Dharma, Karma, Guna: A Sanskrit Glossary for First-Time Readers of the Bhagavad Gita

Abstract

A glossary of Sanskrit terms from the Bhagavad Gita, from dharma and karma to yoga and the three gunas, as background for The Billionaire Bhagavad Gita. The Bhagavad Gita opens on a battlefield and quickly turns into a conversation about how to live. Along the way it uses a handful of Sanskrit words that carry enormous weight, and English translations handle them in different ways. Some keep the Sanskrit, some replace it with a single English word, and some do both. A newcomer can easily feel that the vocabulary is a gate they were not given the key to. This glossary is meant to hand you that key. It is background on the subject, not a description of the contents of any specific book, and it is written as a companion for readers of THE BILLIONAIRE BHAGAVAD GITA (https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=RSbrEQAAQBAJ) by Dr. Ajarn Robert Shumake (Ajarn Shaman Shu) of Buddha Digital Temple. Each entry gives the word, a rough pronunciation cue, the sense in which it is generally used, and a thought about how a modern reader might hold it. Get the book: Google Play Books · Apple Books — THE BILLIONAIRE BHAGAVAD GITA by Dr. Ajarn Robert Shumake.