A translation of the ??vara G?t?, a parallel text to the Bhagavad G?t? that promotes religious inclusion.
While the Bhagavad G?t? is an acknowledged treasure of world spiritual literature, few people know a parallel text, the??vara G?t?. This lesser-known work is also dedicated to a god, but in this case it is ?iva, rather than K???a, who is depicted as the omniscient creator of the world. Andrew J. Nicholson's Lord ?iva's Song makes this text available in English in an accessible new translation. A work of both poetry and philosophy, the ??vara G?t? builds on the insights of Patañjali's Yoga S?tra and foreshadows later developments in tantric yoga. It deals with the pluralistic religious environment of early medieval India through an exploration of the relationship between the gods ?iva and Vi??u. The work condemns sectarianism and violence and provides a strategy for accommodating conflicting religious claims in its own day and in our own.