The purpose for Converting Bhagavad-gītā into English poetry is to make its profound teachings more accessible, engaging, and emotionally resonant for a wider English-speaking audience, while also celebrating its literary merit.
Reaching a Wider Audience: One primary motivation is to reach a broader audience, particularly those who prefer English and may find the poetic form more appealing or memorable. Many existing resources, like podcasts, often focus on Sanskrit to Hindi translations, while English translations might lack the aesthetic qualities of the original Sanskrit.
Leveraging Technology: The increasing availability of AI tools makes it easier to convert Sanskrit verses into English poetry, facilitating this form of translation.
Enhancing Engagement: Poetry can make religious or philosophical texts more engaging by utilizing artistic and aesthetic qualities. This can draw in readers who appreciate literature and might find prose translations less captivating.
Improving Memorability and Impact: The structure and rhythm of poetry can often convey complex ideas and emotions in a more memorable and impactful way.
Offering Artistic Interpretation: Translating into poetry involves an element of artistic interpretation. This allows the translator to highlight different aspects of the original text through elements like rhythm, rhyme, and figurative language, offering a fresh perspective on the ancient verses.
Aiding Cultural Transmission: Converting sacred texts into the poetic form of another language helps in their cultural transmission and appreciation within different linguistic communities. It allows those unfamiliar with Sanskrit to experience the Gita in a literary form they are familiar with.
Emphasizing Emotion and Feeling: Poetry is well-suited for conveying emotions and personal experiences. Given the intense dialogues and emotional shifts in the Bhagavad-gītā, such as Arjuna's dilemma, a poetic conversion can emphasize these emotional and psychological dimensions of the text.