Interview with Jeffrey Armstrong, Author of The Bhagavad Gita Comes Alive: A Radical Translation

Jeffrey Armstrong or Kavindra Rishi as he is known has brought out a new translation of Gita - The Bhagavad Gita Comes Alive - A Radical Translation. He dedicates it “Shrila Vyasa Deva who originally compiled the Bhagavad Gita, to Adi Shankaracharya who restored it, to Ramanuja Acharya who revived it, to Madhwacharya who reawakened it and to Chaitanya Mahaprabhu who revealed it to Bhaktivinode Thakur who envisioned it going out to the world and to Bhaktivedanta Swami who delivered it to the world.”

In a quote by eminent scholar David Frawley, he says that the Bhagavad Gita is India’s most “mistranslated book, subject to every possible misinterpretation.” He adds that it has been assaulted with inappropriate terminologies, dichotomies, and theologies of western thought that cannot properly capture the essence of the Gita.

In this interview with CSP, Kavindra Rishi shows a deep understanding and abiding respect for Indian Knowledge Systems. He has worked on this translation for over a decade, but his immersion in India goes back much further.