Song of the Blessed One. (Odds & Ends).

Its very name, Bhagavad Gita, sounds mysterious and unapproachable to most Americans. Accurate pronunciation of this Sanskrit title is even more off-putting for English speakers. Yet when this title is translated into English, "The Song of the Blessed One" sounds both inviting and intriguing. Interested readers will revel in Stephen Mitchell's new translation of this spiritual masterpiece recently published in paperback (Three Rivers Press).

This book, informally referred to as the Gita, is a section of India's national epic poem, the Mahabharata, eight times the length of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey combined. The Gita was probably written as a separate piece somewhere between the fifth and first century B.C. and eventually incorporated as Book Six of this larger work.

The story is set on a field of battle between two opposing armies. The archer warrior Arjuna, overwhelmed by the prospects of war, turns to his charioteer, Krishna, for counsel. "This is the cue for Krishna to begin his teaching about life and deathlessness, duty, nonattachment, the self, love, spiritual practice, and the inconceivable depths of reality," writes Mitchell in his introduction. Krishna is God incarnate speaking.

Like Arjuna, today we are in the midst of battlefields. Rumors of war are more than rumors, regretfully. What does the unknown author of the Gita offer contemporary readers caught in the culture of warfare? Don't look to this text for battle plans and military strategies. Instead, read this epic poem for a profound meditation on human existence, personal transformation, and divine incarnation.

Stephen Mitchell describes the Bhagavad Gita on several different levels: a great philosophical poem, an instruction manual for spiritual practice, and a guide to peace of heart. But ultimately Mitchell hails this poem as "a love song to God."

Even though this spiritual classic at the heart of Hinduism is not a household word in this country, some notable Americans have sung its praises. Both Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau, titans of 19th-century American transcendentalism, loved it. Emerson called it "the first of books," and Thoreau thought it outranked Shakespeare. A hundred years later, Robert Oppenheimer quoted passages from the Gita to capture me awe and horror of the Atomic Age.

In an essay, "The Message of the Gita," printed as an appendix to Mitchell's book, Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "With every age the important words will carry new and expanding meanings."

Might Stephen Mitchell's translation once again contribute to bridging the gap between India's age-old spiritual wisdom and the United States' contemporary spiritual search? Its beautiful poetry, its challenging themes, and its ability to touch hearts make the Bhagavad Gita a profound sacred text for all humanity.

Give it a read, and see for yourself.

PETER GILMOUR ([e-mail]) teaches at the Institute of Pastoral Studies of Loyola University Chicago.