The Bhagavad Gītā

«Dhritarashtra spoke: When they were in the field of virtue, in the field of the Kurus, Assembled together, desiring to fight, What did my army and that of the Sons ofPandu do, Sanjaya?» — I.1, la única estrofa que habla el rey ciego Dhritarashtra, y con ella el marco de todo el poema: él pregunta y Samjaya responderá; el campo de la virtud y el campo de los Kurus son el mismo sitio, y el impreso funde *of Pandu*

«Sanjaya spoke: Seeing indeed the army Of the sons of Pandu arrayed, King Duryodhana, approaching his Master (Drona), Spoke these words:» — I.2, primera intervención de Samjaya, que narra desde lejos lo que ve: Duryodhana se acerca a su maestro Drona

«Behold 0 Master, this great army Of the sons of Pandu Arrayed by the son of Drupada, Wise by your instruction.» — I.3, Duryodhana señala a su propio maestro que el ejército enemigo lo ordena un discípulo suyo: el reproche es que los dos bandos se formaron con la misma enseñanza

«Here are heroes, mighty archers, Equal in battle to Bhima and Arjuna, Yuyudhana and Virata, And Drupada, the great warrior;» — I.4, Duryodhana empieza el censo de los guerreros enemigos, midiéndolos contra Bhima y Arjuna

«Dhrishtaketu, Chekitana, And the valorous King of Kashi, Purojit and Kuntibhoja And Shaibya, bull among men.» — I.5, sigue el censo enemigo; *narapungava*, toro entre los hombres, es fórmula de elogio guerrero

«And mighty Yudhamanyu And valorous Uttamaujas; The son of Subhadra and the sons of Draupadi, All indeed great warriors.» — I.6, cierre del censo enemigo que hace Duryodhana

«Those of ours who are indeed distinguished, Know them! 0 highest of the Twiceborn, The leaders of my army I name for you by proper names:» — I.7, Duryodhana pasa a nombrar a los suyos y llama a Drona el más alto de los nacidos dos veces; el impreso funde *O highest* y *Twice-born*

«Your Lordship and Bhishma and Karna and Kripa, always victorious in battIe, Ashvatthama and Vikarna and the son of Somadatta also;» — I.8, la lista de los capitanes Kauravas, con Bhishma y Karna a la cabeza; el impreso escribe *battIe* con i mayúscula

«And many other heroes whose lives art risked for my sake, attacking with various weapons, all skilled in battle .» — I.9, Duryodhana cierra su censo propio; el impreso escribe *art* por *are*

«Sufficient is that force of ours Guarded by Bhishma; Insufficient though is The force guarded by Bhima .» — I.10, la estrofa más discutida del primer libro: Duryodhana compara las dos fuerzas, y la versión de Sargeant invierte suficiente e insuficiente respecto del orden del sánscrito que imprime arriba

«And in all movements, Stationed each in his respective place, All of you, indeed, Protect Bhishma!» — I.11, la orden con que Duryodhana cierra su parlamento

«Making him (Duryodhana) happy, The aged Kuru, his grands ire, Roaring like a lion, Blew his conch horn powerfully.» — I.12, Bhishma abre el estruendo de las caracolas con un rugido de león; el impreso parte *grandsire* en dos

«And thereupon the conch horns and the kettledrums, The cymbals, drums and trumpets All at once were sounded. The uproar was tremendous.» — I.13, el estruendo del bando Kaurava

«Then, standing in the great chariot Yoked with white horses, Krishna and Arjuna Sounded forth their divine conch horns.» — I.14, entran en escena Krishna y Arjuna en el carro de caballos blancos; es la primera vez que el poema los pone juntos

«Krishna blew his Panchajanya; Arjuna blew Devadatta, While Bhima, terrible in action, Blew the great conch horn Paundra.» — I.15, las caracolas con nombre propio de los tres primeros héroes Pandavas

«King Yudhishthira, Son ofKunti, blew Anantavijaya; Nakula and Sahadeva Blew Sughosa and Manipushpaka.» — I.16, siguen las caracolas nombradas; el impreso funde *of Kunti*

«And the King of Kashi, supreme archer, And Shikhandi, that great warrior, Dhrishtadyumna and Virata And Satyaki, the invincible;» — I.17, el censo de los aliados Pandavas, con Shikhandin entre ellos

«Drupada and the sons of Draup.ldi All together, 0 Lord of the Earth, And the strong anned son of Subhadra Blew their conch horns, each his own.» — I.18, cierre del estruendo Pandava; la estrofa se dirige al rey ciego, que es quien escucha el relato, y el impreso corrompe *Draupadi* y *armed*

«The noise burst asunder The hearts of the sons ofDhritarashtra, And the tumult caused The sky and the earth to resound.» — I.19, el efecto del estruendo sobre el enemigo; el impreso funde *of Dhritarashtra*

«Then, Arjuna, having seen the sons of Dhritarashtra Drawn up in battle array, Raised his bow as the clash of weapons began.» — I.20, Arjuna alza el arco al ver formado al enemigo; el epíteto que el sánscrito le da es el del estandarte del mono

«Arjuna then spoke these words to Krishna: o Lord of the earth, Cause my chariot to stand in the middle Between the two armies, Imperishable One,» — I.21, la petición que pone en marcha el poema: que el carro se detenga entre los dos ejércitos

«Until I behold these warriors, Battle-hungry and arrayed. With whom must I fight In undertaking this battle?» — I.22, Arjuna dice para qué quiere detenerse: ver con quién ha de pelear

«I behold those who are about to give battle, Having come together here, Wishing to do service in warfare For the evil-minded son ofDhritarashtra (Duryodhana).» — I.23, Arjuna llama malintencionado al hijo de Dhritarashtra; el impreso funde *of Dhritarashtra*

«Thus Krishna was addressed by Arjuna, o Dhritarashtra, Having caused the chief chariot To stand in the middle between the two armies.» — I.24, Samjaya retoma la palabra y se dirige al rey ciego, recordando quién escucha

«Before the eyes ofBhishma and Doona And all these rulers of the earth, Arjuna said: Behold these Kurus assembled.» — I.25, Krishna detiene el carro y manda mirar; el impreso funde *of Bhishma* y corrompe *Drona* en *Doona*

«Arjuna saw standing there Fathers, then grandfathers, Teachers, maternal uncles, brothers, Sons, grandsons, friends as well;» — I.26, lo que Arjuna ve enfrente es una genealogía, no un ejército

«Arjuna saw fathers-in-law, companions, In the two armies, And contemplated All his kinsmen, arrayed.» — I.27, la lista de parientes se cierra con la palabra que la resume: todos los suyos, en los dos ejércitos

«Filled with infinite pity, Despondent, he said this: Having seen my own people, Krishna, Desiring to fight, approaching.» — I.28, el abatimiento de Arjuna al ver a los suyos con ganas de pelear

«My limbs sink down, My mouth dries up, My body trembles, And my hair stands on end;» — I.29, el poema da el desplome de Arjuna como síntomas del cuerpo antes que como razones

«Gandiva (Arjuna's bow) falls from (my) hand, My skin burns, I am unable to remain as I am, And my mind seems to ramble.» — I.30, el arco cae de la mano y la mente divaga; Sargeant mete entre paréntesis la identificación del arma

«I perceive inauspicious omens, o Krishna, And I foresee misfortune In destroying my own people in battle.» — I.31, Arjuna suma los presagios a los síntomas; el impreso pone *o* por *O* en el vocativo

«I do not desire victory, Krishna, Nor kingship nor pleasures. What is kingship to us, Krishna? What are enjoyments, even life?» — I.32, Arjuna rechaza el premio entero de la guerra: victoria, reino, placeres y hasta la vida

«Those for whose sake we desire Kingship, enjoyments, and pleasures, They are arrayed here in battle, Abandoning their lives and riches.» — I.33, el argumento de Arjuna: aquellos por quienes se querría el reino son los que están enfrente

«Teachers, fathers, sons, And also grandfathers, Maternal uncles, fathers-in-law, grandsons, Brothers-in-law, and other kinsmen.» — I.34, la enumeración completa del parentesco que Arjuna tiene enfrente

«I do not desire to kill Them who are bent on killing, Krishna, Even for the sovereignty of the three worlds. How much less then for the earth?» — I.35, Arjuna rechaza matar aun por la soberanía de los tres mundos, y con más razón por la tierra

«What joy would it be for us To strike down the sons of Dhritarashtra, 0 Krishna? Evil thus would cling to us, Having killed these aggressors .» — I.36, el argumento moral de Arjuna: matar al agresor deja mal pegado igual

«Therefore we are not justified in killing The sons of Dhritarashtra, our own kinsmen. How, having killed our own people, Could we be happy, Krishna?» — I.37, Arjuna cierra su alegato con la pregunta por la felicidad después del crimen

«Even if those Whose thoughts are overpowered by greed do not perceive The wrong caused by the destruction of the family, And the crime of treachery to friends.» — I.38, Arjuna concede que el enemigo, cegado por la codicia, no ve el daño

«Why should we not know enough To turn back from this evil, Through discernment of the wrong caused By the destruction of the family, o Krishna?» — I.39, y de esa concesión saca el deber propio: saber lo que el otro no ve obliga a retroceder

«In the destruction of the family, The ancient family laws vanish; When the law has perished, Lawlessness overpowers the entire family also.» — I.40, Arjuna encadena su segundo argumento: destruida la familia perecen sus leyes antiguas y entra el desorden

«To my dear wife, Jane» — la dedicatoria del traductor, única línea de la plana

«CONTENTS Foreword by Huston Smith ix Editor’s Preface with a User’s Guide for the Word-by-Word Analysis of the Bhagavad Gı¯ta¯ xix Translator’s Preface 1 The Language of the Bhagavad Gı¯t¯a 3 The Setting of the Bhagavad Gı¯t¯a 9 List of Abbreviations Used in the Vocabularies 35 Epithets Used in the Bhagavad G» — el índice declara las seis piezas de aparato que preceden al poema y sus folios impresos; el troceo corta el renglón final en *Bhagavad G*, y el poema mismo no figura en el índice

«I have written over thirty-five forewords to books, but none with the urgency with which I write this one.» — Huston Smith abre su prólogo declarando la urgencia con que lo escribe

«Because this edition of the G¯ıt¯a looks so daunting that general readers are likely to conclude that it is not the one for them.» — Huston Smith dice cuál es el riesgo de esta edición: su aparato gramatical ahuyenta al lector general

«But that would be a serious mistake, for the truth is that this is a multivalent book—there is something in it that will reward every serious reader.» — Huston Smith objeta ese juicio y llama al libro multivalente

«Christopher Chapple’s admirable preface summarizes the Bhagavad Gı¯t¯a’s plot and positions it in the vast literature of the Vedas.» — Huston Smith reparte los oficios del volumen: el prefacio de Chapple resume la trama y sitúa el poema en la literatura védica

«For those who only want to read the G¯ıt¯a’s story, therefore, the book is literally a page-turner, for all they need do is to read the verses on the bottom left-hand side of each page.» — Huston Smith da la instrucción de lectura rápida que la disposición de la plana permite: leer solo los versos del pie izquierdo

«However, should readers want elaboration, they will find it in the right-hand column of the page where, for example, dharma is translated as duty, law, righteousness, virtue, and honor.» — Huston Smith describe la columna derecha y toma *dharma* como ejemplo del abanico de equivalentes que ofrece

«There are some books that will never have definitive editions, and I am not confining myself to translations; I am thinking of the vernacular in which the substance of the texts are cast—idioms, metaphors, analogies, innuendos and their likes.» — Huston Smith enuncia la razón por la que ciertos clásicos no admiten edición definitiva, y la pone en el vernáculo y no en la traducción

«The reason for this is that in a way, these classics are living creatures in at least the sense that they seek out apertures through which to move.» — Huston Smith describe esos clásicos como criaturas vivas que buscan aberturas por donde pasar

«There are only a very few books that I know of that can do this, with the Tao Te Ching preeminent among them.» — Huston Smith pone el Tao Te Ching a la cabeza de los pocos libros capaces de eso

«Poetry works in this way, as do stories and tales, but not expository prose.» — Huston Smith reparte la capacidad entre géneros y deja fuera la prosa expositiva

«The Bhagavad G¯ıt¯a is the summation of the Ved¯anta, and among explicit doctrines the Ved¯anta stands out as one of the most direct formulations possible of what constitutes the very essence of our spirituality.» — Huston Smith coloca el poema como suma del Vedanta y llama al Vedanta una de las formulaciones más directas de la esencia de la espiritualidad

«Truth being one, the G¯ıt¯a’s teachings find their parallels in the other revealed scriptures, but nowhere else are its teachings so succinctly stated.» — Huston Smith concede el paralelo con las demás escrituras reveladas y reserva al poema la concisión

«Sri Krishna, the teacher, is regarded by the Hindus as the Lord Himself in human form» — Huston Smith consigna cómo los hindúes miran a Krishna: el Señor mismo en forma humana

«The G¯ıt¯a can be read as history, but it lends itself readily to being an allegory.» — Huston Smith admite las dos lecturas, la histórica y la alegórica

«In this mode, Arjuna represents the individual soul, and Sri Krishna the Supreme Soul that dwells in every heart. Arjuna’s chariot is the body.» — Huston Smith da las equivalencias de la lectura alegórica: Arjuna como alma individual, Krishna como Alma Suprema que habita en todo corazón, el carro como cuerpo

«The blind king Dhr. tar¯as.t.ra is the mind under the spell of maya, ignorance, and his hundred sons are man’s numerous evil tendencies.» — Huston Smith continúa la alegoría: el rey ciego es la mente bajo el hechizo de *maya* y sus cien hijos, las tendencias malas; el impreso puntea la transliteración

«The battle is an eternal one that is always going on between the powers of good and the powers of evil.» — Huston Smith lee la batalla como eterna entre los poderes del bien y del mal

«Hindu philosophers have never been satisfied with the mere intellectual understanding of religious treatises.» — Huston Smith señala que la comprensión meramente intelectual de los tratados no ha bastado a los filósofos hindúes

«Scripture is merely a key to the infinite storehouse of knowledge that lies within every human soul.» — Huston Smith define la escritura como llave de un almacén de conocimiento que ya está dentro

«Hinduism lays down such disciplines: discrimination between the Real and the unreal and renunciation of the unreal; and acquisition of the six virtues (control of the mind, control of the senses, restraining the mind from being distracted by worldly objects, faith in the scriptures and the words of the teacher, mental concentration, and lastly, the longing for liberation).» — Huston Smith enumera las disciplinas previas al estudio: discriminación entre lo Real y lo irreal, renuncia a lo irreal y seis virtudes, la última de ellas el anhelo de liberación

«It is an immemorial custom among Hindus to read the G¯ıt¯a as a part of their daily devotions. Without it, prayer and meditation do not seem to be complete.» — Huston Smith consigna la costumbre de leer el poema como parte de la devoción diaria

«In the remaining pages of this foreword, I unpack the G¯ıt¯a, so to speak. I divide its contents into segments that, pieced together, deliver the G¯ıt¯a’s message.» — Huston Smith declara el método del resto de su prólogo: partir el contenido en segmentos que entregan el mensaje

«These segments do not appear in the G¯ıt¯a; they spin off from and expand the verse(s) of the G¯ıt¯a that are noted at the end of each segment.» — Huston Smith advierte que los segmentos son suyos y no del poema, y que cada uno remite a los versos que lo originan

«Happiness derived from the fulfillment of worldly desires does not last. As one grows old, one realizes that everything is transient—wealth, possessions, health, and even life itself.» — Huston Smith abre su primer segmento, El propósito de la vida, con la transitoriedad de lo que se posee

«This inquiry leads to the discovery that besides the body and mind, there is another component of the human being that is less apparent and more important because it is more enduring and is always watching our activities.» — Huston Smith introduce un tercer componente del ser humano, más duradero que cuerpo y mente y siempre observando

«In spiritual texts the body-mind complex is called the Apparent Self and the more enduring component is called the Real Self.» — Huston Smith nombra los dos términos con que trabajará todo el prólogo: el Yo Aparente y el Yo Real

«Eventually one realizes that the cause of the aforementioned discontent derives from attending to one’s Apparent rather than one’s Real Self, and that the purpose of life is to recognize this distinction and to identify oneself with one’s Real Self» — Huston Smith fija el propósito de la vida en reconocer la distinción entre los dos yos e identificarse con el Real; remite a BG II:66

«However, superior to all of the foregoing is the soul which is the source of consciousness and life.» — Huston Smith cierra su escala —miembros, sentidos, mente, intelecto— poniendo el alma por encima de todo como fuente de la consciencia y de la vida

«The human soul contains a spark of the Divine, the key attributes of which are indestructibility, indivisibility, and infinity.» — Huston Smith da los tres atributos de la chispa divina del alma humana: indestructibilidad, indivisibilidad e infinitud

«There is but One Being, and in every human soul this one and the same being permeates fully, not partially, just as the entire sun is reflected in miniature in every dewdrop.» — Huston Smith enuncia la unidad del Ser con el símil de la gota de rocío que refleja el sol entero, no una parte

«If every human soul has the same Divine spark, then all human beings are endowed with the same potential for goodness.» — Huston Smith deriva de esa unidad la igualdad de potencial moral entre los seres humanos

«Human beings move tranquilly through childhood, youth, and maturity, but old age is not welcomed, and approaching death is feared.» — Huston Smith abre el segmento del alma humana con el desigual trato que se da a las edades

«In truth, however, all of these stages should be welcomed equally, for the human soul reincarnates and repeats the same stages until it reaches its release from the physical body.» — Huston Smith iguala las edades apelando a la reencarnación del alma hasta su liberación del cuerpo

«When the soul reincarnates, it carries with it the impressions and inclinations that it has accumulated in its past lives» — Huston Smith dice qué transporta el alma al reencarnar: impresiones e inclinaciones de vidas pasadas; remite a BG II:2 y II:13

«The physical world is constantly changing; it is a scene of perpetual perishing.» — Huston Smith describe el mundo físico como escena de perecer perpetuo

«An all-pervading consciousness, which by its nature is eternal and indestructible, can alone be the ultimate reality.» — Huston Smith identifica la realidad última con una consciencia que todo lo penetra, eterna e indestructible

«We catch glimpses of this all-pervading consciousness when we encounter people who show tremendous courage, extraordinary creativity, and boundless compassion» — Huston Smith dice dónde se vislumbra esa consciencia: en el coraje, la creatividad y la compasión de ciertas personas; remite a BG II:16-17

«There are several paths to spiritual realization. People are born with different temperaments and tendencies» — Huston Smith funda la pluralidad de vías en la pluralidad de temperamentos