Bhagavad Gita facts for kids
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The Bhagavad Gita is one of the holy books of Hinduism. It was written about five thousand years ago as part of the Mahabharata. It has teachings said to be given by Lord Sri Krishna who is the Supreme God. In the book (Bhagvat Gita), Krishna is talking to Arjuna, an Archer, before the kurukshetra war begins. Krishna tells Arjuna that he must perform his duty (called dharma) and go to fight. Arjuna hesitates because he is fighting his family, but in the end he listens to Krishna. He will not be led into the underworld for ever for his sins because he will not be reincarnated through Moksha.
It is considered to be the manual on which a human should follow his life according to Sanatana Dharma.
Images for kids
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The Bhagavata Gita is attributed to the sage Vyasa.
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A manuscript illustration of the battle of Kurukshetra, fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, recorded in the Mahabharata.
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Krishna recounts Gita to Arjuna during Kurukshetra War, in Mahabharata; c.1820 painting.
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A didactic print from the 1960s that uses the Gita scene as a focal point for general religious instruction
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A 19th-century Sanskrit manuscript of the Bhagavad Gita, Devanagari script
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The thematic story of Arjuna and Krishna at the Kurukshetra War became popular in southeast Asia as Hinduism spread there in the 1st-millennium CE. Above, an Arjuna-Krishna chariot scene in Jakarta center, Indonesia.
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A frieze in the early 8th-century Virupaksha temple (Pattadakal) depicting Mahabharata scenes involving Arjuna-Krishna chariot. Pattadakal is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
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Adi Shankara with Disciples, by Raja Ravi Varma (1904); Shankara published 700 verses of the Gita (800 CE), now the standard version.
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Vāsudeva-Krishna, on a coin of Agathocles of Bactria, c. 180 BCE. This is "the earliest unambiguous image" of the deity.
See also
In Spanish: Bhagavad-gītā para niños
