The Bhagavad
Gita, the greatest devotional book of Hinduism, has long been recognized
as one of
the world’s spiritual classics and a guide to all on the path of Truth. It is
sometimes
known as the Song of the Lord or the Gospel of the Lord Shri Krishna.
According to
Western scholarship, it was composed later than the Vedas and the
Upanishads –
probably between the fifth and second centuries before Christ. It is a
fragment, part
of the sixth book of the epic poem The Mahabaratha.
The
Mahabaratha tells of the Pandavas, Prince Arjuna and his four brothers, growing
up
in north
India at the court of their uncle, the blind King Dhritarashtra, after the
death of
their
father, the previous ruler. There is always great rivalry between the Pandavas
or sons
of Pandu and
the Kauravas, the one hundred sons of Dhritarashtra. Eventually the old
king gives
his nephews some land of their own but his eldest son, Duryodhana, defeats
Yudhisthira,
the eldest Pandava, by cheating at dice, and forces him and his brothers to
surrender
their land and go into exile for thirteen years. On their return, the old king
is
unable to
persuade his son Duryodhana to restore their heritage and, in spite of efforts
at
reconciliation
by Sanjaya, Dhritarashtra’s charioteer; by Bheeshma, his wise counsellor;
and even by
the Lord Krishna himself, war cannot be averted. The rival hosts face each
other on the
field of Kurukshetra. It is at this point that The Bhagavad Gita begins.
When Prince
Arjuna surveys the battlefield, he is overwhelmed with sorrow at the
futility of
war. The teachings of The Bhagavad Gita are spoken by the divine Lord Krishna,
who is
acting as the prince’s charioteer. They are overheard by Sanjaya and reported
back
to King
Dhritarashtra. When Krishna has finished speaking to Arjuna, the two armies
engage. The
battle lasts eighteen days and by the end of it nearly all of the warriors on
both sides are dead save Krishna and the five
sons of Pandu.
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