The Bhagavad Gita: The Song of God Retold in Simplified English is not an ordinary retelling or translation of the original epic but a compressed and summarized version specifically created for the beginner or uninitiated reader. What sets this edition of the Bhagavad Gita apart from other retellings is that it is designed for readers with no prior experience of Hinduism. To make the original work accessible, I have simplified complex ideas and paraphrased content to create something that is akin to a primer for the first-time reader. I intend to create a point of entry to this magnificent Indian classic which, because of its rich cultural and spiritual references, may seem out of reach to some readers. I hope that, once introduced to the beauty of the Bhagavad Gita, you, the reader will feel equipped and compelled to read one of the many complete translations. I have provided recommendations for that next step at the end of the book.
English has complicated spelling and pronunciation rules with many exceptions, making it difficult to predict how a word should be written or said. This is not the case in Sanskrit, the language of the Bhagavad Gita, where diacritical marks make pronunciation clear and uniform. Unfortunately, the same diacritical marks can make reading confusing to English-language readers. So I use mostly English spelling conventions for Sanskrit words. In Sanskrit Bhagavad Gita is a single word that would more accurately be transliterated BhagavadGītā, or Bhagavad-Gita, and Lord Krishna’s name is Kṛṣṇa, marked with diacritics to show how to pronounce it. I have decided to use the spelling Krishna and the title Bhagavad Gita because they are already ubiquitous in English publications.
In the chapter “Hindu Spiritual Worldview,” I have used both the English spelling as well as the diacratically marked spelling to help introduce the reader to different ways of presenting common Hindu terms.