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Stephen Mitchell is widely known for his ability to make ancient masterpieces thrillingly new, to step in where many have tried before and create versions that are definitive for our time. His celebrated version of the Tao Te Ching is the most popular edition in print, and his translations of Jesus, Rilke, Genesis, and Job have won the hearts of readers and critics alike. Stephen Mitchell now brings to the Bhagavad Gita his gift for breathing new life into sacred texts. The Bhagavad Gita is universally acknowledged as one of the world's literary and spiritual masterpieces. It is the core text of the Hindu tradition and has been treasured by American writers from Emerson and Thoreau to T. S. Eliot, who called it the greatest philosophical poem after the Divine Comedy. There have been more than two hundred English translations of the Gita, including many competent literal versions, but not one of them is a superlative literary text in its own right.Now all that has changed. Stephen Mitchell's Bhagavad Gita sings with the clarity, the vigor, and the intensity of the original Sanskrit. It will, as William Arrowsmith said of Mitchell's translation of The Sonnets to Orpheus, "instantly make every other rendering obsolete."From the Hardcover edition.

Artist and veteran Pixar animator Sanjay Patel lends a lush, whimsical illustration style and lighthearted voice to one of Hindu mythology's best-loved and most enduring tales. Teeming with powerful deities, love-struck monsters, flying monkey gods, magic weapons, demon armies, and divine love, Ramayana tells the story of Rama, a god-turned-prince, and his quest to rescue his wife Sita after she is kidnapped by a demon king. This illustrated tale features over 100 colorful full-spread illustrations, a detailed pictorial glossary of the cast of characters who make up the epic tale, and sketches of the work in progress. From princesses in peril to gripping battles, scheming royals, and hordes of bloodthirsty demons, Ramayana is the ultimate adventure story presented with an unforgettably modern touch.

Q: What was your inspiration to tell this story?

Patel: Well I finally read the thing. I mean I suck at reading and everything. But I came across a great adaptation of the Ramayana by an author named Ashok Banker. I actually discovered the book via Nina Paley's blog. She's the one woman force behind Sita Sings the Blues, the feature length animated work about the same subject. After reading a few pgs on Amazon I ordered the first book by Mr. Banker which weighed in at over five hundred pgs. Keep in mind that was just book one of a seven part series. I just read and read and the thing slowly unlocked. And what I found was an ancient mythology with themes and symbols that were timeless and essential. Really meaningful stuff all wrapped up in a visually rich world of epic adventure. The story was just begging to be illustrated.

Q: How did you get started working at Pixar?

Patel: The only thing I was ever good at was copying drawings from comic books. I just drew, and nothing could ever get me to stop. All throughout school I was considered "the artist," which really just meant that I could make really bad drawings for people's letterman jackets. A friend told me about Cal-Arts and animation. The school was the key. Most of Pixar's directors have come straight out of Cal-Arts and its character animation program. I just walked in their footsteps and they ended up recruiting me after my second year. I've been at Pixar ever since, close to thirteen years now.

Q: Describe your creative process. How do you create your illustrations?

Patel: Once I have a concrete idea of the story point that I want to communicate, which is usually nailed down in the writing, I then think of one "story telling image. For instance, it's a big story point when Hanuman, the monkey with special powers, uses his burning tail to set fire to the Ravana's capital city. Since this story has been told many times before I try and research what visual artist have done previously to communicate this moment. Here I pulled together reference from paintings and from vintage comics.

Click on the image to learn more about Patel's creative process and see more example illustrations.




Q: How long did it take you to create the scenes in the book?

At one point the illustrations were getting churned out at about one every two and half days. I was at a good clip till I decided to redo the entire book three times. I kept fighting with trying to make the art light hearted and cute, but the story was anything but that. The Ramayana is pretty dramatic and graphic, and I eventually found a style and voice that captured those things. It only took me four years.

Q: Which characters in the Ramayana did you have the most fun illustrating?

Patel: I can doodle Ravana the ten-headed demon king in my sleep at this point. I also love sketching Hanuman and Rama. They both have really fun shapes to fiddle with. The cover of the book was actually a blast, it was probably the last illustration I did.

Some of Sanjay's Favorites:

Favorites Illustrator(s)
Marc Boutavant
J Otto Seibold
Saul Steinberg
William Steig
Ronald Searle
Richard Scarry
Martin & Alice Provenson
Mary Blair
Charley Harper
M. Sasek
T. Biskup
Lewis Trondheim


Favorite movie(s)
Back to the Future
Amelie
The Wrong Trousers
Raiders of the Lost Ark
The Mission
Raising Arizona
Princess Mononoke
Dumbo
Abyss
Bottle Rocket


Favorite band(s)
That's a toss up between M83 and Sigur Ros

Favorite restaurant(s)
Usually places that serve french fries and hot sauce.


Favorite book(s)
Phoenix Karma by Osamu Tezuka:
Calvin & Hobbes Tenth Anniversary Book by Bill Watterson
Angry Youth Comix by Johnny Ryan

The Bhagavad Gita, or "The Song of God," is one of the great spiritual classics of the world. This modern translation and commentary by one of the world's best-known and most respected yoga masters makes the deep spiritual truths of India's timeless classic available to the Western mind in a way never before thought possible.

A finalist for the From the Publishers' Marketing Association Spiritual Book of the Year Award, the book includes every verse of the Bhagavad Gita and can also serve well as a lively, enjoyable textbook.

This extraordinary treatise explores parallel passages from the Bible and the Hindu scriptures to reveal the essential unity of all religions. Swami Sri Yukteswar is renowned as the revered guru of the great pioneer of yoga in the West, Paramahansa Yogananda (author of Autobiography of a Yogi). In this remarkable work - composed in the year 1894 at the request of the great Indian sage, Mahavatar Babaji - Sri Yukteswar outlines the universal path that every human being must travel to enlightenment. He also explains the vast recurring cycles of history - the yugas that mark the upward ascent of human consciousness over millenniums - amid the ever-changing panorama of turbulent world events.

The Yoga Aphorisms of Patanjali is a major work on the practice of yoga and meditation. Through these ancient aphorisms you will learn how to control your mind and achieve inner peace and freedom. Although these methods were taught over 2,000 years ago, they are as alive and effective today as they have ever been. The 2008 edition has been reset and now has an extensive index for reference.

One of the two most important texts of the Hindu religion, The Upanishads are ancient accounts of mystical revelations and remain the primary source of spiritual guidance for millions of believers today.

Editorial Reviews The publisher, Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, June 15, 2001

Book Description

Bhagavad-gita As It Is

Complete Edition, with translations and elaborate purports by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The Bhagavad-gita is the main source-book on yoga and a concise summary of India's Vedic wisdom. Yet remarkably, the setting for this best-known classic of spiritual literature is an ancient Indian battlefield.

At the last moment before entering battle, the great warrior Arjuna begins to wonder about the real meaning of his life. Why should he fight against his friends and relatives? Why does he exist? Where is he going after death? In the Bhagavad-gita, Lord Krsna, Arjuna's friend and spiritual master, brings His disciple from perplexity to spiritual enlightenment. In the course of doing so, Krsna concisely but definitively explains transcendental knowledge; karma-yoga, jnana-yoga, dhyana-yoga, and bhakti-yoga; knowledge of the Absolute; devotional service; the three modes of material nature; the divine and demoniac natures; and much more.

Bhagavad-gita As It Is is the largest-selling, most widely used edition of the Gita in the world.

Special Features

* Original Sanskrit text
* English equivalents for each Sanskrit word
* Elaborate commentary
* Complete glossary
* Complete verse index
* Complete subject index
* High readability
* Profuse full-color illustrations

This book provides a comprehensive survey of Hindu development from the Indus civilization to the present.

For all who have ever sought to understand the enigmas of life, for those who have held within their hearts an uncertain hope about the reality of God, and for seekers who have already turned toward the Supreme in their quest, this anthology of talks by the author of Autobiography of a Yogi offers illuminating insights and encouragement. In its pagese, Paramahansa Yogananda explores little-known and rarely explained aspects of such subjects as meditation, life after death, health and healing, the unlimited powers of the human mind, the equality of man and woman, and the interrelatedness of all life.
Topics include:
* Making Religion Scientific
* Will Jesus Reincarnate?
* Three Paths to Cosmic Consciousness
* The Dream Nature of the World

Pages: 330, Paperback, State University of New York Press