"The setting in which the Bhagavad Gita was spoken was the onset of the Mahabharat, a colossal war that was about to begin between two sets of cousins, the Kauravas and the Pandavas— ...father, King Pandu, had suffered an unfortunate death while his five sons were still very young. Pandu’s throne had been usurped by his step brother, Dhritarashtra, who was blind from birth. Dhritarashtra had a hundred sons, called the Kauravas, the eldest of whom was Duryodhan. For years, the Kauravas, led by Duryodhan, had victimized their cousins, the Pandavas, and governed over the kingdom of Hastinapur, which did not rightfully belong to them.

The Kauravas embodied cruelty, injustice, vice, oppression, and irreligion. On the other hand, the Pandavas ...sacrifice, devotion, and compassion. Most importantly, they were great devotees of the Supreme Lord Shree Krishna. Due to the oppression meted out to them by the Kauravas, the miseries of the Pandavas had become so unbearable that a war between the two sides had become imminent. Realizing the unavoidability of the war, both sides had canvassed for support from the scores of kingdoms that littered the landscape of Bharat (India) at that time. The two groups of cousins were so powerful that the war would impact the whole of Bharat. Thus, all the kings in the land were obliged to align themselves with one side or the other." -> Bhagavad-gita <- back continue