The Bhagavad Gita

Eknath Easwaran's best-selling translation of the Bhagavad Gita comes with a 55-page introduction that places the text in its historical context and explains its key ideas. The Gita begins on a battlefield, where Arjuna, a warrior in anguish, asks his spiritual guide Sri Krishna the basic questions of life. The edition frames that battlefield as a backdrop for the real subject, the inner struggle for self-mastery that every person faces. Each chapter has its own introduction, and notes and a Sanskrit glossary are included. Raised in India in the Hindu tradition, Easwaran studied Sanskrit from an early age and became an English literature professor before moving to the West.

Ryan Holiday put it on his list of the very best books he read in 2018, saying he had not been ready for it before and was glad to finally understand it. It also appears in ReCactus founder Bernard Tan's interview about the books he reads.