism or hinduism? which is the better philosophy? dont know where to start with buddhism.

>>11076087
Weed is dedicated to Shiva and is mentioned in the Vedas as one of the five sacred plants and is explicitly Savic in origin. Its also associated with Indian religious festivals and is very clearly an exoteric expression of what was in all likelihood an esoteric practice, as entheogens are intiatic substances, as are wines and stimulants, which is why every single mystery cult makes use of them save of course for Islam and Judaism (which are the most debased of all cults), though the Hebrews used it as well before their Temple was destroyed, and further still anything and everything associated with public ritual has esoteric occult properties. You are a fucking hack faggot

>>11076008
soma is heroin you fucking mongs wow a plant from afghanistan that makes you have weird dream like experiences what ever could it beee

>>11076147
its ephedra nigger, its a stimulant, it makes sense, they're fucking warriors, this wasn't shit skinned bugs these were were pale skinned, blue eyed, red haired Aryans of the Steppe, killing machines, Indra's people, they were taking stimulants, in high doses it causes hallucinations. Why would they give them depressants before battle?

>>11076147
soma is a technical term, similar to agni, it's not an actual plant.

>>11076169
>puritan westerner trying to whitewash eastern spirituality

stay retarded monglord

>>11076142
Advaita Vedanta >>> Buddhism

but Buddhism is still worth reading about and studying

>>11076169
no it really is an actual plant, and they really are talking about fire when they mention Agni, you're a fucking pseud. Just because there are many analogous meanings does not mean there are not physical correlates. Soma was a real drink, which is Ephedra, which Aryan warriors and priests from the Steppe, not from the Subcontinent, would drink before rituals and battle. Marijuana is a sacred herb which was consumed in many different forms and contexts and so was Soma. Only disgusting Brahmans of the modern era who are cowtowing to DEA and Christian hate groups that criticize hinduism for moral laxity are actually against its use. Of course it can be toxic just like anything else, but it absolutely has spiritual catalyst effects which can and should be exploited by people. For fuck's sake you would drink a big drought of wine at the culmination of the Eleusinian rites spiked with entheogens, you would drink entheogenic wine during gnostic rites, during Egyptian initiations, the Siberian-Shamans eat mushrooms and chew roots and stalks of entheogens, every fucking native american tribe anywhere near psychedelics makes use of them. People in MENA eat Khat all day long

>>11076198
>ancient aryan affinity for ephedrine

woah now the meth epidemic in rural white america makes more sense

>>11076142
Of the two, Buddhism is the only religion that's accessible to outsiders. From what I've heard getting shilled on /lit/, What the Buddha Taught, and the Diamond, Heart, and Lotus Sutras are good places to start.
>>11076143
>entheogens are intiatic substances
Yes, you either have to be initiated in a shamantic tradition like the ones listed above, or be born into it like Hinduism. Otherwise, it's degenerate and spiritually damaging at worst. Stop trying to justify your 420blazeit faggotry outside of proper initiatic and traditional contexts.

>>11076198
>>11076214

holy shit ephedra pollen found in shindar neanderthal burial site in iraq, europeans have highest percentage of neanderthal dna, indo-aryans use ephedra extensively, dude, holy shit, my mind is blowing

>>11075766
>he quotes people with words they didn't say

>>11076193
Eightfold path >> bhakti yog

>>11076198
holy shit ephedra pollen found in shinadar neanderthal burial site in iraq, europeans have highest percentage of neanderthal dna, indo-aryans use ephedra extensively, dude, holy shit, my mind is blowing

>>11076198
holy shit ephedra pollen found in shanidar neanderthal burial site in iraq, europeans have highest percentage of neanderthal dna, indo-aryans use ephedra extensively, dude, holy shit, my mind is blowing

>>11076219
>Yes, you either have to be initiated in a shamantic tradition like the ones listed above
No, because people also used it for private practice and for medicinal and leisurely activity, Hindu and Chinese Emperors, Persian Princes would eat, drink and smoke entheogens.
>be born into Hindusim
Why? The current hindus are Dravidians cross-bred with Aryans who were strained through the BMAC complex, why would they at all have anything to do with the esoteric orders that made up the Tantrists and Brahmanical Hierophants? Are you saying that some Australoid or proto-caucasoid Drav is more entitled to use entheogens in rituals than anyone else? that's retarded.
> Otherwise, it's degenerate
No, austerity derived from scriptures and online racialist psychopaths is degenerate. Being sovereign is not degenerate, you think THOU ART THAT is compatible with mincing and fleeing from intense sensory experiences?
>Stop trying to justify your 420blazeit faggotry
I guarantee you're a giant faggot irl and have never slept with a beautiful woman or won a fight with an imposing opponent, fuck off

>>11076237
>thinking bhakti yogi is at all central to Advaita Vedanta

At least do some reading before you try to criticize it

>>11076245
good research, thank you for informing me. Aryans require stims to function properly, high intensity cognitive modes predicated on fast pace viso-spatial reasoning and explosive neuro-muscular reactions, dexterous and tedious lomb work, metallurgy, smithing, riding for days on end. Think about the utility value of being on an open steppe and having to fucking pay attention when you could be raided or have to raid at any time.

>>11076190
>>11076198
>soma is mountainborn
>like every other divinity in the veda are mountainborn or dwell on the mountain
>soma is described the same way as rudra, vishnu, and agni
>agni is a child of the waters (consciousness)
i'm not saying these people didn't worship fire you dipshit. agni and soma, like all vedic divinities, are technical terms describing the divine absolute and it's evolution into the world.

>>11075737
And if I was? It's alright then? I am a Kshatriya though.

>>11076254
wikipedia claims rodents put the aphedra pollen there but i just read the paper they used as a source and it only mentions this rodent theory in a footnote which i cant find the full text of at home

>http://arheo.ffzg.unizg.hr/ska/tekstovi/neanderthal_dead.pdf

>>11076250
Didnt imply that bro, just stating a fact

>>11076304
god damn it i should be programming not reading archaeology papers, fml

>>11076272
Ephedra is found in alpine environments first of all

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2735324/

Second of all, I'm well aware there is a metaphysical connotation and correlate to every single part of the Vedas, the rituals, the Upanishads and the Epics, i'm aware of how hyper-complex analogical thinking functions in Mystical Orders and Esoteric Religious thought, I get how all of that works because I have read the Chandogya Upanishad where this is explicitly delineated in regards to ghee, honey, the sun and the cycles of storms-rains-clouds etc. You don't need to pretend like you're saying something I didn't already imply was the case. Obfuscating that: Soma is Ephedra, which is blatantly obvious because it was drunk before battle and is found specifically in the climes which the Aryans ranged across AND that Shiva is blatantly associated with Cannabis Sativa in a positive light, that he's depicted as eating it and enjoying it, that its specifically esoterically associated with him, that there are other ways of taking part in the Shaivic mystery cults without adhering to Brahmanical codes of conduct AND that there is anything particularly special about 80 IQ dravidians being born Hindu as opposed to maybe living ancestors of the Aryans, is all ridiculous. You're reacting in the most pathetic kind of dogmatism that plagues converts and neo-religionists

Again, you are basically just trying to enforce puritanical morals on a dead religion which life is desperately trying to push humans towards for whatever reason. You are of course wary of idiot hedonists having sex and smoking all day, whilst "adhering" to the semblance of hindu beliefs, and of course that's correct. But, to say that an experienced adept or intitiate or even just a personal with great innate abilities can't get high as a kite and then read the Gita is stupidity. What a fucking waste of breath

Himalayas and Caucasus are where the Aryans used to roam before they descended into the subcontinent and overcoded the Matriarchal Cthonic cultists, who may have also donated their own entheogenic traditions (we'll never know because of Aryan racialist caste systems and Indians being incapable of writing things down)

>>11076310
>Didnt imply that bro, just stating a fact

The original post that started the discussion stated that Advaita was superior to Buddhism. You then tried to refute that by claiming that something which is part of Buddhism (8-fold path) is superior to something which isn't part of Advaita (Bhakti); which in no way disproves the notion that Advaita is superior, but merely reveals your ignorance of eastern doctrines.

>>11076193
any good books?

>>11076319
Soma was paired with fly agaric for many years. Im not sure why you are writing all this, I've posted 3 times in this thread so maybe you're chapped at someone else. I am also very well aware of aghoris, kaulas, and whatever heterodox cults who fuck bodies and eat rodents.

>>11076363
tripura rahasya

>>11076363
Adi Shankaracharya's commentaries on the Gita, Brahma Sutras, and Upanishads

>>11076363

Adi Shankara's Prasthanatrayi commentaries (his most important works)

>Commentary on 8 of the Muhkya Upanishads part 1
https://archive.org/details/EightUpanishadsWithSankarabhashyamSwamiGambhiranandaVol11989

>Commentary on 8 of the Muhkya Upanishads part 2
https://archive.org/details/EightUpanishadsWithSankarabhashyamSwamiGambhiranandaVol21966

>Brahma Sutra Bhasya (commentary) of Shankaracharya
https://archive.org/details/BrahmaSutraSankaraBhashyaEngVMApte1960

>The Bhagavad-Gita with commentary of Shankaracharya
https://archive.org/details/Bhagavad-Gita.with.the.Commentary.of.Sri.Shankaracharya


Adi Shankaras non-commentary Prakarana Granthas (philosophical treatises)

>Atma Bodha (Self-knowledge)
http://www.lovebliss.eu/Download/Atma%20Bodha.pdf

>Upadesasahasri (A Thousand Teachings)
http://estudantedavedanta.net/Sri_Shankaracharya-Upadeshasahasri%20-%20Swami%20Jagadananda%20%281949%29%20[Sanskrit-English].pdf

>Aparokshanubhuti (Direct experience)
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.216548

>Vivekachudamani (Crest Jewel of Discrimination)
https://ia800108.us.archive.org/18/items/Vivekacudamani/Vivekacudamani.pdf


Non-Adi Shankara Advaita texts

>The Ashtavakra Gita
https://realization.org/p/ashtavakra-gita/richards.ashtavakra-gita/richards.ashtavakra-gita.html

>Voga Vasistha
https://archive.org/details/VasisthasYoga

>Advaita Bodha Deepika (The lamp of non-deal knowledge)
https://selfdefinition.org/ramana/Advaita-Bodha-Deepika.pdf

>Drg-Drsya-Viveka (An inquiry into the Nature of the 'Seer' and the 'Seen')
https://vivekananda.net/PDFBooks/Others/DrgDrsyaViveka1931.pdf

>The Ribhu Gita
https://archive.org/stream/RibhuGitaRamaMoorthyH./Ribhu%20Gita%20%20Rama%20Moorthy%20H.%20#page/n1/mode/2up


Ashtavakra Gita for the TLDR, Adi Shankara's commentaries + Yoga Vasistha can be considered core texts, Shankara's non-commentary works and the other non-Shankara texts complement the understanding engendered by studying the core ones

>>11076392
this too, been meaning to add it to the Advaita list copypasta but forgot about it, a non-core text but still a good one

lol the surgeon that killed kanye west's mom was black

>>11072240
>Chinmayananda's translation
Is this the one called "The Holy Geeta"? The amazon page says it's over 1000 pages.

>>11076249
Hinsuism is an ethnocentric religion. Outsiders can't convert into it.
>Are you saying that some Australoid or proto-caucasoid Drav is more entitled to use entheogens in rituals than anyone else?
For enlightenment? Yes. Unless you have a spiritual teacher who comes from a long line of tradition that ritualistically uses drugs, who will initiate you and interpret your hallucinations, there is no point in using them to gain gnosis. Any other attempt would only result in confusion and possibly spiritual fracturing.
>I guarantee you're a giant faggot irl and have never slept with a beautiful woman or won a fight with an imposing opponent, fuck off
For someone who claims he wants to realize the Self and be sovereign, why would he care about such earthly matters while trying to incite anger in others that keep their spirits anchored in the material world? No person who wants to genuinely seeks enlightenment would do such a thing.
>usterity derived from scriptures
>degenerate
Huh?

>>11076464
>Hinsuism is an ethnocentric religion. Outsiders can't convert into it.

There is no traditionally orthodox formalized way of conversion, but it's retarded to belabor this point because it's irrelevant to the fundamental doctrines of Hinduism.

The truth of non-dualism is true at all times, places, cultures, races, eras etc. it's not somehow magically only true for those born to Hindu families. When you argue against people taking in interest in, studying or practicing Hindu teachings such as Advaita because of there not really being a formal conversion process it's a monumental case of not seeing the forest through the trees.

>>11075448
Thanks senpai

>>11072240
Thank you based knowledge-poster.

>>11070307
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6nMtVxLVa8

I worked at a hotel owned by Indians before, and when I asked them to teach me more about their religion, they gave me a copy of the Gita that they were putting in all the rooms like Bibles. So I trust it.

some guy gave me a prabhupada translation of the srimad bhagavatam on the street once

When reading it I was kinda put off by the constant reminders in to remain "submissive" to understand the text.

>>11075928
Then why don't you do nofap, go to church, and stop thinking

Thinking and fun cause degeneracy. Or anything that is not productive to our society and our Lord.

>>11076701
I got to church everyday. And I’m celibate. What else do you want from me?

>>11076701
>Thinking and fun are not productive to society

>>11076691
That's the ISKCON (as it is) version of the Gita, which is a cult. If there is any version you should NOT read, it's that one.

>>11072240
Is translation Bhagavad Gita as it is really that shit? Asking mainly because it is the translation I recently found from bargain bin. And i'm mostly intrested about the translation not the commentarys.

>>11076765
yeah, during the introduction I got quite suspicious and checked the /lit/ archive
this is the message I keep getting

>>11076802
Many people have said that their translation exhibits dvaita influence, which goes against the major orthodox understanding of Hindu doctrines (non-dualism+qualified non-dualism; the difference between these being really only a matter of emphasis).

>>11076452
Yup. A LOT of it is Chinmayananda's commentary. You'll find that Gita translations and commentaries go hand in hand because reading the Gita especially as a westerner completely unaided is extremely difficult because it can be such an erudite and vague text.

>>11076464
>Hinsuism is an ethnocentric religion. Outsiders can't convert into it.
no.

bump

bump

>>11076249
>t.

If you want to uphold good dharma, you must follow in the traditions and values of your ancestors, not throw away your inherited tradition to LARP as a polytheist from India. Study the Hindu doctrines, but by "converting" to hinduism as a westerner you're already being a poor practitioner of hinduism...

It's like that Mulla Nasrudin story about looking for a key. You can't simply act as someone you're not and pretend you've achieved enlightenment, because you need to come to terms with YOUR OWN personal spiritual truths, not take on the aesthetic of somebody else's.

It also seems like you're chasing experience, and confusing that as truth, while pretty much every mystic text (including the Gita) is trying to guide you above the realm of experience. Revelation is important, but getting stoned isn't a revelation, it's just doping yourself up. You aren't enlightened for smoking dope and learning some banal pseudo-spiritual platitudes, you're just narcissistic.

>I guarantee you're a giant faggot irl and have never slept with a beautiful woman or won a fight with an imposing opponent, fuck off
I guarantee you're a moron who's easily impressed by superficial artifice. Go listen to rap music and jerk off to expensive shoes while you pretend loudly signalling towards the virtues you've absorbed through pop culture is a substitute for having a real personality. This board isn't for you.

Start with the Charles Wilkins translation. It was the first in English, and this translation had a huge influence on the Romantic movement.

Bump