Mitchell is a poet. His Gita sings. Consider the famous verse 2.47. A traditional translation reads: "You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of action." Mitchell renders it as: "You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of work. You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction." The result is punchier, more memorable, and meditative.
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When you download a free, scanned PDF, you often lose these invaluable scholarly and contextual elements. You get the bones, but not the marrow. Mitchell is a poet
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Unlike academic translations (such as those by Franklin Edgerton or A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada), which prioritize word-for-word accuracy, Mitchell employs a "sense-for-sense" methodology. He describes his process as listening to the text until he can hear the English rhythm that corresponds to the Sanskrit pulse.
This approach has distinct advantages and disadvantages: