Inder Garg
2024
A war was about to be fought for the control of the kingdom of Hastināpur (in present-day Uttar Pradesh near Delhi) between the armies of the Kauravas and the armies of the Pāndavas. Kauravas were sons of Dhritrāśtra (a descendant of Kuru) and Pāndavas were sons of Pāndu (himself also a descendant of Kuru!). Dhritrāśtra and Pāndu were brothers. Although both Dhritrāśtra and Pāndu were descendants of Kuru and had equal claim to be called Kauravas, Dhritrāśtra’s sons were called Kauravas since he was the king and the sons of Pāndu had to be called Pāndavas. Kurukśetra (in present-day Haryānā) was chosen as the venue of this war in which all the Kśatriya clans of that time are said to have participated. The war was won by the Pāndavas but after a great destruction of the warrior class of that time. The Gītā is an account of a philosophical discourse between Śrī Kriśna (the God incarnate) as teacher and his friend, Arjuna (a son of Pāndu and the leading warrior of Pāndava army) at the start of this war. Arjuna was caught in a dilemma and a state of delusion about the rights and wrongs of a war in general and killing his own kinsmen in particular. So, he turned to Śrī Kriśna to guide him to the right path. Thus, the Gītā is a spiritual journey of Arjuna from a state of despair to a state of enlightenment.
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