 The Bhagavad Gita is an ancient Indian text that became an important work of Hindu tradition in terms of both literature and philosophy. The earliest translations of this work from Sanskrit into English was made around 1795 by Sir Charles Wilkins. The name Bhagavad Gita means the song of the Lord. It is composed as a poem and it contains many key topics related to the Indian intellectual and spiritual tradition, although it is normally edited as an independent text. It became a section of a massive Indian epic named the Mahabharata, the longest Indian epic of all time. There is a part in the middle of this long text consisting of 18 brief chapters and about 700 verses. This is the section known as the Bhagavad Gita, it is also referred to as the Gita for short. It was written at some point between 400 BC and 200 BC like the Vedas and the Upanishads, the authorship of the Bhagavad Gita is unclear. However the credit for the text is traditionally given to a man named Vyasa who is more of a legend than an actual historical figure. Because of this Vyasa has been compared to Homer, the great figure of ancient Greek epic poetry. It has been suggested that the Gita was originally an independent text except for the first chapter. The Bhagavad Gita does not develop the action of the Mahabharata, furthermore the Bhagavad Gita is at odds with the general style and content of the Mahabharata. Once the Gita is over the narration of the Mahabharata resumes so it is not dead set what this incorporates and to what links. However the section of the Gita was written during a time of important social change in India with kingdoms getting larger, increasing urbanization, more trade activity and social conflict similar to what was happening when Jainism and Buddhism developed. This ancient Indian text is about the search for serenity, calmness and acceptance in a world of rapid change and how to integrate spiritual values into ordinary life, kind of like today's world when you think about it. Around the time when the Gita was written, aestheticism was seen in India as the ideal spiritual life. Aesthetics from different sects along with Buddhists all agreed that leaving everything behind was the best way to live in a meaningful way. The Bhagavad Gita revolves around the following questions. How can someone live a life spiritually meaningful without withdrawing from society? What can someone who does not want to give up family and social obligations do to live the right way? The Gita challenges the general consensus that only aesthetics and monks can live a perfect spiritual life through reincarnation and emphasizes the value of an active spiritual life. The plot of the Gita is based on two sets of cousins competing for the throne, the Pandavas and the Karavas. Diplomacy has failed so these two armies meet on a battlefield in order to settle the conflict and decide which side will gain the throne. This is a major battle and it takes place in the Kurakshitra, the field of the Kurus in the modern state of Haryana in India. Arjuna, the great archer and leader of the Pandavas, is a member of the warrior ruler's caste. He looks out towards his opponents and recognizes friends, relatives, former teachers and finally reasons that controlling the kingdom is not worth the blood of all his loved ones. Already overwhelmed, Arjuna drops down, casting aside his bow and arrows and decides to quit. He prefers to withdraw from battle. He prefers inaction instead of being responsible for the deaths of the people he loves. His chariot driver is the Lord Vishnu who has taken the form of Krishna. Krishna sees Arjuna quitting and begins to persuade Arjuna that he should stick to his duty as a warrior and engage the enemy. The Bhagavad Gita is presented as a conversation between Arjuna and Krishna, a man and a god, a seeker and a knower. Arjuna is worried about entering the battle and destroying his own family, so Krishna begins by explaining five reasons why Arjuna should not be troubled by this. Essentially Krishna shows Arjuna why he will not get bad karma from taking part in the war. The first reason Krishna mentions is that because atman is eternal it is a mistake to think that one can actually kill someone. What actually happens is that people are sent to the next stage of reincarnation. Krishna states that one believes he is the slayer, another believes he is the slain. Both are ignorant. There is neither slayer nor slain. You were never born. You will never die. You have never changed. You can never change. Unborn, eternal, immeasurable and memorial, you do not die when the body dies. Another reason why Arjuna should fight is because of honor and duty, also referred to as dharma or caste duty. Arjuna is a member of the warrior class. The battle is the very reason of his existence. It is not sinful to fulfill your duty in life. The fifth and last reason is that there are ways to act where we can do what we have to do without getting bad karma. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna explains three ways. The first way is Janana Yoga, the way of knowledge. This idea is based upon the Upanishads and holds the life and death are not real. Selfhood is nothing but an illusion. All we see are manifestations of the oneness. Once we realize the oneness is beyond all things, we can escape the bad karma from acting. Krishna explains, I am ever present to those who have realized me and every creature seeing all life as my manifestation. They are never separated from me. The second way is Bhakti Yoga, the way of devotion. This is an idea developed in great detail in Hinduism and holds that our actions can be dedicated to Krishna by surrendering our will to him and he will take upon himself any bad karma. Each of these three ways to act without getting bad karma is suitable for different people or caste. Priests would follow the way of knowledge. Peasants, merchants and commoners might be inclined to the way of devotion. Warriors would identify themselves with the ways of action. Finally Arjuna decides to obey Krishna by engaging in the battle and in the end the Pandavas regain control of the kingdom. No other Indian texts has attracted more attention from foreigners than the Bhagavad Gita, important figures such as Mahatma Gandhi held the Gita as their main reference book. Physicists Robert Oppenheimer watched the massive explosion and blinding flash of the mushroom cloud of the first atomic bomb test in New Mexico. Oppenheimer then claimed that when he saw that event, two verses from the Gita came to his mind.