Bhagavad Gita Introduction

BHAGAVAD GITA INTRODUCTION

The Bhagavad Gita was originally compiled by Ved Vyas as a separate text. Later, when he wrote the Mahabharat, he embedded the Bhagavad Gita in it.

The Mahabharat contains one hundred thousand verses, and is therefore, the largest poem in the world. It is seven times bigger than the Iliad and Odyssey put together and three times bigger than the Bible. 

Along with the Ramayan, it is accorded the status of Itihās, meaning historical manuscript of India. Its stories and moral instructions have fashioned the fabric of Indian culture for thousands of years.

The Mahabharat is divided into eighteen sections. The Bhagavad Gita is set in the sixth section, which is called the Bheeshma Parva. It comprises eighteen chapters of the section, beginning from Chapter Twenty-five, and continuing until the Chapter Forty-two.