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{{Infobox book
| name = The Song Celestial
| image = File:Picture of Edwin Arnold.jpg
| image_size = 200
| alt =
| caption = Photograph of Edwin Arnold, c. 1897
| author = [[Edwin Arnold|Sir Edwin Arnold]]
| title_orig =
| orig_lang_code =
| language = [[English language|English]]
| subject =
| genre =
| published = 1885
| pages =
| oclc =
| dewey =
| congress =
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}}

'''''The Song Celestial: A Poetic Version of the Bhagavad Gita''''' is a translation of the [[Bhagavad Gita]] (a part of the [[Mahabharata]]) from [[Sanskrit]] into [[English language|English]] by [[Edwin Arnold|Sir Edwin Arnold]], first published in 1885.<ref name="Arnold">{{cite book|last=Arnold|first=Sir Edwin|title=Bhagavad-Gita : or The song celestial : translated from the Sanskrit text|year=2005|publisher=Digireads.com Publishing|location=Stilwell, KS|isbn=1420926012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WnSkmAEACAAJ}}</ref> The translation following ''[[The Light of Asia]]'', his narrative-poem of the [[Lalitavistara Sūtra]].<ref>Sutin, L.: ''All is Change: The Two-Thousand-Year Journey of Buddhism to the West'', Little, Brown and Company, 2006. See pages 141 to 143.</ref> It is dedicated to [[India]] with the following preface:
{{blockquote|So have I read this wonderful and spirit-thrilling speech, By Krishna and Prince Arjuna held, discoursing each with each; So have I writ its wisdom here, - its hidden mystery, For [[England]]; O our India! as dear to me as She!}}

In his autobiography, [[Mahatma Gandhi]] recalled when two [[theosophist]] brothers gave him ''The Song Celestial'' during his [[Mahatma Gandhi#Three years in London|studies in England]]. This was the first time Gandhi had ever read the [[Bhagavad Gita|Gita]], as he had never read it in [[Sanskrit]] nor in [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]]. Gandhi adored this version, stating: "I have read almost all English translations [...] and I regard Sir Edwin Arnold's as the best." Gandhi also invited Edwin Arnold to be the vice-president of the [[Vegetarian Society]] in [[London]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gandhi|first1=Mahatma|title=Gandhi: An Autobiography|isbn=0-8070-5909-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/autobiographyst00gand/page/66 66]|edition=Beacon Press|url=https://archive.org/details/autobiographyst00gand/page/63|year=1993}}</ref>

==Summary==
The book summarizes itself as the following: [[Krishna]], who is regarded as an incarnation of the [[God in Hinduism|Divine]], then instructs [[Arjuna]] on the way of [[dharma|duty]] and [[moksha|liberation]] through [[Noble Eightfold Path#Right action|right action]]. The message he enunciates is applicable to people of all Faiths and all ages, for the battle to be fought, not only by mankind as a whole but for each individual, is the eternal one between right and wrong, between wisdom and ignorance, between the [[Ātman (Hinduism)|Self]] and [[Anātman (Hinduism)|not-Self]].<ref>Arnold</ref>

==Chapters==
The chapters are listed as follows:
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
#''The Distress of Arjuna''
#''The Book of Doctrines''
#''Virtue in Works''
#''The Religion of Knowledge''
#''Religion of Renouncing Works''
#''Religion of Self-Restraint''
#''Religion by Discernment''
#''Religion by Service of the Supreme''
#''Religion by the Kingly Knowledge and the Kingly Mystery''
#''Religion by the Heavenly Perfections''
#''The Manifesting of the One and Manifold''
#''Religion of Faith''
#''Religion of Separation of Matter and Spirit''
#''Religion of Separation of the Qualities''
#''Religion by Attaining the Supreme''
#''The Separateness of the Divine and Undivine''
#''Religion by the Threefold Faith''
#''Religion by Deliverance and Renunciation''
{{div col end}}

==See also==
*[[Bhagavad Gita]]
*[[The Light of Asia]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://archive.org/details/songcelestialor00arnogoog/page/n10 The Song Celestial, 1885]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Song Celestial}}
[[Category:Bhagavad Gita]]
[[Category:1885 books]]
[[Category:Epic poems in English]]
[[Category:Mahabharata]]
[[Category:Kurukshetra]]
[[Category:Krishna]]
[[Category:Dialogues]]
[[Category:Translations into English]]

The Song Celestial - Revision history

216.165.95.129: robot: Create/update articles in Category:Hindu gods.