The Krishna–Arjuna dialogue covers a broad range of spiritual topics, touching upon moral and ethical dilemmas, and philosophical issues that go far beyond the war that Arjuna faces. Krishna counsels Arjuna to 'fulfil his Kshatriya (warrior) duty' for the upholding of dharma. Wondering if he should renounce the war, Arjuna seeks the counsel of Krishna, whose answers and discourse constitute the Bhagavad Gita. At the start of the Kurukshetra War between the Pandavas and the Kauravas, Arjuna despairs thinking about the violence and death the war will cause in the battle against his kin and becomes emotionally preoccupied with a dilemma. The Bhagavad Gita is set in a narrative framework of dialogue between the Pandava prince Arjuna and his charioteer guide Krishna, an avatar of Vishnu. The work is dated to the second half of the first millennium BCE.
It forms the chapters 23–40 of book 6 of the Mahabharata called the Bhishma Parva. The Bhagavad Gita ( / ˌ b ʌ ɡ ə v ə d ˈ ɡ iː t ɑː/ Sanskrit: भगवद्गीता, romanized: bhagavad-gītā, lit.'The Song by God' ), often referred to as the Gita ( IAST: gītā), is a 700-verse Hindu scripture, which is part of the epic Mahabharata.
