The narration of the Bhagavad Gita on this site is from an English translation by Swami Tapasyananda. My thanks to the publisher, Sri Ramakrishna Math in Chennai, India, for giving me permission to use their book.
A few years ago, I stood at a very important spiritual crossroads. I had been become infatuated with the Bhagavad Gita, and other Hindu scriptures, and went to India to see how the words and the place matched up.
Traveling to India was one of the greatest experiences of my life, but one of the lessons of the trip was that I am an American, and as appealing as India and Hinduism may be, my roots and my identity are here, in the United States. On coming home, I returned to the religion that I was raised in, Roman Catholicism.
I was working as an audiobook narrator, and felt compelled to begin a project to share and develop my explorations. At the time, I was serving as a lector at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. A lector is the person who reads out loud the scriptures at the the mass. It seemed like a good idea to start a website that would provide audio of that day’s mass readings.
There are many translations of the Bible. In the United States, the Catholic Church uses the New American Bible translation during mass. So it would be necessary ask permission of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops if I were to use their translation on the website.
I requested permission, and the response was very guarded and legalistic. The project would have to be under the publisher’s strict control and observation. I had not intended to sell anything, but was told what percentage of any profits I would be allowed to keep. All audio would have to be submitted 3 weeks ahead of time and wait for their approval.
It seemed to me that this whole approach defied the spirit of the project. I had meant it as an act of goodwill, as an attempt to share something valuable, as a gift.
As I considered what to do, I sent an email to the Sri Ramakrishna Math, asking if it would be possible to provide a narration of Swami Tapasyananda’s translation of the Bhagavad Gita. Their response warmed my heart. “Of course,” they said. “Just please provide a link to our site.”
And so I stood at a crossroads. I could try to share my religious heritage, or an adopted scripture from a foreign land. In the end, it was not too difficult to choose. These experiences had shown that this was really a choice between goodwill and legalism, between a desire to share and a desire to assert ownership. It was between the need to know, and the need to conform. I chose the Bhagavad Gita.
Audio of the readings from the New American Bible are now available on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website. So I don’t think that my contributions were ever really needed. I may have helped inspire the idea, but I’m not sure.
I love the Bhagavad Gita, and I want to understand it better. It was probably never intended for an American like me, and many parts of it may prove inaccessible. But of this I’m sure: It is a great work, and worthy of study, and important in this time of incredible flux, and change, and confusion.
As a citizen of the United States of America, I am free to choose which religion and which scriptures to pursue. This website is an exercise of that freedom.
If you’re interested in audio of American historical works, including the Federalist Papers and Common Sense, please see my other site, Americana Phonic.
About
The narration of the Bhagavad Gita on this site is from an English translation by Swami Tapasyananda. My thanks to the publisher, Sri Ramakrishna Math in Chennai, India, for giving me permission to use their book.
A few years ago, I stood at a very important spiritual crossroads. I had been become infatuated with the Bhagavad Gita, and other Hindu scriptures, and went to India to see how the words and the place matched up.
Traveling to India was one of the greatest experiences of my life, but one of the lessons of the trip was that I am an American, and as appealing as India and Hinduism may be, my roots and my identity are here, in the United States. On coming home, I returned to the religion that I was raised in, Roman Catholicism.
I was working as an audiobook narrator, and felt compelled to begin a project to share and develop my explorations. At the time, I was serving as a lector at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC. A lector is the person who reads out loud the scriptures at the the mass. It seemed like a good idea to start a website that would provide audio of that day’s mass readings.
There are many translations of the Bible. In the United States, the Catholic Church uses the New American Bible translation during mass. So it would be necessary ask permission of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops if I were to use their translation on the website.
I requested permission, and the response was very guarded and legalistic. The project would have to be under the publisher’s strict control and observation. I had not intended to sell anything, but was told what percentage of any profits I would be allowed to keep. All audio would have to be submitted 3 weeks ahead of time and wait for their approval.
It seemed to me that this whole approach defied the spirit of the project. I had meant it as an act of goodwill, as an attempt to share something valuable, as a gift.
As I considered what to do, I sent an email to the Sri Ramakrishna Math, asking if it would be possible to provide a narration of Swami Tapasyananda’s translation of the Bhagavad Gita. Their response warmed my heart. “Of course,” they said. “Just please provide a link to our site.”
And so I stood at a crossroads. I could try to share my religious heritage, or an adopted scripture from a foreign land. In the end, it was not too difficult to choose. These experiences had shown that this was really a choice between goodwill and legalism, between a desire to share and a desire to assert ownership. It was between the need to know, and the need to conform. I chose the Bhagavad Gita.
Audio of the readings from the New American Bible are now available on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website. So I don’t think that my contributions were ever really needed. I may have helped inspire the idea, but I’m not sure.
I love the Bhagavad Gita, and I want to understand it better. It was probably never intended for an American like me, and many parts of it may prove inaccessible. But of this I’m sure: It is a great work, and worthy of study, and important in this time of incredible flux, and change, and confusion.
As a citizen of the United States of America, I am free to choose which religion and which scriptures to pursue. This website is an exercise of that freedom.
If you’re interested in audio of American historical works, including the Federalist Papers and Common Sense, please see my other site, Americana Phonic.