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Radhakrishnan wanted to re-state the philosophy of the Gita in his own words, according to his profound understanding of the Hindu scriptures to the world after the Second World War. He sought to effect "the reconciliation of mankind" by highlighting "the truths of eternity," with "the accents of our time."
. . ! With the clarity of mind for which he became famous in his life time, Radhakrishnan also set out his credo as a translator in the same preface :
"There are many editions of the Bhagavadgita and several good English translations of it and tliere would be no justification for another, if all that was needed for English readers was a bare translation. Those who read the Gita in English need notes at least as much as those who read it in Sanskrit, if they are not to miss their way in it....
A translation to serve its purpose must be as clear as its substance will permit. It must be readable without being shallow, modern without being unsympathetic. But no translation of the Gita can bring out the dignity and grace of the original. Its melody and magic of phrase are difficult to recapture in another medium. The translator's anxiety is to render the thought, but he cannot convey fully the spirit. He cannot evoke in the reader the mood in which the thought was born and induce in him the ecstacy of the seer and the vision he beholds. Realizing that, for me at any rate, it is difficult to bring out, through the medium of English, the dignity of phrase, and the intensity of utterance, I have given the text in Roman script also so that those who know Sanskrit can rise to a full comprehension of the meaning of the Gita by pondering over the Sanskrit original. Those who do not know Sanskrit will get a fairly
correct idea of the spirit of the poem from the beautiful English : rendering by Sir Edwin Arnold. It is so full of ease and grace and has
a flavour of its own which makes it acceptable to ali but those who are scrupulous about scholarly accuracy."
Radhakrishnan's book was originally publislied by George Allen & Unwin in London, well-known for their books of ideas and quality. This went into nine impressions in a second edition. Then Blackie & Sons, a long-time publisher of English textbooks in India brought out a cheaper, Indian reprint and this too went into seven reprints by 1982, indicating the ever-widening readership of the book. More, the non-Sanskrit-knowing people all over India were allowing themselves to have an exposure to the Gita as translated and interpreted by Radhakrishnan,
