Book Reviewed: Srimad Bhagavad Gita with Text, Word for Word Translation by Swami Swarupananda

The Song of God Author Swami Swarupananda was a disciple of Swami Vivekananda, and he was the first president of the Advaita Ashrama in Kolkata, India. His English translation of Bhagavadgita was first published in 1903 and much of it is presented in this book. This is a good translation of the sacred hymns but does not provide the English transliteration. The verses are in Sanskrit, but the rest of text is in English, and the literal meaning of each key word is provided. This book does not debate the philosophical systems of the text but merely focuses on English translation. This is a very readable book, and it is reasonably priced. The translation of Gita requires an understanding of distinct tones of this epic poem. The first chapter describes the state of war at Kurukshetra between Pandavas and Kauravas. The war-cry of soldiers, the neighing of horses and the sounds of conch charged the background when the dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna begins. To translate this epic prologue as though it belonged to the philosophical discourse would be to cut the sacred scripture right out of its historical setting. The Gita is prophetic that contains ecstatic mystical utterances about the nature and attributes of God. Gita demands poetic expression. This book is translated mainly in the prose form and partly in poetic language. Verse 2:47 that summarizes one of the main teachings of the holy book is compared with other translations for illustration. Swami Swarupananda Your right is to work only, but never to the fruits thereof. Be not the producer of the fruits of [thy] actions; neither let thy attachment be towards inaction Sir Edwin Arnold Find full reward of doing right in right! Let right deeds be Thy motive, not the fruit which comes from them Dr. Radhakrishnan To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction. Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood You have the right to work, but for the work's sake only. You have no right to the fruits of work. Desire for the fruits of work must never be your motive in working. Never give way to laziness, either. Swami Prabhupada You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action. Never consider yourself to be the cause of the results of your activities, and never be attached to not doing your duty. Charles Wilkins Let the motive be in the deed, and not in the event. Be not one whose motive for action is the hope of reward. Let not thy life be spent in inaction

Book Reviewed: Quantum Mechanics: The Theoretical Minimum by Leonard Susskind and Art Friedman

Learning quantum mechanics from a maestro This book is designed to meet the needs of a mathematically inclined reader. An undergraduate level physics textbook is perhaps too advanced, and a popular book with no math discusses the principles of quantum reality that is easier to understand, but this book is at the middle level of complexity. This is meant for readers who are interested to know the equations that describes the mechanics of fundamental particles in terms of their position, motion, and energy in spacetime. Math tends to make certain things easy to put in perspective than mere descriptions without equations! The readers are expected to know mathematical concepts such as complex numbers, vector spaces, linear operators, and tensor products, all of which are artistically explained in a series of interludes. Specific concepts of the space of states, time evolution, principles of uncertainty, and quantum entanglement are described at moderate level of complexity, and yet reader-friendly. I recommend doing the exercises at the end of each chapter. I could not answer many of these questions, but it certainly makes you think. That is a learning process. The biggest challenge is the understanding quantum entanglement because there is no classical analog for a system whose full state description contains no information about its individual parts, and nonlocality (two particles separated at large distances) is difficult to define. The best way to come to terms with these issues is to internalize the mathematics. Two principles emerge as fundamental, the spin state of quantum particle or qubit. In classical physics, everything can be built out of yes/no (1 or 0) questions. Similarly, in quantum mechanics, every logical question becomes a question about qubits (basic unit of quantum information, two level quantum system, spin up or down, both in a state of superposition). The second principle is the harmonic oscillator. How do particles move in quantum mechanics? We know that fundamental particles have wave-particle duality. It exists in both wave and particle forms. Then how do matter in its wave state can have gravity associated with it? That makes understanding quantum gravity harder. In addition, waves oscillate much like a mass attached to the end of a spring. The oscillators, not masses attached to springs, are imagined as waves, in fact they are the oscillating electric and magnetic fields. For each wavelength, there is a mathematical harmonic oscillator describing the amplitude or strength of the field. For many waves there is a lot of harmonic oscillators all running simultaneously. Fortunately, they all oscillate independently. The higher-energy wave functions oscillate more rapidly and are more spread out. This is the consequence of quantum field theory. Another question is how do quantum states change with the evolution of time? They change so that information describing the system are never erased. This is one of the most fundamental phenomenon that haunts in describing black holes. This book sticks to the simplest possible quantum system, one with a two-dimensional state space. The algebra is developed from scratch and author Leonard Susskind describes at a very leisurely pace and the quantum reality is described in the simplest context.

Book Reviewed: History of Bali: A Captivating Guide to Balinese History and the Impact This Island Has Had on the History of Indonesia and Southeast Asia by Captivating History

The story of an island paradise This is a comprehensive history of Bali that narrates the tale of an ancient culture's vulnerability and its resilience in the modern world. This island paradise drew migrants, invaders, and colonizers over thousands of years. In Bali's early history, the people took little action in repelling external forces and the endless waves of cultural and economic changes that engulfed them. It is a living monument that celebrates the golden age of Hindu empires that ruled the seas of Southeast Asia in pursuit of spices, exotic goods, and sharing its Hindu culture. Bali's resistance to Islam and its perpetuation of the unique Balinese Hinduism has made the island vulnerable to Islamic terrorist attacks. But Balinese people are undeterred by the external threats as they have done over a millennia and they continue to take pride in their culture and religion. The cultural and religious influences from India had reached the Indonesian archipelago as early as the first century CE long before Islam. The Majapahit Empire, a Hindu kingdom which lasted three centuries declined and that coincided with the rise of Islam Before the arrival of the Dutch in the mid-19th century, the Bali consisted of several kingdoms which fought among themselves. The ruling arrangement was complex and fragmented. The Dutch, like English colonists in India, used this incoherent Balinese regnal system to their advantage to colonize the island. Upon independence from Dutch colonial rule, the 1945 Constitution of Indonesia guaranteed freedom of religion to all its citizens, but in 1952, the Indonesian Ministry of Religion came under the control of Islamists who severely constrained the acceptable definition of a "religion." The ministry defined "religion" as one that is monotheistic with codified religious law, possesses a prophet and a Holy Book to fit Islam as the only religion. Balinese Hindus were declared as "people without a religion” and the country pressured them to convert. They disagreed and claimed Hinduism is monotheistic. To accomplish this, they initiated a series of student and cultural exchange initiatives with India to help formulate the core principles behind Balinese Hinduism, the belief in Vedas, the Puranas, and the epics, and the exposition of One God described as Brahman (Paramatma) in the sacred scriptures of Upanishads, the Bhagavadgita and the Hindu philosophical system of Vedanta. This led the Indonesian government to recognize Hinduism as an independent religion under its constitution. On the lesser side of current Balinese culture, one of the first known specimens of Homo erectus (upright humans) were found in Java dating to about one million years ago. This book is concise and brief but gives important aspects of Bali’s cultural heritage. This is a readable book even though there are no pictures of Bali’s tropical beaches, rich architecture, and design.