Iskcon publishes Gita in Urdu

The International Society for Krishna Consciousness ( ISKCON) has launched an Urdu translation of the Bhagwad Gita to enable Muslims to understand the teaching and philosophy of the scripture.

The translation which has been published by the Bhakti Vedanta Trust, was launched on Janamashtmi, which marks the annual celebration of the birth of Lord Krishna.

Shri Somdutt Brahmchari of Iskcon said that the Urdu translation would help the readers to understand the universal message of Gita. The Gita contains 700 verses. The translation of all the shlokas, along with an easy explanation, is provided in the ISKCON’s Urdu edition. ISKCON had earlier published an Urdu translation of the text, but this is the first time that interpretation has also been provided in the book.

Earlier in 2014, noted poet Anwar Jalalpuri had translated all the 700 shlokas of the Gita into Urdu, but the same was published in Devnagri script to enable Hindi readers to understand it.

Mr Jalalpuri said, “I had this idea in mind for almost 30 years, and after retirement as chairman of the UP Madarasa Board, I started working on it. I had to do a great deal of labour,” he said.