Bhagavad Gita
AI-drafted · awaiting admin review
Krishna's teaching to Arjuna on the battlefield of Kurukshetra: 700 verses on duty, selfless action, devotion and knowledge, and one of the most widely read texts in the world.
| Tradition | Hindu |
|---|---|
| Type | Scripture (part of the Mahabharata) |
| Language | Sanskrit |
| Period | c. 2nd century BCE – 2nd century CE (scholarly estimate) |
| Composed or compiled by | Traditionally attributed to Vyasa, as part of the Mahabharata |
What it contains
- 18 chapters and 700 verses in the Bhishma Parva of the Mahabharata.
- Arjuna, unwilling to fight his own kin, is taught by Krishna, his charioteer.
- Karma yoga: do your duty without attachment to its results (2.47).
- Jnana yoga (knowledge), bhakti yoga (devotion) and dhyana (meditation) as paths to the Divine.
- The vision of Krishna's universal form (chapter 11).
Significance
The Gita is one of the three foundations (prasthana traya) of Vedanta, with commentaries by Shankara, Ramanuja, Madhva and many others, and was a source of strength for leaders of the freedom struggle such as Lokmanya Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi. In 2025 manuscripts of the Bhagavad Gita and the Natyashastra were inscribed on UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.