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Bhagavad Gita
c. 200 BC – AD 200· Scripture or text· Hindu, Buddhist, Jain & Sikh
Mostly agreed by scholarsMost historians agree; some details uncertain.
The 'Song of the Lord', a 700-verse dialogue in which the god Krishna counsels the warrior Arjuna on the eve of battle.
See it on the World Religions map →What it is
Set within the Mahabharata, the Gita opens as Arjuna, facing his own cousins and teachers across the battlefield, refuses to fight. His charioteer Krishna, revealed as God, teaches that the soul cannot be killed and that one must do one's duty without attachment to results. It offers three paths to liberation: selfless action (karma yoga), knowledge (jnana) and loving devotion (bhakti). Its 18 chapters end with Arjuna ready to act.
Why it matters
It is the most widely read Hindu scripture and a key source of bhakti devotion; Gandhi, Thoreau, Emerson and J. Robert Oppenheimer all read it closely.
Sources and history
Thousands of manuscripts; Shankara's 8th-century commentary is the oldest surviving. Charles Wilkins published the first English translation in 1785.
Questions and debates
Its date is uncertain, with most estimates between about 200 BC and AD 200, and scholars debate whether it was composed in one piece or in layers.
Connections (4)
▸Bhagavad Gita teaches Dharma: duty and cosmic orderMostly agreed by scholars
The connection
Arjuna's crisis is a clash of duties: his warrior's dharma demands that he fight, while family duty forbids killing relatives. Krishna tells him to do his own duty, svadharma, without selfish attachment to the outcome, offering the action to God. 'Better one's own dharma done imperfectly than another's done well' (3.35) became famous.
When and where
Composed about 200 BC–AD 200; set on the battlefield of Kurukshetra, north of Delhi, in the Mahabharata's story.
How do we know?
The text itself states these teachings; commentators from Shankara (8th century) to Tilak and Gandhi argued over how to apply them.
Questions and debates
Whether the Gita endorses war and caste duty or uses them as metaphors for inner struggle is debated; Gandhi read it as allegory, others literally.
▸Bhagavad Gita is part of the Mahabharata, one of the Mahabharata and Ramayana epicsHistorical record
The connection
The Gita is chapters 23–40 of the Mahabharata's sixth book, the Bhishma Parva, spoken just before the great Kurukshetra war begins. The epic gives it urgency: everything Krishna teaches answers Arjuna's real dilemma about fighting his own kin. It is not part of the Ramayana.
When and where
Composed about 200 BC–AD 200 as the epic grew; it sits in book 6 of the Mahabharata's 18 books.
Historical evidence
Every manuscript tradition of the Mahabharata includes it, and the Pune Critical Edition places it at Bhishma Parva chapters 23–40.
Questions and debates
Whether the Gita was composed for its place in the epic or written separately and inserted later is debated by scholars.
▸Bhagavad Gita is voiced by Krishna, avatar of Vishnu and his avatars, Rama and KrishnaFaith & scripture
The connection
In the Gita, Krishna, serving as charioteer to the warrior Arjuna, reveals that he is the supreme God. He says he takes birth age after age whenever righteousness declines, the classic statement of the avatar idea, and shows Arjuna a cosmic form containing all worlds. Devotees of Vishnu treat the Gita as his direct teaching.
When and where
Embedded in the Mahabharata's sixth book, composed c. 200 BC – AD 200 and set on the battlefield of Kurukshetra in northern India.
How do we know?
The text itself, chapter 4 on avatars and chapter 11 on the cosmic form. That Krishna is God incarnate is a matter of faith, discussed by commentators from Shankara onward.
Questions and debates
Some schools, like Gaudiya Vaishnavism, hold that Krishna is the source of Vishnu rather than his avatar; scholars debate how the two figures merged.
▸Mahatma Gandhi drew on Bhagavad GitaHistorical record
The connection
Gandhi called the Gita his 'mother' and 'spiritual dictionary'. He read its battle as an allegory of the inner struggle between good and evil, not a call to war, and took from it the ideal of selfless action without attachment to results, which he applied to nonviolent political work.
When and where
He first read it in English, in Edwin Arnold's version, in London around 1889; he translated it into Gujarati (1929) and taught it during the independence movement.
Historical evidence
His autobiography, letters and his Gita commentary Anasaktiyoga ('the yoga of non-attachment') document it; verses were recited at his daily prayer meetings.
Questions and debates
Critics note the Gita urges a warrior to fight, so how a nonviolent reading fits is contested; his assassin, Nathuram Godse, also cited it.