Philosophical poem · 1885
The Song Celestial
Bhagavad Gita (from the Mahabharata)
Translated by Sir Edwin Arnold (1885)
On the field of Kurukshetra, as two armies stand ready, the warrior Arjuna lets fall his bow, and his charioteer, the god Krishna, answers his despair in eighteen chapters on duty, devotion and the self. Arnold renders the Sanskrit in blank verse, shifting into lyrical measures where the original does. The Gita is attributed by tradition to Vyasa.
Contents · 18 parts
- Chapter I: The Distress of Arjunaabout 140 lines
- Chapter II: The Book of Doctrinesabout 280 lines
- Chapter III: Virtue in Workabout 150 lines
- Chapter IV: The Religion of Knowledgeabout 160 lines
- Chapter V: Religion of Renouncing Worksabout 110 lines
- Chapter VI: Religion by Self-restraintabout 170 lines
- Chapter VII: Religion by Discernmentabout 110 lines
- Chapter VIII: Religion by Service of the Supreme96 lines
- Chapter IX: Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mysteryabout 140 lines
- Chapter X: Religion by the Heavenly Perfectionsabout 120 lines
- Chapter XI: The Manifesting of the One and Manifoldabout 360 lines
- Chapter XII: Religion of Faith73 lines
- Chapter XIII: Religion by Separation of Matter and Spiritabout 130 lines
- Chapter XIV: Religion by Separation from the Qualitiesabout 100 lines
- Chapter XV: Religion by Attaining the Supreme89 lines
- Chapter XVI: The Separateness of the Divine and Undivine90 lines
- Chapter XVII: Religion by the Threefold Faith91 lines
- Chapter XVIII: Religion by Deliverance and Renunciationabout 290 lines