Full of new insights

In the Preface to the book, Prof. Nair has clearly spelt out the five strategies that he has followed in order to remain absolutely disciplined and focussed, and entirely faithful to the original, even while following the non-literal route. And these translation techniques, driven by such single-minded devotion and loyalty to the spirit of the original, have really helped Prof. Nair throw, for the first time in the Bhagavad Gita-related studies, a flood of light on a large number of difficult verses in the original, till now considered obscure by many.

This is a feature that all Bhagavad Gita scholars will be quick to notice and appreciate.

Most other translators who have translated the Bhagavad Gita into English have, for many of the key terms in Sanskrit, blindly adopted the same English terms as were adopted by the first few English translators, even though several of these English terms do not convey the real sense in which Sanskrit terms have been used in the Bhagavad Gita. But by being able to see the Bhagavad Gita as a homogeneous whole – and not as a strange mixture of disparate teachings – and by remaining steadfast in following the five translation strategies, Prof. Nair has been able to re-examine the real significance of these key terms and the appropriateness of the English terms often used as their equivalents, and to introduce new English terms as better translations. Some of these key Sanskrit terms are sat-tva, budhi and tyaga.