ad Gita describes a momentary surcease in a vast battle
in which brothers fight brothers in bloody, historical technicolor. The
principal character, Arjuna, sits in a chariot in the midst of the mass of
soldiers who wait -- surprisingly patiently -- as Arjuna looks into his
conscience and questions his divine charioteer, Krishna. Krishna's
temporary job as charioteer is by no means accidental: this moment before
the heat and horror of battle was chosen as precisely the right time to
reflect on the nature of duty and devotion. The Bhagavad Gita,
then, becomes a record of Arjuna's questions and Krishna's provocative
responses.
You might ask: What does this single work, a strangely didactic
addition to the epic Mahabharata, "say" about ANCIENT
INDIA