APPENDIX I

THE STORY OF THE GITA

The Mahabhatata, of which the Gita is a part, took its present form from the fifth to the first centuries B. C. The Gita occurs in it as one portion of the Bhishma Parva.

"Mahabharata" means literally "great India"; it is an epic narrative of the ancient Indians who saw the vision of a great India, one in culture and unified in political life, stretching from the Himalayas to Cape Commorin.

Kuru is the name of a leading Kula or clan of that time, and Kurukshetra was a vast field near their capital Hastinapur (modern Delhi) where the Kurus used to perform their religious sacrifices. When Dhritarashtra the blind king of the Kurus became old, he decided to give his throne not to his own son Duryodhana but to Yudhisthira, the eldest son of his deceased younger brother Pandu, as Duryodhana, being a man of evil propensities, was not fit to be the ruler of a dharmarajya (kingdom based on the principles of righteousness and justice, which was the ideal in ancient India); while Yudhisthira, being an embodiment of virtue and purity, was the fittest man. But Duryodhana by cunning and treachery secured the throne for himself, and sought by every means in his power to annihilate Yudhisthira and his four brothers.

Krishna, the incarnate Godhead, was the head of the Yadava clan, and a friend and relative of the Kurus. He tried to bring about a reconciliation between the two sections of the Kuru family; on behalf of the five Pandava brothers (sons of Pandu) he asked only five villages from Duryodhana, but the latter- sternly refused saying that without battle he would not give even so much earth as could be held on the point of a needle. So a war became inevitable for the sake of justice and righteousness. All the princes of India joined one side or the other. Krishna, as an impartial friend, offered the rival parties a choice. Duryodhana chose to take the mighty army of Krishna to his side, while Krishna himself went to the other side alone—and even then not as a fighter, but as the charioteer of Arjuna.

Drona, the common military teacher both of the sons of Dhritarashtra (specially called the Kauravas ) and of the sons of Pandu (the Pandavas), went to the side of Duryodhana, as his ancient enemy Drupada had joined the other party. Bhishma, who was related as great-uncle both to the Kauravas

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and to the Pandavas, had observed lifelong celibacy and even in his old age was the strongest man of his time. He was the leader of the party which had tried to bring about a reconci- liation between the Kauravas and the Pandavas. But when all peace efforts failed and war became inevitable, he decided to join the side of Duryodhana after a scrupulous consideration of his duty and obligations. He knew that Duryodhana was in the wrong, and if the battle had been confined simply to the two branches of the family, he would have remained neutral. But when he saw that, taking advantage of a family quarrel, the ancient enemies of the Kuru clan had joined the ranks of the Pandavas, he decided to fight on the side of Duryodhana for ten days only and then to retire for a voluntary death (brought about by non-physical means). Considering only the military strength of the two parties, that of Duryodhana was decidedly superior. But this was more than counter- balanced by the presence of Krishna on the other side.

Sanjaya, the charioteer of the old king Dhritarashtra, reports to him what is happening in the field of Kurukshetra where the two armies have assembled for a grim fight, in magnitude and importance unparalleled in the history of ancient India. This is the beginning of the Bhagavad Gita, literally " the Divine Song, " so called because it is delivered by Krishna, the incarnate Godhead, and because it teaches man how to rise out of his ordinary human consciousness to a higher divine consciousness, thus realising the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and in the human body.

Of the five Pandava brothers the eldest Yudhisthira was the most virtuous and pure, sattwic , the second brother Bhima was the most strong, rajasic; while in Arjuna, the third brother, there was a balance of purity and strength, of sattwa and rajas, and he was chosen by the Godhead as His chief instrument in that great war which was to determine a world- cycle, Yugantara, and as a disciple to whom was delivered the divine message which was to lead humanity to its destined goal of Immortality on earth.

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