In Mahabharata, as a part of Mahabharatha alone,we
get Bhagavadgita. And in Mahabharatha what is shown is that the
people, especially Arjuna, the Pandavas, followed a life of Karma
and Upasana... And because of the ideal life Arjuna becomes a qualified
student, and since he was a fit and qualified student, he approaches
Lord Krishna in the Mahabharatha and he receives, the Vedantic teaching
from Bhagavan Krishna...
Therefore, in the form of a dialogue between Arjuna
and Krishna, Vyasacharya gives the essence of Vedanta. Not only the
essence of Vedanta, even the essence of Karma Yoga and the essence
of Karma, Upasana, Jnanam. All the three are beautifully given to
Arjuna by Lord Krishna. For this purpose a particular context is
brought in. The context is known, Mahabharatham story is given to
people -
The Kauravas refuse to give the kingdom to Pandavas
even after twelve years of exile and even after the Ajnatavasam
is over. From the story what we understand is that the Kauravas
are Adharmic people, they have done the worst sins, all the great
sins (worst sins) that deserve capital punishment.
So, Kauravas were all symbols of Adharma and Pandavas
were all symbols of Dharma, they were all Dharmic. For the sake
of Dharma, the Pandavas after a long consideration had to conclude
that they have to fight the war, it is a Dharma Yuddham. Krishna
also has concurred with them and the position is that the field
is ready for battle.
It is in this context something happens, and then
you find Arjuna gets totally confused and a situation comes and
in the battlefield the Gita Upadesam comes. But, in this battlefield,
Arjuna becomes the disciple and Krishna becomes the master.
You can find that in our mind there is a battle of
Pandavas ( only five good thoughts) and Kauravas ( hundreds of
evil thoughts) , there is a battle - You can interpret it as a battle
between good and evil at the external level and also at the internal
level and when we are tired of that battle, we ask for Self-knowledge.
How long should this battle continue, will I not get over all these
worries and tensions .
Arjuna wanted to get out of this battle and there
was a Krishna to help him out.
Bhagavadgita