As a sacred text, The Bhagavad Gita has edified and inspired Mohandas Gandhi, Henry David Thoreau, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Aldous Huxley, C. G. Jung, Ram Dass, and many others. Eknath Easwaran (1910-1999) was raised as a Hindu and learned Sanskrit at a young age. After teaching at a major Indian university, he came to the United States and taught in the West a lively, creative, and practical brand of spirituality.
Easwaran's translations of the Indian classics (The Bhagavad Gita, The Upanishads, and The Dhammapada) have been heralded by scholars and lay people alike. His three-volume set The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living (Volume 1 — The End of Sorrow, Volume 2 — Like a Thousand Suns, and Volume 3 — To Love Is to Know Me) is a watershed work of great depth and meaning. His commentaries on the Gita's teachings makes it clear why this sacred text was for him (and millions of others) a manual for living a spiritual life.
This paperback has been assembled and produced by Easwaran's senior editors, students who worked with him for many years. Although the material here can't be compared to the magisterial three-volume set, it is a very good distillation of key points. There are insights into the principles of yoga, the war within, the art of meditation, the illusion of separateness, healing the unconscious, and the challenges of mastering the mind.
