To study the
Bhagavad Gita and to understand it culturally and historically, one must begin with the larger context from which we get the
Gita - the Hindu epic, the
Mahabharata. The
Mahabharata and the
Ramayana are two famous epic poems from the Hindu tradition, and the
Mahabarata, especially, stands apart for being absolutely massive in scale. It is ten times longer than the
Iliad and the
Odyssey combined, with over 100,000 verses.
In studying the
Mahabharata, we are challenged to grapple with whether the poem depicts mythical or historical events. Scholarship won't help us, as scholars defend both points of view. Some stand by the argument that it depicts historical events with fictional characters. As Sudipta Bhawmik says, “The characters of the
Mahabharata might be fictitious, but their dreams, ambitions, and flaws are very real and still exist in us.”
Maha mea
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