Bhagavad Gita - Song of God

Bhagavad Gita - The Song of God is the title of the Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood's translation of the Bhagavad Gītā (Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता, "Song of God"), an important Hindu scripture. It was first published in 1944 with an Introduction by Aldous Huxley. This translation is unusual in that it is a collaboration between a world-renowned English language author and an adept in Vedanta Philosophy and Hindu scripture. With this translation, "...the very purpose of life in Hindu terms becomes luminously clear.”. The 2023 edition includes the standardized verse markings that were left out from the original, published in 1944.

Aldous Huxley wrote the introduction and gave advice during the translation process, “Forget that Krishna is speaking to the Hindus in Sanskrit. Forget that this is a translation. Think that Krishna is speaking to an American audience in English.” "Christopher Isherwood could not read Sanskrit; he relied on detailed and intense discussions with Swami Prabhavananda to understand the meaning of each word. Then he cast the ancient Hindu text in a mixture of poetry and prose rooted in the English literary tradition reaching back to Medieval times."

Despite the translation's merits, it has been criticized for not including the standard verse numbers, making it difficult to compare to other translations and some critics take issue with the translation of particular verses. However, "To preserve the everlasting simplicity of the Gita's words… Isherwood…and his teacher [Swami Prabhavananda] have collaborated on this latest translation… the result is a distinguished literary work… simpler and freer than other English translations… It may help U.S. readers to understand not only the Gita itself, but also its influence on American letters through one of its greatest U.S. admirers, Ralph Waldo Emerson."

The translation was well received in the U.S. and earned reviews in the New York Times, Time Magazine, and was adopted as a text book in many colleges and universities, for comparative religion studies. It sold over 1,000,000 copies since its first publication in 1944.