Re-reading the Bhagavad Gita

(Wow, I haven't updated this blog in a long time! I'll update it more frequently from now on.) I picked up the Jack Hawley translation of the Bhagavad Gita when I last went to Half Price Books. I read the Eknath Easwaran translation a few times some years back and I liked it enough but the Hawley translation was such a pleasure to read.

Here are some sentences that particularly caught my attention.

"Arjuna, the cessation of your present pain and sorrow will depend on how well you overcome your ignorance of your True Self that lives within you." (p.15)
"One's personal duty in life (one's sva-dharma) should be viewed as one's responsibility to his or her highest Self, the Atma... If you do not fight this battle of good over evil, you will fail in both your worldly duty and in your duty to your very Self. You will violate your sva-dharma. Not doing the right thing when it is required is worse than doing the wrong thing." (p.17)
"Equanimity... is truly the ideal attitude in which to live your life." (p.21)
"One's duty in life is one's dharma. This essentially means that you have to live by your inner Truth rather than your selfish desires. One must do one's duty." (p.35)
"Those who find joy and peace completely within are the truly happy ones." (p.54)
"Setting your heart steadily on the visible aspect of Me [God] and becoming saturated with devotion and faith will lead you quickly and surely to me, the Godhead." (p.109)
"The objective of life is to reshape one's character upward in pursuit of a higher ideal - changing from indolence or inertia (tamas) into passionate effort (rajas) and then channeling that into calmness (sattva)." (p.126)
"Suffering is the training ground where one shapes good character and right conduct (dharma). It is dharma (living a truth-based life) that lifts one to the serenity of sattva." (p.128)
"Let the scriptures tell you what you should and should not do, Arjuna. Know what the right choices are and live up to them. It is simpler than you think. When you, or anyone, is firmly on the road to enlightenment there is no conflict at all between what you do and what the scriptures advise." (p.141)
"There are three main methods of purification: the refinement of one's thoughts, words and deeds... Purifying one's deeds... consists of four key practices: veneration of the Gods... veneration of holy ones, persons who have so dedicated their careers; veneration of gurus (spiritual teachers, older people who set good examples); and veneration of the sages, those who already know Atma and have transcended body-mind. Purifying one's words... also includes four key practices: truth telling, not hurting, not flattering and devotional chanting... Consider now, lastly, the purification of thought... To develop equanimity of mind, allow only good thoughts and noble sentiments to arise in you." (p.146)
"Sattvic firmness is an absolutely unwavering devotion to the Divine, a deeply profound resolve to move toward and merge in God." (p.157)