Unlike other posts on this blog, this is however not a review of the book, “The Bhagavad Gita Comes Alive”, but a little note from what interested me from an interview of author Jeffrey Armstrong, on Citti Youtube Channel.
That terms, “Bhagavan” is not equal to “God”, that the term “God” in English has come from Sanskrit, “Hutam”, (“Huta”), that “Atom” has come from Sanskrit “Atma” was well explained. And the author has added a long glossary at the end of the translation, explaining many Sanskrit words that were retained in the translation, as they were in Sanskrit. The author, also being English scholar, has well related literary meanings of “spiritual” and “prayer”, that are completely different from what we generally think, using those terms.
In short, the book promises great read, meaningful, and a true translation, a book, excellent for gifting or recommending to English Language readers.
This link may help readers to Citti Channel on Youtube. https://youtu.be/WAUhhB2-0Pg for interview of author Jeffrey Armstrong.
What made me write this small note, was that, perhaps, it resonated with my attempt many years ago, when I retained terms such as Yagna, Bhagavan, Tyaag, Tapasya, Dharma, Punya etc while attaching a translation of the Bhagavad Gita in my book, “The Bhagavad Gita and Hinduism, What everyone should know”. I am not sure, but perhaps, that book, at that time, was the only book of its kind that retained Sanskrit non-translatables.
Bhagvan is Bhag+Van, who possesses Bhag (भग). What is Bhag? Bhag are: 1- Beauty, 2 - Wealth, 3 - Strength, 4 - Fame, 5 - Knowledge and 6 - Generosity. Possessor of all 6 Bhagas in infinite quantity is Bhagwan. God is different. God came to English from Gut (Dutch). Gut came from Guta (German) and Guta came from Huta (Sanskrit).
