(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best bhagavad gita books

Bhagavad Gita most accurate without commentary :

Most accessible without commentary

With Sri Shankaracharya's commentary

Also with Sri Shankaracharya's commentary

With independent commentary


Mahabharata

Don't know which translation of the Ramayana is good.

The Vedas are not supposed to be translated and there are no good translations available.


Upanishads with Sri Shankaracarya's commentary : Vol I and Vol II

The Bhagavad Gita

edit: find one with a good commentary;
this is the one that I own:
http://www.amazon.com/Bhagavad-Gita-Antonio-Nicolas/dp/0892540907

All translations and commentaries are done from the perspective of the person doing the translation.

One person's best translation is another's worst because of that issue as different spiritual perspectives are sometimes completely opposed to each other.

I'm a fan of Maharishi Mahesh YOgi's Translation and Commentary of the first 6 chapters of the Gita.

Most people hate it because he speaks from the perspective of someone who teaches that TM is the most effective way to become enlgihtened and, while he never made it clear, most meditation practices actually take you in the opposite direction from TM.

His students, Thomas Egenes and Vernon Katz have published translations of the Upanishads and the Yoga Sutras that are based on enlightenment from a TM perspective, and those too will be seen as the worst possible from the perspective of those who promote mindfulness.

.

Example:

.


Taught by an inferior man this Self cannot be easily known,

even though reflected upon. Unless taught by one

who knows him as none other than his own Self,

there is no way to him, for he is subtler than subtle,

beyond the range of reasoning.



Not by logic can this realization be won. Only when taught

by another, [an enlightened teacher], is it easily known,

dearest friend.

-Katha Upanishad, I.2.8-9

.

.

That [unmanifest] is full; This [manifest] is full.


From fullness fullness comes out.

Taking fullness, from fullness,

what remains is fullness.

-Isha Upanishad (Translation Maharishi Mahesh Yogi)


.
.

https://www.amazon.com/Upanishads-Translation-Tarcher-Cornerstone-Editions/dp/0399174230

https://www.amazon.com/Maharishi-Mahesh-Yogi-Bhagavad-Gita-Translation/dp/0140192476/ref=la_B000AQ4QWC_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1526704395&sr=1-1

I like Swami Prabhupada version because each verse is:

• Text in Sanskrit
  
• Literal translation of each word in English
  
• English translation of the verse
  
• Explanation
  
  
  https://www.amazon.com/Bhagavad-Gita-Swami-Bhaktivedanta-Prabhupada/dp/1602930007/ref=pd_aw_sbs_14_2/145-1434239-9930102?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1602930007&pd_rd_r=d4246ea5-3f60-4a0c-8161-7449d9ee74fc&pd_rd_w=Nh2e8&pd_rd_wg=K18Yf&pf_rd_p=af6838ce-fb64-489e-8573-27e11ad9cf20&pf_rd_r=X2ZJB4KSP402WHQ1FWM0&psc=1&refRID=X2ZJB4KSP402WHQ1FWM0&utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

Autobiography of a Yogi - Paramahansa Yogananda

The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali - Swami Satchidananda

The Yoga Teachers' Toolbox - Le Page

The Essence of the Bhagavad Gita: Explained by Paramhansa Yogananda, As Remembered By His Disciple, Swami Kriyananda

Give the OP a break.

By the way your explanation of meditation needs to be qualified in some way. It is totally incomplete from the standpoint of the teachings, Krishna in the Bhagavad Gita, or Yogananda in Autobiography of a Yogi.

Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics https://www.amazon.com/dp/090779162X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_QJ4EDbB3R1DCY

Secret Drugs of Buddhism https://www.amazon.com/dp/0692652817/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_wK4EDb733CREK

Entheogens, Myth, and Human Consciousness https://www.amazon.com/dp/1579511414/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_CM4EDb7WCZCJJ

The Effluents of Deity: Alchemy and Psychoactive Sacraments in Medieval and Renaissance Art https://www.amazon.com/dp/161163041X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_PN4EDbMCDQ1CQ

Magic Mushrooms in Religion and Alchemy https://www.amazon.com/dp/0892819979/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_gO4EDb3KYSGN5

The Apples of Apollo: Pagan and Christian Mysteries of the Eucharist https://www.amazon.com/dp/089089924X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_FO4EDbH0C12RD

Krishna in the Sky with Diamonds: The Bhagavad Gita as Psychedelic Guide https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00770DJRW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_2Q4EDb7AEKZ2F

Geeta by eknath easwaran

amazon link

Bhagvad gita is a hindu scripture.

>The Gita is set in a narrative framework of a dialogue between Pandava prince Arjuna and his guide Lord Krishna. Facing the duty to kill his relatives, Arjuna is "exhorted by his charioteer, Kṛiṣhṇa, among others, to stop hesitating and fulfill his Kṣatriya (warrior) duty as a warrior and kill."[1] Inserted[1] in this appeal to ksatriyadharma (heroism)[2] is "a dialogue [...] between diverging attitudes concerning and methods toward the attainment of liberation (moksha).[3]
The Bhagavad Gita presents a synthesis[4][5] of the Brahmanical concept of Dharma,[4][5][6] theistic bhakti,[7][6] the yogic ideals[5] of liberation[5] through jnana,[7] and Samkhya philosophy.[web 1][note 1]

you can get the whole book here along with commentry of different sages.

for printed versions i would recommend http://www.amazon.in/Bhagavad-Gita-as-A-C-Bhaktivedanta-Svami/dp/089213285X?tag=googinhydr2997-21.

EDIT:personal advice read one chapter a day.Not more.