The Bhagavad Gita is a Sanskrit text of 700 verses set on a battlefield. It forms part of the Bhishma Parva, the sixth of the eighteen books of the Mahabharata. The setting is the morning of the first day of war at Kurukshetra. The conversation is between two people — Arjuna, who has just asked his charioteer to drive him into the space between the armies, and Krishna, who is that charioteer.
How they came to be on the same chariot
The arrangement is set up earlier in the Mahabharata. Before the war, both sides went to Krishna to ask for his help. He told them he had only two things to offer: himself, unarmed and not fighting, or his army of Yadavas, fully equipped. Duryodhana chose the army. Arjuna chose Krishna.
By the morning of the first day of battle, Krishna was at Arjuna's side as his sarathi — his chariot driver. The position is significant. The charioteer does not fight. He places the warrior in the right position at the right moment. He is, in the language of the text, the one who steers.
The view between the armies
Arjuna asks Krishna to drive the chariot into the gap between the two armies so he can see who has come to fight. Krishna does. The first chapter of the Gita describes what Arjuna sees: his grandfather Bhishma, his teachers Drona and Kripa, his cousins, his uncles, his childhood friends. The army he is meant to fight is not an army of strangers.
The bow Gandiva, which he had used in many battles, slips from his hand. He sits down in the chariot. The text records his words: he will not fight.
The 700 verses
What follows is the Bhagavad Gita. Across eighteen chapters, Krishna responds to Arjuna's collapse. The chapters move through different registers: the immortality of the self (chapter 2), the doctrine of action without attachment to results (chapter 3), the description of yoga as discipline (chapter 6), the description of Krishna's divine form (chapter 11), the path of devotion (chapter 12).
The text does not present its arguments as new revelation. Krishna says explicitly, in chapter 4, that the teaching he is giving was passed down from earlier teachers and has only been forgotten. He is restating it.
The vision
In chapter 11, Arjuna asks to see Krishna's full form — not the human form of his charioteer, but the cosmic form. Krishna grants the request. The text describes Arjuna being given a special sight (divya chakshu) for the occasion. What he sees fills him with awe and fear. The chapter is one of the longest in the text.
After the vision, Krishna returns to his ordinary form. Arjuna asks him to.
The decision
The eighteenth chapter ends with Arjuna saying: my doubt is destroyed; I will act as you direct. He picks up Gandiva. The chariot is driven back to his side of the field. The war begins.
The Bhagavad Gita does not resolve the moral question of the war. It does not promise easy victory. What it offers Arjuna is a way to act when action is unavoidable and conscience is divided.
The conversation as inheritance
The Bhagavad Gita has been commented on continuously for over a thousand years. The major early commentaries include those of Adi Shankara (8th century), Ramanuja (11th century), and Madhva (13th century), each from a different philosophical school. Modern commentaries include those of Lokmanya Tilak (1915) and Mahatma Gandhi.
The text itself frames the conversation as a private exchange between two people. It is preserved in the public record by Sanjaya, the minister with divine sight, who reports it to the blind king Dhritarashtra. The opening verse of the Gita is Dhritarashtra's question to Sanjaya — what is happening at Kurukshetra — and the rest of the text is Sanjaya's answer.
How the Anahat Warrior & Guide design represents it
The Anahat Warrior & Guide t-shirt is illustrated with the chariot scene — Arjuna and Krishna together, the two armies implied. The composition references traditional Indian devotional painting. It is part of Anahat's Devdutt Pattanaik collection and one of the brand's most-loved designs.
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Krishna and Arjuna, hand-illustrated on premium organic cotton. Designed in India by Anahat.
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FAQ
Where is the Bhagavad Gita found?
It forms part of the Bhishma Parva, the sixth book of the Mahabharata. The text has 700 verses across 18 chapters.
Why was Krishna Arjuna's charioteer?
Before the war, both Arjuna and Duryodhana came to Krishna to ask for his support. Krishna offered them a choice: himself alone, unarmed and not fighting, or his army. Duryodhana chose the army. Arjuna chose Krishna.
What is the Vishwarupa?
The cosmic form Krishna shows Arjuna in the eleventh chapter of the Gita. To see it, Arjuna is granted divine sight (divya chakshu) for the occasion.
What does the Warrior & Guide design depict?
The Anahat Warrior & Guide t-shirt illustrates the chariot scene from the opening of the Bhagavad Gita. It is part of Anahat's Devdutt Pattanaik collection.