With the armies arrayed, Arjuna loses his nerve. The difference is that Arjuna's action was to wage war against his own family. Prince Arjuna faced a dilemma that many face sooner or later-whether to take action that is necessary yet morally ambiguous. Most importantly, this translation uses simple, clear language to impart the poetry, universality, and timelessness of the Gita's teachings. In this best-selling and expanded edition of the most famous -and popular - of Indian scriptures, Eknath Easwaran contextualizes the book culturally and historically and explains the key concepts of Hindu religious thought and the technical vocabulary of yoga.Ĭhapter introductions, notes, and a glossary help readers understand the book's message. In the Bhagavad Gita, Prince Arjuna asks direct, uncompromising questions of his spiritual guide on the eve of a great battle. For anyone interested in biblical history, The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English is a worthwhile read. Vermes has also included an overview of five decades of research on the scrolls and a thumbnail sketch of the Qumran community's history and religion. Vermes has left out the copies of Hebrew scriptures that are available elsewhere, instead focusing on the sectarian writings of the Essene community at Qumran and the intertestemental texts, and these are indeed complete translations. Geza Vermes, a former professor of Jewish studies at Oxford and a noted authority on the scrolls, marks the 50th anniversary of Muhammed edh-Dhub's find with his book The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English the title, however, is misleading, for the collection of documents is by no means complete. In the intervening decades, the scrolls have been enveloped in a storm of controversy and bitter conflict: the scholars entrusted with translating and editing the texts sat on many of them instead, creating suspicions that escalated to conspiracy theories about supposed cover-ups of sensitive, even damaging material. It's been 50 years since a Bedouin youth named Muhammed edh-Dhub went looking for a stray sheep and instead found the Dead Sea Scrolls. Here, for scholars, students, and the fascinated general reader, are the texts which endure as the nonbiblical center of Judeo-Christianity and the foundation of Western literary traditions. The Complete Dead Sea Scrolls in English-the crowning achievement of esteemed biblical scholar Geza Vermes-provides not only reliable, direct access to these intriguing documents but a wealth of scholarly information and an outline of the history surrounding them. After years of academic debate and maneuvering as tense as any espionage novel, the Dead Sea Scrolls and fragments are at last available in their entirety, in an established standard English version. Nothing in the modern study of the ancient Mideast can match the fifty-year saga of these documents hidden by a Jewish sect existing before and during the time of Jesus.