Description
The full name of the work is Bhagvadgita. In common parlance, we often abbreviate the name into Gita, and in Sanskrit literature the name occurs in both forms. In the works of sankarakarya, quotations from the Gita are introduced, sometimes with the words โIn the Bhagavadgita, or in the Bhagavadgita,โ and sometimes with words, the form current, apparently throughout India, is, โIn the Upanishads sung (Gitas) by the Deity.โ Sankarakarya, indeed, sometimes calls it the Isvara Gita, which, I believe, is the specific title of a different work altogether. The signification, however, of a different work altogether. The signification, however, of the two names is identical, namely, the song sung by the Diety, or, as Wilkins translates it, the Divine Lay.
This Divine Lay forms part of the Bhishma parvan of the Mahabharata-one of the two well-known national epics of India. The Gita gives its name to a subdivision of the Bhishma Parvan, which is called the Bhagavadgita and which includes, in addition to the eighteen chapters of which the Gita consist, twelve other chapters. Upon this the question has naturally arisen, Is the Gita a genuine portion of the Mahabharata, or is it a later addition? The question is one of considerable difficulty. But I cannot help saying, that the manner in which it has been generally help saying, that the manner in which it has been generally dealt with is not altogether satisfactory to my mind. Before going any further into that question, however, it is desirable to state some of the facts on which the decision must be based. It appears, then, that the royal family of Hastinapura was divided into two branches; the one called the Kauravas, and the other the pandavas. The furrier wished to keep the latter out of the share of the kingdom claimed by them: and so, after many attempts at an amicable arrangement had proved fruitless, it was determined to decide the differences between the two parties by the arbitrament of arms. Each party accordingly collected its adherents, and the hostile armies met on the โholy field of Kurukshetra,โ mentioned in the opening lines of our poem. At this juncture, Krishna Dvaipayana, alias Vyasa, a relative of both parties and endowed with more than human powers, presents himself before Dhritarashra whether it is his wish to look with his own eyes on the course of the battle; and on Dhritarashtraโs expressing his reluctance, Vyasa deputes one Sangaya to relate to Dhritarashtra all the events of the battle, giving to sangaya, by means of his own super-human powers, all necessary aids for performing the duty. Then the battle begins, and after a ten daysโ struggle, the first great general of the Kauravas namely Bhishma, falls. At this point sangaya comes up to Dhritarashtra, and announces to him sad result, which is of course a great blow to his party. Dhritarashtra then makes numerous enquires of sangaya regarding the course of the conflict, all of which sangaya duly answers. And among his earliest answers is the account of the conversation of the battle, which constitutes the Bhagavadgita. After relating to Dhritarashtra that โwonderful and holy dialogue, and after giving an account of what occurred in the intervals of the conservation, sangaya proceeds to narrate the actual events of the battle.
