Flex Mentallo

As the two great armies prepare for battle, Arjuna is overwhelmed by the thought of the tragic slaughter to come. He turns to Krishna and says, "I will not fight". Here is Krishna's response as translated by Mascaró. 9 – When Arjuna the great warrior had thus unburdened his heart, 'I will not fight, Krishna', he said, and then fell silent. 10 – Krishna smiled and spoke to Arjuna – there between the two armies, the voice of God spoke these words: 11 – Thy tears are for those beyond tears, and are thy words words of wisdom? The wise grieve not for those who live and they grieve not for those who die – for life and death shall pass away. 12 – Because we all have been for all time, I, and thou, and those kings of men. And we all shall be for all time, we all for ever and ever. 13 – As the Spirit of our mortal body wanders on in childhood and youth and old age, the Spirit wanders on to a new body; of this the sage has no doubts. 14 – From the world of the senses, Arjuna, comes heat and comes cold, and pleasure and pain. They come and they go; they are transient. Arise above them, strong soul. 15 – The man whom these cannot move, whose soul is one, beyond pleasure and pain, is worthy of life in Eternity. 16 – The unreal never is, the Real never is not. This truth indeed has been seen by those who can see the true. 17 – Interwoven in his creation, the Spirit is beyond destruction. No one can bring to an end the Spirit which is everlasting. 18 – For beyond time he dwells in these bodies, though these bodies have an end in their time, but he remains immeasurable, immortal. Therefore, great warrior carry on thy fight. 19 – If any man thinks he slays, and if another thinks he is slain, neither knows the ways of truth. The Eternal in man cannot kill; the Eternal in man cannot die. 20 – He is never born and he never dies. He is in Eternity; he is for evermore. Never-born and eternal, beyond times gone or to come, he does not die when the body dies. 21 – When a man knows him as never-born, everlasting, never-changing, beyond all destruction, how can that man kill a man or cause another to kill? 22 – As a man leaves an old garment and puts on one that is new, the Spirit leaves his mortal body and then puts on one that is new. 23 – Weapons cannot hurt the Spirit and the fire can never burn him. Untouched is he by drenching waters, untouched is he by parching winds. 24 – Beyond the power of the sword and fire, beyond the power of waters and winds, the Spirit is everlasting, omnipresent, never-changing, never moving, ever One. 25 – Invisible is he to mortal eyes, beyond thought and beyond change. Know that he is and cease from sorrow. 26 – But if he were born again and again, and again and again, he were to die, even then, victorious man, cease thou from sorrow. 27 – For all things born in truth must die, and out of death in truth comes life. Face to face with what must be, cease thou from sorrow. 28 – Invisible before birth are all beings and after death invisible again. They are seen between two unseens. Why in this truth find sorrow? 29 – One sees him in a vision of wonder, and another gives us words of his wonder. There is one who hears of his wonder; but he hears and knows him not. 30 – The Spirit that is in all beings is immortal in them all, for the death of what can not die, cease thou from sorrow. (The Bhagavad Gita , translated from the Sanskrit by Juan Mascaró, Penguin Books, 1962)

This revelation forms the subject of a famous Bharata Natyam dance, Jagadodharana, in which a single dancer performs both mother and child.

The poet Purandaradasa tells of how one day, Krishna steals his mother Yashoda's butter, but when she admonishes him to open his mouth and show her the butter, he instead reveals the entire universe.

Like Hercules, Krishna strangled two snakes while still in his crib. Like any child growing up, he was mischievous.

Though Krishna is Arjuna's friend and charioteer, he is also an avatar of the Supreme Deity, Vishnu.

The Mahabharata describes a great war between good and evil, the Kurukshetra War, between two interrelated dynastic families, the Kauravas and the Pandavas. (There really was an iron age Kuru Dynasty that flourished from around 1200 B.C.)

With over 100,000 couplets, the Mahabharata is by far the longest epic poem ever written. It is considered to be as important to world civilization as the works of Shakespeare, Homer, the Qur'an or the Bible (which it predates).

Bhagavad Gita

The Penguin Classics edition of the Bhagavad Gita was my introduction to the wonderful translations of this (and subsequently many of the Upanishads) by the Spaniard Juan Mascaró. He was a poet as much as a translator. The Gita is an extended dialogue between the god Krishna and the warrior prince Arjuna, part of a great epic, the Mahabharata, which along with the Ramayana is one of two still vibrantly alive Sanskrit sacred epics at the heart of Hinduism to this day. (I will refer to the Ramayana later on.) The Gita is a guide to Hindu philosophy and a practical, self-contained guide to life.

A few not yet posted.

You just blew my mind!! At first, I thought it was a spoof cover ... truly Thanks for the pic. Easily a match for any other romance books IMHO. I've had more than one copy down the years and as I recollect the stories have great artwork and are very powerful and mature. You mean I should open it and read it? Nope - you'll go blind.

Yes. Then this would be your idea of true romance?

Not for nothing, as they used to say on the West Wing, but if the short "black" period of ACG romance circa 1954 might be considered "anti-romance" romance books, much of their "horror" output in the next couple of years read more like gothic romance than anything else. Post-code, but generally scarce. Am I alone in liking these I wonder?

You just blew my mind!! At first, I thought it was a spoof cover ... truly Thanks for the pic. Easily a match for any other romance books IMHO. I've had more than one copy down the years and as I recollect the stories have great artwork and are very powerful and mature.

Love that cover! Me too - I had a fine copy I wish I'd kept - it is a surprisingly tough book!

Spider thingy

That's the one I was thinking of - thanks for posting Rick.

Congrats! Always loved this cover. The yellow skin tone really sets off the creepy vibe. More horrific than romantic.

There are some good ones There are also some good Fox splash pages, but I don't have those any longer. Rulah #19 I think might have a classic?

Congrats! That didn't take long! I can see one problem here - you don't have an MRA 50 anymore... :: (or maybe you do?) Been watching this thread for a long time and was wondering when people were going to start spilling the secret cool books MRA 49 is another very neat one, which I personally prefer over 50 (which obviously has the crossover horror appeal). I have a 49, but it's hard to find these books for sale (Technically, "Romantic Adventures" without the "My") I know one boardie with a nice, upper grade copy of this one, but I've never seen a truly high grade copy. Anyone? (Great girl fight cover. The interior art is really good, too.) That's a great cover. I think I saw Flex post a higher grade one for sale (or maybe it was a sales thread tease?). I have posted this before - cant recall when. Not quite a match for adamstrange's copy, but I think it was harshly dealt with by CGC for an almost invisible moisture stain on the back cover. My impression is it's a fairly tough book And peanuts in the guide. Andy is correct - this one isnt going anywhere! Best "catfight" cover out there? Arguably?