Born in the United States into a secularized Hindu family, Amit Majmudar puzzled over the many religious traditions on offer and found that the Bhagavad-Gita had much to teach him with its “song of multiplicities.” Chief among them is that “its own assertions aren’t as important as the relationships between its characters . . . The Gita imagined a relationship in which the soul and God are equals.” It is, he believes, “the greatest poem of friendship . . . in any language.”

His verse translation captures the many tones and strategies Krishna uses with Arjuna-strict and berating, detached and philosophical, tender and personable. The listener’s guides to each section expand on the main text and what is happening between the lines in accessible terms. Godsong is an instant classic in the field, from a poet of skill, fine intellect, and-perhaps most important-devotion.

Content - Multiplicities: A Foreword to the Bhagavad-Gita, A Note on the Words I Didn't Translate, A Note on the Proper Nouns, Godsong, SESSION 1 Arjuna Despairs, SESSION 2  Samkhya, SESSION 3 Arjuna Despairs, SESSION 4 Renounce Through Knowledge, SESSION 5 Renounce Through Works,  SESSION 6 Concentrate, SESSION 7 Know and Discern, SESSION 8  Brahman the Imperishable, SESSION 9 Royal Wisdom, Royal Secret, SESSION 10 Expansive Glories, SESSION 11 Envision the Universal Form, SESSION 12 Devote Yourself, SESSION 13 The Field and the Knower of the Field, SESSION 14 Tell Apart the Three Gunas, SESSION 15  The Highest Human Godhood, SESSION 16 Tell the Divine from the Demonic  Inheritance, SESSION 17 Tell Apart the Three Kinds of Faith, SESSION 18 Free Yourself Through Renunciation, Listener's Guides, A Note on Technique